I received one of these last Friday and after having shot it for four days, have a little information to share. My experience with Beeman products has been limited, but I have three other bullpups that cost much more than the Model 1358 and am very comfortable shooting those.
Generally, this is what I've found thus far:
1) As received, trigger pull measured 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Was gritty with lots of creep. Felt like dragging a stick on a gravel road.
2) Rifle has long first stage, and a second stage with plenty of creep.
3) Removed stock and found almost no lubrication anywhere. Lubed pins with single drops of oil and greased metal plate on bottom of action and adjacent to trigger as well as the trigger contact surfaces. Lubrication brought pull weight to 7 pounds, 0 ounces.
4) There is no way to change length of first stage pull unless threads are cut off of the trigger transfer rod. Perhaps 1/8" could be cut off, but am uncertain if that would be too much.
5) Replaced factory trigger spring with bulk pack gold-colored spring of same diameter and of smaller wire gauge. Cut to same length and installed. Average of 5 pulls using Lyman digital trigger pull gauge is now 2 pounds, 9 ounces.
6) Lots of plastic used in manufacture of this gun. Shroud is plastic. Plastic baffles are molded and attached to plastic front cap. Front cap threads onto threaded muzzle and holds shroud in compression against receiver.
7) Front receiver and front fire control assembly are plastic. Picatinny rails are plastic. Kept lubricated, the trigger and other pins in the front fire control assembly will probably not be a source of wear.
8) Found pictanniny rail and cheek piece screws loose from factory. Philips screws affixing cheek piece had incorrect screwdriver used for tightening. Slots were damaged.
9) One of two supplied magazines was defective and would not fully slide into the breech. Beeman shipped a replacement after being contacted.
10) After about 200 shots, creep in second stage is evident, but can probably be remedied by adjusting sear screw. Will wait a bit longer to allow for more wear-in before adjusting.
11) Hammer spring adjustment is via hole just below cheek piece at rear of gun.
12) Rifle is somewhat loud and wouldn't be backyard friendly for small lots.
13) Rifle seems to prefer pellets in mid-weight category. Heavy and light pellets shoot very large groups. Crosmam 14.3 grain HP and Ultramags as well as Air Arms 16 grain have shot the best. Did not try JSB 15.89 grain but suspect they will shoot similarly to the Air Arms 16 grain.
14) Have not chronographed yet and have been trying to select most accurate pellets beforehand. Shot count from 3000 psig to 1100 psig is 35 shots. (See targets)
15) I couldn't see well enough through the included Beeman 4X scope, and instead installed a 1" diameter 4 x 12 x 40 AO scope.
16) Wooden stock is well finished and mine had no blemishes.
After shooting a bit more, I'll examine the bore with a digital bore scope. After pulling a half dozen patches through it to remove storage grease, the next several patches pulled through very easily and no rough spots were felt.
Karl
Generally, this is what I've found thus far:
1) As received, trigger pull measured 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Was gritty with lots of creep. Felt like dragging a stick on a gravel road.
2) Rifle has long first stage, and a second stage with plenty of creep.
3) Removed stock and found almost no lubrication anywhere. Lubed pins with single drops of oil and greased metal plate on bottom of action and adjacent to trigger as well as the trigger contact surfaces. Lubrication brought pull weight to 7 pounds, 0 ounces.
4) There is no way to change length of first stage pull unless threads are cut off of the trigger transfer rod. Perhaps 1/8" could be cut off, but am uncertain if that would be too much.
5) Replaced factory trigger spring with bulk pack gold-colored spring of same diameter and of smaller wire gauge. Cut to same length and installed. Average of 5 pulls using Lyman digital trigger pull gauge is now 2 pounds, 9 ounces.
6) Lots of plastic used in manufacture of this gun. Shroud is plastic. Plastic baffles are molded and attached to plastic front cap. Front cap threads onto threaded muzzle and holds shroud in compression against receiver.
7) Front receiver and front fire control assembly are plastic. Picatinny rails are plastic. Kept lubricated, the trigger and other pins in the front fire control assembly will probably not be a source of wear.
8) Found pictanniny rail and cheek piece screws loose from factory. Philips screws affixing cheek piece had incorrect screwdriver used for tightening. Slots were damaged.
9) One of two supplied magazines was defective and would not fully slide into the breech. Beeman shipped a replacement after being contacted.
10) After about 200 shots, creep in second stage is evident, but can probably be remedied by adjusting sear screw. Will wait a bit longer to allow for more wear-in before adjusting.
11) Hammer spring adjustment is via hole just below cheek piece at rear of gun.
12) Rifle is somewhat loud and wouldn't be backyard friendly for small lots.
13) Rifle seems to prefer pellets in mid-weight category. Heavy and light pellets shoot very large groups. Crosmam 14.3 grain HP and Ultramags as well as Air Arms 16 grain have shot the best. Did not try JSB 15.89 grain but suspect they will shoot similarly to the Air Arms 16 grain.
14) Have not chronographed yet and have been trying to select most accurate pellets beforehand. Shot count from 3000 psig to 1100 psig is 35 shots. (See targets)
15) I couldn't see well enough through the included Beeman 4X scope, and instead installed a 1" diameter 4 x 12 x 40 AO scope.
16) Wooden stock is well finished and mine had no blemishes.
After shooting a bit more, I'll examine the bore with a digital bore scope. After pulling a half dozen patches through it to remove storage grease, the next several patches pulled through very easily and no rough spots were felt.
Karl
