Macavity Arms bARRA 250Z OR MACAVITY ARMS LONG IN .22? OWNERS CHIME IN!!!

I have both in .22 but my MA2 is the short version. These are totally different from each other. I got both to shoot very accurately, so I won't talk about accuracy at all. The MA2 feels solid, like a much more expensive airgun than it is. It has one of the most smooth shooting cycles around, the finish inside and out is very nice. I know that you have read my longer posts on this gun so I am just saying this for new people. The weakness of this airgun is the stock, it can't accept a folding adapter and the molded in picatinny rail is flexy. Having gotten Maple aftermarket magazines, putting on a MFT butt stock and an Ergo grip, this gun "feels" like a better deal, to me and anyone else I hand it to, not knowing anything else. So, if first impressions are important to you, this one does a much better job to me.

The Barra, I got, was plagued with problems when I got it, again, very well documented here, and over at HAM, but I got it all sorted out, and tricked out, and NOW it is very awesome, but still a vastly different owning and using experience. You can't put a folding adapter on this very long gun either, and the length needs to be accounted for. What it has going for it, is that it is very cool. Not just in how it looks and works but also in how it is made. I had watched Giles Berry's video about the gun this one is based on, and they have changed some things on this version, and he was overly dramatic with the whole thing. Northeastbeast has a video on YouTube where he shows how to completely disassemble and put it completely back together in under 20 minutes. The design is very good and simple. The short MA2 had a lot of untapped potential in the porting so the longer version would even be better, it is not as simple to change the regulator settings on though. I'm reading that many people are opening the thimble port on the Barra (I did too) and you wouldn't have to mess with that on the MA2. I know that some people are just shooting the Barra, out of the box, and liking it too. All depends on what you want to shoot.

I have not shot slugs out of the MA2. With it's longer unchoked barrel, the Barra would seem to be the logical choice if you want to shoot slugs. I had terrible luck with slugs until I tried ZAN and JSB KO's. In .25 caliber the Barra seems to like everything.

Now, back to your question, just opening the box, and shooting what I got, and touching nothing on the gun, in my experience the MA2 is the better deal. I felt like I got more than I paid for compared to other airguns that I have come across. Even if I had gotten a problem free Barra, it did not "feel" like the same quality as the MA2.

BUT! In the end, with all problems sorted out, I would say that the MA2 is the best Plinking gun by a mile, and the Barra is the best hunting gun by even further than that. Like I said in the beginning, these airguns do not compare to each other at all.