Canadian Airgun Forum

To be honest: I've bought this rifle for it's looks - it turned out to be a gem worthy of it's looks after a few tweaks.



It's not for sale in the Netherlands (where I live, without airgun power restrictions): I bought my .22 cal from a Belgian branch of an airguncompany located in Poland: http://www.cheapguns.eu .
It was the very last one they had in stock.
Due to Polish law it arrived with a clipped spring to reduce performance to < 12.5 fpe.

Since I've seen pics of the clipped spring (clipped as in clipped, with the clipped end uncompressed) before I bought the rifle, I started looking for an oem spring and ended up at http://www.Bestairgun.com in the USA. One AA spring local would have cost me about 30 euro and for that amount I received three B40 springs from the US.

Next there is the issue of the cocking arm passing the front "pull located base spring ball". It was wiggling a bit upon closing. After dremeling a groove in the "pull colar" (the end of the cocking arm) that was sorted.

There was a small bit of play between the cocking arm and the "pull board", a thin (lubed) washer did the trick.

The spring assembly is an interesting item. After dropping in an oem B40 spring performance was good but with quite a bit of recoil.

Taking a few coils off of the spring, heating and compressing the end, flattening and polishing both ends smoothed it out quite a bit. Not much loss in performance but a better shooting rifle.

An English RFD I know from http://ukchineseairgunforum.myfreeforum.org (who had helped me before tweaking Chinese airguns) had bought a B40 at about the same time as I did. Will from http://www.woodfield-gcp.webs.com shared his experience and sold me a custom made delrin washer that had been dome shaped on one side and the mating side of the delrin tophat had also been made dome shaped. That improved performance a lot.

I started fiddling May 1, after helping someone with his B30 I decided to give the B40 a lube-tune. Before I was satisfied with performance, after the lube tune it performs even better. Why didn't I do that day one.... Lesson learned.

Consistency 50 shots after the lube tune:



So much for the tech part, the part that interests me most in Chinese airguns.

I'm not going to compare the B40 with it's copy, the AirArms TX200. Blasphemy, it's the other way around. Sorry. As a matter of fact I can't compare it since I have never seen an AA TX200 in real life.

The main issue is: when you are looking for an airgun that shoots perfect out of the box and has a gourgeous stock that makes you drewl and a superb finish, you wouldn't even be reading this topic. The B40 looks great, the stock and finish are good but no match to the original I guess. So no need discussing that part. If you haven't got or don't want to spend a lot of $$$'s or €€€'s or £££'s you will love the B40.

It's accurate, has a shrouded barrel (low sound level), nice finish, replacement parts are cheap, but it's heavy. It weighs 4.2 kgs.
An SMK/B19 weighs 2.7 kgs and a basic .22 cal rimfire rifle stays below 3 kgs.
The B40 is not the type of gun to roam around the countryside with all day, unless you are a healthy and big bloke.

Operating the rifle doesn't require a sience degree. Pull the cocking arm all the way back untill the safety pin pops out, load a pellet, push the release button on the right side, close the cocking arm, aim at your target, release the safety and shoot.

After a while you won't even notice pressing the safety button and resting your triggerfinger on the stock above the trigger before taking the shot.

The trigger doesn't need attention, it's very light, crisp and predictable out of the box.

Grouping is best using Crosman Premiers and JSB Exact Jumbo's, the RWS Superdome is the most consistent pellet. Conclusions like that may vary as no airrifle is the same, like a fingerprint.

The three groups below shot indoors/supported at 11 yards:







I hope you have enjoyed reading this review written by someone that was a springer noob untill a few months ago.

If you'd like to see it feel free to watch the video I've made about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cXW4HI3zeI

cheers
Brutuz

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Crosman 1300 1377 1377c 2100 2240 2300KT 2400KT 400
SMK XS19 208 38 78 79 / BMK 12 19 20 26 27 30 40 / Stoeger X20 / Xisico XS B12 B28 46U
My airgunvids on Youtube - Chinese Airgun Portal

I think I need to get one of those things.......look's like a lot of gun for a good price........

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"It's just a springer..."

I find they are a little pricey for a Chinese gun. I have been considering picking one up in the US when I go on holidays this summer though. I think you can find them for around $250 south of the border.

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NFA member
CSSA member

I purchased one at the airgun show at Waterdown and did a little shooting with it at the show. After a brief sight in, I was able to hit most everything I shot at, including the spinners at 45 yards and one just beyond 50 yards.

When I got it home, I disassembled it and cleaned that terrible grease off of it that was everywhere. One thing I noticed was that every screw was loose and even the pin for the cocking lever was only in on one side. When I get the time, I will smooth the rough edges that exist and put it back together with an AA TX spring cut for 12 ft/lb.

I ordered a 12 ft/lb Vorteck spring kit well over a month ago and have not heard a peep since. This is disappointing to me since I was looking forward to putting this kit in the B40 and reporting the results. I may call again to see whats up. I have called three times and left an email. I hope it is just something lost in the shuffle, as the product looked promising.

Tim

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Tim
CAFTA Governor and lifetime learner

Are you referring to the B40 or the TX?

I am referring to my B40 Pumpmaster, but both rifles have a shrouded barrel.

_________________
Crosman 1300 1377 1377c 2100 2240 2300KT 2400KT 400
SMK XS19 208 38 78 79 / BMK 12 19 20 26 27 30 40 / Stoeger X20 / Xisico XS B12 B28 46U
My airgunvids on Youtube - Chinese Airgun Portal