An ugly duckling just arrived. Dietary information sheet specifies “30 cal”
Western Airguns New arrival! Sidewinder Mini
- Thread starter weevil
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That is one seriously sweet shorty… what is the OAL as configured. What types of critters are you going to unleash that little beast on? Looking forward to your further impressions.
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It’s just over 26. Came out the box shooting 45grain at 875. Very accurate but ear splitting loud. Switched out the tiny mod for a Sumo and it is much better - maybe borderline backyard friendly. Will tune it down to shoot at 800 for now. Was worried about the trigger but it’s fine. Got it just for fun. A hedonistic alternative to the precision stuff in 177 and 22. Seems to fit the bill.
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I guess I don’t have enough devices to adorn all the rails. Does anyone sell a picatinny-mount sandwich holder?
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Awesome. this gun has been on my list for a while... would prefer .30cal but I've been looking at a used 22 cal, figured it'd be nice to shoot cheap ammo when plinking, and still able to turn up the power for some slugs or redesigns.
Where did you order from? How long did the pre-order wait take?
Where did you order from? How long did the pre-order wait take?
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I think I saw the first videos in October. I left some comments stating that it was ugly and somewhat absurd. A couple days later, I preordered a 30 from AoA, which is totally out of character for me. I guess some part of me thought I should step outside my comfort zone.
After taking it to the range tonight, I can see that it has some therapeutic potential. It’s just fun to shoot and doesn’t draw me in to obsess about tuning and accuracy, although it is surprisingly accurate right out of the box, even in Tommy gun mode. I did get through three tins of pellets in an hour. Thankfully, I have only one magazine, which slowed me down. Once you start lining up the spinners to knock them all down in one pass, or trying to write your initials on a wall, it’s time to leave.
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Here it is with a compact Optisan scope and the Sumo. I think it looks better and feels safer not to have the supporting hand so close to where the pellets emerge. The compact scope is on low rings. I tried a full sized scope and it felt like a suitcase with a trigger!
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Aye any therapeutic group therapy gathered in one's pursuit of HAPPINESS, far out weights costly serious couch time by Dr. Phil types.
"To a warrior, the golf course is a willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range!" ~Col. Jeff Cooper
"To a warrior, the golf course is a willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range!" ~Col. Jeff Cooper
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Did some more “scientific” accuracy testing today. I’m not going to show any targets because I shot into duct seal blocks, which just become a mess with a 30 cal. I was shooting at 30 and 60yards, hoping that the gun would be accurate at lower speeds. The answer is that is no. I went up and down several times from 740-860fps in increments of 10, which is what you get from each click of the wheel (reg is 140bar). It’s like an accuracy switch flips to the “on” state at 800fps.
The downside to this is that the gun is substantially quieter at 750 and I’d be happy to shoot at that speed in my yard, but it’s shooting 2-3in groups at 30y. Then at 800 or above, it’s pellet on pellet at 60y. Here’s a cluster of 6 that were fused together in the duct seal:
The upside is that at least it’s not 900fps like my Huben K1s. I don’t know what it is about these hammerless guns that produces this bipolar relationship between speed and accuracy. It isn’t shot to shot speed variation. I had a chrony attached throughout and the pellet speed was very consistent (SD~2), regardless of the power setting. Anyway, I thought it might be useful to mention in case you’re a would be owner. The versatility in speed is always touted as a selling point and it is easy to change, but at low speeds, you’d be more accurate throwing golf balls.
At 800 and above though, it is shockingly good. While waiting on the preorder list I watched the following video with some level of skepticism. However, these early experiences seem to support the results:
I’ll end with more musings on the trigger. While it isn’t match grade, it doesn’t make it difficult to shoot accurately. Mechanistically, it seems to favor being operated in the same manner as that of a Leshiy 2. There’s a very clean stop before stage 2 and then a long second stage. It’s not heavy but it is long and not conducive to finding a precise break point. In fairness, it’s not nearly as fussy as a L2 trigger but seems to respond well to the same approach. Sorry - I don’t know how better to describe it.
Since I’m far from attached to this thing, I’m totally willing to spill the beans on any negatives, but so far my only real gripes are the noise and the cost of the mags at 160 a pop. I’d say it’s at least on the edge of the “Honey, call the cops” category of @Dr. Kralenstein ‘s Backyard Friendliness Rating Scheme.
The downside to this is that the gun is substantially quieter at 750 and I’d be happy to shoot at that speed in my yard, but it’s shooting 2-3in groups at 30y. Then at 800 or above, it’s pellet on pellet at 60y. Here’s a cluster of 6 that were fused together in the duct seal:
The upside is that at least it’s not 900fps like my Huben K1s. I don’t know what it is about these hammerless guns that produces this bipolar relationship between speed and accuracy. It isn’t shot to shot speed variation. I had a chrony attached throughout and the pellet speed was very consistent (SD~2), regardless of the power setting. Anyway, I thought it might be useful to mention in case you’re a would be owner. The versatility in speed is always touted as a selling point and it is easy to change, but at low speeds, you’d be more accurate throwing golf balls.
At 800 and above though, it is shockingly good. While waiting on the preorder list I watched the following video with some level of skepticism. However, these early experiences seem to support the results:
I’ll end with more musings on the trigger. While it isn’t match grade, it doesn’t make it difficult to shoot accurately. Mechanistically, it seems to favor being operated in the same manner as that of a Leshiy 2. There’s a very clean stop before stage 2 and then a long second stage. It’s not heavy but it is long and not conducive to finding a precise break point. In fairness, it’s not nearly as fussy as a L2 trigger but seems to respond well to the same approach. Sorry - I don’t know how better to describe it.
