I had thought that I had pretty much sworn off on Crosman airguns. There are those in the sport who would say that they are decent, value-priced guns that perform decently and geez, they are made in the good ol' USA. Then there are those who say that due to their price point, you can't expect Diana/RWS-like quality. And then there are those who avoid them like a bacterial infection of the rectum. I tended to waver between perception number two and three, more so due to my previous experience with a Crosman T4. Now, I know what you may be thinking - just like anything else, you can't judge your overall view of a company based on one experience. That is generally true and it is a principle I hold when buying things from companies. My Dad reminded me of this fact lately as I was griping about the really crappy Honda dealership, of which my wife and I used to be regular patrons.
So, seeing how I would like to take my own advice on things like this, I thought I'd give Crosman another chance. This wasn't a CO2 pistol anyway, so we're talking about a completely different animal here (the Phantom is a break-barrel/hinge action spring rifle). What I got was the Canadian .22 caliber non-PAL version (even though I have my firearms licence, I still enjoy checking out under-500 FPS offerings). I say Canadian version because as far as I am aware, you can't get a .22 caliber Phantom in the U.S. And the higher velocity Phantoms are all .177 caliber anyway. I bought this in December 2007, taking advantage of a generous store-wide discount that was available.
It so happened that I bought the last one in the store, and heading out of the store with it, one of the gunshop guys remarked, "Why are you buying that? It's a toy!" That didn't exactly give me the warm fuzzies, but for $100.00, I was willing to check it out.
The first thing I noticed was that the box was pretty heavy. I was pretty sure it was the rifle, not the packaging. And sure enough, I was right. As far as air rifles go, the Phantom carried a decent amount of weight (I think it was 6 lbs+ - more if you scope it). It came with the manual and the frequently distributed plastic Crosman cross-block trigger lock. As it was sub-500FPS, I wasn't going to keep the trigger lock on it - may sell it on eBay if I get a chance. After taking apart the contents, I took it to the local range to check out (can't really shoot it in my backyard (neighbours too close and municipal bylaws) or in my house (kids and municipal bylaws). The first thing I noticed was that I couldn't break the barrel. It was solidly stuck. Now, I am not a strong guy, but I am not a weakling either, and based on my previous experience with several break-barrel rifles, this wasn't normal. I spent considerable amount of time trying to break the barrel before I realized that I probably bought a lemon. So I drove back home, but not before taking the barrel and hitting it against a chair in disgust - it actually broke at that point, but no way I am going to be hitting it on a chair every time.
I looked online for suggestions and it turns out that this is common with the Phantom - that you need to "slap" the barrel, sometimes significantly hard, in order to get it to break. That really sucks. So I said, "forget this", and proceeded to take it back to the store, from where I bought it. The guys in the gunshop, to my surprise, indicated that there is nothing wrong with it, and they were easily able to use the open side of their hand and slap that barrel to break it. Even after breaking it, they indicated to me that the spring was REALLY tight, and that likely, I may have an anomaly on my hands - that is, that I may have a spring that will produce velocities of well over 500FPS, putting it into firearms grade (interestingly enough, even though I verified this, they told me I need not worry about contacting the Canadian Firearms Centre to register it). Anyhow, they told me there was nothing wrong with it; that higher end spring-loading air rifles occasionally need a snap. Besides, at least I know the locking hinge is working properly. I suppose. So I took it back and figured that if it really became a problem, I'll just send it back to Crosman Canada (which has since turned over its support and parts operations to a company called Gravel Company in Quebec).
So back to the range I went, with the knowledge that to use this Phantom, I would have to give the barrel a big old slap (which on a skinny solid metal barrel, does hurt the hand somewhat). Most times I needed both arms to pull down the barrel to cock it. I suspected that maybe the guy was right - that the spring was indeed a Phantom 1000FPS version - that would make my gun a very rare item. Anyhow, I'll worry about that later. After exhausting myself in cocking the rifle, I loaded a pellet into the barrel, but not before I noticed that there was a tremendous (and I mean tremendous) amount of grease all over the gun. In subsequent research sessions, I also found out that this was not unusual with the Phantom, but it's still kind of gross having to get grease all over your hands. But that's a minor thing. So I simply decided to test-fire it (not dry fire, which you never do with a spring loader).
Well, after my first shot, I smelled this nasty burning smell. I knew it wasn't from any gunpowder or primer from people around me, as there was no one beside me on my lane at the time. Of course, it was only a minute later that I realized that the burning smell came from the rifle, as smoke started rising from it. No word of a lie - white smoke from an air rifle. In subsequent research, I learned that this was also not unusual and in some air rifles, this smoking gun effect, called dieseling, was simply a way for the gun, when shot, to deal with excess oil and grease (of which the Phantom had plenty). I'd say after about 75-100 shots, it went away. But between that and the barrel not breaking without slapping it, I wasn't overly impressed.
The Phantom, despite common perception, is actually not the same rifle as the popular Crosman Quest. Some believe it is the same rifle, with only a synthetic vs. wood stock being the only difference. The Quest has its own share of quality control problems, but that is another conversation for another day. Anyhow, the Phantom is more along the lines of a stripped down Crosman TAC-1 tactical air rifle (which is not cheap, but mostly due to all the crazy stuff that comes with it).
As for performance, I finally have some good news. The Phantom hits the targets hard and is very accurate (I had on it initially for my tests my Bushnell Sportsman 3-9x32mm w/ AO scope, though I have since moved the scope to a better rifle and put the cheapo Crosman 4032 4x32mm scope on it - both scopes were fairly accurate within 30 yards, producing somewhat close groups (I won't give the actual measurements since I'd like to believe what I shot was considered close groupings, though in all likelihood it probably wasn't). Now, I had to satisfy my curiosity about the theory that I inadvertently received a stronger spring in my rifle, so I decided to take my trusty F1 Chrony and measure velocity. Well, I can say that I won't have to deal with legal issues with having a "oops" model - the chrony recorded average velocities between 470 - 480 (the box advertised it as up to 495, which was obviously correct).
The Phantom comes with a trigger safety (pull it toward the trigger to activate the safety) inside the trigger guard. The length of the rifle is around 44.5", which is a pretty decent length. With the scope attached, you definitely feel the weight.
All that being said, I think it's safe to say that my opinion of Crosman hasn't changed. And since then I have also heard that Crosman has pulled all of its "fireball" pellets off the shelves for serious quality control and worksmanship issues (inconsistent skirts on the pellets, nicks on the same, etc.). I won't return the Phantom, even though it's under warranty, since I already got by the dieseling issues. The slapping of the barrel is a royal pain in the butt, but I can live with it. I'd just hate to sent it to Gravel and get a replacement that has the same issue (in the past, Crosman has been known to simply issue a new replacement, sealed in package), or worse, send it to Gravel, and I never see it again. But I'd seriously need some convincing to buy another Crosman product. Sure, the Discovery is out and the Benjamin line is great, but the old adage applies - you get what you pay for. Crosman is great for backyard plinking and not-too-serious target shooting, but if you're looking for performance and quality, you'd probably want to consider some of the other brands of air rifles on the market.
Showing posts with label airgun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label airgun. Show all posts
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Hammerli Air Magnum 850 .22 Caliber CO2 Rifle Review
Well, it's been a few weeks since I last posted. I've since become a father once again (yay!), so I've been taking it easy for the online activities. Anyhow, I have a few moments between diaper changes and such, and since my son is sick today, I'm home with him. He's napping now, so I have an opportunity to get back into the swing of posting here.
Well, lots to post about, and we can talk parenthood and fatherhood and childrearing and what not in future posts for sure, but for the avid air gun and air rifle enthusiasts out there, I want to make sure I put a review in your hands of what I consider to be the absolute best air rifle that I have owned thus far. It is the RWS (rebranded Hammerli by Umarex) Air Magnum 850, in 22 caliber. This is, without a doubt, the sweetest shooting CO2-powered rifle one can get their hands on. In Canada, this baby requires you to have a gun licence, or a PAL, so if you want one of these, go for your CFSC safety course and exams and be prepared to wait a bit, not to mention the mandatory registration of this rifle with the Canadian federal long-gun registry.
First, a little about the rifle. It is an all-black synthetic stock CO2 rifle, which uses an 88gram canister. I guess for those who play paintball, you'd be used to 88g markers, but make no mistake, this ain't no paintball gun, folks (the fact that you need a firearms licence to possess would make that obvious). It comes in .177 and .22 caliber, but why anyone would want the .177, I do not know. It weights around 5.5lbs, and is a little over 40" long (maybe 43 or 44"). It has rails built-in, should you wish to add scoping optics. It uses an 8-round cylinder magazine, which is extremely well made. It also features and automatic safety, and it uses a bolt action system. The factory specs on velocity for .177 and .22 are 760FPS and 655FPS respectively. On a 88g cartridge, the manufacturers say that you can get around 200 shots with it.
At around $250.00 + tax, this rifle is not one of the cheaper ones. But once you get the box in your hands, you'll know that like anything else, if you want quality, you're going to have to pay for it. The rifle arrives in a fairly large box, which upon closer inspection is actually a fitted foam box with an outer wrap-around cardboard shell. Regardless, you should know that your rifle will not arrive damaged. It is packaged really well, with the rifle itself being wrapped in a plastic bag, and includes a nice big bag of silica salt to ward off moisture (of course, I just bought a huge box of silica salt the week before, but that is neither here nor there). It comes with a manual, and two 8-shot magazines. You'll have to buy your own CO2, but that's OK, since they're around five to six bucks per 88g canister.
The feel and weight of the gun is really good, even for my stature. The CO2 is inserted in the front of the gun in compartment, of which the snappable plastic cover removes quite easily (the downside is that it feels a little too plasticky and can eventually break). The CO2 canister is screwed in tightly and then turned about a 1/4 turn counterclockwise (don't worry, the gas will only leak for about one second). Now, with 200 shots, you're probably thinking whether it's wise to get this, since you may not use 200 shots and as such, be releasing the rest of the gas out, wasting it. I know of this concern, as I had it myself, but in looking further and talking with airgun experts, it is actually OK to leave your CO2 cartridges in your rifles and pistols, despite what the manufacturers say. More damage can be done to the O-rings if you were to release the gas manually, freezing the rings. Besides, leaving the gas cartridges in the gun keeps the seals from drying out, and dust out as well. I've done this with no adverse effect on any of my CO2 guns. Still, if you're ultra-paranoid, you can always buy the additional attachment that allows you to use two (2) 12g cartridges instead of a single 88g unit. However, the adapter runs around $100.00, and in my opinion, is not a worthwhile expenditure.
The automatic safety is right on the back of the breech, and you need to manually disengage it with your thumb before taking the next shot (it's a two-stage safety, more or less, with a bigger external button and one inset button that have to be pressed to disengage the safety). This is OK the first time, but when you have to do this 100+ times in a row, it gets a bit annoying.
The bolt, I will have to say, is one of the nicest features on the rifle. It is a huge side bolt and pulls back very nicely. The cylinder magazine is loaded from the left hand side and is locked into place by a switch on the same side. The rifle features fiber-optic sights, but no doubt you'll want to put a scope on this thing. Another additional item you can add is the muzzle-brake, to give it a more tactical look (my wife thought it looked like a silencer, but it's not, since silencers are illegal in Canada).
OK, performance. I found that out of the box, the 850 Air Magnum will shoot around 620FPS when chronied. Now, for a firearms-grade airgun, that may seem rather low, but this is not a hunting rifle, and you can't expect supersonic performance with CO2 anyway. This is probably the fastest and most powerful CO2-powered gun you can buy. Of course, bear in mind that with CO2, the faster you shoot a repeating airgun, the lower your velocity will drop. So while you can probably train yourself to cycle the bolt and safety pretty quickly, don't expect consistent velocity as a result. This rifle's use is really in plinking, target shooting and if you must, small rodent control (and I mean small rodents). The report of the rifle (sound) is not too bad - lot loud at all, and shooting decent groups is possible (provided you have a half-decent scope attached - I use the Bushnell Sportsman 3-9x32mm with AO).
