AEA airguns any good ??

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i have a
AEA HP Semiauto SS .22Cal Plus on the way next week purchased from BINTAC great guy to deal with, this will be my second AEA , my first is a HP ss 22 cal got it used from a forum member , it came with a 500 cc alum tank which made it nose heavy for me with artiritic hands & heavy trigger, that is the only 2 complaints i have, i actualy called Bintac for a bottle adapter to install a C/F bottle to lighten up the 1st gen aea ss hp & purchased the adapter & the new Aea. i cant wait. i have not shot any pellets in 4 months , i work 2 jobs in the construction season, now 1 job..
 
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I had an AEA HPBP .25cal pictured below.

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I cannot recommend them. Let me just list the issues I had with this gun before I sold it at a significant loss:

  • Semi-Auto function prone to jamming, and when it jams you may destroy a magazine. I destroyed two magazines that way.
  • The gun was supposed to be an 80fpe gun, but the one that I got was just a tad over 50fpe. I complained, and they said they would send me the strong spring to give me that power, but the spring never came.
  • You see the pic rail that the bipod is mounted on? That is only mounted to the frame with one screw, so with the least amount of force it will spin. It's also the same piece of metal for the trigger guard. Eventually, I sent it back, and they tapped another screw in to remedy it.
  • There are no sling mounts on the gun. I had to add my own MagPul style mounts so I could hunt with the gun.
  • You can't mount a suppressor to the gun, because that will mess up the semi-auto functionality.
  • Trigger pull was around 7.5 pounds
  • EDIT: Forgot to mention the bolt is so hard to pull back, I have to sit the gun on the ground butt first and put my body weight on it to cock. After doing that three times, the palm of my hand is too sore to do for a fourth, so I had to get a six inch long 2x4 to take the pressure off of my palm.

They push out models super fast, which makes you wonder how long you will even be able to get support for the model you just bought. Just count how many models they have come out with just this year, I think it's over 10 different models, and I'm not talking about different calibers, that is just the models! Add in the caliber differences and you may have over 50 different guns!

EDIT: They also make changes to their guns mid production run without changing the model name. Who in the world does that? How can you ever really know what you are getting>

They saturate the market at the low end pushing cheap semi-auto and big power. With all of that said, my gun was accurate, but they accuracy would suffer because of the super heavy trigger pull!
 
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I recently received an AEA HP SS .22 from one of the major online retailers, that I've always had great service with in the past.

First of all, it was apparent this rifle never had a magazine loaded into it. I finally found a YouTube video that showed how to adjust the barrel out to get enough clearance to get the magazines to fit.

2. I have yet to get it to shot a complete mag without some sore of screw up. After checking more YouTube videos, one of the venders says the magazine springs may be too weak. :( Next time out, I"ll see if the failures are limited to one or both of the two mags. Or maybe I need to screw the barrel out a little more.

3. This may be interpreted as good or bad. I don't have to worry about my grandkids sneaking off with this rifle because there is no way they can pull the bolt back and load a magazine, or pull the trigger.

Disclaimer, this is not my first air rifle, I have a couple FX's, a LCS-19 (very fun and it works without a hiccup), and recently the new model RTI, very sweet air rifle. Am I ready to sell it? No, not really, I do enjoy a challenge, and plan on having some fun with it!. 

Hope you have better luck with yours.


 
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I think it comes down to scaling issue. I do believe they make excellent entry level PCPs due to their price; however, there are pros and cons to that. In general, people like getting deals, and AEAs appear to have excellent value when it comes to cost respective to their quality (or lack there of). So here's what I think is happening. Less people, especially beginners, purchase PCPs with similar features that cost north of $1000. If 1 out of 100 is a lemon, then we only hear one person complaining about it. If AEA sells 1000 with the same lemon percentage, you have 10 people complaining about it. The fact is a lot of people buy AEAs. I know a handful of people who have really nice FXs and other premium PCPs that still purchase AEAs as plinker/truck guns.

Unfortunately, the quality control is also impacted by the number of air rifles/pistols they churn out. That's just statistical reality. That being said, your odds of getting a lemon out the gate are higher than going the "buy nice, or buy twice" or " buy once, cry once" route.

