Today I spent an hour at the indoor range at New England Airgun shooting the new AEA HP Carbine in .22 and I was very impressed.
When seeing a new model from a new company on the internet, It's hard to tell what the final product will be. Having followed every AEA/ Listone/ Arrowyflier thread on our forum and social media feeds, I was hopeful those fancy CNC machines in the background would produce something wonderful and they have.
The machining is very nice and there are no obvious flaws, nor are there any rattles or anything unusual.
I shot many pellets into the same hole while using a front rest at 17 yds, which is the length of NEAG indoor range. I found myself shooting every bit of red from the center of a shoot-n-see target for an extra challenge. I also shot a mag standing unsupported, which I know from my hunter field target scores, is my weak position.
I shot much better off hand with the HP Carbine. This was not surprising as I shoot better off hand with light guns, if they are well balanced.
Speaking of weight and balance, the HP Carbine is as light as it looks. I didn't actually weigh it, but my best guess would be 7 lbs or less with a 3-12x44 scope. If I closed my eyes, I could not tell the HP Carbine apart from an Air Arms T200. Although I could tell it's at least 3 lbs lighter than my Buccaneer that I shoot daily.
Now the bad, which was self inflicted.
Being the mythical "Lego Gun" the barrel as well as any other component can be easily dis-assembled or swapped out with other models parts. Speaking of which, we also swapped mags with the pistol version that I also shot a mag through. Well as a great Vulcan once said "with great power comes great responsibility". When the barrel was installed it was pushed firmly into the receiver block to mate the shroud perfectly with no gap, matching the superb fit and finish of the rest of the gun. In hind sight, this was wrong. The end of the barrel on both the Carbine and the pistol need a 2mm gap at the shroud to properly fit the mags without binding and bind they did, before the spacing was corrected. Once the barrel was correctly installed, the Mrod style mag cycled very smoothly.
Speaking of bolt cycling, I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the bolt cycling was and the barrel's lead and crown were perfect, even by European standards. I'm happy to announce that mid-level PCP buyers now have a much better option than we have had in the past. How many times have we read on these forums that one of us bought a pretty mid-level gun and heard they received a turkey? (pun intended).
When seeing a new model from a new company on the internet, It's hard to tell what the final product will be. Having followed every AEA/ Listone/ Arrowyflier thread on our forum and social media feeds, I was hopeful those fancy CNC machines in the background would produce something wonderful and they have.
The machining is very nice and there are no obvious flaws, nor are there any rattles or anything unusual.
I shot many pellets into the same hole while using a front rest at 17 yds, which is the length of NEAG indoor range. I found myself shooting every bit of red from the center of a shoot-n-see target for an extra challenge. I also shot a mag standing unsupported, which I know from my hunter field target scores, is my weak position.
I shot much better off hand with the HP Carbine. This was not surprising as I shoot better off hand with light guns, if they are well balanced.
Speaking of weight and balance, the HP Carbine is as light as it looks. I didn't actually weigh it, but my best guess would be 7 lbs or less with a 3-12x44 scope. If I closed my eyes, I could not tell the HP Carbine apart from an Air Arms T200. Although I could tell it's at least 3 lbs lighter than my Buccaneer that I shoot daily.
Now the bad, which was self inflicted.
Being the mythical "Lego Gun" the barrel as well as any other component can be easily dis-assembled or swapped out with other models parts. Speaking of which, we also swapped mags with the pistol version that I also shot a mag through. Well as a great Vulcan once said "with great power comes great responsibility". When the barrel was installed it was pushed firmly into the receiver block to mate the shroud perfectly with no gap, matching the superb fit and finish of the rest of the gun. In hind sight, this was wrong. The end of the barrel on both the Carbine and the pistol need a 2mm gap at the shroud to properly fit the mags without binding and bind they did, before the spacing was corrected. Once the barrel was correctly installed, the Mrod style mag cycled very smoothly.
Speaking of bolt cycling, I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the bolt cycling was and the barrel's lead and crown were perfect, even by European standards. I'm happy to announce that mid-level PCP buyers now have a much better option than we have had in the past. How many times have we read on these forums that one of us bought a pretty mid-level gun and heard they received a turkey? (pun intended).