I don't believe you get get a better rifle for the money. There's not a whole lot of .22 caliber CO2 rifles out there anyway, and even less in the firearms-rated range, so this is definitely a must-have for any airgun enthusiast.
JUNE 2008 EDIT: It has become abundantly clear to me that this gun is not designed for Crosman Premier Hollowpoint .22 pellets. Avoid these at all costs. The intial few were fine, but then I started experiencing extreme jamming when the cylinder magazine was cycled. Then somehow, one of the pellets fell back into the bolt action (DO NOT LOAD THE MAGAZINE WITH THE RIFLE POINTING UP). That jammed the bolt action to the point where I could not even remove the magazine since the bolt pin was in the way. Eventually, through shaking it here and here I managed to get the magazine out, but then the bolt would only retract 90%, which of course is useless. I was about 10 seconds from looking to disassemble it (and knowing me, I would have likely destroyed the gun as a result), when I put a Q-tip into what I could see of the bolt and trigger assembly and did some more shaking, and lo and behold, the bolt cycles now. That being said, I looked online and from the people who have experienced similar bolt problems, they said it is either Crosman Premier's or Beeman pellets that contribute to these problems - not to mention a poorly designed cylinder magazine with which the pellets can fall out, skirt-first, into the action. I have read that RWS Hollowpoints or RWS Hobby pellets are the only way to go here, as the mag is only designed for RWS (but not Superpoints). *sigh*
Well, lots to post about, and we can talk parenthood and fatherhood and childrearing and what not in future posts for sure, but for the avid air gun and air rifle enthusiasts out there, I want to make sure I put a review in your hands of what I consider to be the absolute best air rifle that I have owned thus far. It is the RWS (rebranded Hammerli by Umarex) Air Magnum 850, in 22 caliber. This is, without a doubt, the sweetest shooting CO2-powered rifle one can get their hands on. In Canada, this baby requires you to have a gun licence, or a PAL, so if you want one of these, go for your CFSC safety course and exams and be prepared to wait a bit, not to mention the mandatory registration of this rifle with the Canadian federal long-gun registry.
First, a little about the rifle. It is an all-black synthetic stock CO2 rifle, which uses an 88gram canister. I guess for those who play paintball, you'd be used to 88g markers, but make no mistake, this ain't no paintball gun, folks (the fact that you need a firearms licence to possess would make that obvious). It comes in .177 and .22 caliber, but why anyone would want the .177, I do not know. It weights around 5.5lbs, and is a little over 40" long (maybe 43 or 44"). It has rails built-in, should you wish to add scoping optics. It uses an 8-round cylinder magazine, which is extremely well made. It also features and automatic safety, and it uses a bolt action system. The factory specs on velocity for .177 and .22 are 760FPS and 655FPS respectively. On a 88g cartridge, the manufacturers say that you can get around 200 shots with it.
At around $250.00 + tax, this rifle is not one of the cheaper ones. But once you get the box in your hands, you'll know that like anything else, if you want quality, you're going to have to pay for it. The rifle arrives in a fairly large box, which upon closer inspection is actually a fitted foam box with an outer wrap-around cardboard shell. Regardless, you should know that your rifle will not arrive damaged. It is packaged really well, with the rifle itself being wrapped in a plastic bag, and includes a nice big bag of silica salt to ward off moisture (of course, I just bought a huge box of silica salt the week before, but that is neither here nor there). It comes with a manual, and two 8-shot magazines. You'll have to buy your own CO2, but that's OK, since they're around five to six bucks per 88g canister.
The feel and weight of the gun is really good, even for my stature. The CO2 is inserted in the front of the gun in compartment, of which the snappable plastic cover removes quite easily (the downside is that it feels a little too plasticky and can eventually break). The CO2 canister is screwed in tightly and then turned about a 1/4 turn counterclockwise (don't worry, the gas will only leak for about one second). Now, with 200 shots, you're probably thinking whether it's wise to get this, since you may not use 200 shots and as such, be releasing the rest of the gas out, wasting it. I know of this concern, as I had it myself, but in looking further and talking with airgun experts, it is actually OK to leave your CO2 cartridges in your rifles and pistols, despite what the manufacturers say. More damage can be done to the O-rings if you were to release the gas manually, freezing the rings. Besides, leaving the gas cartridges in the gun keeps the seals from drying out, and dust out as well. I've done this with no adverse effect on any of my CO2 guns. Still, if you're ultra-paranoid, you can always buy the additional attachment that allows you to use two (2) 12g cartridges instead of a single 88g unit. However, the adapter runs around $100.00, and in my opinion, is not a worthwhile expenditure.
The automatic safety is right on the back of the breech, and you need to manually disengage it with your thumb before taking the next shot (it's a two-stage safety, more or less, with a bigger external button and one inset button that have to be pressed to disengage the safety). This is OK the first time, but when you have to do this 100+ times in a row, it gets a bit annoying.
The bolt, I will have to say, is one of the nicest features on the rifle. It is a huge side bolt and pulls back very nicely. The cylinder magazine is loaded from the left hand side and is locked into place by a switch on the same side. The rifle features fiber-optic sights, but no doubt you'll want to put a scope on this thing. Another additional item you can add is the muzzle-brake, to give it a more tactical look (my wife thought it looked like a silencer, but it's not, since silencers are illegal in Canada).
OK, performance. I found that out of the box, the 850 Air Magnum will shoot around 620FPS when chronied. Now, for a firearms-grade airgun, that may seem rather low, but this is not a hunting rifle, and you can't expect supersonic performance with CO2 anyway. This is probably the fastest and most powerful CO2-powered gun you can buy. Of course, bear in mind that with CO2, the faster you shoot a repeating airgun, the lower your velocity will drop. So while you can probably train yourself to cycle the bolt and safety pretty quickly, don't expect consistent velocity as a result. This rifle's use is really in plinking, target shooting and if you must, small rodent control (and I mean small rodents). The report of the rifle (sound) is not too bad - lot loud at all, and shooting decent groups is possible (provided you have a half-decent scope attached - I use the Bushnell Sportsman 3-9x32mm with AO).
I don't believe you get get a better rifle for the money. There's not a whole lot of .22 caliber CO2 rifles out there anyway, and even less in the firearms-rated range, so this is definitely a must-have for any airgun enthusiast.
JUNE 2008 EDIT: It has become abundantly clear to me that this gun is not designed for Crosman Premier Hollowpoint .22 pellets. Avoid these at all costs. The intial few were fine, but then I started experiencing extreme jamming when the cylinder magazine was cycled. Then somehow, one of the pellets fell back into the bolt action (DO NOT LOAD THE MAGAZINE WITH THE RIFLE POINTING UP). That jammed the bolt action to the point where I could not even remove the magazine since the bolt pin was in the way. Eventually, through shaking it here and here I managed to get the magazine out, but then the bolt would only retract 90%, which of course is useless. I was about 10 seconds from looking to disassemble it (and knowing me, I would have likely destroyed the gun as a result), when I put a Q-tip into what I could see of the bolt and trigger assembly and did some more shaking, and lo and behold, the bolt cycles now. That being said, I looked online and from the people who have experienced similar bolt problems, they said it is either Crosman Premier's or Beeman pellets that contribute to these problems - not to mention a poorly designed cylinder magazine with which the pellets can fall out, skirt-first, into the action. I have read that RWS Hollowpoints or RWS Hobby pellets are the only way to go here, as the mag is only designed for RWS (but not Superpoints). *sigh*
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Beretta M92FS .177 Caliber CO2 Pistol Review
Just like anything else in life, you get what you pay for. Just like there are cheap cars out there (a colleague of mine years ago rolled into work in his new Kia Rio subcompact car, which he said cost him under $10,000) and there are your more higher end cars like Lexus and BMW. Hard to be able to compare a Lexus and a Kia.
I recently discovered that sometimes it's not just name or brand recognition that differentiates similar products in varying price brackets. Most of my CO2 air pistols I have purchased for under $100.00 each. And I can tell some of the contributing factors to the cheap price - more plastic parts, less features, etc. But I was OK paying for more cheaper construction, as long as there was a decent modicum of quality in the gun.
Well, I recently thought I'd splurge a bit (last month or December - don't remember exactly when) and I dropped over $200.00 for the Beretta M9FS .177 Caliber CO2 Pistol. I have seen this in the catalogs and have been interested in checking it out. Now, there is a BB version, but as an aspiring competitive sport shooter, I wasn't going to make the same mistake as I did when I bought the Crosman T4. I am not interested in backyard plinking or in shooting tin cans. My desire is to acquire rifled steel barrel pellet guns that are decent for accuracy on paper targets. I was pretty sure that the M92FS wasn't going to be match-grade, but I thought I'd pick it up nonetheless.
Now I know why the gunshop is constantly out of these (I had to put myself on a 3-month long waiting list, before mine came in). This is a fabulous gun in almost every regard, from presentation, look, feel, and especially performance. It was $200.00+ well spent, and I can honestly say that if it weren't for the fact that my wife and I are expecting a child anyday now, and I need to save my cash, I'd probably spring for the sister-version of this pistol, the Colt 1911A Government. But enough of my wish-lists - let's get on to the review of this pistol.
The first thing that you will notice when buying this gun is that it comes in a nice, compact, hard plastic, foam-insulated carrying case. It's not security lockable, but it is only a sub-500FPS airgun, afterall. The case does lock with standard plastic flaps, but it would have been nice to have a lockable loop where you can hang a padlock or a keyed lock. The pistol itself is fairly authentic in its look and feel (the weight is close to 3lbs, and if you've ever handled a "real" handgun before, you'll know that the weight is pretty close). The gun comes with two (2) 8-shot rotary cylinder magazines, though I already had a few that I bought for my CP Sport (the cylinder magazines are interchanged with the other Umarex guns - Walther, Colt, Beretta, Magnum Research, Inc., etc.).
By the way, as an aside, I should note that while this gun is branded Beretta, it's actually made by Umarex U.S.A. (who bought the branding rights for the airguns from the above manufacturers). Just like the Hammerli guns you see out there are all made by Umarex.
Asthetically, the version that I purchased was the all-black version (some refer to it as a slightly blued version), though it also comes in nickel (yuck) and you have the option of wood grips. Because mine was all-black, it came with the default plastic grips - in fact, the grips are the only thing plastic about the gun - it's solid metal pretty much everywhere else.
The gun is similar to the CP Sport in terms of how the 12 gram CO2 cartridge is loaded. In other words, it's a severe pain in the butt to load - at least for me. You need to press the grip release on the left-hand side, and that pops the opposing grip out. I originally assumed by sight that the grip and its connectors are all plastic, and inferred that over time I can see something breaking, with all the snapping in and out. However, as a subsequent edit to this review, it was pointed out to me by a couple of folks that there is actually a metal lining inside the grip, which I obviously missed. This reinforces the grip and really makes it difficult, if not impossible to break by indvertent mishandling. As a result, my assessment of the grip is no longer negative.
Anyway, after you pop out the opposing grip, you pull out the lockable feet (at the butt of the gun) and then turn the notched wheel to lower the CO2 retainer. Then you place the cartridge in, start turning the wheel again to more or less lock it in place (not too tight) and then snap the feet back into place so it locks - I experienced the need to do this a few times as I wasn't sure how tight to turn the wheel initially - I still don't have that sense). Now, some have suggested that this system is better than other guns, but from a simplicity standpoint, no one can convince me that the loading of the CO2 in this gun is comparable or easier than, say, a Crosman 2240 or a Crosman/Benjamin EB22, where you just unscrew a cap, put in the CO2 cartridge, tighten the cap, and press the trigger to puncture the 12g powerlet. But I digress...
