Since the announcement of Bill C21 in 2020, my inclination to buy new airguns has been greatly reduced.
It is true that my collection is fairly large and that I had acquired most of what I wanted before retiring in 2019 but, with mid-power replicas being specifically targeted, pouring more money into my hobby seemed, presently, a bit counterproductive.
I have more than enough replicas (non-firing, CO2 and green gas) to cover the history of firearms from the black powder era until the modern time by owning their fake counterparts. When I started my collection, I didn’t want to be involved with actual firearms so the alternative was to collect airguns under 500 fps to avoid any problems. This was my reasoning at the time but, not having a crystal ball, I didn’t know that what the future had in store for us would be as bad as it is.
All of my replicas were bought legally, sale taxes were paid and cashed in by the government but Bill C21 will render most of my collection worthless. Therefore my last purchase of any pistol goes back to late 2019.
Unfortunately, I just discovered that the silver version of the 18th Century Pirate Flintlock CO2 BB Pistol was available at Canada Shooting Supply. Since it is a replica of a black powder firearm, technically it shouldn’t be targeted by C21 (I hope). I own a bunch of non-firing Dennix flint lock replicas but having one that can shoot was the devil’s temptation. Very difficult to resist.
So even if it was pricey, I made the jump and ordered one last week. It came in the mail on Monday (Nov 21st) so I was able to open the package and run a CO2 cartridge through it the same evening, then another one on Tuesday.
This model is made by HFC and is available both in 6mm softair (green gas) and 4.5 mm metal BB (CO2). The one I ordered is for metal BBs. The box was packed in a larger box for shipping and when I opened it, I was impressed by the look of the packaging until I realized it was just a sleeve that went over a plain brown cardboard box. It is too bad because the fire etched writing on a rough wood board background was looking very good. It would certainly have been a plus if the actual box was printed instead of being covered by a sleeve because when it is opened the gun and accessories are displayed on a contoured support covered with fabric which is a nice touch. Even the instruction sheet and exploded view are made to look like a pirate’s treasure map.
The picture shows on top left and center, both sides of the printed sleeve and underneath, the plain box and its content. At the bottom, we can see the explode view and on the right, the instruction sheet.
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The product is well made. The fake wood is not annoying at all (real wood would have been better but it is not a deal breaker). The molding of the metal is crisp but the finish is not too shiny, it looks like a pistol with patina on the metal parts. The instructions are adequate but not very detailed (an explanation of how the BBs go from the magazine to the barrel would have been interesting as well as what to do if a jam occurs).
I was careful because I didn’t want to break anything. After loading 30 BBs, the loading rod didn’t want to slide over them to return to its original locking position and it was sticking out a few inches. I had to empty all the BBs and tried with 5, 10 and 15 and it seemed to work. Eventually after several attempts the magazine finally accepted the 30BBs that could be loaded according to the specifications.
To be ready to shoot the instruction said to cock the hammer (as there is no half-cock position, it ends up fully cocked) then to close the frizzen over the pan. It seemed to me that the frizzen was purely decorative so I tried to pull the trigger without closing it and discovered that the trigger was very stiff and didn’t want to move. After that I suspected that there might be more than I thought about the function of the frizzen. I didn’t pull harder on the trigger because I didn’t want to break something but it looked like it was on safe. Anyway I closed the frizzen as mentioned in the instruction and fired the pistol from about 10 feet (without sight I wanted to know what to expect as point of impact). Several shots stayed well within the confine of my BB trap and moved back to 16 feet. At that distance the impacts of the BBs opened up a bit compared to 10 feet but it was still OK.
Going through the cycles I discovered that the function of the frizzen is to transfer a BB from the spring loaded magazine to the barrel of the pistol. When the hammer hits it, a reset occurs and a BB is pushed. After cocking the hammer, when the frizzen is closed, the BB is transferred and the trigger is unlocked. In some occasions the frizzen didn’t opened completely after being hit by the hammer. To complete the cycle I had to open it manually before recocking and closing the frizzen to be ready to shoot.
Not knowing how many shots are left is a bit annoying and could be a safety hazard. Counting the shots is one option. Another would be that when the pistol is dry fired the sound is different so that could be used as an indication that the magazine is empty. But there is a situation where the shooter needs to be very careful. When CO2 pressure starts to be low at the end of a session or any other time the magazine needs to be emptied of it BBs there might be a BB left in the system and you should ensure to have enough gas to dryfire (in a safe direction) the pistol to confirm that it is actually empty.
Another thing I noticed was that the frizzen was a bit loose even if the screw holding it was tight. I am not sure if it is supposed to be like that but for the time being it works. Also at some point, I started to wonder if the hammer and frizzen were really metal and not some sort of hard plastic but eventually I could see a shiny spot where the frizzen was hit by the hammer. I guessed it is some sort of pot metal probably some zinc alloy because it is easy to cast.
Below there are different views showing the details of the pistol and of the BBs holder disguised as a powder flask.
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After just a couple of CO2 cartridges through it I don’t know how robust the pirate’s pistol is but for sure it looks very good. I have several Dennix non-firing replicas and this firing air pistol is a fine addition to the family.
Below I have a picture of the flintlock pistols from my collection.
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As I mentioned at the beginning, this pistol is a bit pricey but it was in line with what I saw on different Canadian sites. It seems that if the U.S. price was in Canadian dollars it would be more reasonable. As it is not the case, that will possibly detract some people from buying this product.
It is not a very in-depth review but I hope it might be helpful.
R-Gun Pete
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