50 yard groups with new cricket.

Is it possible that you moved the card slightly when you turned it upside down? That would account for the shift in poi. As would you moving your shooting position when you got up to turn the card, espiecially if the parallax wasn't adjusted for the distance. Either way, nice groups.

What caliber is it? I assume 22 with it being 14 shot group (1 mag). 
 
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"zebra"Is it possible that you moved the card slightly when you turned it upside down? That would account for the shift in poi. As would you moving your shooting position when you got up to turn the card, espiecially if the parallax wasn't adjusted for the distance. Either way, nice groups.

What caliber is it? I assume 22 with it being 14 shot group (1 mag).
I didn't even think of that. yes the card was a little crooked after I flipped it over. yes .22 caliber 
 
"jking"Muskrat, with all the new bull pups out what made you decide to go with the Cricket? There's been a lot of praise on the Mutant and of course the FX line of BP's and the Vulcans. Looks like you got a good one. Great groups. 
Jimmy

well... I didn't want another FX after the pin fell out of the cocking handle on my Wildcat that only had a few mags thru it. Straight out of the box this cricket feels more solid then my wildcat did. my cricket is also much more accurate. 

the mutant looks good. but I felt like the cricket was more proven. Vulcan also looks good, but a few hundred more then the cricket, and I'm not sure if they offer a synthetic stock? 
 
"jking"Muskrat, with all the new bull pups out what made you decide to go with the Cricket? There's been a lot of praise on the Mutant and of course the FX line of BP's and the Vulcans. Looks like you got a good one. Great groups. 
Jimmy


I have both a Cricket Compact .177 and Mutant Short .22 and can give you some insights. Both are great choices and accuracy is a non-issue for me. That said, if you can cope with the appearance of a Mutant, in my opinion it's the superior bullpup. It may not look as good as a Cricket in many people's eyes but it has well thought out features that the aging Cricket design needs to better implement. 

- For one, the Mutant has a very nice trigger with a trigger lock (safety) that is non-existent on a Cricket. Some may not care but for others it's an added bonus. 
- The cocking lever on the Mutant is very smooth without any vertical play and it's switchable for left and right handed shooters. It's also thicker compared to a Cricket. I tend to be more cautious pulling back the lever on my Cricket.
- Magazine indexing lever/switch on the Mutant is superior in every way. Slide it back to disengage and upon cocking it and returning the cocking lever forward the indexing switch will auto engage. With the Cricket you have to play around with the switch and there have been times where I didn't properly engage it and mistakenly fired a blank due to the magazine not indexing. I'm sure all Cricket owners have had this experience. 
- Fit in finish on both is good for a high-end bullpup but for a Cricket to be comfortable you need to have a cheek rest since the edge of the breech is square whereas with a Mutant it's chamfered and can be used without a cheek rest. Minor but again it's an observation having owned both.
- Both are very compact multi-shot bullpups but a Mutant short is noticeably shorter. Some like the compact size while others coming from a rifle may not.
- Parts wise I think Crickets wins hands down since they've been in circulation longer and you can almost buy a spare magazine around any corner it seems. For Mutants, I think you have to know the right people to get you spare magazines. Mutant parts wise I don't know what replacement parts would be needed aside from orings since it's a very solid platform so far. 

I do enjoy shooting both and tend to use the Cricket more in the backyard since it's a .177 and is fairly quiet. Although I think the Mutant is superior in many ways, the Cricket Compact is like a classic and it being a fairly rare .177 I don't think I'd get rid of it. If a Mutant short .177 become available I would purchase it and use it more though. Again, this is just my opinion and observations. There are a lot of choices out there and each individual has to weigh in on the pluses and minuses of each.
 
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The Mutant and the Cricket look very similar on the outside. It's just the stock that looks different. 

They could both do with a nicer looking stock Imo. The Cricket Skeleton stock was much nicer-looking than the current one. 

How does the indexing system differ on the Mutant? That is the one thing I had problems with on my Cricket. There is no travel in the cocking lever. It's just the indexing pin that had issues. It's too thin and weak for the job it does. I had no issues getting a replacement though and it's been a solid performer since.

I would have considered a Mutant if there was a 25 cal even though I don't really understand all the stuff I read about the barrels with them. Last time I looked, there was an option to add a CZ barrel for $75 but it didn't state what you got if you didn't buy that option. 

 
Both my Cricket and Mutant indexes perfectly fine. It's the ease of use of the Mutant which makes it superior to the Cricket design. 

To load a magazine into the Cricket it's a 2 hand procedure since the magazine loading switch is spring loaded. You have hold this switch and cocking lever back with one hand while trying to insert and align the magazine. Plus the magazine has to be property placed before releasing the switch so it's centered. Afterwards you'll have to engage the switch so it will properly index the magazine. Sounds complicated right? It's not brain surgery but I'll let you decide which is easier.

For the Mutant you slide the magazine engagement switch backwards. Pull back the cocking lever fully and it will stay in place. No spring loaded lever or etc to worry about. The magazine basically drops in from the top or right side. It will literally roll off your fingers and falls exactly where it needs to go. There's two notches/protrusions that rolls/spins the magazine to the proper placement. Now just push the cocking lever fully forward and that's it. 

A person can swap a magazine on a Mutant one handed while being blind folded. I can't say the same with a Cricket. Both system works but one is a very clever design and you won't appreciate the simplicity unless you've operated it. 
 
Did you see JoeWaynerhea's mod to fix the Cricket 3-hand magazine swap issue? He drilled a small groove to hold the lever in place so he could switch mags one-handed. 

I wonder if there has been some changes in the Cricket design. Mine works like you described for pulling the indexing lever back (and it is a two hand job) but, the mag clicks into place immediately to the right place. Or, it could be that you have it set on manual indexing when you put the mag in, in which case, there isn't as much of a definitive click to show you it's in properly and you have to turn it to the right position.

The point of that indexing lever thing is meant to be an additional feature - I.e. It gives you the choice between auto and manual indexing in case you are using it at a single shot gun. Still, I would consider it to be something you get used to rather than something I like.