After doing all this, then snap the grip back into place, and try to do a test fire after taking off the safety (which is conveniently one switch connected to both sides of the gun near the hammer in the back of the breech - you can flick it on/off easily, unlike the pressurized one on the CP Sport). As you probably know, it's OK to dry-fire CO2 powered guns, so go ahead and test it out.
This gun's metal rotary cylinder magazine is easy to load - the slide release switch is on the left hand side. Once the magazine is loaded, pull the slide to lock into place. As for aiming, you have the standard front and rear sights, with the rear site adjustable for windage. There are no rails on which you can mount accessories or sights (I originally thought there was, but a reader had corrected me on this).
Now onto performance. Surprisingly, this pistol is quite accurate. The trigger was a non-factor - I liked the feel and weight of the trigger and while I believe the trigger is adjustable, I didn't have to do any adjustments. For the first 16 shots, I was able to get decent groupings, though I was only at 10 yards. Add to this the adjustments I made in getting used to the pistol, and I was quite happy with the initial performance. I used Crosman standard .177 wadcutter pellets - I have lots of these el cheapo pellets, though I wouldn't mind trying RWS or even Gamo in the future to compare results.
The sound was reasonable, and didn't sound like a bomb exploding, like the EB22 does.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this pistol was its gas economy. On all my other guns, I get around 50-65 shots on one 12g CO2 canister. That is pretty good, all things considered...of course, that is standard fare from my experience (except for the EB22, which gets around 30). Once I hit the 60 shot range, I was expecting to call it a day. But for reasons I can't understand, the gun still had gas in it. In fact, it wasn't until I hit slightly over 100 (that's right, one hundred) shots - around the 106 mark - that the pellets started to bounce off the target, and I was literally out of gas. But by then, I had looked at my target and it was awash with cleanly punched pellet holes within about a 3 1/2" diameter (which I know from 10 yard is nothing special, but many of my other guns will group 5" or so - it could just be my unsteady hands and my bad eyesight - or the other guns).
Overall, this gun gets my highest recommendation. With only the cheap plastic grips and the obtuse Umarex CO2 loading mechanism as the exception, I cannot find enough good things to say about this gun. Apparently, there is a match/competition version, but that may be for another day. I was quite happy with the feel/look and performance on this pistol and for over $200.00, it was well worth the money, in my opinion, especially given its accuracy and its incredible gas economy. You won't be disappointed with the Beretta M92FS.
I recently discovered that sometimes it's not just name or brand recognition that differentiates similar products in varying price brackets. Most of my CO2 air pistols I have purchased for under $100.00 each. And I can tell some of the contributing factors to the cheap price - more plastic parts, less features, etc. But I was OK paying for more cheaper construction, as long as there was a decent modicum of quality in the gun.
Well, I recently thought I'd splurge a bit (last month or December - don't remember exactly when) and I dropped over $200.00 for the Beretta M9FS .177 Caliber CO2 Pistol. I have seen this in the catalogs and have been interested in checking it out. Now, there is a BB version, but as an aspiring competitive sport shooter, I wasn't going to make the same mistake as I did when I bought the Crosman T4. I am not interested in backyard plinking or in shooting tin cans. My desire is to acquire rifled steel barrel pellet guns that are decent for accuracy on paper targets. I was pretty sure that the M92FS wasn't going to be match-grade, but I thought I'd pick it up nonetheless.
Now I know why the gunshop is constantly out of these (I had to put myself on a 3-month long waiting list, before mine came in). This is a fabulous gun in almost every regard, from presentation, look, feel, and especially performance. It was $200.00+ well spent, and I can honestly say that if it weren't for the fact that my wife and I are expecting a child anyday now, and I need to save my cash, I'd probably spring for the sister-version of this pistol, the Colt 1911A Government. But enough of my wish-lists - let's get on to the review of this pistol.
The first thing that you will notice when buying this gun is that it comes in a nice, compact, hard plastic, foam-insulated carrying case. It's not security lockable, but it is only a sub-500FPS airgun, afterall. The case does lock with standard plastic flaps, but it would have been nice to have a lockable loop where you can hang a padlock or a keyed lock. The pistol itself is fairly authentic in its look and feel (the weight is close to 3lbs, and if you've ever handled a "real" handgun before, you'll know that the weight is pretty close). The gun comes with two (2) 8-shot rotary cylinder magazines, though I already had a few that I bought for my CP Sport (the cylinder magazines are interchanged with the other Umarex guns - Walther, Colt, Beretta, Magnum Research, Inc., etc.).
By the way, as an aside, I should note that while this gun is branded Beretta, it's actually made by Umarex U.S.A. (who bought the branding rights for the airguns from the above manufacturers). Just like the Hammerli guns you see out there are all made by Umarex.
Asthetically, the version that I purchased was the all-black version (some refer to it as a slightly blued version), though it also comes in nickel (yuck) and you have the option of wood grips. Because mine was all-black, it came with the default plastic grips - in fact, the grips are the only thing plastic about the gun - it's solid metal pretty much everywhere else.
The gun is similar to the CP Sport in terms of how the 12 gram CO2 cartridge is loaded. In other words, it's a severe pain in the butt to load - at least for me. You need to press the grip release on the left-hand side, and that pops the opposing grip out. I originally assumed by sight that the grip and its connectors are all plastic, and inferred that over time I can see something breaking, with all the snapping in and out. However, as a subsequent edit to this review, it was pointed out to me by a couple of folks that there is actually a metal lining inside the grip, which I obviously missed. This reinforces the grip and really makes it difficult, if not impossible to break by indvertent mishandling. As a result, my assessment of the grip is no longer negative.
Anyway, after you pop out the opposing grip, you pull out the lockable feet (at the butt of the gun) and then turn the notched wheel to lower the CO2 retainer. Then you place the cartridge in, start turning the wheel again to more or less lock it in place (not too tight) and then snap the feet back into place so it locks - I experienced the need to do this a few times as I wasn't sure how tight to turn the wheel initially - I still don't have that sense). Now, some have suggested that this system is better than other guns, but from a simplicity standpoint, no one can convince me that the loading of the CO2 in this gun is comparable or easier than, say, a Crosman 2240 or a Crosman/Benjamin EB22, where you just unscrew a cap, put in the CO2 cartridge, tighten the cap, and press the trigger to puncture the 12g powerlet. But I digress...
After doing all this, then snap the grip back into place, and try to do a test fire after taking off the safety (which is conveniently one switch connected to both sides of the gun near the hammer in the back of the breech - you can flick it on/off easily, unlike the pressurized one on the CP Sport). As you probably know, it's OK to dry-fire CO2 powered guns, so go ahead and test it out.
This gun's metal rotary cylinder magazine is easy to load - the slide release switch is on the left hand side. Once the magazine is loaded, pull the slide to lock into place. As for aiming, you have the standard front and rear sights, with the rear site adjustable for windage. There are no rails on which you can mount accessories or sights (I originally thought there was, but a reader had corrected me on this).
Now onto performance. Surprisingly, this pistol is quite accurate. The trigger was a non-factor - I liked the feel and weight of the trigger and while I believe the trigger is adjustable, I didn't have to do any adjustments. For the first 16 shots, I was able to get decent groupings, though I was only at 10 yards. Add to this the adjustments I made in getting used to the pistol, and I was quite happy with the initial performance. I used Crosman standard .177 wadcutter pellets - I have lots of these el cheapo pellets, though I wouldn't mind trying RWS or even Gamo in the future to compare results.
The sound was reasonable, and didn't sound like a bomb exploding, like the EB22 does.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this pistol was its gas economy. On all my other guns, I get around 50-65 shots on one 12g CO2 canister. That is pretty good, all things considered...of course, that is standard fare from my experience (except for the EB22, which gets around 30). Once I hit the 60 shot range, I was expecting to call it a day. But for reasons I can't understand, the gun still had gas in it. In fact, it wasn't until I hit slightly over 100 (that's right, one hundred) shots - around the 106 mark - that the pellets started to bounce off the target, and I was literally out of gas. But by then, I had looked at my target and it was awash with cleanly punched pellet holes within about a 3 1/2" diameter (which I know from 10 yard is nothing special, but many of my other guns will group 5" or so - it could just be my unsteady hands and my bad eyesight - or the other guns).
Overall, this gun gets my highest recommendation. With only the cheap plastic grips and the obtuse Umarex CO2 loading mechanism as the exception, I cannot find enough good things to say about this gun. Apparently, there is a match/competition version, but that may be for another day. I was quite happy with the feel/look and performance on this pistol and for over $200.00, it was well worth the money, in my opinion, especially given its accuracy and its incredible gas economy. You won't be disappointed with the Beretta M92FS.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Getting a Firearms Licence (P.A.L.) in Canada
A lot has changed in the past ten years in terms of how one acquires firearms in Canada. Now, irrespective of you gun politics and what you think of this, it now requires a bit more work in order to get a licence to possess and acquire firearms. In the old days, you'd just need to drop by a police station to get the application form for the Firearms Acquisition Certificate, or F.A.C. Send it in, along with a fee, and once they do a background check on you in sufficient time, they will issue you a F.A.C. The F.A.C. was not needed to possess firearms, just acquire them. Technically, you could have had a Posession Only Licence (P.O.L.) which allowed you to keep the firearms you already had, but not get any more. Ammunition back then did not require a firearms licence, but rather, you just needed to be over 18 and show a valid driver's licence.
In 1998, the Chretien Liberals scrapped that and replaced it with a licence called a Possession and Acquisition Licence (P.A.L.), which is not as easy to get. Now, you are required to pass two exams (one written, the other practical - which involved actually handling firearms) for the Canadian Firearms Security Course. Then comes the application itself which you require your spouse to sign off on, two references, a photo, etc. It is also a long wait to get your licence, since there are mandatory waiting periods. Also, there are different licences that you can get: the common non-restricted P.A.L. is for long guns: essentially rifles and shotguns. The restricted P.A.L. is primarily for handguns (some rifles apply to this - there are some measurement details). There is also a licence to acquire/possess prohibited weapons, but that is next to impossible to get, and the Canadian government have only issued a handful of those. Further, there are other licences you can get, like the Minor's Licence, which allows those 12-17 to use firearms as long as they are in immediate direct supervision of a person legally licenced to possess and use the firearms that the minor is using. And there are some other stipulations and / or exceptions for those who hunt to sustain their families (ie. Aboriginals on a reserve, etc.). The Possession-Only Licence was scrapped in 2001, so that is no longer obtainable, unless you are renewing an existing one.
Why was I considering getting a P.A.L.? As an avid recreational airgun shooter, I was quite happy at the selection of under 500FPS pistols and rifles that were available. Airgunning has grown in popularity and there are shooting clubs which are more or less for airgunners (I am a member of one here in the Toronto area). Still, there is an entire class of airguns which require a firearms licence - because they exceed the Canadian government's criteria of exceeding 500FPS velocity and exceeding 4.2 FPE (foot pounds energy) - as such, these primarily air rifles are classified as firearms and require a P.A.L. to purchase. That being said, right now the highest velocity air rifle shoots at around 1600FPS velocity (not sure of the FPE on that) with a special .177 caliber alloy pellet. Most P.A.L. rated air rifles will shoot between 700-1000 FPS. Consider that your average centerfire cartridge yields over 3500 FPS velocity and well over 1000 FPE, you can see that side by side, the most powerful air rifle still cannot hold a candle to its gunpowder-based comrades. Essentially that is why I originally chose and continue to choose airguns to shoot. I've been to several shooting ranges and while under 500 FPS airguns work at ranges which have its targets at 20 yards, you lose performance very quickly when shooting at the professional grade shooting facilities, built for centerfire rifles and handguns, which has the target around 50-100+ yards away. As such, I thought it would be good for me to get my P.A.L. in order to acquire better performing airguns (and one of the few air shotguns out there requires a P.A.L. - my local gunshop has this on hold for me).