Peace of mind in itself has value, so I typically recommend just getting the dream gun. Sure, it's more than you'd ever thought you'd spend, but every little detail just adds up in the end resulting in a more enjoyable experience. Your odds of getting a lemon are smaller and, if you do have issues, the customer support is usually better.

Personally, I own two AEAs, and my first one, HP SS Plus 30 cal, had a leak at the gauge when I got it. I just tightened it a degree to fix it. Then I had to learn how to make it run properly. The semi-autos like perfect pellets / slugs. eBay pellets with casting flash and Hatsan Vortex don't cycle well. I've found that it shoots NSA slugs 49.5gr and higher accurately and reliably from about 3200 psi for a good 50 shots (I upgraded the cylinder from 300cc to 450cc). The slugs are also quieter. When I say accurately, I mean "Minute of Squirrel's head" at 25 yards. When I say reliably, I haven't had ANY cycling issues. No low powered first shots / short stroking even when filled to 3600 psi. That being said, I only shoot slugs out of that gun now. It is my work horse, and I use it for pest control around the house. It's great for rats at night.

The issue my .357 Challenger has is I need to fiddle with the fill probe before it gets a good seal. I changed out the o-rings, but the issue still remains. I tried one size up, but I couldn't get the probe in at all. There is an in-between size I've just been too lazy to order, because that minute it takes me to find that sweet spot isn't that big of a deal to me. Another annoyance is how loud the action is. I also use NSA slugs out of this one, and the sound out of the muzzle is very quiet. I still run an Emperor moderator on it, but the action will still get nearby birds to fly away when I shoot it.

The AEA groups on facebook are equal parts praise and complaints. That's not good. If you're the kind of guy who can live with interior panel rattling in a new car, the AEA is probably a fine gun for you. If something like that would drive you nuts, look elsewhere.


 
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Mine work really good. AEA is not a 2k FX or LCS. But they are worth every penny you'll pay. They function as advertised. I have an AEA HP Varmint and carbine TD. Both are from the second gen. I've got 1000 pellets fired from each gun. Accuracy is high. This actions are not so smooth, they work well. I've had probably 3 James with my semi carbine, but it was my error. I was filling a bit too much. But after break in and my overfills both guns get well over 60 shots. No jams to speak of now.

I typically get 7 ten round mags from my carbine and 5 or 6 from my Varmint.

I'm getting 3 more mags than AEA says you should get. Maybe they ment you get 4 mags of fairly equal power before it drops a lot. But 70 rounds before a fill is really good from a semi. So I like my AEA hp carbine and Varmint. They make a good quality "budget" rifles and ide probably get one cause I think they are gonna start to charge more soon. The carbine TD I own already went up 150 dollars the 6mo that since I got mine.
 
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I love my 25cal HP Varmint. Once I found a slug that it likes, I shot inside-out on a 3/4 dot at 30 yards at 65 ft/lb.
A couple of reviews I saw of the 25 showed that the gun likes heavier slugs. That held true with mine- the best through it are H&N 36gr. 37gr ZAN slugs are close behind. I can't imagine ever needing to find anything else with how good the H&Ns work.
 
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stony30 said:
So I'm not a newbie and am pretty experienced with pcp airguns and prefer bullpup or carbine style ones, but can you guys with actual "hands on " experience with this brand please chime in ? Are the semi-auto models reliable and cycle as designed ? I had a semi-auto(not so much) Hatsan Bullmaster I returned to pyramydair.com that failed to cycle constantly .The price points on AEA are hard to ignore. I've owned Crosman pcps(1st pcps I experienced) Hatsan, Kral, Artemis and Fx(.25 Wildcat and Impact Mk1s ). I definitely prefer quiet stock(oem) . Thanks in advance for responses.
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I currently have three of them, a .357, a .25 Varmint and a .22 Carbine.

The Challenger in .357 is solid in all ways, a little trigger polishing and I was golden.

The Varmint in .25 got the trigger polish too. Ill polish the barrel to tighten up the groups to my liking.

The Carbine in .22 too some work to dial in, the action would not cycle and would double feed, fail to feed and jam. Most of what I did to fix that was to not fill the gun past 3000 psi, then I added plugs into the gas passage disk to dial the bolt down until it cycled perfectly.

This past weekend I tuned the 14gr pellets to shoot at 870 fps and the groups tightened up dramatically and I think I can fill it beyond 3k now.

