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Cricket Mini Carbine vs. Brocock Bantam Sniper

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I'm considering the purchase of one or the other of these rifles in .22 caliber. Please let me know what your opinions are on this. Each one has good features and I can't find any that override one rifle or the other. I only wish the Sniper came with a wood stock.
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I've never owned a Cricket, so I can't speak to those. But I have had a Brocock Bantam Beech Hi-Lite in .25 caliber, which served me very well. And I presently have a Bantam Sniper .22.

I like the ease with which the Huma regulator and the hammer tension can be adjusted, but find that once you dial those in to optimize performance for your chosen pellets, you probably won't be changing those settings much nor often. There is the power dial, but like some other folks do, I just leave that on full. The power dial will reduce velocity, but apparently it does not conserve air usage. 

The barrel shroud is ample in girth and quite effective in reducing report. It unscrews easily for barrel cleaning. And the 1/2" mount for a moderator allows additional reduction in report volume.

The rifle comes with a 10-round magazine and a single-shot tray. 

The preferred pellets with my rifle are JSB 18.13 and JSB 15.89. I routinely get dime size groups at 35 yards and about 115-120 shots on a fill. Filling is very easily done - the fill port is covered with a magnet retained cap.

My rifle came to me well set-up and adjusted. No adjustments were need to the rifle as delivered, though I did experiment with different settings for a few weeks. My rifle has performed flawlessly and my round count with it in the last month or so is around 2200 pellets. No issues or problems.

Lastly, I like that Brocock is part of Daystate and the rifle has a 3-year warranty coverage here in the USA. AoA is the importer, distributor, and warranty center for the USA, as well as a retailer. If you live in the Phoenix, AZ area, that's an extra BIG plus, as AoA would be local to you.


 
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Gonna give you my thoughts based on having owned a Compatto. I sold it, bought a Mini and have never ever looked back. It is my go to PCP 99% of the time. But, I would urge you to get one from a reputable tuner. Out of the box, they can use some TLC. I got mine from Charlie at GA. The Compatto had a few things I ended up not being able to get past. 

Now, I do understand that EBR was won by a Sniper? I will say in my case, for the regular person, I would still choose the Mini. If I knew my way around Air Guns like Charlie, Ernest, etc. I guess, just about any gun. 
 
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Gonna give you my thoughts based on having owned a Compatto. I sold it, bought a Mini and have never ever looked back. It is my go to PCP 99% of the time. But, I would urge you to get one (Cricket) from a reputable tuner. Out of the box, they can use some TLC. I got mine from Charlie at GA.

The Compatto had a few things I ended up not being able to get past. 

Now, I do understand that EBR was won by a Sniper? I will say in my case, for the regular person, I would still choose the Mini. If I knew my way around Air Guns like Charlie, Ernest, etc. I guess, just about any gun.
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What were the few things that you disliked about your Compatto?
 
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Gonna give you my thoughts based on having owned a Compatto. I sold it, bought a Mini and have never ever looked back. It is my go to PCP 99% of the time. But, I would urge you to get one (Cricket) from a reputable tuner. Out of the box, they can use some TLC. I got mine from Charlie at GA.

The Compatto had a few things I ended up not being able to get past. 

Now, I do understand that EBR was won by a Sniper? I will say in my case, for the regular person, I would still choose the Mini. If I knew my way around Air Guns like Charlie, Ernest, etc. I guess, just about any gun.
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What were the few things that you disliked about your Compatto?
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I had a Compatto and wasn't able to get the trigger light enough for my liking. It was nothing like the trigger on either of my Daystates.
 
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@DHart I’m no trigger snob, but the trigger wasn’t to my liking either. It was ok, just not great. I didn’t like the non-regulated curve, I was under the impression that it was a Harper system, but I think it wasn’t, still not sure. If the breach Oring ever blew off, it was a pain to put back.