Of course, I consulted with my wife first, who is not a firearms afficianado per se, but recognized my serious interest in sport shooting. She was more than happy to OK my request to attend the Canadian Firearms Safety Course one weekend, and was also OK that I applied for a firearms licence, since she knew why I was doing so. At the course, a few people looked at me strange, since most of them were getting their P.A.L. because they wanted to hunt, or because their job/vocation called for them to obtain a P.A.L. (ie. security guard or police officer). I simply want to be able to get better airguns - I have no interest in hunting - never have, never will, as long as I can buy my food at the grocery store (I'll let someone else deal with the mess in the slaughter house). Besides, I don't like the gamey taste of wild meat anyway.
So I thought I'd get a leg up by buying the course materials (which are only available from certain places, like some shooting ranges and of course, from the certified firearms instructors (see here for a list: http://www.fseso.org/),
signed up for the course, which ran one weekend. You don't need to buy the manuals before the course, but as I said, I wanted to get a leg up on the materials and read them beforehand - otherwise, they are supplied by the course instructor at the class itself (they are $15.00 per manual). The course itself is $120.00 for the non-restricted firearms course and $120.00 for the restricted course. You can take both together for $200.00 on the same weekend.
Despite my instructor strongly encouraging me to take both non-restricted and restricted, I was pretty adamant in taking the non-restricted only. I have no interest in handguns and since there are virtually no air pistols that are firearms-grade, I had no reason to take it, despite the savings (why pay for something I will never use?) Even for airguns, I far prefer the rifles over the pistols, due to the amount of tweaking and accessories you can get - I am a sucker for optics like scopes and sighting devices. So I signed up for the non-restricted P.A.L., which will allow me to purchase the higher-powered air rifles and should I be interested later on, in rimfire (maybe) and centerfire (probably not) rifles as well as shotguns (the only shotguns I could see myself buying are for skeet shooting, but I think I just prefer the stationary paper targets).
So one Friday evening early last month, I went directly from work to a shooting facility about 30 minutes from my home and sat with a class of 10 other people who were looking to get their P.A.L. for one reason or another. Now, I have to confess, I was expecting to see a certain demographic of people there, especially when this facility was far away from Toronto in a more rural area. I was expecting to see your standard stereotypical redneck in suspenders, unwholesome bikers, mafia and other crime types, and some loner types, all of whom were Caucasian. I was quite surprised (and glad) to see that my perceptions were challenged. I ended up sitting at the same table as an older Greek grandfather guy who was a retired medical doctor. In front of us was a 20-something Black girl, who was a university student. Beside me sat an young Asian couple, who were also students in their 20s, there were a couple of Italian tough-guys behind us, but in conversations with one of the guys the next day, he was telling me that they were to-be hunters and he had people give him strange looks about taking the course (probably assumed he was a mobster as well) - and he said that criminals wouldn't be taking firearms safety courses, showing their face in public, etc. That is true. We also had a younger guy who was a security guard, and a couple of other guys who were a bit harder to read, though one of them was a married Russian guy - the other guy may have been the aforementioned loner type). Shortly before class began, two East Indian young guys walked in, with baggy pants and all, who wanted to take the restricted course to get their handgun licence - they didn't want to take the mandatory non-restricted course...I wondered about those guys...). Anyhow...
For those who have never handled a firearm or any type of gun in your life (squirt guns don't count), this course is a MUST. There are some firearms enthusiasts who don't have their P.A.L., but have worked with firearms long enough to know the terminology and parts and ammunition, that they would likely be able to pass both the written and practical portions of the RCMP-issued exam (the pass for both written and practical is 80% and you MUST pass BOTH). For me, it was a non-issue, since knowing the parts and workings of an airgun hardly qualifies me as knowledgeable in firearms. I'm glad I took the in-class portion. For the non-restricted course, it was about 12 hours of instruction in total. Some of the course involved videos, but the bulk of the course was the instructor going through the course manual piece-by-piece, giving a comprehensive understanding of the history of firearms, the class of firearms, the types of firearms, the types of ammo, and of course, the heavy component which involve gun safety from usage (loading/unloading/shooting), choosing and using the right ammunition (and recognizing the differences), using safeties to transport and storage, and social responsibilities, all of which was under the ACTS and PROVE principles (the course explains all this). You will get an opportunity to interact with different types of long-guns (rifles/shotguns), none of which actually involve live firing.
Most of the FSESO instructors will run their course as a "one-stop shop" for the whole process. They will administer the actual course, and will provide you the manuals, provide the P.A.L. application forms and run through the process with you, but the administering of the exams will be done by a third party examiner brought in. For the exams, you will fail if you get under 80%, but also, an instant fail is given if at any point, the firearm is pointed at someone, including yourself. You will lose points for not identifying the right ammo, and lose points badly if you put your finger inside the trigger guard or on the trigger at any point during the practical test. I scored 100% on the written test (much of this I attribute to reading the manual before the class and remembering a lot of it - which wasn't all that hard, since I had a keen interest in this stuff to begin with), and I scored 98% on the practical hands-on portion (only point I lost was when I did not check the size of the shot shell that I grabbed from a pile of ammo, before loading it into a pump-action shotgun - I already knew it was a 3" shell, but they docked me points for not checking before loading).
Once the course is done, the tests are all sent to the Chief Firearms Officer in your province to certify, after which they will send you back a copy of the test results by mail. At that point, you would fill out the application for the P.A.L., get your spouse (if you have one) to sign, get two references to sign, include a copy of your test results, include a photo that is to the government's guidelines, have a photo guarantor sign to confirm that that's you, and include your fee ($60.00 for non-restricted, $80.00 for restricted) to pay for your licence (which is good for five years).
Any time you subsequently buy a firearm (whether it be a gunpowder based firearm or a high power air rifle), you will need to show your P.A.L. They will then ring up the sale and if it is a good store, they will actually register the firearm with the federal government's gun registry for you while you wait (yeah, the gun registry sucks, but that's another discuss for another time). The gun registry is used by police, amongst other things, to alert them to a potential household that may have firearms if they are responding to a call (ie. domestic abuse, etc.). Of course, from what I understand, there have been search and seizure of homes that house firearms without notice (though those who fear this happening to them have not really read the cases where this has happened - the cops always have reasonable cause to ring your doorbell and ask to look at your firearms - they don't just do this out of the blue).
Except for the long gun registry, I personally like this process. It sure beats the U.S., where anyone can go into a store and buy a gun, with only a quick background check to verify non-criminal behaviour. That's how guys like Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech gunman, was able to buy his guns, even though he had severe mental and emotional problems. Sure, it's a pain in the butt for me to have to wait months (literally) to get my P.A.L., but I'd rather them go through this process and cause a legitimate law-abiding citizen like me some inconvenience, rather than to not do the due diligence and issue firearms licences like they were free tickets. The government has turned down thousands of P.A.L. applications and have revoked many others. And while some may view the safety course as an impediment, its value to any one handling firearms is invaluable.
In 1998, the Chretien Liberals scrapped that and replaced it with a licence called a Possession and Acquisition Licence (P.A.L.), which is not as easy to get. Now, you are required to pass two exams (one written, the other practical - which involved actually handling firearms) for the Canadian Firearms Security Course. Then comes the application itself which you require your spouse to sign off on, two references, a photo, etc. It is also a long wait to get your licence, since there are mandatory waiting periods. Also, there are different licences that you can get: the common non-restricted P.A.L. is for long guns: essentially rifles and shotguns. The restricted P.A.L. is primarily for handguns (some rifles apply to this - there are some measurement details). There is also a licence to acquire/possess prohibited weapons, but that is next to impossible to get, and the Canadian government have only issued a handful of those. Further, there are other licences you can get, like the Minor's Licence, which allows those 12-17 to use firearms as long as they are in immediate direct supervision of a person legally licenced to possess and use the firearms that the minor is using. And there are some other stipulations and / or exceptions for those who hunt to sustain their families (ie. Aboriginals on a reserve, etc.). The Possession-Only Licence was scrapped in 2001, so that is no longer obtainable, unless you are renewing an existing one.
Why was I considering getting a P.A.L.? As an avid recreational airgun shooter, I was quite happy at the selection of under 500FPS pistols and rifles that were available. Airgunning has grown in popularity and there are shooting clubs which are more or less for airgunners (I am a member of one here in the Toronto area). Still, there is an entire class of airguns which require a firearms licence - because they exceed the Canadian government's criteria of exceeding 500FPS velocity and exceeding 4.2 FPE (foot pounds energy) - as such, these primarily air rifles are classified as firearms and require a P.A.L. to purchase. That being said, right now the highest velocity air rifle shoots at around 1600FPS velocity (not sure of the FPE on that) with a special .177 caliber alloy pellet. Most P.A.L. rated air rifles will shoot between 700-1000 FPS. Consider that your average centerfire cartridge yields over 3500 FPS velocity and well over 1000 FPE, you can see that side by side, the most powerful air rifle still cannot hold a candle to its gunpowder-based comrades. Essentially that is why I originally chose and continue to choose airguns to shoot. I've been to several shooting ranges and while under 500 FPS airguns work at ranges which have its targets at 20 yards, you lose performance very quickly when shooting at the professional grade shooting facilities, built for centerfire rifles and handguns, which has the target around 50-100+ yards away. As such, I thought it would be good for me to get my P.A.L. in order to acquire better performing airguns (and one of the few air shotguns out there requires a P.A.L. - my local gunshop has this on hold for me).
Of course, I consulted with my wife first, who is not a firearms afficianado per se, but recognized my serious interest in sport shooting. She was more than happy to OK my request to attend the Canadian Firearms Safety Course one weekend, and was also OK that I applied for a firearms licence, since she knew why I was doing so. At the course, a few people looked at me strange, since most of them were getting their P.A.L. because they wanted to hunt, or because their job/vocation called for them to obtain a P.A.L. (ie. security guard or police officer). I simply want to be able to get better airguns - I have no interest in hunting - never have, never will, as long as I can buy my food at the grocery store (I'll let someone else deal with the mess in the slaughter house). Besides, I don't like the gamey taste of wild meat anyway.
So I thought I'd get a leg up by buying the course materials (which are only available from certain places, like some shooting ranges and of course, from the certified firearms instructors (see here for a list: http://www.fseso.org/),
signed up for the course, which ran one weekend. You don't need to buy the manuals before the course, but as I said, I wanted to get a leg up on the materials and read them beforehand - otherwise, they are supplied by the course instructor at the class itself (they are $15.00 per manual). The course itself is $120.00 for the non-restricted firearms course and $120.00 for the restricted course. You can take both together for $200.00 on the same weekend.
Despite my instructor strongly encouraging me to take both non-restricted and restricted, I was pretty adamant in taking the non-restricted only. I have no interest in handguns and since there are virtually no air pistols that are firearms-grade, I had no reason to take it, despite the savings (why pay for something I will never use?) Even for airguns, I far prefer the rifles over the pistols, due to the amount of tweaking and accessories you can get - I am a sucker for optics like scopes and sighting devices. So I signed up for the non-restricted P.A.L., which will allow me to purchase the higher-powered air rifles and should I be interested later on, in rimfire (maybe) and centerfire (probably not) rifles as well as shotguns (the only shotguns I could see myself buying are for skeet shooting, but I think I just prefer the stationary paper targets).
