Meteor dreams have come true

[jirushi]

@ John, that Mercury looks super nice! Wow.

@ evert, it will be interesting to see results with RWS pellets.

My Meteor works best with 15.89 gr JSB's.
I did a few shots yesterday evening, 144 - 145 - 146 - 144 - 144 m/s. About 476 ft/s.
That's 8 ft/lbs. I think just right for a Meteor. The Mk1 trigger mechanism is such a big improvement.

I have had a Meteor that did about 10 ft/lbs, but I think that's a bit too much for this platform?

[evert]

I have had a Meteor that did about 10 ft/lbs, but I think that's a bit too much for this platform?

I dont think so, if you have a good one that gives power easy.
The one I'm working on right now feels very good and is quite easy to shoot, even if it is giving more than 9 fpe with some pellets.
And this is a .177, I might try the .22 lightning barrel I have on it and see what happens.

Tried some RWS pellets yesterday, after weighting some pellets to be sure what weights they are:

Superdome 8,5grs: 677fps or 8.65fpe, 10fps variation
Rws wadcutter, 7,3grs: 758fps or 9.3fpe, 18fps variaton
Meisterkugeln, 8,2grs: 672 or 8.2fpe
RWS Supermag 9.4grs: 597fps or 7,44fpe, and an EXTREME 30fps variation.

So, conclutions so far:
Light pellets with thick/stiff skirts (RWS wadcutter, and Gamo match) giver better energy than light pellets with soft/thin skirt (JSB RS)
Medium weight pellets give low variation (JSB express and RWS Superdome)
Heavy weight pellets are useless in medium power springers.

I'm sticking with JSB express, which has given good accuracy in other Meteors too.

[evert]

My Meteor works best with 15.89 gr JSB's.
I did a few shots yesterday evening, 144 - 145 - 146 - 144 - 144 m/s. About 476 ft/s.
That's 8 ft/lbs. I think just right for a Meteor. The Mk1 trigger mechanism is such a big improvement.

I have had a Meteor that did about 10 ft/lbs, but I think that's a bit too much for this platform?

Hav you tried 14,33grs JSB express? They give very good accuracy in my .22 lightning, and are theoretically
better suited for a powerplant with light piston and thin wire spring (like the meteor).

[jirushi]

Hav you tried 14,33grs JSB express? They give very good accuracy in my .22 lightning, and are theoretically
better suited for a powerplant with light piston and thin wire spring (like the meteor).

That's a good tip, thank you.
I tried 14.35 JSB this morning, power is now 9 ft/lbs.
The 15.89 gr fits better in the barrel, as in the skirt is a bit thicker, so the pellet stays firmly in the barrel when closing the breech.
I will test accuracy with both pellets soon.
Shooting behaviour is the same: nice.

The Titan silencer makes cocking easier.

[WILBA]

Hi,
After about 2 years of collecting and tinkering with Meteor's, I think I've reached my goals

I don't know why BSA used this fiddleback maple wood for the lowly Meteor? Perhaps because they could buy some maple cheaply?

Paul Short did a great job with the internals. A big thanks to Paul.
I decided to have the springs shortened by him. Less is more in these guns.
Good quality spring guides, top hats and piston liners have resulted in great smoothness.
The one with the scope is doing about 8 ft/lbs, the one with the peep sight about 6.

Inspiration for the Meteors was derived from John Bowkett.
I followed his "Meteor recipe" from the eighties, which was kindly shared with me by him and lightning22 on here.
Thanks Rich!

Any other Meteor lovers/tinkerers on here? (I know there are )

Cheers, Louis

What a lovely pair louis. I remember my mate stu having a super meteor in the 70's when i had my crappy webley hawk mk2. That gun hit everything he aimed at. Loved shooting his meteor. Only gun i loved more was my mercury when i got her. Both guns could out shoot us both any day.

[jirushi]

What a lovely pair louis. I remember my mate stu having a super meteor in the 70's when i had my crappy webley hawk mk2. That gun hit everything he aimed at. Loved shooting his meteor. Only gun i loved more was my mercury when i got her. Both guns could out shoot us both any day.

Thank you WILBA.
I have never shot a Mercury: must try one!
For some reason, the old Meteors remain quite popular.
Unfortunately I sold the bottom gun of the pair. I would like to find a nice Mk1.
I would love to buy this Bowkett Meteor. It is in New Zealand and the owner might sell it to me.
I've found a way to export airguns from NZ (just received four old Sharps from Christchurch) but it's super expensive.
Cheers, Louis

[johnbaz]

Thank you WILBA.
I have never shot a Mercury: must try one!
For some reason, the old Meteors remain quite popular.
Unfortunately I sold the bottom gun of the pair. I would like to find a nice Mk1.
I would love to buy this Bowkett Meteor. It is in New Zealand and the owner might sell it to me.
I've found a way to export airguns from NZ (just received four old Sharps from Christchurch) but it's super expensive.
Cheers, Louis

That's a lovely old mk1, Love the Weaver 2.5x1 micro trac too


Hope you manage to acquire it Louis


John

[evert]

That's a good tip, thank you.
I tried 14.35 JSB this morning, power is now 9 ft/lbs.
The 15.89 gr fits better in the barrel, as in the skirt is a bit thicker, so the pellet stays firmly in the barrel when closing the breech.
I will test accuracy with both pellets soon.
Shooting behaviour is the same: nice.

The Titan silencer makes cocking easier.

I think breech tapers varies a bit on the more recent Lightning/Supersport barrels too. Not as much as on the old Meteor barrels though, but enough to affect pellet fit.
The silencer brings the length of your 10" inch lightning barrels up to about the same length as the 14" BSA Carbine barrels, which I personally find to be the shortest length that is easy to shoot well.
I'm considering to try steel baffles in one of my XL Lightning shrouds, because I find the shroud to be too light on the 10". The older Lightning silencer is better balanced for good shooting.