Otherwise, it was really accurate and honestly not too bad, but I wanted more. Which I guess the Sniper has, but I think the Sniper is a little expensive for a “low end” Daystate. Anyway, I may be wrong, but I really like my Mini. 
 
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@DHart I’m no trigger snob, but the trigger wasn’t to my liking either. It was ok, just not great. I didn’t like the non-regulated curve, I was under the impression that it was a Harper system, but I think it wasn’t, still not sure. If the breach Oring ever blew off, it was a pain to put back.

Otherwise, it was really accurate and honestly not too bad, but I wanted more. Which I guess the Sniper has, but I think the Sniper is a little expensive for a “low end” Daystate. Anyway, I may be wrong, but I really like my Mini.
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Trigger on the Bantam Sniper is no Red Wolf trigger, that's for sure (I have a Red Wolf also). But, even having a Red Wolf also, I've found that the Sniper's trigger serves me well and I enjoy using it. The gun is quite reliable and accurate.
 
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I also do not own a cricket so I will refrain from commenting on it, but here are the things I love about my sniper. Huge shot count, very adjustable, very sturdy synthetic stock, pretty lightweight with great balance, adjustable power in MY rifle from 30 fpe to 16 fpe, ability to use longer pellets, ability to add external moderator, ability to use lower rings with magazine, very actuate, I actually love they trigger I have mine set at 12 Oz, externally adjustable regulator, doesn't seem to be too pellet fussy I've shot 4 VERY different types of pellets so far through it. 

Here are a few things I don't like or would change. I don't like the magazine it's too expensive and does seem to affect accuracy, although quite it does have a slight bark that might attract attention, can be a bit hard to cock, requires you to break cheak weld in order to cock atleast I'm too worried about being poked in eye by rear of the bolt, it did not seem to come with the promised slingshot hammer, I wish there was a way of removing bottle or venting air to make regulator adjustments slightly easier but this is common with all regulated rifles. 
 
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I don’t own a Mini but I do own 2 Snipers. Bought the first in .22 and after shooting it for a week I was so happy with it that I had to get the .25 I just absolute love both. I’m sure there are more expensive rifles out there, I just don’t see how things can get better than the sniper. I mainly shoot the JSB 25 out of my .25 but it also shoots the MKIIs 33gr pretty well. Been taking out soft targets at 133 yards using the 31gr HN grizzlys too. It’s just a bad ash gun. And the trigger on the snipers is a lot better than the Compatto which was my first PCP. 

Sniper gets my vote too. 
 
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I have a Mini Carbine that I use for shooting ground squirrels. It is very good ergonomically and extremely accurate. It is not a high powered gun, mine maxing out at 850 fps with 18 gr JSBs. The air capacity in the tube is also limited, but I can get a full morning hunting out of it. It has the proven quality and reliability of the Cricket system. I like mine a lot and would not be tempted by the Brocock.

1542468168_19572252175bf0324889b9e7.88466936_cricket.JPG

 
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I have a brocock compatto in .177. Its a good shooter but if I was to pick between bantam or cricket. Hands down I would choose the cricket. I personally feel that they are just far better built. Not saying that the bantam/compatto is build bad. I just feel that the cricket is ahead of most with others comparable like edgun, tipan, and vulcan. 
 
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There’s a Bantam and a there’s Bantam Sniper. 2 different rifles and I have owned both. I traded the plain Bantman for the sniper. Sniper has a bigger barrel shroud, better trigger and its regulated. Due to the bigger shroud, it’s a lot quieter too, big time. I have a neighbor that’s been trying to figure out for 3 months who’s knocking down the pigeons that sit on the light pole in front of his house. He is 2 streets behind me, 133 yards away. 
 
