Hatsan Gladius... a disappointment?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
N

NevadaZielmeister

Member
Aug 4, 2021
38
0
Nevada, United States
I was REALLY hoping this would not be my first post on here. My apologies for being honest but I was quite disappointed in the Hatsan Gladius. Now this being my first airgun purchase, maybe my expectations are unreasonable, I don't know. My apologies to any and all Hatsan fans and lovers. I am sure these rifles are great in their own ways. While I am probably not experienced enough to give any, here are my observations, nonetheless:

1.) The "Picatinny" rails are actually not Picatinny rails at all. They would not fit my one piece scope mount and my Atlas Bipod. While Hatsan market that the rails on the Gladius fit both 11mm and 22mm rail sizes, it seems my accessories were not meant to fit. I am going to have to say that the Picatinny rails from my accessories are accurate, so Hatsan has to be misleading in this regard.

2.) The fit and finish are awful. I felt that for $600 I should see a little bit better workmanship, but I saw discolorations and machine marks here and there, giving it an overall cheap feel. 

3.) The side charging level is quite hard to use. Charging it takes a bit of force and frankly, I have no idea why that is necessary. Does changing the power wheel change this resistance?

4.) The barrel and the bottle seem to flex compared to each other. Coming from long range rifles, this just seems strange to me. 

So there you have it, my observations that, take them for what they are worth, are probably illustrative of how ignorant I truly am in the airgun world. My question is: Is this typical of airgun rifles? 


 
Hatsan...

There’s your problem. I’m sure there are plenty of airgunners out there who love their Hatsans, but I’ve never been able to get beyond the sheer ugliness of virtually every one of the guns produced by this company.

Do yourself a favor and send that Hatsan right back to wherever you bought it, and put the money refunded you into a Daystate, an FX, a Taipan, a Uragan, or any other higher end airgun with an accompanying good reputation for quality and accuracy. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

And in answer to your question, no, poor quality and disappointment are not generally typical of most of today’s nicer airguns.
 
Upvote 0
The Flash and the Flashpup are the cheap Hatsans and they are the best ones, light weight, solid stocks and very accurate, of course the bolt action one need to be broken in a bit and they need a Crown job right off the bat, but great shooters after that, I stay away from their more expensive offerings since they weigh a ton. Oh, and their picatinny rails are metric not SAE, I tried a single mount too. no go, if you are dead set on using it you could grind out the rail to fit it....
 
Upvote 0
I have a bullboss which similar to yours and I agree with you. If I'm not mistaken, the bullboss, your gladius, and air max are base off the at44. I've read the bt65 pcp's are actually a great gun but I couldn't tell you to if they are. If you could, I would send it back for refund and use that money for a used FX streamlined, wildcat, huntsman, or a bobcat. I've seen some pop up for sale in the classifieds for 600
 
Upvote 0
I really like this site. I have learned so much about air rifles. I am truly thankful for the knowledge I have gotten here. I now have a few air rifles that do all I can ask for.

However I now know that if I don't have a FX I should throw my rifles in a pile and set fire to them.What was I thinking when I bought something other than a FX. Knowing what I know now if I can not afford a FX I should not have got into this hobby at all 

To prove my lack of knowledge I have two Hatsan rifles that are finished very well and shoot extra good. I did not have any problems putting my cheap scopes on either. I reckon this was a trap to fool me on how good my lowly Hatsans are

From know on I will not feel like I am complete because I don't own a FX. I know if I shoot a really good group or make a really good shot it will pale when put up next to what a FX. 

can do.

I am sure the FX guns are great. I have never seen one or shot one. I think from the pictures I see they look very nice. If money was not an object I would like to try one.

I also know everybody has thier thoughts on Airguns but I don't think Hatsan should be burnt to the ground because FX is in the picture.

Thank You and God Bless

Bobby
 
Upvote 0
Hatsan...

There’s your problem. I’m sure there are plenty of airgunners out there who love their Hatsans, but I’ve never been able to get beyond the sheer ugliness of virtually every one of the guns produced by this company.

Do yourself a favor and send that Hatsan right back to wherever you bought it, and put the money refunded you into a Daystate, an FX, a Taipan, a Uragan, or any other higher end airgun with an accompanying good reputation for quality and accuracy. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

And in answer to your question, no, poor quality and disappointment are not generally typical of most of today’s nicer airguns.
Click to expand...

Thank you Phillip. This message resonates with me since I come from the high end long range rifle and pistol competition world. Dropping $1,500 for an air rifle is not much, so I will look into those manufacturers. Luckily, Krale is gracious enough to take the return. The only cost I will suffer is shipping back to Netherlands. So I learned not to buy cheap and nothing overseas. 
 
Upvote 0
I have a .22 Gladius that is powerful and accurate. Is it among the "highest quality" airguns as to fit and finish? No. Does it do what it is designed to do for a reasonable cost? Yes.

But most important Nevada, how does it perform?
Click to expand...

Hi Gunnertrones. Since I could not mount a scope and the bipod barely held, I didn't even try it out. I left my SCBA tank at the dive store overnight to get a proper fill and so did not have any air to charge it. I figured why bother?
Click to expand...

Seems quite telling to me.
 
