Beeman R9 Tuned by Ed Krzynowek "Ekmeister"

I contacted Ed last year about tuning up my late 90's Beeman R9. We discussed it over email and I finally "pulled the trigger" on it. My main goal was to get rid of the twang and to restore power/accuracy. I didn't really have any other goals and didn't truly understand how far Ed would go with it. To say I am impressed would be an understatement.

I went ahead and "sprung" (yes, you are going to get corny dad puns throughout this whole review) for the Ultimate tune. Very glad I did. Ed went above and beyond really. Not only did he change out the springs, but he re-surfaced the barrel crown, removed the rear sight (no point to it), removed all the rust and touched up the bluing, tested multiple pellets to find the best ones, and also found a slight issue with my scope (Swift 4-12x40). Beyond all of that, his communication is amazing. Very verbose and timely. He kept me well informed throughout the whole process and gave me far more information and feedback than I ever would have expected. Honestly, he is worth using just for the communication alone. His thoroughness (both with communication and the work performed) is far more value than the price he charges. If you need your air rifle tuned, I would HIGHLY recommend you talk to Ed first.

As a bonus, here are the first 3 pellets through the air rifle after it was returned. 22 yards with a ~15 MPH tailwind/swirling off of a Caldwell FieldPod. Not ideal conditions and yet great results. The target is a 6" target and the group is ~3/8" center-to-center. Firing cold, with wind, and not on a bench...... I consider those pretty good results and certainly better than when I sent it to him.

Hard to beat a massaged R9, my favorite break barrel.  I have owned and have, many of the HW95, 85, 98, platforms, they are great.

Prairie Farmer

The R9 has been great for 20+ years for me. It's like new. Actually, probably better than new after Ed tuned it. He also tested a bunch of pellets through it and found the brand/weight/size they liked best. I have been using the pellets he recommended and definitely noticed less flyers and tighter groups since switching. I have attempted to find the best pellets for my R9 several times, but was pretty sure it would change again once it was tuned and that supposition was accurate. 

Ed does a fine job for certain. He did both my R1 and R9 and I could not be any more thrilled with them and their performance. 

Congrats on your rifle.

Ed tuned my new model FWB Sport.  There are no kits for this new gun so he had to do it all by intuition.  It came from the factory with a harsh recoil and a heavy hunting type trigger.  Ed tried two differant springs and found one that really smoothed the gun out and still maintained the factory fps.  Now after a couple hundred rounds it is settling in and is very accurate.  The trigger tune he did made all the differance in the world now a very nice light crisp two stage.  Everyone at my club who shoots it likes it.   If you are in need of an old school no compromise tune use Ed K.

Ed C.

@faucetguy

You've been very gracious with your praise about the work I did for you. I'm so glad that you like it.

I'm also glad I purchased one of the Air Rifle Headquarters SST springs before they were discontinued. I didn't know what I was buying it for at the time--you and I hadn't even talked yet. But, it all worked out. If enough people buy the FWB Sport rifle like you did, I feel pretty-sure that James would make another run of SST springs, although I haven't discussed it with him. I want to make that clear.

The spring was such a perfect fit for that gun that it makes me feel like it probably wasn't an accident. No, I haven't confirmed that with him, either. But, based on a couple of decades of working with his products, and my own intuition, that big of a coincidence doesn't seem very likely to me.

We have to give him a break about that kind of thing. It's simply game of numbers for him when it comes to any product that he sells. In other words, it's his version of the old supply and demand thing. If he's only getting a request for a product once a year, it doesn't pay for him to make it and keep it in stock. If he DID do it, how much would he have to charge us for it??

On the other hand, if he can move something out of the door pretty regularly, he's usually quick to come to the aid of those who still like to shoot springers. In that regard...

Look what he's done for the FWB 124. As nice as the rifles were in the beginning, and as much as they cost to buy, there would have been no parts for them. They'd just be relics of days gone by now, sitting in a corner somewhere. But, now he has a couple of nice options to not only bring the rifle back to life, but to improve its performance by a good bit.

If I said how many smooth and accurate foot pounds I've gotten out of the 124 rifle before, people would say I was just making it up. But, I still have the chronograph numbers and the target photos to prove it. The customer's reception said I wasn't blowing things out of proportion with that claim.

Getting back to your rifle @faucetguy, the Monolith mainspring James still sells would also be a very-good fit in the rifle--same wire size, same ID. It has a few less spring coils, yes, so a few extra spacers could be used. The velocity would be less due to less coils, but probably not all that much if it was properly spaced-up.

So, it appears that the world of springers isn't totally frozen in an ice block just yet. It's still alive and doing well in some corners. You're proof of that. So are more than a few other guys here on the forum, who have very-recently posted some really nice photos of their spring guns, and tales of their shooting escapades. 

If the numbers of participants is dwindling, so be it. I have a favorite little story I like to tell in that regard...

Helen Reddy came to Houston for a concert many, many years ago. When it was time for the show to start, there were still a lot of empty seats in the amphitheater. Helen walked on-stage, looked out over the crowd and simply said, "You may be few, but you're choice".  The pretty secretary from my office who went to the concert said that Helen proceeded to put on a terrific show, and the audience totally loved it. 

"Few, but choice".  That doesn't sound like such a bad club in which to belong.

So, thanks for the nice post, including the latest updates!