So one Friday evening early last month, I went directly from work to a shooting facility about 30 minutes from my home and sat with a class of 10 other people who were looking to get their P.A.L. for one reason or another. Now, I have to confess, I was expecting to see a certain demographic of people there, especially when this facility was far away from Toronto in a more rural area. I was expecting to see your standard stereotypical redneck in suspenders, unwholesome bikers, mafia and other crime types, and some loner types, all of whom were Caucasian. I was quite surprised (and glad) to see that my perceptions were challenged. I ended up sitting at the same table as an older Greek grandfather guy who was a retired medical doctor. In front of us was a 20-something Black girl, who was a university student. Beside me sat an young Asian couple, who were also students in their 20s, there were a couple of Italian tough-guys behind us, but in conversations with one of the guys the next day, he was telling me that they were to-be hunters and he had people give him strange looks about taking the course (probably assumed he was a mobster as well) - and he said that criminals wouldn't be taking firearms safety courses, showing their face in public, etc. That is true. We also had a younger guy who was a security guard, and a couple of other guys who were a bit harder to read, though one of them was a married Russian guy - the other guy may have been the aforementioned loner type). Shortly before class began, two East Indian young guys walked in, with baggy pants and all, who wanted to take the restricted course to get their handgun licence - they didn't want to take the mandatory non-restricted course...I wondered about those guys...). Anyhow...
For those who have never handled a firearm or any type of gun in your life (squirt guns don't count), this course is a MUST. There are some firearms enthusiasts who don't have their P.A.L., but have worked with firearms long enough to know the terminology and parts and ammunition, that they would likely be able to pass both the written and practical portions of the RCMP-issued exam (the pass for both written and practical is 80% and you MUST pass BOTH). For me, it was a non-issue, since knowing the parts and workings of an airgun hardly qualifies me as knowledgeable in firearms. I'm glad I took the in-class portion. For the non-restricted course, it was about 12 hours of instruction in total. Some of the course involved videos, but the bulk of the course was the instructor going through the course manual piece-by-piece, giving a comprehensive understanding of the history of firearms, the class of firearms, the types of firearms, the types of ammo, and of course, the heavy component which involve gun safety from usage (loading/unloading/shooting), choosing and using the right ammunition (and recognizing the differences), using safeties to transport and storage, and social responsibilities, all of which was under the ACTS and PROVE principles (the course explains all this). You will get an opportunity to interact with different types of long-guns (rifles/shotguns), none of which actually involve live firing.
Most of the FSESO instructors will run their course as a "one-stop shop" for the whole process. They will administer the actual course, and will provide you the manuals, provide the P.A.L. application forms and run through the process with you, but the administering of the exams will be done by a third party examiner brought in. For the exams, you will fail if you get under 80%, but also, an instant fail is given if at any point, the firearm is pointed at someone, including yourself. You will lose points for not identifying the right ammo, and lose points badly if you put your finger inside the trigger guard or on the trigger at any point during the practical test. I scored 100% on the written test (much of this I attribute to reading the manual before the class and remembering a lot of it - which wasn't all that hard, since I had a keen interest in this stuff to begin with), and I scored 98% on the practical hands-on portion (only point I lost was when I did not check the size of the shot shell that I grabbed from a pile of ammo, before loading it into a pump-action shotgun - I already knew it was a 3" shell, but they docked me points for not checking before loading).
Once the course is done, the tests are all sent to the Chief Firearms Officer in your province to certify, after which they will send you back a copy of the test results by mail. At that point, you would fill out the application for the P.A.L., get your spouse (if you have one) to sign, get two references to sign, include a copy of your test results, include a photo that is to the government's guidelines, have a photo guarantor sign to confirm that that's you, and include your fee ($60.00 for non-restricted, $80.00 for restricted) to pay for your licence (which is good for five years).
Any time you subsequently buy a firearm (whether it be a gunpowder based firearm or a high power air rifle), you will need to show your P.A.L. They will then ring up the sale and if it is a good store, they will actually register the firearm with the federal government's gun registry for you while you wait (yeah, the gun registry sucks, but that's another discuss for another time). The gun registry is used by police, amongst other things, to alert them to a potential household that may have firearms if they are responding to a call (ie. domestic abuse, etc.). Of course, from what I understand, there have been search and seizure of homes that house firearms without notice (though those who fear this happening to them have not really read the cases where this has happened - the cops always have reasonable cause to ring your doorbell and ask to look at your firearms - they don't just do this out of the blue).
Except for the long gun registry, I personally like this process. It sure beats the U.S., where anyone can go into a store and buy a gun, with only a quick background check to verify non-criminal behaviour. That's how guys like Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech gunman, was able to buy his guns, even though he had severe mental and emotional problems. Sure, it's a pain in the butt for me to have to wait months (literally) to get my P.A.L., but I'd rather them go through this process and cause a legitimate law-abiding citizen like me some inconvenience, rather than to not do the due diligence and issue firearms licences like they were free tickets. The government has turned down thousands of P.A.L. applications and have revoked many others. And while some may view the safety course as an impediment, its value to any one handling firearms is invaluable.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Benjamin EB22 .22 Caliber CO2 Pistol - Quick Review
Last year, I had an opportunity to finally find and buy (at a greatly discounted price) the Benjamin EB 22 air pistol. I've always been on the prowl for a 22 caliber higher velocity (but still within PAL limits) CO2 pistol, preferably a repeater, but I don't believe such an animal exists, so when I had an opportunity to get the EB22, I didn't hesitate. I got it for around $127.00, though I also had an additional 20% taken off due to the discount I had, but then, 14% taxes were added back. Anyhow, it probably came out around $115.00 or so, all in, which was very good, considering the fact that last year, this was about $160.00 + tax.
My EB22 came in a box (very refreshing, considering all other pistols come in that modern age pain-in the-butt oversized sealed plastic) that was obviously a EB17 box with factory replacement stickers to cover anything that says EB17. So the specs on the box would not be accurate. It came with a manual (that covers the EB17/EB20/EB22), as well as a Crosman plastic keyed-trigger safety (that's one thing I have always liked about Crosman products).
I've always liked the Benjamin series (the Benjamin airguns are all made by Crosman), with the all- metal construction and read hardwood grips. Sure, the 2240 is about 60% cheaper, but it's pretty plasticky. The EB22 is in the same family as the EB17 and EB20, the numbers obviously reflect caliber. The gun is a bolt action, with the bolt being at the back of the gun, not the side of the breech. Operating the bolt is pretty straightforward with a slight twist and pull (and push/twist to close). I'd prefer the side-bolt, since it seems easier to operate - believe it or not, you can actually jam the skin of your thumb on the EB22 bolt when you are twisting it if you don't do it right.
The weight of the gun feels good in the hands, and while I've never been a fan of wood grips (to me a grip is a grip is a grip), I can now see where I was mistaken. Plastic grips slip and are less comfortable than wood. The CO2 canister is inserted below the barrel and a twisting cap secures it in place. I believe the initial trigger pull pierces the powerlet. There is a manual cross-bolt safety in place, and while there are no onboard rails to mount accessories, I was able to purchase some add-on 3/8" two-piece dovetail mounts which clamp onto the breech. I don't have anything at this point to mount on it, but left the clamps on anyway.
As for performance, two things. 1) This gun is REALLY loud, even louder than the 2240, I would say. I'd prefer quite over loud, but since sound suppressors are illegal, I'll just put up with the noise. I am hoping the noise is not caused by the CO2 dispersal, but I am pretty sure it is, and if the shots per powerlet are any indication (I got around 24-28, which is terrible usage), much of the sound is caused by too much escaping gas. That should probably be fixed, since I can get around 55+ shots off one 12gram powerlet on the 2240. 2) The accuracy with open sights is really good (not just because it has a rifled steel barrel). The trigger pull is adequate and not long and I was able to get close groupings with all my shots at the range.
In terms of speed/velocity, I haven't an opportunity to chrony it yet. The marketing and Crosman website says it's up to 500FPS (pretty darn good for a non-PAL .22 cal), most other places say it is around 400FPS. There is a suggestion that the newer EB22s shoot harder out of the box. I can't qualify this, however.
Overall, I'd say that I am MORE than pleased with my purchase. I wished that I didn't go through so much CO2 with this pistol (and it wasn't so darn loud), but in terms of look, feel and performance, you can't go wrong with a Benjamin.
My EB22 came in a box (very refreshing, considering all other pistols come in that modern age pain-in the-butt oversized sealed plastic) that was obviously a EB17 box with factory replacement stickers to cover anything that says EB17. So the specs on the box would not be accurate. It came with a manual (that covers the EB17/EB20/EB22), as well as a Crosman plastic keyed-trigger safety (that's one thing I have always liked about Crosman products).
I've always liked the Benjamin series (the Benjamin airguns are all made by Crosman), with the all- metal construction and read hardwood grips. Sure, the 2240 is about 60% cheaper, but it's pretty plasticky. The EB22 is in the same family as the EB17 and EB20, the numbers obviously reflect caliber. The gun is a bolt action, with the bolt being at the back of the gun, not the side of the breech. Operating the bolt is pretty straightforward with a slight twist and pull (and push/twist to close). I'd prefer the side-bolt, since it seems easier to operate - believe it or not, you can actually jam the skin of your thumb on the EB22 bolt when you are twisting it if you don't do it right.
The weight of the gun feels good in the hands, and while I've never been a fan of wood grips (to me a grip is a grip is a grip), I can now see where I was mistaken. Plastic grips slip and are less comfortable than wood. The CO2 canister is inserted below the barrel and a twisting cap secures it in place. I believe the initial trigger pull pierces the powerlet. There is a manual cross-bolt safety in place, and while there are no onboard rails to mount accessories, I was able to purchase some add-on 3/8" two-piece dovetail mounts which clamp onto the breech. I don't have anything at this point to mount on it, but left the clamps on anyway.
As for performance, two things. 1) This gun is REALLY loud, even louder than the 2240, I would say. I'd prefer quite over loud, but since sound suppressors are illegal, I'll just put up with the noise. I am hoping the noise is not caused by the CO2 dispersal, but I am pretty sure it is, and if the shots per powerlet are any indication (I got around 24-28, which is terrible usage), much of the sound is caused by too much escaping gas. That should probably be fixed, since I can get around 55+ shots off one 12gram powerlet on the 2240. 2) The accuracy with open sights is really good (not just because it has a rifled steel barrel). The trigger pull is adequate and not long and I was able to get close groupings with all my shots at the range.
In terms of speed/velocity, I haven't an opportunity to chrony it yet. The marketing and Crosman website says it's up to 500FPS (pretty darn good for a non-PAL .22 cal), most other places say it is around 400FPS. There is a suggestion that the newer EB22s shoot harder out of the box. I can't qualify this, however.
Overall, I'd say that I am MORE than pleased with my purchase. I wished that I didn't go through so much CO2 with this pistol (and it wasn't so darn loud), but in terms of look, feel and performance, you can't go wrong with a Benjamin.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Walther CP Sport Air Pistol Review
In the spirit of providing (hopefully) decent air gun / pistol / rifle reviews for your consideration so you can make an informed choice, I am providing the latest review on a popular air pistol, which is one of those "love 'em or hate 'em" models: the Walther CP Sport.
This CO2 pistol is modeled after the CP99, but a more compact version that is more "plasticky" in feel. Walther, of course, is famous world-wide for their real-life pistols, most notably James Bond's PPK. The replica air gun models are licensed and manufactured by Walther (and distributed by Umarex in North America - I believe Umarex is somehow affiliated with Crosman).