The Carbine is a keeper, I carry it everywhere and even rack it on my ATV.
 
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I just picked up the aea challenger pro 22 cal, And love it. Easy to tune and it comes with two hammer springs, and they are easy to change and has a barrel tensioner. This rifle is a pain in the butt to bleed out all of the air to make a reg change. But once you get it set, you shouldn't have to do it very often. Mine was shooting 1082fps at 81.10 fpe out of the box with nsa 31.2 slugs .218. I have since tuned it down to 1035 fps at 74.21 fpe and it seems to like it there. Moa to sub moa at 50 yards, still working on my scope and mounting. It's a lot of rifle for the money, trigger not that bad for me. Its alot better then my Gauntlet 2 was, Kinda the same as a hunting rifle for me. I do tend to do a trigger job on it soon. The cocking action is very easy and smooth, but the stock has some play in it where it latches. It's a milspec stock which you can find a replacement just about anywhere. I'm just going to shim mine, I don't intend on folding my stock any ways. The biggest drawback for me is that I only get about two 12 shoot mags (24 shots total) before I'm right at my reg pressure. So if you don't have a compressor or scba tank, you won't get much shooting in. That's one of the things I loved about my Gauntlet 2, I'm was getting around 60 shots in between refills. I only have about 150 rounds though it as of today, so I can't speak on reliability. But it does feel well built and a simple design. Like I said, I like it, I don't have any brand loyalty at this point. I picked this up to be a slug shooter, and it does it very well. I'm very optimistic about my future with it, and feel it's going to meet my needs easy. Good luck and hope you got some useful information from all of this rambling I'm doing, take care.
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Firewalker said:
I currently have three of them, a .357, a .25 Varmint and a .22 Carbine.

The Challenger in .357 is solid in all ways, a little trigger polishing and I was golden.

The Varmint in .25 got the trigger polish too. Ill polish the barrel to tighten up the groups to my liking.

The Carbine in .22 too some work to dial in, the action would not cycle and would double feed, fail to feed and jam. Most of what I did to fix that was to not fill the gun past 3000 psi, then I added plugs into the gas passage disk to dial the bolt down until it cycled perfectly.

This past weekend I tuned the 14gr pellets to shoot at 870 fps and the groups tightened up dramatically and I think I can fill it beyond 3k now.

The Carbine is a keeper, I carry it everywhere and even rack it on my ATV.
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Can you post an instruction to polish the AEA Challenger 357 and the Varmint? I got both of those and the trigger is 10 lbs on challenger an 5lbs on the varmint
 
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patrick Daniel said:
Mine work really good. AEA is not a 2k FX or LCS. But they are worth every penny you'll pay. They function as advertised. I have an AEA HP Varmint and carbine TD. Both are from the second gen. I've got 1000 pellets fired from each gun. Accuracy is high. This actions are not so smooth, they work well. I've had probably 3 James with my semi carbine, but it was my error. I was filling a bit too much. But after break in and my overfills both guns get well over 60 shots. No jams to speak of now.

I typically get 7 ten round mags from my carbine and 5 or 6 from my Varmint.

I'm getting 3 more mags than AEA says you should get. Maybe they ment you get 4 mags of fairly equal power before it drops a lot. But 70 rounds before a fill is really good from a semi. So I like my AEA hp carbine and Varmint. They make a good quality "budget" rifles and ide probably get one cause I think they are gonna start to charge more soon. The carbine TD I own already went up 150 dollars the 6mo that since I got mine.
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I agree 100% w/ Patrick's comments. AEA has brought to market some of the best entry+ level PCP line of Air guns over the last couple of years.
IMHO, only Air Venturi can rival them at these price points in reliability & quality. (but even then, AEA rules the roost in power levels)

Owning 3 different levels of price points in Air rifles ($850, $1200, & $2200-ALL Semi-Auto), I feel like AEA gets a 4 out of 5 stars for it's accessibility to the market at it's budget level prices for what you get. I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars for quality in general, but that can be improved probably more by quality control on the dealers level.

i.e. I give them a "GOOD" review for they're GEN 2 models, with a high potential for improvement in reliability in the coming years.

I also suggest buying from BINTAC, LLC specifically for the best customer service and shipping costs.

:)
 
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