Upvote 0
Hatsans do have a break in period. I wouldn’t give up on it yet. Not much you can do about the QC finish issues, but I’m sure you can get some adapter rails for your scope and bipod. And the side lever will smooth out a lot over time (spraying dry graphite in the action helps too). After a few hundred pellets you’ll likely have a really good shooter on your hands. I’ve had a .22 Flashpup for almost 2 years now and I love the thing.
 
Upvote 0
I’m a relative newbie to air rifles as well. Wanting to get into .22, .25 and .30 I was able to pick up three used Hatsan guns for substantially less than the price of new ones. The .22 is a Gladius short and the .25 is a Gladius long. The .30 is a bt65. 
I find the Gladius guns both shoot to my satisfaction but I wouldn’t win a shooting contest with the best rifle available anyway. 
They are both very heavy as you already know. 
I haven’t played with the BT65 much but so far it has not done well on paper accuracy wise. 
I think you give an honest evaluation, but for me the Hatsan’s got me into some fun shooting for a very good price. Function wise, I haven’t had any issues. 
I’ve scoped all three rifles and never had any issues doing so. 
 
Upvote 0
Hatsans do have a break in period. I wouldn’t give up on it yet. Not much you can do about the QC finish issues, but I’m sure you can get some adapter rails for your scope and bipod. And the side lever will smooth out a lot over time (spraying dry graphite in the action helps too). After a few hundred pellets you’ll likely have a really good shooter on your hands. I’ve had a .22 Flashpup for almost 2 years now and I love the thing.
Click to expand...

I’m a relative newbie to air rifles as well. Wanting to get into .22, .25 and .30 I was able to pick up three used Hatsan guns for substantially less than the price of new ones. The .22 is a Gladius short and the .25 is a Gladius long. The .30 is a bt65. 
I find the Gladius guns both shoot to my satisfaction but I wouldn’t win a shooting contest with the best rifle available anyway. 
They are both very heavy as you already know. 
I haven’t played with the BT65 much but so far it has not done well on paper accuracy wise. 
I think you give an honest evaluation, but for me the Hatsan’s got me into some fun shooting for a very good price. Function wise, I haven’t had any issues. 
I’ve scoped all three rifles and never had any issues doing so.
Click to expand...

Both good facts to note. Yes, they are generally heavy. Yes, they may require some "break in time". And while I will concede to the OP's view of the scope rail (it is an odd design and can prevent fitting of SOME Picatinny accessories), I also had no issue scoping my Gladius.
 
Upvote 0
Perhaps you shoot it before being disappointed?
Click to expand...

If I cannot mount a scope, what good would that do? I mean, if all it should do is go pop, then it is successful? If it cannot handle a simple scope mount, then I am not interested. Besides, now I can tell the retailer that it was never charged and never fired and they can sell for new. 


 
Upvote 0
The Flash and the Flashpup are the cheap Hatsans and they are the best ones, light weight, solid stocks and very accurate, of course the bolt action one need to be broken in a bit and they need a Crown job right off the bat, but great shooters after that, I stay away from their more expensive offerings since they weigh a ton. Oh, and their picatinny rails are metric not SAE, I tried a single mount too. no go, if you are dead set on using it you could grind out the rail to fit it....
Click to expand...

This is what I've found with Hatsan. Beginners will be impressed with the Flash as I was, mags work great, accuracy much acceptable but once you explore upwards you'll notice an increase in accuracy and workmanship. 

Still shoot my Flash but the machining on my Air Arms and Airforce guns are far superior. 

I've not shot the higher end Hatsans so can really say.
 
Upvote 0
I just got done paying and printing for a label back to the Netherlands. Wow, pretty costly mistake for me. $140 to ship it back and I lose the $60 in shipping. Nothing Krale did wrong here, just showing how costly a mistake buying something overseas. I am learning lots of lessons. 

To book end this whole thread, placed my order for a Edgun Leshiy 2 today. Hopefully that experience will be better. 

Thank you all for your responses. 
 
Upvote 0
This is what I've found with Hatsan. Beginners will be impressed with the Flash as I was, mags work great, accuracy much acceptable but once you explore upwards you'll notice an increase in accuracy and workmanship. 

Still shoot my Flash but the machining on my Air Arms and Airforce guns are far superior. 

I've not shot the higher end Hatsans so can really say.

Yes the Flash and Flashpup need TLC, a little clean up on the machining, but after they are super accurate, I have 7 of these, I bought some for friends too, did the crown and a little touch up and WOW, these shoot as accurate and as powerful as my Uragan and my Hw100's, I put a Baffle I designed it them and now they are almost as quiet as my HW100BP, not bad for a cheap gun, I had some Bullboss's before, they were accurate and worked well, but just too heavy, 10+ lbs scoped, the Flash and Flashpup are 6.5 lbs scoped, light weight.
Click to expand...


 
Upvote 0
Perhaps you shoot it before being disappointed?
Click to expand...

If I cannot mount a scope, what good would that do? I mean, if all it should do is go pop, then it is successful? If it cannot handle a simple scope mount, then I am not interested. Besides, now I can tell the retailer that it was never charged and never fired and they can sell for new. 

Click to expand...

Wow, you could have just bought some scope rings for 40$, saved on shipping it back, and possibly really liked it.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu