Loading the cricket. I'm a little unclear on the function of the little toggle on right side of the gun. Charlie Frear went over this with me but I thought I'd ask on the forum. I understand that the cocking lever needs to be fully back and held and the mag inserted correctly. I am able to rotate and index the mag and then position the toggle forward and down (some rotation of the mag required.) Then forward with the cocking lever which seats the pellet . Charlie then had me move that toggle again and I am not sure what his instructions were but why would you need to move the toggle after loading the pellet into the chamber. The toggle is already in its forward and down position. ( the back position prevents the mag from rotating an indexing with the cocking lever). Seems to me if you imsert the mag correctly and position the toggle your done with that and all the rest is the cocking lever until you need to replace the mag. OR am I missing something. Owners manual ever more confusing. Talks about manually rotating the mag. I think I'm doing it correctly the guns shooting fine.
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how to load the CRICKET
- Thread starter bubblerboy64
- Start date
Got a new one myself. Retract the lever probe handle. Pull back on the magazine lock and insert magazine. Now push lock ALL THE WAY FORWARD. Spin cylinder to hear ratchet pawl strike magazine. Slight ping will be heard. If you dont get lock all the way forward and seat the pawl in mag it wont advance by lever.
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If you own a Cricket, do yourself a favor and get a DonnyFL Cricket side plate.
From Donny’s web site:
One of the downside to the Crickets that you hear all the time is how cumbersome it is to switch magaizines. Most of the time you need two hands to complete a simple task. This modified side plate allows you to do just that, pull back the indexer and rest it in the second slot. Once the magazine has been inserted, lift up the indexer lever and return it to the front.
https://donnyfl.com/products/modified-cricket-side-plate
From Donny’s web site:
One of the downside to the Crickets that you hear all the time is how cumbersome it is to switch magaizines. Most of the time you need two hands to complete a simple task. This modified side plate allows you to do just that, pull back the indexer and rest it in the second slot. Once the magazine has been inserted, lift up the indexer lever and return it to the front.
https://donnyfl.com/products/modified-cricket-side-plate
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Ok now a question about the Donnyfl device. With the cocking lever back fully and the toggle in the detent provided with the Donnyfl side plate the mags going to fall out out the one side or the other pretty much requiring two hands anyways. Right? Not right?
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It took me about two or three times with the magazine not rotating to figure out the toggle lever. Now it's second nature. And I like the way the magazine falls in my hand when I pull back the cocking lever and the toggle. Taking two hands for me isn't a problem. And probably an added advantage to the Cricket mags is they're not spring loaded which to me means not having to use a single tray loader for better accuracy.
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The confusion for me was the instructions given. Once the mag is positioned you move the toggle forward and down. (Which might require some rotation of the mag to engage the paw that rotates the mag) Close the cocking lever DONE. That sound correct?
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The Donnie FL aftermarket side plate is a big improvement over the original. Here's the Donnie FL installed, the original plate is lying on the stock.
BTW it's just two screws out and two screws in to install.
BTW it's just two screws out and two screws in to install.
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That new plate is nice but I've never had any problems loading mine. Ernest has a great video showing how to load the mag.
https://youtu.be/-E1CsZkGOaY
Jimmy
https://youtu.be/-E1CsZkGOaY
Jimmy
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Jimmy thank you so much for posting the video. That clearly explains what I was needed to know. I had it pretty well figured out but that video showing the mechanism completed my understanding. I GET IT NOW. Very helpful.
I did come across a You tube video of how to modify the side plate by cutting a small grove to hold the toggle back while loading the mag essentially what the Donnyfl side plate is doing. I did that. It's a of some benefit but not necessary once you understand how the mechanism works.
I did come across a You tube video of how to modify the side plate by cutting a small grove to hold the toggle back while loading the mag essentially what the Donnyfl side plate is doing. I did that. It's a of some benefit but not necessary once you understand how the mechanism works.
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You should also know that the middle spot is also usable as a safety of sorts. Say your gun is at home and you want to put the "safety" on, but loaded...or you want to hunt and carry it loaded, but not cocked. Cock the bolt so that you push the bolt through the empty hole in the mag. Put the lever in the middle position and you can now decock the gun without rotating the cylinder, leaving the empty spot at the chamber. Now you can close the bolt, and again the mag doesn't rotate. You can hand someone the gun, they can pull the trigger and the gun's not cocked; they can cock the gun and fire it, but no pellet would have loaded, as the mag won't rotate.
I thought about the Donny plate, but it's not like it's some crazy big deal to load the gun. You can do it one-handed if you point the barrel up to the sky...at least I can. And, I didn't want a larger hole to be a potential place more dirt could enter the inner workings. I need to check my OEM plate when I get home, as I didn't think mine had as much space as the one above that Mr. Tubeman posted. Anyhoo, love me some Cricket .25 @ 50+ fpe unmolested!
I thought about the Donny plate, but it's not like it's some crazy big deal to load the gun. You can do it one-handed if you point the barrel up to the sky...at least I can. And, I didn't want a larger hole to be a potential place more dirt could enter the inner workings. I need to check my OEM plate when I get home, as I didn't think mine had as much space as the one above that Mr. Tubeman posted. Anyhoo, love me some Cricket .25 @ 50+ fpe unmolested!
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