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[AlanMcD]

Back when JSB’s were in the grey label tins, life was good: my LW barreled .22 would pretty much stack pellets all day long. But ever since the red labels came along, I have been suffering from larger groups and random flyers. Granted, things were still tighter than with my stock barrel and the Baracuda 5.53s that it shot best, but I was spoiled.

I wanted to give Pete’s (Garden Sniper) solid mounts a try to see if they would help. His parts are incredibly well made. The solid mount is a thing of beauty – it is a tight fit, so it takes a bit of work to get everything together. Once all assembled, the first thing I noticed was a much quieter report – those added holes sure make a big difference in air flow to the rear. In addition to the added holes, Pete also bores a smaller hole for the pellet than stock, diverting further air to the rear. The mount is worth it just for how much quieter it makes the gun ( I don’t have a sound meter – I’m going just by the sound which is noticeably quieter, and I had already drilled out the holes for more airflow in my stock mount).

Unfortunately, the LW barrel did not respond well to having the front shroud mount pinned down with Pete’s machined barrel band spacer – I had to free float it for good results. It seemed to be shooting better with the solid front mount, but I still had the flyer problem. Sadly, this did not seem to be the solution to my red tin JSB flyer problem.

So after some thought, I decided to switch back to my stock barrel to see how the solid front mount idea would work with it. All I can say is wow! With the front of the shroud held tightly in the band with the spacer, and the solid front shroud mount on the barrel, this thing is shooting better than it ever did – and I am running off the same supply of Barcuda’s that I had when I did the barrel swap. I was so impressed that I had to take it out for some 50 yard shooting, and even though I was shooting straight from the tin and had some light breezes that I was having trouble waiting out, most of my 10 shot groups were under about 0.75” ctc, and the center cluster of about 5-7 pellets was usually under 0.4”. In the best group (but not smallest due to a flyer, so it measured about 0.8”), the center cluster of the tightest 5 was under 0.25”, and eight of the ten went in a group that was under 0.5”. I can’t wait to try this thing out on a perfect day with sorted pellets!

I also tried a few other pellets that did not shoot well before, and while they still don’t shoot great, their group sizes were cut almost in half. JSB 18.1s used to group over 2.5” with this barrel, and now they are running under 1.5”, despite the fact that the head sizes are smaller now than they used to be. Polymags also used to run over 3.5” before, and now they are well under 2”, so something good is definitely going on with the solid mount and the stock .22 barrel.

So the end result is that Pete’s shroud mount system has chased the LW barrel out of my gun in favor of the stock barrel, and that is the way it is staying for now. Pretty solid results, as far as I’m concerned, and Pete’s mounts are definitely worth trying with a stock barrel. Send him a PM if you are interested.

Here is a couple of pictures of the front mount, and that group with the tight cluster of shots:






Here are ten shots at 50 yards, trying to wait out breezes - note the cluster of 5 in one hole. Stock barrel with Pete's solid front shroud mount and barrel band spacer and Baracuda 5.53 straight from the tin.


Alan

[RayK]

As usual, an excellent review Alan!

I am trying one of his solid mounts along with his barrel band spacer and initial results are excellent too.

I have not been able to try them at longer ranges yet.

My Marauder is noticeably quieter (my wife said so) than it was with the drilled stock shroud spacer.

The POI is much more consistent than with floating shroud/barrel combo.

I will keep doing more testing and give more results when I get a chance to shoot beyond 10 yards.

I'm expecting my completely reworked barrel next week and I will install and try it all together as soon as I can get to shoot.

Ray

[bbqncigars]

Alan,
Are you running the stock baffles with that, or do you have some improved versions from Pete? I'm on the list for one of those mounts, and your glowing review has just made my wait worse.


Wayne

[AlanMcD]

Since the new mount is longer than stock, Pete included a baffle that is cut shorter to work with the new mount. So it is pretty much stock in terms of baffles, with one shorter one. I think he has been working on some other baffles, but I don't have those.

[NeuRon]

Great to hear! I'm waiting on one for the Prod. I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't tried the depingers yet. Soon!

[RayK]

I installed Garden Sniper Pete's improved gauge block, valve cap, depingers, and solid shroud mount in my 22 mrod.

So far, they are top notch and all working great! And it is very quiet with no ping.

I'm still waiting for accurized barrel From Mike Kobol at Citrus Airguns to fully test.

Ray

[Garden Sniper]

AlanMcD, Sorry for the delay on the thank you for the great feedback and post about the solid front mount. Work gets a little crazy at this time of the year, and its hard to keep up with everything going on. I am still working on a revision for your reduced volume de-pinger but the Air strippers and p-rod shroud upgrade have been using up my spare time and i'm starting to get that look from the wife when I go out to my workshop. Thank you again for the great post. Pete.

[pgala]

How do I get a solid front mount for a .25?
Thanks,
Peter

[Garden Sniper]

pgala, I could have one for you monday or tuesday. Pete.

[pgala]

Sounds good!
Thank you,
Peter
[email protected]