The CP Sport is a double-action .177 repeater, that is fairly light to handle and comes with an 8-shot rotary clip. Now, I believe the velocity is around 430FPS or something in that range, but one thing for sure - this is meant for close-range target shooting. There are accessory rails on the gun if you want to mount a laser sight, but it looks really, really dumb, since it's under the barrel rather than at the top.
Several people have suggested this pistol as something worth trying out, considering my disappointment with the Crosman T4 (see my other review). For one, the big selling point is accuracy, which make sense, considering the fact that the CP Sport has a rifled steel barrel built in. I can attest that with the open sights, the CP Sport is fairly accurate for close-range shooting - it is by no means a match gun, but it's decent enough - far better than your standard pellet gun. It's also slightly smaller than the T4, so it's easy to handle. Its loading port is much more user friendly and the rotary clip drops in place and stays in place unlike the T4. However, that's about all the benefits that I have experienced with the CP Sport and I'd have to say that it's a tad overhyped.
The downsides to the CP Sport are few, but the few are significant. One is the fact that the safety is not easy to operate (for me anyway). It's a two-stage slide safety on the right hand side of the gun. You basically have to press in a little button and then in the same motion slide the safety switch backward (to take it off SAFE). To put it on SAFE, it's just s simple slide forward. Perhaps I'm not doing it right, but these kinds of things should not be rocket science. Here's where I like the Crosman T4 and 2240's cross-bolt safety (though the cross-bolt safety has its own inherent problems, not the least of which is causing a false sense of security in the shooter in that he/she assumes which side is the SAFE and which side is the FIRE position. With the CP Sport, you'll always know it's more difficult to put it on FIRE than it is to put it on SAFE.
The second thing I do not like about the CP Sport is the heavy trigger. Some people have advised me of this, but I always though - you just get used to it. Not so. Unless you have finger and hand muscles that rival those of WWF (sorry, it's WWE now) wrestlers, you will likely struggle with the trigger - and that does affect your accuracy to a degree since you are straining to pull the trigger and even the little shakes of your hand will cause your shot to miss its target. I heard that this can be modified, but I'm not yet a airgun gunsmith, so I won't even bother trying. Besides, my wife will kill me if I have air gun parts lying all over the kitchen table.
Finally, the last thing I find not so endearing on this pistol is now the 12g CO2 cartridge is loaded. As with most air pistols of this variety, the cartridge is behind/inside the grips of the gun. That is not a problem. The CP Sport's CO2 compartment release switch is near the trigger guard and easy to use. However, when the CO2 compartment is released, there are several steps that you will need to do. First is turning the boot of the compartment more than 180 degrees (one side to open, one side to close/lock). I thought that that was unnecessary until I realized that turning it back to the locking position pierces the CO2 canister. However, that is not possible until you turn this brass notched wheel to tighten the CO2 canister before moving the boot lock. Honestly, with so many steps, it is a bit obtuse and takes the fun away from a quick CO2 load (with the T4, it's a quick two step insert and snap the cartridge in place, which pierces the canister). Now, this is just the insertion of the CO2 cartridge part to which I am referring. If you happen to not spend all of the gas and wish to release it (good idea since it won't wear), you eject the compartment and then slowly turn the boot to let out the gas. When I mean slowly, I mean slowly - like turtle-slow. What I thought was slow ended up having the leftover gas spray all over my hand and shirt, and that is not pleasant as the CO2 is very cold and you can theoretically develop frostbite if you expose your skin to too much of it.
One last thing - I am all for warning text and labels, but there is so much writing on this gun, it looks like a billboard from an NHL hockey rink or a NASCAR driver's outfit. But this may be by design, since it's a pretty decent replica of a Walther product, so the text is probably there to ensure no one mistakes it as a real pistol (and of course, you should never try to paint over this text to make the gun look more "authentic").
There is a front and rear sight (one of them is adjustable, I believe it's the rear), and both are a white-dot colour - really easy to see. The gun also gets decent life on your CO2 canisters - you may get around 50-60 shots, which is pretty decent, in my view. Also, the loading port latch is very easy to use and is sturdy (unlike the T4's flat-against-the slide one).
Overall, the CP Sport is a decent air pistol. It's not the best out there, but it's hardly the worst. If you don't mind a little bit more work with the trigger pull, and some of the other idiosyncrasies with this gun, it's worth your consideration. It does seem solid and well built.
This CO2 pistol is modeled after the CP99, but a more compact version that is more "plasticky" in feel. Walther, of course, is famous world-wide for their real-life pistols, most notably James Bond's PPK. The replica air gun models are licensed and manufactured by Walther (and distributed by Umarex in North America - I believe Umarex is somehow affiliated with Crosman).
The CP Sport is a double-action .177 repeater, that is fairly light to handle and comes with an 8-shot rotary clip. Now, I believe the velocity is around 430FPS or something in that range, but one thing for sure - this is meant for close-range target shooting. There are accessory rails on the gun if you want to mount a laser sight, but it looks really, really dumb, since it's under the barrel rather than at the top.
Several people have suggested this pistol as something worth trying out, considering my disappointment with the Crosman T4 (see my other review). For one, the big selling point is accuracy, which make sense, considering the fact that the CP Sport has a rifled steel barrel built in. I can attest that with the open sights, the CP Sport is fairly accurate for close-range shooting - it is by no means a match gun, but it's decent enough - far better than your standard pellet gun. It's also slightly smaller than the T4, so it's easy to handle. Its loading port is much more user friendly and the rotary clip drops in place and stays in place unlike the T4. However, that's about all the benefits that I have experienced with the CP Sport and I'd have to say that it's a tad overhyped.
The downsides to the CP Sport are few, but the few are significant. One is the fact that the safety is not easy to operate (for me anyway). It's a two-stage slide safety on the right hand side of the gun. You basically have to press in a little button and then in the same motion slide the safety switch backward (to take it off SAFE). To put it on SAFE, it's just s simple slide forward. Perhaps I'm not doing it right, but these kinds of things should not be rocket science. Here's where I like the Crosman T4 and 2240's cross-bolt safety (though the cross-bolt safety has its own inherent problems, not the least of which is causing a false sense of security in the shooter in that he/she assumes which side is the SAFE and which side is the FIRE position. With the CP Sport, you'll always know it's more difficult to put it on FIRE than it is to put it on SAFE.
The second thing I do not like about the CP Sport is the heavy trigger. Some people have advised me of this, but I always though - you just get used to it. Not so. Unless you have finger and hand muscles that rival those of WWF (sorry, it's WWE now) wrestlers, you will likely struggle with the trigger - and that does affect your accuracy to a degree since you are straining to pull the trigger and even the little shakes of your hand will cause your shot to miss its target. I heard that this can be modified, but I'm not yet a airgun gunsmith, so I won't even bother trying. Besides, my wife will kill me if I have air gun parts lying all over the kitchen table.
Finally, the last thing I find not so endearing on this pistol is now the 12g CO2 cartridge is loaded. As with most air pistols of this variety, the cartridge is behind/inside the grips of the gun. That is not a problem. The CP Sport's CO2 compartment release switch is near the trigger guard and easy to use. However, when the CO2 compartment is released, there are several steps that you will need to do. First is turning the boot of the compartment more than 180 degrees (one side to open, one side to close/lock). I thought that that was unnecessary until I realized that turning it back to the locking position pierces the CO2 canister. However, that is not possible until you turn this brass notched wheel to tighten the CO2 canister before moving the boot lock. Honestly, with so many steps, it is a bit obtuse and takes the fun away from a quick CO2 load (with the T4, it's a quick two step insert and snap the cartridge in place, which pierces the canister). Now, this is just the insertion of the CO2 cartridge part to which I am referring. If you happen to not spend all of the gas and wish to release it (good idea since it won't wear), you eject the compartment and then slowly turn the boot to let out the gas. When I mean slowly, I mean slowly - like turtle-slow. What I thought was slow ended up having the leftover gas spray all over my hand and shirt, and that is not pleasant as the CO2 is very cold and you can theoretically develop frostbite if you expose your skin to too much of it.
One last thing - I am all for warning text and labels, but there is so much writing on this gun, it looks like a billboard from an NHL hockey rink or a NASCAR driver's outfit. But this may be by design, since it's a pretty decent replica of a Walther product, so the text is probably there to ensure no one mistakes it as a real pistol (and of course, you should never try to paint over this text to make the gun look more "authentic").
There is a front and rear sight (one of them is adjustable, I believe it's the rear), and both are a white-dot colour - really easy to see. The gun also gets decent life on your CO2 canisters - you may get around 50-60 shots, which is pretty decent, in my view. Also, the loading port latch is very easy to use and is sturdy (unlike the T4's flat-against-the slide one).
Overall, the CP Sport is a decent air pistol. It's not the best out there, but it's hardly the worst. If you don't mind a little bit more work with the trigger pull, and some of the other idiosyncrasies with this gun, it's worth your consideration. It does seem solid and well built.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Beretta CX-4 Storm Semi-Automatic .177 Carbine Review
For those airgun enthusiasts who are looking for the ultimate tactical unit, I'd encourage you to check out the Beretta CX-4 Storm. This gun is not very easy to get - you won't find it at your local sporting store per se, since one of the well-known airgun collectors in Toronto told me recently when I visited his shop, that if there is one gun that is an exact replica of the "real thing", but uses gas-powered powerplants, it is the CX-4. Most stores don't want to carry it, just in case some psycho decides to buy it and then hold up a bank with it (or worse). Until recently, I only saw photos of the unit, and when comparing it to the actual CX-4 in photos, you will be hard-pressed to see the difference. Even in real life, it looks pretty authentic (some airguns look absolutely cheesy, but not this one).
Now, some quick comments on it. If you're looking for power, this is not the gun for you. On a typical shooting chrony (I have an F1 model), the Canadian model will get around 350-380 FPS on it (despite what the box says), well under the Canadian legal limit of 500 FPS. Apparently the U.S. version will go up to 600, but in all honestly, CO2 semi-autos as a general rule cannot fire the projectiles at a consistent rate with rapid pulls of the trigger - the colder the environment (and with each firing the CO2 canister gets considerably colder) - the slower the pellet travels. It uses .177 caliber pellets so we're talking not a whole lot of power here. All that being said, the big selling point to this carbine is the fact that it uses a 30-shot rotating belt-style magazine, which is very uncommon for airguns. As mentioned, it is a semi-automatic, that is powered by an 88gram CO2 canister. Some people have written that this airgun is good for target practice (I say yes) as well as personal defence (I would vehemently say no - most airguns are very poor self-defence choices, due to lack of power - the ones you get that are over 500FPS are usually rifles, and even then you are looking at mostly .177 caliber, which is fine for hunting birds and squirrels and such, but hardly has the stopping power for the two-legged variety of varmints.
You can get some mountable options such as scopes and laser sights for this. Even with open sights, the adjustment is interesting - the front sight adjusts for elevation, while the rear sight adjusts for windage. The carbine is fairly light at around 5 lbs., and its length is around 30 inches (maybe slightly more). Of course, the thing is black as night.
If you are looking for this airgun, you can get it through airgun-specific shops like D&L Airguns out of B.C., or you can find some local private dealers that can buy them directly from the manufacturer (if you live in the Toronto area and don't know any, just email me and let me know). At a little under $300.00 for these things, they aren't cheap, but if you're wanting the tactical look and don't care about the power loss, I'd say that it's a pretty good deal.