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There’s a Bantam and a there’s Bantam Sniper. 2 different rifles and I have owned both. I traded the plain Bantman for the sniper. Sniper has a bigger barrel shroud, better trigger and its regulated. Due to the bigger shroud, it’s a lot quieter too, big time. I have a neighbor that’s been trying to figure out for 3 months who’s knocking down the pigeons that sit on the light pole in front of his house. He is 2 streets behind me, 133 yards away.
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I agree with @racolon please refrain from commenting on another gun unless you've actually owned or shot it. It is also not fair to compare a $600 gun (compatto) or a $900 (Bantam) to either $1400 guns (cricket or sniper). I think the OP would be happy with either gun it really seems to be a matter of shot count vs wood stock. I've also heard of a member taking is sniper to near 50 fpe but he said he did not like it at that level because it was difficult to cock and shot count was horrible. 
 
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I agree with @racolon please refrain from commenting on another gun unless you've actually owned or shot it. It is also not fair to compare a $600 gun (compatto) or a $900 (Bantam) to either $1400 guns (cricket or sniper). I think the OP would be happy with either gun it really seems to be a matter of shot count vs wood stock.
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+1

I have to agree with ya there bud!
 
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I also do not own a cricket so I will refrain from commenting on it, but here are the things I love about my sniper. Huge shot count, very adjustable, very sturdy synthetic stock, pretty lightweight with great balance, adjustable power in MY rifle from 30 fpe to 16 fpe, ability to use longer pellets, ability to add external moderator, ability to use lower rings with magazine, very actuate, I actually love they trigger I have mine set at 12 Oz, externally adjustable regulator, doesn't seem to be too pellet fussy I've shot 4 VERY different types of pellets so far through it. 

Here are a few things I don't like or would change. I don't like the magazine it's too expensive and does seem to affect accuracy, although quite it does have a slight bark that might attract attention, can be a bit hard to cock, requires you to break cheak weld in order to cock atleast I'm too worried about being poked in eye by rear of the bolt, it did not seem to come with the promised slingshot hammer, I wish there was a way of removing bottle or venting air to make regulator adjustments slightly easier but this is common with all regulated rifles.
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I have to admit that I am a magazine snob so I am going to post this in response to your don't like or would change comment...

I have a logical and cheaper solution to the expensive Brocock magazine resulting in inaccuracy problems which could be A- the magazines themselves are no good because they don't index properly thus causing the subsequent pellet chambered to be slightly sheared on one side or B- the machining of the breech is not perfect enough to allign the magazine with enough precision to have the chambered round go clean through into the leade without slightly scuffing one side of the pellet.

Solution is for someone with a 3D printer who owns a Brocock make a device similar to a single shot tray that can accept another manufacturer's magazine such as a cheap Marauder($14.99) or Gauntlet (even cheaper yet $12.95/$12.99 from any Airgun Dealer or $9.98 from Amazon) if there is enough low end clearance into the leade or worst case scenario a Hatsan Flash to give you more shot capacity in 177 and 22 ($18.99 Looks like they really copied FX and a very cheap alternative to use in your FX gun BTW) or Hatsan Semiauto (same style as Flash but more expensive at $24.99 but probably stronger spring and built better) or FX teardrop style magazine (still cheaper than a Daystate mag $59.99-$79.99 depending on shot capacity) which IMO should have enough clearance to do this and if the $79.99 FX Crown mag is a go then you got a ton of rounds loaded in that one (18 in 22 caliber and 16 in 25 caliber). This adapter should fit really snug into the Brocock breech so the foreign (to Brocock) magazines won't pull the adaptor out when switching out mags.

Then all you need to do is to Hajinate the magazines (ONLY IF needed).

This is a doable solution to the Brocock Daystate magazine accuracy issue.

With all of this 3D printing going on out there it is very possible and logical to do this.

I do not currently own any Brococks so I wouldn't be able to do it myself but can only give my suggestion.

Hope this is a helpful suggestion since it is only with good intension and am a magazine snob who believes

when buying a multi shot gun, the magazine should be used reliably without any adverse effects on accuracy.

CA
 
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