I got lucky. My FedEx driver had to work on Saturday due to black Friday so I got my gun today instead of having to wait Till Monday.
Everybody says this gun is impressive but until you see and hold one you don't get the full measure of its stature. This is a monster of an air rifle. It's bigger and heavier than my Browning 300 short magnum elk rifle. It is quite chunky to boot. I have large hands and the pistol grip feels quite large to me. Thick. Of course the blueing or black chroming or whatever this finish is ... is very nice. The walnut is nicely figured however the oil finish is a bit plain. I have a slight blemish at the right side pistol grip laser engraving. Kinda looks like the laser got loose and made what looks like scratches across the top of the grip. No biggy. The over all look of the gun is just a knock out. Those fish scales are hot. But ...You'd have to be The Rock or The Mountain from GOTs to want to walk around with this gun once scoped. Although we do a lot of pesting from an open jeep so it will get used other than just at the bench.
At the bench: Took a bit to get this outfit anywhere approaching put together. We won't talk about 'dialed in' yet. First I had to figure out that it has a significant barrel droop. About 6 or 7 inches at 25 yds I estimate. I will have to order the Leapers one piece droop compensating mount. I put my Hawke Airmax 30 4 x 16 x 50 on it with FX Nolimit adjustable mounts. These are not the right mounts for a springer I know. Probably won't hold up.
Either the gun is quite hold sensitive, the scope is coming apart inside, the gun's poi is variable until broken in .... or I've lost my mind. %^) Using Exact Jumbo Diabolo 16 gr ... after about 100 pellets it seemed to settle down. Or I did. Up to then I was twisting on those turrets every 5 shot group. The last three groups at 25 yds were under or at the size of a quarter and one of them maybe a nickel. I tried the light no interference type hold and that did not do. I got the best groups with a firm but not tight tuck to the shoulder and no forearm touching at all. Just resting on the sandbag. If I held the gun completely loose the group would open up to a couple inches. More experimentation is in order.
The rifle is reasonably quiet. Not urban back yard quiet but certainly nowhere close to a 22 rimfire. Not really any twang. But it goes chank and not chunk when it speaks. No growl or rubbing noise when cocking. You can hear the spring but just barely. Like rubbing your hand across your jeans lightly. Compared to a pcp the recoil is of course quite noticeable but tame and greatly absorbed by the mass of the gun. The cocking effort is not bad at all for reasonably in shape people. I'm a large person but older and I could have done it all day. The mechanism seems very solid. The bear trap inspires confidence but still one should hang on to that arm with your off hand while inserting a pellet. Sitting makes the cocking easier. You just put the butt of the gun on the edge of the chair seat and then work the arm. I found the fore end too thick to comfortably work the bear trap with my left fingers so I took to releasing the catch with my right hand and flipping up the cocking arm with my left.
The trigger is quite nice. I won't be needing to fiddle with it. The blade is ugly and not suitable to the otherwise dapper rifle but this is a small point. The butt pad is nicely done. It's black and goes well with the dark walnut. Obviously carefully shaped to the stock. The only true negative I have on this gun is the lack of iron sights. If you are going to make a gun this nice you ought to give folks the option of having open sights if they so choose.
Everybody says this gun is impressive but until you see and hold one you don't get the full measure of its stature. This is a monster of an air rifle. It's bigger and heavier than my Browning 300 short magnum elk rifle. It is quite chunky to boot. I have large hands and the pistol grip feels quite large to me. Thick. Of course the blueing or black chroming or whatever this finish is ... is very nice. The walnut is nicely figured however the oil finish is a bit plain. I have a slight blemish at the right side pistol grip laser engraving. Kinda looks like the laser got loose and made what looks like scratches across the top of the grip. No biggy. The over all look of the gun is just a knock out. Those fish scales are hot. But ...You'd have to be The Rock or The Mountain from GOTs to want to walk around with this gun once scoped. Although we do a lot of pesting from an open jeep so it will get used other than just at the bench.
At the bench: Took a bit to get this outfit anywhere approaching put together. We won't talk about 'dialed in' yet. First I had to figure out that it has a significant barrel droop. About 6 or 7 inches at 25 yds I estimate. I will have to order the Leapers one piece droop compensating mount. I put my Hawke Airmax 30 4 x 16 x 50 on it with FX Nolimit adjustable mounts. These are not the right mounts for a springer I know. Probably won't hold up.
Either the gun is quite hold sensitive, the scope is coming apart inside, the gun's poi is variable until broken in .... or I've lost my mind. %^) Using Exact Jumbo Diabolo 16 gr ... after about 100 pellets it seemed to settle down. Or I did. Up to then I was twisting on those turrets every 5 shot group. The last three groups at 25 yds were under or at the size of a quarter and one of them maybe a nickel. I tried the light no interference type hold and that did not do. I got the best groups with a firm but not tight tuck to the shoulder and no forearm touching at all. Just resting on the sandbag. If I held the gun completely loose the group would open up to a couple inches. More experimentation is in order.
The rifle is reasonably quiet. Not urban back yard quiet but certainly nowhere close to a 22 rimfire. Not really any twang. But it goes chank and not chunk when it speaks. No growl or rubbing noise when cocking. You can hear the spring but just barely. Like rubbing your hand across your jeans lightly. Compared to a pcp the recoil is of course quite noticeable but tame and greatly absorbed by the mass of the gun. The cocking effort is not bad at all for reasonably in shape people. I'm a large person but older and I could have done it all day. The mechanism seems very solid. The bear trap inspires confidence but still one should hang on to that arm with your off hand while inserting a pellet. Sitting makes the cocking easier. You just put the butt of the gun on the edge of the chair seat and then work the arm. I found the fore end too thick to comfortably work the bear trap with my left fingers so I took to releasing the catch with my right hand and flipping up the cocking arm with my left.
The trigger is quite nice. I won't be needing to fiddle with it. The blade is ugly and not suitable to the otherwise dapper rifle but this is a small point. The butt pad is nicely done. It's black and goes well with the dark walnut. Obviously carefully shaped to the stock. The only true negative I have on this gun is the lack of iron sights. If you are going to make a gun this nice you ought to give folks the option of having open sights if they so choose.
