Cricket vs Colibri - First Impressions!

I agree, no air rifle is perfect. It just shows how good the Cricket feels to shoot that it can have a few obvious problems and most people still love it. 

I had a very hard time deciding which bullpup to buy. I spent far too long reading all the conflicting reviews on which gun is best. I narrowed it down to the Cricket or the Wildcat. Thank the airgun gods that the Wildcat was on back-order or I would still be trying to decide. 

I wanted a .25 bullpup that was small, quiet, powerful, accurate and with a synthetic stock. The Wildcat appealed because it was lighter but the Cricket was 2" shorter. I'm glad I went for the Cricket as it turns out that I didn't need it any lighter. I excluded the Vulcan because I was told that it was loud and it only came in wood. I like wood on traditional style rifles but not on bullpups. It just looks odd to me with a modern looking bullpup design. I wouldn't want wood on a sports car or golf clubs either. Bullpup air rifles are in the same category in my head.

I would love to see some bullpups with carbon fiber stocks and titanium cylinders next. I think we should expect premium materials on a $1500 airgun. Carbon fiber is strong, light and associated with high end products. The Crickets accuracy and balance on a carbon fiber stock with lightweight air cylinders would be.....well...... better! I might use my Cricket stock as a mold to make a carbon fiber version for fun as we have no decent suppliers of aftermarket airgun stocks in America.

I don't have the issues with the Cricket mags like everybody complains about.

I can load a Cricket magazine in half the time of any other. I literally sprinkle the pellets over the magazine and all but 1 or 2 two fall in place. I have adapted very easily to loading the magazine in the rifle and don't even think about it now, It's different than loading my marauder, not necessarily more difficult.

The Cricket magazines are easy to load but a pain in the neck to insert into the gun. It is not a simple one handed operation. On the plus side the mags are inexpensive.

I bought my .22 Cricket a couple of years ago. It has been pretty much flawless and this is coming from an AirWolf owner. Yeah on the Cricket it takes 2 hands to load (at least with me), but the design of the mag is brilliant IMO. Compare the Cricket mag to the AirWolf mag which is flawless but complicated. I've benched both guns several times and my Cricket is equal in accuracy to my Wolf. When I compare group sizes they are just about identical. My Wolf is quieter but I have a Neil Clague LCD on it so this isn't really fair. I find the design of the Cricket to be a really good fit for me. I don't mind the magazine and the cocking lever location is fine. Great little airgun for sure.

I never really have the need to load with one hand, hence never really gave it much thought.

I also have a hummingbird, and it is by far the quietest pcp I own that is shooting full power. I cannot stress this enough...this gun is very very backyard friendly. In fact I own several BSA guns that are set at 12ft/lb. I feel pretty safe to shoot this low power within my backyard range of around 40 yards to farthest corner fence...but realistically only 30 yard "usable " range. Not to mention at 12fpe...the guns are whisper quiet. Well when I got the hummingbird, I had forgot that although it was even quieter than my 12fpe guns...it was shooting much hotter!! So I had to train myself to pick targets with larger and heavier backstops...like tree trunks. Before I wouldn't have picked such heavier backstops with a lower power gun. I must mention here though....12fpe is no joke. I have seen the damage a 12 foot pound .22 can do and I tell you I wouldn't want to be at the other end and I'm sure neither does anyone else...so regardless of Foot pounds of energy...A person should always have a sufficient backstop to catch any straying pellet. Anyway...i did experience problems like others. Mostly the blow-back issue and mag not cycling always. I sent it to Ernest who is actually tuning it and bringing the overall power down to 18fpe. I heard, that once Ernest gets his hands on it...the gun becomes transformed into the machine it was intended to be. I loved it with all its faults though, and I never would sell or trade it.....ever. 

In my opinion still one of the best bullpups out there!

Are you saying the Cricket or the Colibri is "one of the best bullpups"?

I can't think of any other bullpup airgun that I wouldn't prefer to buy than the Colibri. All of the others work without having to immediately send them to a 3rd party to be fixed. That right there puts the Colibri to the bottom of my list but I'm funny about buying expensive broken stuff. I'm mad that my Cricket arrived with a scratch on the anodized metal. If someone sold me a $1500 gun that didn't work I'd murder their kids.

Imo "one of the best Airguns" would include: the Cricket, FX Wildcat, Vulcan, Edgun Matador RM3 and probably the Impact when it's out. 

I guess people define "best" based on their own needs. You could argue that the Evanix Max ML is up there because it is available up to 50 caliber. The standard Max 9mm is semi auto which is better for destroying stuff. The Benjamin Bulldog puts out 150fpe and has mags that fit longer pellets than other 9mm bullpups. Then there is the Jkhan .25 which has a LW barrel for only $800.