Kral Arms Empire XS

[Iroq149]

Ok, got it out for some pellet sampling and what not, couple observations if anyone cares...

First off, it’s a porky little bugger. Comes in at about 9.5 pounds. The big carrying handle is helpful.

It’s an air hog. Goes through air like pappy’s ’74 Impala wagon went through gasoline. Getting two mags per fill, but I swear I can hear the hammer dancing after every shot. Saw Troy’s mod, looks like something to try down the road.

Pellet fussy; I tried a bunch at about 10 yards to get it sighted and see what groups looked like. Some cheap wad cutters were a joke, didn’t inspire much confidence. JSB’s were ok, seemed to like Hades the best, not so much the Monsters. I was developing some buyers remorse at that point. Then tried some H&N Barracudas. It loved them, so much so that I went out to 25 yards to see what they’d do. Picking off sweet gum seed pods was a snap. Pretty happy with that accuracy.

Wasn’t thrilled with the grip, my middle finger wanted to be lower on the handle, below the indent, making it a little uncomfortable. Nothing some rasp work can‘t remedy.

Pretty loud, even with the moderator. An air cannon without it.

The shortness is handy, yes, bullpups are different...

 

[Iroq149]

Sorry, had my fish mixed up with the fur...Kodiaks, not Barracudas

 

[Iroq149]

But I suppose they’re the same

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

My 22 kral barrels tend to like the hades and baracuda hunters as well. Try some polymags and H&N terminators.

My 25 barrels LOVE the 34s and 25.4s
JTS pellets have the edge over JSB in my 11" barrel mega.

 

[Iroq149]

Interesting. I had tried some other JSB’s, but the Hades were the best of the bunch. I have some poly mags but I didn’t try them.

I’m wondering if Kodiaks and Barracudas are the same.

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

Interesting. I had tried some other JSB’s, but the Hades were the best of the bunch. I have some poly mags but I didn’t try them.

I’m wondering if Kodiaks and Barracudas are the same.

Pretty sure they just changed the name of them to baracuda. They used to be made under the beeman name, but H&N I believe was always the parent company.

 

[Perle]

Kral barreled .22 ( I have 2)
Seem to like JSB 14.3 and 18.13. Both 5.52 head size

 

[Iroq149]

Did a little more testing yesterday, maybe it settled in some, but it seemed to be much more pellet tolerant. Don’t know if thats a common thing but I had also drilled out the hammer a little more to the point where it just backs off the preload. Maybe it was shooting too hot, don’t have a chrony so I can’t tell for sure but it still has plenty of oomph. As a side benefit, it’s allowing me to get just over 4 mags out of a fill

Ordered some other pellets to sample, still seems to like the 21 grain Barrakodiaks best...

Didn’t seem to care for the Polymags tho

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

Did a little more testing yesterday, maybe it settled in some, but it seemed to be much more pellet tolerant. Don’t know if thats a common thing but I had also drilled out the hammer a little more to the point where it just backs off the preload. Maybe it was shooting too hot, don’t have a chrony so I can’t tell for sure but it still has plenty of oomph. As a side benefit, it’s allowing me to get just over 4 mags out of a fill

Ordered some other pellets to sample, still seems to like the 21 grain Barrakodiaks best...

Didn’t seem to care for the Polymags tho

They do need to season/lead in for a few hundred rounds. Sounds like you're on the right path!

 

[Perle]

Perhaps you can show us some groups ?

 

[Iroq149]

Nothing set up yet, just plinking at corks and seed pods. Maybe over the weekend. I did try some cheap Russian Kvintor pellets, they actually shot pretty well. They’re pretty dirty tho

 

[Iroq149]

So a week in, it developed a leak. Noticed it yesterday when a shot sounded really weak, it was down to halfway in the yellow zone. Took the tube out, and a quick water test showed it was leaking at the fill port. Degassed it by tapping the valve a bunch of times with a soft hammer.

Turned out to be a little piece of Oring got stuck between the fill valve and the tube cap. The factory rings are junk. When I went to remove them they just broke.

Also, one of the the Orings on the tube cap was buggered, but I‘m not sure what it does. Replaced it anyway

 

[Iroq149]

The probe rings are P5, the larger one is a #81

 

[MikeVV]

Looks more like sloppy assembly than...bad o-rings !

Shot mine two days ago, with a different red dot on it. Still working well.

Mike

 

[Iroq149]

Mike, I agree about the large O-ring, but the yellow ones on the fill probe really are garbage. Very soft, one had a small tag hanging on it, and that may have been what got inhaled and caused the leak. The P5’s are a little stiffer and need a bit more of a push to get in there but a little silicone grease helped.

The video on YouTube regarding disassembly is very helpful. He mentions the burst disc as another possible leak point, I forgot to mention that it also was letting a little bubble out every 20 seconds or so. Snugged it down with a 4mm Allen wrench, it also stopped leaking.

Overall these are built like tanks, robust with pretty good machining. I’m pretty happy with it after working out some little issues. The 14oz trigger is also very nice.

 

[Perle]

I use a hatsan probe with some freshly sourced ace hardware o rings

 

[Iroq149]

Cool. Ace is the place Not familiar with Hatsans, but other than the replaced spongy yellow O rings it works fine. Also, there was no further leakage. And since I had the stock off, I put a couple coats of oil on it. We’ll see if that was a good idea or not...

 

[MikeVV]

Cool. Ace is the place Not familiar with Hatsans, but other than the replaced spongy yellow O rings it works fine. Also, there was no further leakage. And since I had the stock off, I put a couple coats of oil on it. We’ll see if that was a good idea or not...

Yeah, for cheap little gun, they / someone did a very nice job of making the stocks. Shape/design, the fit and finish is well done.

Mike

 

[Perle]

Cool. Ace is the place Not familiar with Hatsans, but other than the replaced spongy yellow O rings it works fine. Also, there was no further leakage. And since I had the stock off, I put a couple coats of oil on it. We’ll see if that was a good idea or not...

Il bet it looks great after the oil They have some excellent wood.

 

[Iroq149]

Came out ok, not great. Used Watco teak oil, might’ve made it a bit darker. Plinked a little more, gotta set up a bench to see what it really can do. Pretty happy with it’s accuracy, I know it’s me, not the gun. Four tins of Barracudas arrived this morning and they seem to shoot very well.