'dskippy', on 11 Oct 2013 - 8:00 PM, said:
With the 1' barrel I get decent shots, 150' at max psi. With the 3' barrel I get varying behavior. Sometimes 200', sometimes the dart stays in the barrel bunched up, sometimes the tip blows off in the barrel and the foam flops out, sometimes the dart dove tails, sometimes I get a weakish shot off target (probably a minor dove tail).
I am wondering if people have an recommendations. I am using standard Nerf Stefans bought off the shelves and I'd like to stick to that ammo.
I'll reiterate the point that you are limited by your darts. Stock darts were not designed to be shot from a gun that powerful. Homemade darts would serve you much better.
'dskippy', on 12 Oct 2013 - 12:39 AM, said:
But other folks on this forum have achieved distances nearing 200' by their reports.
Tests have shown that few people actually shoot perfectly level, even when they claim they are shooting level. Slightly angled shots get much higher range.
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In terms of getting more range, consider the following:
Heavier darts usually improve the energy efficiency of the air gun and get better range to boot. Stock darts usually are not heavy enough.
Are you are aware, the best barrel fit is tight for the initial stages of the barrel and just loose enough to seal for the remainder. The initial part is not so important for air guns with fast opening valves. I'm not sure how you are actuating your valve, but I would suggest
air piloting over using a sprinkler valve's electronics. I'd also suggest
QEVs over sprinkler valves. QEVs have higher flow rates, are more durable, and don't require modification to use with a pilot valve.
Holding everything else constant (gas chamber volume, valve, etc.), a barrel length that will maximize range exists. Assuming that your darts are good (e.g., ignoring jams, darts breaking, and dart stability issues), you can find this by testing a few barrel lengths as you have. The results should be fairly consistent. As you found, if your darts aren't good then you won't get good results. My suggestion is to try several barrel lengths with your smaller chamber and see what length gets the best range on average.