Took a while to post this as I didn't want to start a thread on a new toy with no real world experience with it.
Had the rifle about 6 weeks now so a lot of the new has worn off. Spent quite a bit of time deciding on my purchase
and even if I wanted to go the PCP route. From all I've learned PCPs are powerful tools changing the air gun scene BUT.....
PCPs are expensive. But since I'd decided to spend $600-800 on the next air rifle, that argument doesn't hold up so well.
PCPs are high maintenance and require a lot of extra stuff to keep them shooting. I like the idea of the self contained air
gun needing nothing more than a drop of oil and a tin of pellets. It occurred to me some of that thinking goes back a ways
when I would spend days at a time out in the boonies essentially living out of a backpack. There was also the proverbial
SHTF situation where using powder burners may be out of the question for one reason or another. I'm getting older now
and while I may hunt more often than I used to, I also don't wander as far and generally hunt differently than I did when
I was younger. Where I hunt does not require switching to air guns from powder burners and I don't see that changing before
I get too old for that to matter any more. For me air guns have really been a use it in the back yard case. So why should
all the accoutrements of the PCP intimidate me? I've spent enough time tinkering with my powder burners the high maintenance
argument doesn't really fly either aside from just being lazy which I can be.
For my use a PCP MUST hold air. At least enough for two reliably accurate shots. Why?. Because it will be used mostly to dispatch squirrels in the yard. A PCP that won't hold air for extended periods of time is near useless. I must be able to get a shot at a squirrel BEFORE he does much damage to pecan and peach trees. So far I've seen no air lost over a period of days.
I'm tired of the crappy triggers on the lower cost springers. They work and have gotten the job done for a long while now. This
is one of my best arguments for the new purchase. A higher end springer will have a nice trigger. For the cost, I expect a fairly decent trigger on a PCP.
A hand pump will be needed to charge the new PCP at least for a while and seems to me having one at least as a back up should be on hand for all PCP owners. I worried that pumping would wear me out to the point I wouldn't want to use it. This is NOT
the case. It's really not much work at all and though winded, the effort is no deterrent. It is recommended to pump in sessions of 50 strokes with a cooling period between sessions. I've found a "sweet spot" between 3100 psi and 1900 psi that allows better
than 30 accurate shots. No need to pump it to the full 3600 psi and I don't let it get below 1900 or so psi. I've found two sessions
at 35 strokes each gets me back for another 3 magazines shooting.
So, after 6 weeks, what are my likes and dislikes?
It is quiet! To the point that after firing the 1st shot I thought something was wrong with it. Wasn't expecting this.
It is much less pellet picky than my other air rifles. Even better, so far its favorite pellet has been the Crosman Premiers
found just about anywhere. That's just icing on the cake.
The trigger is just fine the way it came. I know some folk are adjusting theirs but I see no need. Shooting little bitty groups is not at all hard even out to 50 yards. I've tried a couple 20+ grain pellets that really shine at 50 yards. AND IT SHOOTS SLUGS!
Not sure how much I'll be using slugs. They cost more and in the yard are too much of a good thing.
In fact the whole package may be a bit too powerful for my needs. My chronograph shows it shooting slightly higher than advertised velocities. The manual states that turning the adjustment screw changed velocities by 150-200 fps. This is not
true. Truth is the adjustment screw can be turned 6 full turns and from full in to full out the velocities change 150-200 fps.
For some reason I was expecting to turn it down to closer to my springer's velocities.
I've not shot anywhere near enough squirrels yet for a real evaluation but so far I fear it too powerful for the yard. One was shot
heart/lung area and at first couldn't believe I'd missed such a close shot. I saw the pellet strike the ground right at the bottom of the back fence and kick up a fair amount of dirt. After sitting there a few seconds apparently unhurt the squirrel ran 15-20
feet up the tree before it showed any sign of distress. Then if fell over backward dead. This reminds me of experiences with higher powered guns. I remember an experience like this with a .223 shooting FMJ bullets. Literally saw daylight through the squirrel
before he ran higher up in the tree to expire. Seen this plenty of times with the rimfires. Oh yes, head shots put them down straight away but sometimes the head shot isn't practical. Maybe finding a wadcutter or hollow point pellet it shoots well will change this some. I'd like to see someone make a heavier wadcutter just for this.
Depending when I look at it, it looks weird or looks kinda cool. It also feels cheap mainly because it's so light but it does shoulder nicely. Those who want to carry one around the woods all day will like it I think although it may be a little long in the brush.
The pistol grip has finger grooves molded in I'm not a big fan of. I've considered sanding them out but it really doesn't bother me
that much.
Still have a lot o learn with it especially its sensitivity to temperature changes. While chronographing, I left it sitting in the sun a little while. Not a hot day, maybe 80 degrees, I saw higher velocities and much more velocity variation. Sat it in the shade a bit
and that went away. Could be a problem here especially in summer. My next chrony session a week later it was cooler, 35 degrees. At first the chrony wouldn't read I think because I started early, first light. But at 50 yards it was shooting considerably lower than it had the week before. When the chrony finally started reading it showed 200 fps slower than the week before.
By this time it was ready for a fill and when I got back to shooting the sun was well up and the chrony was reading more in line with the previous week. Was this not enough light for good reads and what about it hitting lower?
Since then I've been seeing my zero change, almost always lower, after it has been sitting a few days. Is this an issue with the rifle or maybe mounts and scope. Too soon to tell but the groups are still nice and small.
I'll post more as I learn the gun