Now, some quick comments on it. If you're looking for power, this is not the gun for you. On a typical shooting chrony (I have an F1 model), the Canadian model will get around 350-380 FPS on it (despite what the box says), well under the Canadian legal limit of 500 FPS. Apparently the U.S. version will go up to 600, but in all honestly, CO2 semi-autos as a general rule cannot fire the projectiles at a consistent rate with rapid pulls of the trigger - the colder the environment (and with each firing the CO2 canister gets considerably colder) - the slower the pellet travels. It uses .177 caliber pellets so we're talking not a whole lot of power here. All that being said, the big selling point to this carbine is the fact that it uses a 30-shot rotating belt-style magazine, which is very uncommon for airguns. As mentioned, it is a semi-automatic, that is powered by an 88gram CO2 canister. Some people have written that this airgun is good for target practice (I say yes) as well as personal defence (I would vehemently say no - most airguns are very poor self-defence choices, due to lack of power - the ones you get that are over 500FPS are usually rifles, and even then you are looking at mostly .177 caliber, which is fine for hunting birds and squirrels and such, but hardly has the stopping power for the two-legged variety of varmints.
You can get some mountable options such as scopes and laser sights for this. Even with open sights, the adjustment is interesting - the front sight adjusts for elevation, while the rear sight adjusts for windage. The carbine is fairly light at around 5 lbs., and its length is around 30 inches (maybe slightly more). Of course, the thing is black as night.
If you are looking for this airgun, you can get it through airgun-specific shops like D&L Airguns out of B.C., or you can find some local private dealers that can buy them directly from the manufacturer (if you live in the Toronto area and don't know any, just email me and let me know). At a little under $300.00 for these things, they aren't cheap, but if you're wanting the tactical look and don't care about the power loss, I'd say that it's a pretty good deal.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Crosman T4 .177 Caliber Repeater Airgun Review
I've been on some airgun forums lately, where people have asked about the Crosman T4. If you do a search of the internet, there are very few extensive reviews on the pistol. So I thought I'd do people a favour and write up a short little blurb about this glock replica. If you have any questions on the pistol, feel free to email me or post your question here.
The Crosman T4 is more or less modelled after the 1088 series. There are two flavours of the T4 - standalone or OPs. The OPs come with some additional tactical accessories, and naturally, carries a heftier price tag. Since I don't own an OPs, I'll just review the basic T4.
Based on my limited, and often-failing memory, the T4 kit includes shooting glasses, a 250-tin of wadcutter pellets, a couple of CO2 canisters, and some paper targets. The T4 also comes with two (2) 8-round clips, and will shoot 177 caliber pellets OR BBs (oh yeah, the kit also comes with a small baggie of steel BBs). Do not use airsoft ammo for this. For safety, the T4 kit comes with a cross-bolt safety switch, as well as a keyed trigger-guard safety mechanism (just like anything else, don't rely on these alone for your safety). I believe the velocity on the .177 pellets is something like 430, while the BBs are around 460.
The first thing that impressed me about the T4, even before I tried it out, is the look. It looks like a cool pistol, unlike many of the airguns out there, which may perform well and may even be used in official olympic match competitions, but look rather lame. It has a reasonably good resemblance to a glock pistol (don't brandish it in public, just like any other airgun), and despite what people say, how the pistol looks has an impact on your mindset when you take it to the range or wherever. Try taking those silly airsoft guns that are clear (the ones with the orange tip at the end) to any range - even if it shoots 1000FPS, you'll have a hard time taking it seriously. Anyhow, the CO2 canister for the T4 is inserted via the back of the grips (butt of the gun), which flip outward toward you. You insert the canister and then close the grips. Now, this next part I am unsure of, but either the canister is punctured when you close the grips or when you fire the pistol. A number of people have tried to convince me of the latter, but I believe it is the former, because if you don't quite close the back handle properly, you will start hearing the CO2 leak. Maybe I just did it wrong, who knows.
You pre-load your pellets or BBs (do not mix and match) into the 8-round magazine, push down the lever on the left side of the slide to engage the loading port, and then literally drop the magazine in the port with the ratchet side facing forward, and hope for the best. This brings me to my first issue with the T4 - the silly loading mechanism, and its subsequent problems. The T4 that I bought had problems right at the outset with pellets intermittently (I should say regularly, since it's more around 75-80% of the time) being jammed in the magazine and not firing. I consulted an enthusiast in the U.S. who also have owned numerous 1088s and T4s and he told me that the T4 has a problem with indexing, due to the nature of how the rounds are loaded. Basically, because the magazine is dropped in the port, there may be misalignment problems. As a result, when the magazine spins, the pellet is not quite lined up with the barrel and subsequently will hit the inside of the barrel and go back into the magazine. I found this to be the case, as upon opening up the loading port and removing the magazine, I saw nicks and depressions on the pellets - not only were they wasted, but it also wasted the CO2 as well as potentially damaging your gun long term. After owning the T4 for only a month or so, I had it shipped back to Crosman Canada for a replacement. To Crosman's credit, they not only replaced the pistol, but gave me a brand new pistol kit (it is completely plastic sealed, like many things you find at CostCo - you need scissors to open up the package). The replacement T4 no longer had the indexing problem, but right away, the lever that opens up the loading port no longer works (it gets jammed, though I can alternately open the loading port but pulling back the slide with one hand, while I push the lever down with the other - it's annoying but I'd prefer this problem over the indexing one). I'd send it back to Crosman, but I don't want to get a replacement gun that has the indexing problem.
As for CO2 life. It is very disappointing. For a 12 gram canister, I get maybe 25 - 30 shots. Which is absolutely terrible considering the fact that the 2240 can take about 40-60 shots before the CO2 is expended. It may be a leak in the T4s seals, but I've heard others who have mentioned the same thing, so I would imagine it's by design.
Performance. Well, I knew when I got it, that it did not have a rifled barrel, so I wasn't expecting great results. I don't measure groupings, so I can't comment, but I can say that with open sights, it was pretty bad. Thankfully, I was at a range that had backstops and what not. There is a manually adjustable rear sight, but I don't think that makes a difference, and it's not me, because I shoot much better with a 2240, or a Walther CP Sport. I haven't tried the BBs yet, and have no desire to do so, since I'm only interested in target shooting and the wadcutters are great to use for that.
The pistol feels very plasticky (because it is) and is heavier than your average air pistol. The feel of the grips is OK, but not great.
Overall, I was disappointed in the pistol. Crosman has produced better guns at less cost. While the pistol looked cool, some of the issues with it eroded the asethetically pleasing initial impressions. For a beginner plinker, it may be fine, but if you want to get better with your target shooting, you'll probably want to look at another product.
The Crosman T4 is more or less modelled after the 1088 series. There are two flavours of the T4 - standalone or OPs. The OPs come with some additional tactical accessories, and naturally, carries a heftier price tag. Since I don't own an OPs, I'll just review the basic T4.
Based on my limited, and often-failing memory, the T4 kit includes shooting glasses, a 250-tin of wadcutter pellets, a couple of CO2 canisters, and some paper targets. The T4 also comes with two (2) 8-round clips, and will shoot 177 caliber pellets OR BBs (oh yeah, the kit also comes with a small baggie of steel BBs). Do not use airsoft ammo for this. For safety, the T4 kit comes with a cross-bolt safety switch, as well as a keyed trigger-guard safety mechanism (just like anything else, don't rely on these alone for your safety). I believe the velocity on the .177 pellets is something like 430, while the BBs are around 460.
The first thing that impressed me about the T4, even before I tried it out, is the look. It looks like a cool pistol, unlike many of the airguns out there, which may perform well and may even be used in official olympic match competitions, but look rather lame. It has a reasonably good resemblance to a glock pistol (don't brandish it in public, just like any other airgun), and despite what people say, how the pistol looks has an impact on your mindset when you take it to the range or wherever. Try taking those silly airsoft guns that are clear (the ones with the orange tip at the end) to any range - even if it shoots 1000FPS, you'll have a hard time taking it seriously. Anyhow, the CO2 canister for the T4 is inserted via the back of the grips (butt of the gun), which flip outward toward you. You insert the canister and then close the grips. Now, this next part I am unsure of, but either the canister is punctured when you close the grips or when you fire the pistol. A number of people have tried to convince me of the latter, but I believe it is the former, because if you don't quite close the back handle properly, you will start hearing the CO2 leak. Maybe I just did it wrong, who knows.
You pre-load your pellets or BBs (do not mix and match) into the 8-round magazine, push down the lever on the left side of the slide to engage the loading port, and then literally drop the magazine in the port with the ratchet side facing forward, and hope for the best. This brings me to my first issue with the T4 - the silly loading mechanism, and its subsequent problems. The T4 that I bought had problems right at the outset with pellets intermittently (I should say regularly, since it's more around 75-80% of the time) being jammed in the magazine and not firing. I consulted an enthusiast in the U.S. who also have owned numerous 1088s and T4s and he told me that the T4 has a problem with indexing, due to the nature of how the rounds are loaded. Basically, because the magazine is dropped in the port, there may be misalignment problems. As a result, when the magazine spins, the pellet is not quite lined up with the barrel and subsequently will hit the inside of the barrel and go back into the magazine. I found this to be the case, as upon opening up the loading port and removing the magazine, I saw nicks and depressions on the pellets - not only were they wasted, but it also wasted the CO2 as well as potentially damaging your gun long term. After owning the T4 for only a month or so, I had it shipped back to Crosman Canada for a replacement. To Crosman's credit, they not only replaced the pistol, but gave me a brand new pistol kit (it is completely plastic sealed, like many things you find at CostCo - you need scissors to open up the package). The replacement T4 no longer had the indexing problem, but right away, the lever that opens up the loading port no longer works (it gets jammed, though I can alternately open the loading port but pulling back the slide with one hand, while I push the lever down with the other - it's annoying but I'd prefer this problem over the indexing one). I'd send it back to Crosman, but I don't want to get a replacement gun that has the indexing problem.
As for CO2 life. It is very disappointing. For a 12 gram canister, I get maybe 25 - 30 shots. Which is absolutely terrible considering the fact that the 2240 can take about 40-60 shots before the CO2 is expended. It may be a leak in the T4s seals, but I've heard others who have mentioned the same thing, so I would imagine it's by design.
Performance. Well, I knew when I got it, that it did not have a rifled barrel, so I wasn't expecting great results. I don't measure groupings, so I can't comment, but I can say that with open sights, it was pretty bad. Thankfully, I was at a range that had backstops and what not. There is a manually adjustable rear sight, but I don't think that makes a difference, and it's not me, because I shoot much better with a 2240, or a Walther CP Sport. I haven't tried the BBs yet, and have no desire to do so, since I'm only interested in target shooting and the wadcutters are great to use for that.
The pistol feels very plasticky (because it is) and is heavier than your average air pistol. The feel of the grips is OK, but not great.
Overall, I was disappointed in the pistol. Crosman has produced better guns at less cost. While the pistol looked cool, some of the issues with it eroded the asethetically pleasing initial impressions. For a beginner plinker, it may be fine, but if you want to get better with your target shooting, you'll probably want to look at another product.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Airgun Misconceptions Dispelled
This year, I developed an interest in airgunning. I have been greeted with funny, if not downright suspicious looks, from the very few people wo whom I have mentioned this. I strongly suspect that people think if you have an airgun (or any gun), you must be a violent person and are on the edge and are a stone's throw from being Columbine material. Nothing can be further from the truth.
While I have, at this point, not as much interest in getting a real gun licence (powder burners) due to the fact I have no interest in hunting, my interest in airguns is due to the fact that I've always wanted to target practice with an airgun, ever since I was a kid. I know growing up, my parents would have never bought me one, though had I gone to Scouts, I would have had some exposure. For me, airgun target practice is like going to the golf driving range (something else which I love to do). You set a target, aim for it, and it's really all about concentration, discipline and practice. I have no desire to hunt (except for backyard pest control), and I don't possess the arm and upper body strength to draw a real bow, so airguns are a good middle point for basic target practice. I go to a range in Scarborough, which is completely regulated, and safe (and one of the airgunning instructors there was an Olympic medalist back in 1988 - you did know they have airguns in the winter olympics, right?). Probably will go less, now that golf season is on, but it is a great way to relax on a lunch break or when I have a couple of free hours.