Since I’m far from attached to this thing, I’m totally willing to spill the beans on any negatives, but so far my only real gripes are the noise and the cost of the mags at 160 a pop. I’d say it’s at least on the edge of the “Honey, call the cops” category of @Dr. Kralenstein ‘s Backyard Friendliness Rating Scheme.
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Killing me here.. that in .30 cal is a huge draw for me. Although I have not considered that noise level being closer to your ears is valid point.
You get yours from AOA?
You get yours from AOA?
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A 480cc bottle would probably match the length of the Sumo. Might as well up the shot count.
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I have the regular Sidewinder in .22, and I agree the gun has the same two key issues - louder than it should be, and only really likes higher speeds.
I have the aftermarket moderator adapter on mine with a Huma 40 moderator, and the muzzle blast is tamed as much as can be expected - it was crazy loud for a .22 with the factory set up. But the noise that comes form the action is massive - and having it right at the ear makes it worse. I also have a Huben in .22, and the Huben is so much quieter even when shooting at higher power levels. I've adjusted the Sidewinder barrel as tight as I dare (more gap to the magazine leads to more air leakage) but overall it's still too darn loud for the power level and moderation I have on it. If I bury the moderator into a pillow and dry fire it, the noise from the action is louder than the Huben shooting actual pellets. As you would expect, it is more comfortable in terms of noise at lower power/ pellet speeds, but it does not shoot as accurately there.
As for speed sensitivity, I find it shoots very accurately with its most liked ammo above 900 FPS, decently down to about 850 or so but with a noticeable drop off in accuracy, and not so good below that. The ES is great at any power level, so that is not the factor . . . I don't know what is - maybe harmonics?
I'd really love the gun it if it were quieter, or could be shot accurately at lower power for most recreational shooting, but as it is I kind of have a love/hate relationship with it. I'm actually thinking of covering the action in mastic to see what that does to the sound, or at least the sound quality . . .
I have the aftermarket moderator adapter on mine with a Huma 40 moderator, and the muzzle blast is tamed as much as can be expected - it was crazy loud for a .22 with the factory set up. But the noise that comes form the action is massive - and having it right at the ear makes it worse. I also have a Huben in .22, and the Huben is so much quieter even when shooting at higher power levels. I've adjusted the Sidewinder barrel as tight as I dare (more gap to the magazine leads to more air leakage) but overall it's still too darn loud for the power level and moderation I have on it. If I bury the moderator into a pillow and dry fire it, the noise from the action is louder than the Huben shooting actual pellets. As you would expect, it is more comfortable in terms of noise at lower power/ pellet speeds, but it does not shoot as accurately there.
As for speed sensitivity, I find it shoots very accurately with its most liked ammo above 900 FPS, decently down to about 850 or so but with a noticeable drop off in accuracy, and not so good below that. The ES is great at any power level, so that is not the factor . . . I don't know what is - maybe harmonics?
I'd really love the gun it if it were quieter, or could be shot accurately at lower power for most recreational shooting, but as it is I kind of have a love/hate relationship with it. I'm actually thinking of covering the action in mastic to see what that does to the sound, or at least the sound quality . . .
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Hi Alan, good to hear from you again, especially in terms of corroborating the speed oddity! I guess I should really be thankful that it seems to get on song at 800. Based on my experiences with the GK1s, which can also maintain accuracy at lower speeds, I’m getting the impression that it might be a function of barrel length. As in, shorter barrels can hit the accuracy switch at lower speed. At least in this case the barrel is really well supported right up to the muzzle, so I’d be surprised if it is a function of barrel harmonics. A nice solution would be to use a lighter projectile, but I don’t know of anything in .30.
Regarding the noise, performing tests with pillow on the muzzle or action, and comparing to the K1 in .25, I don’t find it to be that big of a difference. Perhaps Western has changed something or my barrel is at the sweetest spot. Of course, the mini also simply isn’t pushing out the same amount of air. Thankfully it’s easy to clean the barrel just by popping out the mag, so I don’t have futz with the gapping.
It’s also worth noting that this mini has no shroud - just a mod threaded directly on the barrel. The supplied (small, 0dB) mod was a joke, even at 700fps, and I just happened to have a Sumo on hand that made it somewhat better but certainly still in the “Honey, call the cops” category at 800fps! However, I had an inkling that, as is the case with the Huben pistol, a large Impulse Air might be worth a try. They seem to have magical properties when used on a high power, unshrouded barrel. So I popped one one last night, with an additional baffle section and sure enough, it has substantially tamed the back relative to the Sumo. I’m no expert on suppressor design but the long conical baffles seem to stretch out the report into a long hiss. It’s almost like opening a shaken can of soda and while it’s still not as quiet as I’d like, I think I’d be unlikely (if I were an uneducated bystander) to identify it as a gun.
Anyway, I’m now thinking of venting the back of the Impulse Air and attaching a small shroud. I said I wasn’t gonna get into it with this gun but here we go! At worst, I’ll be “damaging” the muzzle end section of the mod, but because it’s modular, I can get a new one for $40. Currently it’s just a few dB off where I’d be comfortable using it in my (admittedly pretty large) backyard
Edit: As I recall, STO makes a plastic cover to put on the action of the Leshiy 2, which is also loud relative to the muzzle. I don’t think it does much but it might if it were bigger and had a layer of melamine foam. Might be worth considering here to pop on or off depending on context.
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