Pardini Questions and Answers

[Gerard]

The depth of that grub screw controls the flow of air from the transfer port through to the tungsten anti-recoil rod, modifying the rate or intensity of acceleration of that rod rearwards. Opening it up (loosening the screw) increases flow, reducing recoil. Small adjustments can be made depending on pellet weight and/or pellet diameter as those pellet changes modify the resistance of the pellet to forward movement. It is a subtle modification, something which can be highly subjective if there is no precision equipment (accelerometer?) with which to gauge changes in the setting. And if it is unscrewed too far it will jam in the receiver frame, scraping the aluminum and preventing rearward movement of the bolt.

[Coolmeester]

Thanks Gerard.

[Coolmeester]

Again question of K12. What is the optimum velocity for K12 absorber? My gun was tuned pretty fast from the factory.

[Gerard]

I've read several opinions stating that Pardini's official position is for a velocity between 525fps and 535fps. I've found that it's perfectly accurate at 495fps, and quieter, giving more shots per fill down to about 100 bar where I pump it up again. But you should probably test it at a few velocities for yourself, to be sure. Just remember to loosen the tiny grub screw on the right side of the frame before adjusting the striker tension spring at the back, or you risk damaging the gun. Unlike the K10, this adjustment bolt is locked with a set screw.

[Coolmeester]

I've read several opinions stating that Pardini's official position is for a velocity between 525fps and 535fps. I've found that it's perfectly accurate at 495fps, and quieter, giving more shots per fill down to about 100 bar where I pump it up again. But you should probably test it at a few velocities for yourself, to be sure. Just remember to loosen the tiny grub screw on the right side of the frame before adjusting the striker tension spring at the back, or you risk damaging the gun. Unlike the K10, this adjustment bolt is locked with a set screw.

I tested and it was 580fps from the factory, very stable. Haven't tested grouping but it works perfectly well and it's a pleasure to shoot.

[Gerard]

Wow, that's very high velocity for a 10m air pistol. Usually they'll be between 470 and 540fps. Must be a bit loud. I'm surprised Pardini would let itnout the door shooting so fast. Which pellet? I've mostly used pellets between 7gr and 7.56gr, but a lighter pellet would of course go faster.

[Coolmeester]

Wow, that's very high velocity for a 10m air pistol. Usually they'll be between 470 and 540fps. Must be a bit loud. I'm surprised Pardini would let itnout the door shooting so fast. Which pellet? I've mostly used pellets between 7gr and 7.56gr, but a lighter pellet would of course go faster.

It is pretty loud :) RWS R10 pistol. 7gr.

[Gerard]

Well there have been various discussions regarding the time the pellet is in the barrel, or 'lock time' which might vary outcomes in terms of point of impact, the pistol having more time to go off-target between wear release and pellet exiting the muzzle if the pellet is slower. But I suspect the difference between 530fps and 580fps isn't more than a fraction of a millisecond worth of time in the bore, so probably not a realistic concern.

[Gerard]

My K12 has started leaking. It's the initial release model not the newer one. Nothing I can hear, so it must be quite slow, but from a full cylinder to absolutely zero pressure happens within 12 hours or so. At first I thought it was just one of the two cylinders and swapped them and that seemed to fix the problem. I dismantled the intake valve in the other cylinder for inspection and it looked fine, but I added a trace of silicone oil to the plastic seal to be sure. Now I find that the second cylinder is leaking as well, within a couple of weeks of the first, but only when it's mounted to the pistol. Either cylinder is holding pressure perfectly while in the case, it's only when mounted that they leak. Still can't hear a leak, it's just that I'll fill it one day, then coming back to look the next day the pressure indicator is all the way down to zero and there's no pressure when I fire.

I've dismantled the regulator but found no problem there. Seems I will have to open the gun more deeply, and that's okay, as I've done a fair bit of custom valve work and other mechanical stuff on other airguns, played around with a Lane regulator as well as a Ninja regulated bottle I've fitted to a QB78D rifle with an adapter block I made of 7075 aluminum. I know my way around a shop, just never fully opened such a high quality pistol so I'll admit to being intimidated. Especially lacking any clear instructions. Does anyone know how to completely dismantle one of these? Not the trigger/sear system, that's working just great, but apparently I'll need to take apart anything which might be leaking to find the problem. A step by step Youtube video sure would be nice...