So...what's the difference between an airgun and a "real" gun. Now, I must qualify this by saying that some airguns are pretty powerful, but you will need a PAL (Possession and Acquisition Licence - formerly F.A.C.) to purchase them. In Canada, the line drawn between a firearm and a non-firearm is whether the projectile velocity is over 500 feet per second (FPS) AND produces a certain amount of energy (I think it's 4.2 f.p.e. - FPE stands for foot pounds energy or something like that - I can probably look it up). Most paintguns are around 300FPS and under, but of course, paintguns shoot paintballs which explode on contact with a water-soluable substance.
In Canada, you need to be 18 or over to buy an airgun.
Airguns come, just like any other gun, in pistol or rifle format. Rifles are heavy (for me anyway, since I'm a weakling), but obviously because of the longer barrel, it is good for distance shooting - if you want to pick off that squirrel that's been nibbling into your roof - wise choice. Generally, for target practice and offical tournament matches, I believe the standard distance is around 10 meters. As a result, you don't need a very powerful airgun at all - in fact, most match guns don't carry a lot of oomph, but they are accurate.
For airguns that are over 500FPS and require a PAL, they are treated like an actual firearm. Some airguns can go up to 1700FPS, but I've heard you start losing velocity at around 1050FPS. I don't have a PAL, nor do I desire to get one, since my application is pretty limited (basic target shooting). I often wonder if I would have joined Scouts, how my eyes would have been as a kid - since you know, Scouts and Cadets use airguns as part of their programs. Right now, I enjoy the occasional recreational shooting.
Airguns are powered by compressed air, and that comes in various forms - a spring loaded gun (often times these are single break-barrel rifles - the more powerful airguns), a pumped gun (which I have never understood since by the time you pump it 6-7 times, your arms are tired), and of course, my favourite, CO2-powered (they come in 12 or 88gram canisters) - generally CO2 guns are not as powerful as a break barrel.
There are different projectiles for airgunning, but for people like me in the under 500FPS crowd, it doesn't really what you use. For paper targets and match tournaments, the best type is the flat wadcutters - the flat head cuts clean holes through your paper target so you can easily inspect how you did. There are other projectiles use for hunting (pointed, domed, hollow point, etc.), but those are for the more powerful guns (over 500FPS). You can get them in .177 caliber, .20 caliber, .22 caliber, .25 caliber and there are other higher calibers as well, but those are the more common ones.
There is a huge audience out there that does modifications to their airguns, to get better accuracy, feel, performance, etc. Most of the standard airguns by in the store are pretty plasticky - generally, some wooden grips would be a welcome addition, etc. I am not into the whole modding thing - the stock options are adequate - though for whatever reason, I love tinkering with different scopes.
Oh, one other thing. You should know that airguns are not exactly the same as BB guns and airsoft guns. While I won't go into it in detail, airsoft uses plastic "BB" type of projectiles, while BBs are metallic balls. Most airgun ammo are in the form of pellets. Airsoft is huge in countries like Japan, which have fairly strict regulations on anything which fires a projectile.
One of the best airguns out there at a great cost is the Crosman 2240. That is a solid gun out of the box and it is probably the most modded gun in the world of hobby airgunning. Some other airguns are not as modular and you can't really take them apart to do anything - again, that is not my area of interest. Another good gun that is match-grade (can be used for tournaments) is the Daisy 7 x7 - it is a single side-pump airgun - really ugly, but good for professional target competitions. There are also some good match-grade guns made by Dianawerk (or Diana for short), but I haven't seen any in the Toronto area - their reputation preceeds them, though.
There are people out there who will say that why get into airgunning - why not collect stamps or something "safer". You ever collected stamps before? I have. BORRRRRRRING... Also, just like on the golf driving range, I get great satisfaction in knowing that with practice, you can get pretty good at target shooting. And airguns are fairly safe to use - lots of safety features and just like anything else, if you pratice good safety and take safety seriously, there is little to no risk for injury. It is people who think that people who use airguns will accidently shoot themselves, really show that they have no idea what an airgun is or how it works (same goes for a "real" gun). You see more serious injuries in kids hockey with slapshot pucks hitting people in the head, knocking out teeth, etc. Obviously, airguns are not toys and are not for kids, but in the hands of a responsible adult who practices safety, they can be a great source of skill development. That is the reason I am developing into an avid airgunner. I am hoping that if I get really good, I'll be able to enter competitive tournaments.
Some people also think guns and airguns are for either people who live in trailer parks or that you need to be a right-wing white person to qualify as an owner of firearms. Nothing can be further from the truth. Just like golf (which people still think is a white man's sport), airgunning has caught on big time amongst gun enthusiasts in the city who are more restricted on what they can shoot in their basements or backyards. I am on several airgun forums and OK, I'm one of few Asians there, but in going to the range, I am finding there are more Asians shooting guns than talking about them. Nothing wrong with that.
People also think gun enthusiasts are violent, uneducated people. I am usually not this forward, but I have a bachelor's degree, I have a family (wife and child), I have never been in trouble with the law, I am active in my church, volunteering in many capacities. I do not have a short fuse, I have a happy marriage, I don't abuse alcohol, I don't get into fights, I don't do drugs, etc. etc. In fact, in meeting other gun enthusiasts, I have found them far more educated on things like physics and other sciences than non-gun owners. Unfortunately, too many people have been watching too many TV shows...
While I have, at this point, not as much interest in getting a real gun licence (powder burners) due to the fact I have no interest in hunting, my interest in airguns is due to the fact that I've always wanted to target practice with an airgun, ever since I was a kid. I know growing up, my parents would have never bought me one, though had I gone to Scouts, I would have had some exposure. For me, airgun target practice is like going to the golf driving range (something else which I love to do). You set a target, aim for it, and it's really all about concentration, discipline and practice. I have no desire to hunt (except for backyard pest control), and I don't possess the arm and upper body strength to draw a real bow, so airguns are a good middle point for basic target practice. I go to a range in Scarborough, which is completely regulated, and safe (and one of the airgunning instructors there was an Olympic medalist back in 1988 - you did know they have airguns in the winter olympics, right?). Probably will go less, now that golf season is on, but it is a great way to relax on a lunch break or when I have a couple of free hours.
So...what's the difference between an airgun and a "real" gun. Now, I must qualify this by saying that some airguns are pretty powerful, but you will need a PAL (Possession and Acquisition Licence - formerly F.A.C.) to purchase them. In Canada, the line drawn between a firearm and a non-firearm is whether the projectile velocity is over 500 feet per second (FPS) AND produces a certain amount of energy (I think it's 4.2 f.p.e. - FPE stands for foot pounds energy or something like that - I can probably look it up). Most paintguns are around 300FPS and under, but of course, paintguns shoot paintballs which explode on contact with a water-soluable substance.
In Canada, you need to be 18 or over to buy an airgun.
Airguns come, just like any other gun, in pistol or rifle format. Rifles are heavy (for me anyway, since I'm a weakling), but obviously because of the longer barrel, it is good for distance shooting - if you want to pick off that squirrel that's been nibbling into your roof - wise choice. Generally, for target practice and offical tournament matches, I believe the standard distance is around 10 meters. As a result, you don't need a very powerful airgun at all - in fact, most match guns don't carry a lot of oomph, but they are accurate.
For airguns that are over 500FPS and require a PAL, they are treated like an actual firearm. Some airguns can go up to 1700FPS, but I've heard you start losing velocity at around 1050FPS. I don't have a PAL, nor do I desire to get one, since my application is pretty limited (basic target shooting). I often wonder if I would have joined Scouts, how my eyes would have been as a kid - since you know, Scouts and Cadets use airguns as part of their programs. Right now, I enjoy the occasional recreational shooting.
Airguns are powered by compressed air, and that comes in various forms - a spring loaded gun (often times these are single break-barrel rifles - the more powerful airguns), a pumped gun (which I have never understood since by the time you pump it 6-7 times, your arms are tired), and of course, my favourite, CO2-powered (they come in 12 or 88gram canisters) - generally CO2 guns are not as powerful as a break barrel.
There are different projectiles for airgunning, but for people like me in the under 500FPS crowd, it doesn't really what you use. For paper targets and match tournaments, the best type is the flat wadcutters - the flat head cuts clean holes through your paper target so you can easily inspect how you did. There are other projectiles use for hunting (pointed, domed, hollow point, etc.), but those are for the more powerful guns (over 500FPS). You can get them in .177 caliber, .20 caliber, .22 caliber, .25 caliber and there are other higher calibers as well, but those are the more common ones.
There is a huge audience out there that does modifications to their airguns, to get better accuracy, feel, performance, etc. Most of the standard airguns by in the store are pretty plasticky - generally, some wooden grips would be a welcome addition, etc. I am not into the whole modding thing - the stock options are adequate - though for whatever reason, I love tinkering with different scopes.
Oh, one other thing. You should know that airguns are not exactly the same as BB guns and airsoft guns. While I won't go into it in detail, airsoft uses plastic "BB" type of projectiles, while BBs are metallic balls. Most airgun ammo are in the form of pellets. Airsoft is huge in countries like Japan, which have fairly strict regulations on anything which fires a projectile.
One of the best airguns out there at a great cost is the Crosman 2240. That is a solid gun out of the box and it is probably the most modded gun in the world of hobby airgunning. Some other airguns are not as modular and you can't really take them apart to do anything - again, that is not my area of interest. Another good gun that is match-grade (can be used for tournaments) is the Daisy 7 x7 - it is a single side-pump airgun - really ugly, but good for professional target competitions. There are also some good match-grade guns made by Dianawerk (or Diana for short), but I haven't seen any in the Toronto area - their reputation preceeds them, though.
There are people out there who will say that why get into airgunning - why not collect stamps or something "safer". You ever collected stamps before? I have. BORRRRRRRING... Also, just like on the golf driving range, I get great satisfaction in knowing that with practice, you can get pretty good at target shooting. And airguns are fairly safe to use - lots of safety features and just like anything else, if you pratice good safety and take safety seriously, there is little to no risk for injury. It is people who think that people who use airguns will accidently shoot themselves, really show that they have no idea what an airgun is or how it works (same goes for a "real" gun). You see more serious injuries in kids hockey with slapshot pucks hitting people in the head, knocking out teeth, etc. Obviously, airguns are not toys and are not for kids, but in the hands of a responsible adult who practices safety, they can be a great source of skill development. That is the reason I am developing into an avid airgunner. I am hoping that if I get really good, I'll be able to enter competitive tournaments.
Some people also think guns and airguns are for either people who live in trailer parks or that you need to be a right-wing white person to qualify as an owner of firearms. Nothing can be further from the truth. Just like golf (which people still think is a white man's sport), airgunning has caught on big time amongst gun enthusiasts in the city who are more restricted on what they can shoot in their basements or backyards. I am on several airgun forums and OK, I'm one of few Asians there, but in going to the range, I am finding there are more Asians shooting guns than talking about them. Nothing wrong with that.
People also think gun enthusiasts are violent, uneducated people. I am usually not this forward, but I have a bachelor's degree, I have a family (wife and child), I have never been in trouble with the law, I am active in my church, volunteering in many capacities. I do not have a short fuse, I have a happy marriage, I don't abuse alcohol, I don't get into fights, I don't do drugs, etc. etc. In fact, in meeting other gun enthusiasts, I have found them far more educated on things like physics and other sciences than non-gun owners. Unfortunately, too many people have been watching too many TV shows...
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