Yes the reach on the 99 is stupidly long.

Bob, I cut a coil off the spring, then compressed & re finished both ends to get it level, but it was still doing 11. So shot it for a while, then took another half a coil off, then another half, bringing it down to 9.
I then shot it for a few weeks, & found it had crept back up to 10, so another half a coil got it down to just under 9, with r10 pellets, & 7.8 with hobby. So another half a coil got it down to 7.6 with hobby's & thats enough.
Both ends are compressed & the spring ground flat to make it level, which accounts for the small drop in power. The shot cycle though now feels faster, just need a bit of shooting in to see how it goes now.

Interestingly, i have since also purchased a 22 version, which was low on power to start, & when i took out the spring, the 177 spring with 2 coils removed was the same length as the standard spring out of the 22 version.

Rob