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Well, I found time to try again with this leaking problem, and thought to first try again with the cylinders. Took each one apart completely and solvent cleaned then silicone greased every relevant sealing part and reassembled. So far after about two weeks I see no leaking, from the cylinder left in the case nor the one mounted to the pistol. Seems it was a failure to seal within the cylinders after all, not in the pistol. Perhaps a thorough cleaning and lubrication regime is essential for these cylinders every few years.

[JiriK]

A bit older Pardini here.. What causes it to feed like in attached picture?
I have replaced all springs in the bolt (recoil-,firing pin- and extractor spring) also replaced magazine spring and installed a buffer.

Tested with CCI std, SK Standard and some Winchester ammo. Same problems..

[Gwhite]

Which round does this, or is it random?

[JiriK]

Same problems with CCI std, SK standard and Winchester. SK´s failed to eject properly, too.

[JFuller]

I have found my (older) Pardini SP feed issues are always solved by stripping and cleaning the mags before shooting, now "any" ammo works.
John.

[Gwhite]

I was going to recommend a good cleaning as well. Pay particular attention to the front of the magazine follower ("elevator") and the inside front the of the magazine. Crud built up there will tend to tilt the follower up in the front. The wax lubricant used on some ammo can deposit a pretty stubborn layer inside the magazine, especially in front.

It's still important to know if it always happens with the same number of rounds in the magazine (1 through 5). If it always occurs at the same round count, it's a strong indication that it is magazine related. Can you borrow another magazine to try? The ones for an SP that old are different from the present design, and I don't know if the old ones are still available. The big difference is the length of the "feed ramp" (tongue) that sticks out in front. The newer magazines are a little longer there, and may require some careful filing to get them to fit in the shorter notch in the older frames. I haven't tried this "conversion" myself, so I don't know how well it would work.

[JiriK]

Ok, thanks, I´ll try cleaning the magazines really well.

Feeding failure never happens on the first round, I´m not sure, but I think 4th and 5th round get most failures.

[Gwhite]

It sounds like a magazine issue. The 5th round is the only one supported by the follower, and not another round underneath, so it behaves differently.

I'm working on writing up what I've discovered about 4th round trapped brass jams, which can be caused by a combination of a weak extractor grip, dirty or fussy magazines, and the vintage of the bolt. Basically, if the magazine and/or the bolt aren't right, the bullet of the 5th round tips up and knocks the 4th round fired case loose from the extractor before it can hit the ejector solidly.

It looks like this, just before the fired case hits the extractor:

4th Round Fired Case Getting Knocked Off Extractor by 5th Round

The bolt design of your vintage of pistol should be OK, and the failure you are seeing is different, but it illustrates the sort of thing that can happen. One other thing to check is that your magazine follower isn't badly worn or broken, especially at the lower front. I took a close look at the photo of your jam, and it looks like the front of your follower is coming up too high. It shouldn't stick up above the metal on the front sides nearly that much. The plastic is very thin there, and it helps prevent the follower from tipping upward too much. I've never seen a broken one, but it's possible.

[JiriK]

Gwhite, thanks for those photos!

I have two magazines for this pistol. One very well used, other not so much. Neither of them have that plastic tab you marked with arrow. I didn´t think anything is missing until seeing that picture and taking a closer look. There is clear markings on bottom of the followers that those tabs were there but have cracked off.

[Gwhite]

They aren't exactly cheap, but the current replacement followers should fit your older magazines just fine. My wife has an SP only a bit newer than yours, and I've replaced one of her followers with a new one. Your pistol is old enough that the plastic may have gotten brittle. That thin section probably gets flexed a tiny bit every time you shoot a magazine.

Someday when I'm bored, I'm going to try to 3D print some spare followers. I can't print that thin section in front, but I think I can add material in the back to prevent the follower from tipping up too far in front. The thin section also guides the spring from in front so it doesn't bind, but a plastic boss in the middle will do the same thing. I've already printed a bunch of the bottom latching plates after launching one across my shop. It vanished for several weeks before I stumbled across it in my reloading gear.

[JiriK]

Local Pardini importer quoted those followers to be 14€ each, but they don´t have any at the moment. They ordered few, but it´ll take a couple of weeks. That´s too long because we have our national championship competitions in two weeks.
So to plan B; I made some calls and was able to borrow a Hämmerli 280 .22lr pistol.

[JFuller]

After coming back from the range today I took the two SP mags apart to compare my followers to GWhite's photo.
Mine appear to be completely fine, I measured the height of the follower front (nose) to be 0.648" and width 0.219", both mags the same dimensions so looks like
I'll just be buying a bigger bottle of Hoppes 9 and stealing my wifes cotton swabs (Q Tips). John