[SargePayne]

I purchased the Novritsch SSX-23 pistol with gas mags (3). Out of the box, each of these magazines got only around 27 shots each before being to low on gas to maintain FPS. Now, each of them has been fully cycled and refilled 4 times each, and the shot count varies from 35 - 50 shots prior to losing power/running out of gas. After seeing plenty of youtube vids on this pistol prior to buying and them saying they are getting upward of 100 shots per fill, my question is this - Do gas mags have a "break in" period? Can I expect the shots per fill to continue to rise if this is the case? Or, are the vids just fanboys trying to make it look good and not necessarily accurate? Experiences?
Thanks in advance for the answers.
Sarge out

P.S. - yes, I know propane has an E on the end just noticed it in the title and can't change it.

 

[Graybeard]

So, the drawback of Gas Blowback is that Propain/Greengas performance is inconsistent. The gas is greatly affected by temperature. Also, the faster you fire the system, the cooler they get, which then affects efficiency. I‘m not familiar with the SSX-23, or the similar systems. I usually get about 1.5-2 loads of bbs through a charged magazine.

The first load of gas was probably not as full as the following gas charges due to the air trapped inside the magazine. The trick around this is to ‘prime‘ the mag by holding the release valve open while holding the mag upside down, begin charging. Don’t release the valve until gas starts to freely flow through the magazine. Then fill as instructed. This might help you get to max round count quicker…

 

[SargePayne]

Good stuff, thanks! I am on par with your 1.5 to 2 loads per fill, so I will take that as normal. Good idea of how to ensure a full fill from empty by bleeding. I knew I would get some good info.
Thanks again!

 

[Guges Mk3]

So, the drawback of Gas Blowback is that Propain/Greengas performance is inconsistent. The gas is greatly affected by temperature. Also, the faster you fire the system, the cooler they get, which then affects efficiency. I‘m not familiar with the SSX-23, or the similar systems.

That is more indicative of CO2 than "propane". If you put in a LP valve you can lock consistency down...like this:

Unlike the same pistol with a CO2 mag, that loses 60fps from shot one to last shot.

Don't worry about shots per mag. It is really irrelevant, because you can top off the magazine with gas when you refill the bbs. Which you can't do with a CO2 jet.

Also, it's all about operating temps.

PV=nRT, your a diver...you should have a background with this, right?

Never try to fill a warm mag...it's harder to do if not impossible in some cases.

Fill mags when it's colder than the fill tank. Don't waste gas by priming the magazine. Rather. Get a bucket of ice water and and zip loc bag. As you rotate mags put the spent mag in the ice bath and you can get a "prime-less" fill out of it.

If you ever played paintball with CO2...it's the same principle.

I run a shooting range for Police Explorers in April at a State Conference...after each series. I just top off the mags with gas.