Some of you will hate this but it had to be done..
Given the bad press these UK imported Chinese guns have and their impact on the local market, I decided to buy one for my 12 year old son, who's a total newcommer to shooting, and see if they really are value for money or just not worth having. I also love tinkering so I figured a cheap rifle is easier to bin if it all goes wrong
I received mine yesterday from combatcammo.co.uk - they sell the B2 .177 carbine for £25.
The gun arrived in a flimsy carboard box with no padding and had suffered an impact on the butt that will need polishing out at some point. Other bits that I had paid for in my order did not manifest and I trust COMBATCAMMO will see to it that they do ASAP - it would help if they were to pickup their phone..
Anyway, the gun itself looks quite well made, no flimsy plastic bits - all wood and metal as far as I can tell. It is a carbine with no fore sight yet the rear sight is left on the gun, probably because it is welded on.
There's no rust anywhere, the rifle was covered in what smells like motor oil, the stock is solid yet slightly smaller than a full rifle stock (compared with my ASI Magnum), it is light, quite well balanced and I was lucky enough to find that my old Crosman silencer slips straight on.
Judging by the looks of it, its safe to say that the original sights are total crap and a dovetail mounted scope is essential. Fortunately it has these and I fitted a 3-9x40 SMK scope with two piece mounts within minutes.
Cocking is begun by means of a thumb-push lock mechanism. Pushing it forwards, the barrel rotates down an inch exposing the loading port and the barrel can then be pulled back to compress and lock the spring. The effort required is reasonable although it is quite a rough experience.
The loading port appears quite tight as I could'nt get a Rabbit Magnum .177 into it but all other pellets I tried fitted OK (I have 12 different types at home).
The first shot out of it produced enough smoke to drop visibility in our corridor by 70%
I shot into a 1/2" piece of wood and was pleasantly surprised to see it penetrate deeper than pellets fired by my ASI Magnum, indicating that it must be producing at least 10ftlbs.
I needed to get this onto a range and see how it groups so my son and I went down to the 1St Ealing Rifle Club (not far from me, fortunately) and we tuned the scope to 20yds.
This is when we realised how unbelievably heavy the trigger is the piston thump and subsequent recoil is bone-juddering and because of this we found we couldnt achieve better than 10cm groups at 20yds
In conclusion, although I like the size/feel and looks of the thing, I would strongly NOT recommend buying one UNLESS you are prepared (as I am) to strip it down and polish/relube the entire gun, with special emphasis on the trigger mechanism.
Out of the box, it should be considered an unfinished project and I'd say its only good for plinking to around 12 yards although a lucky shot from it would probably kill most vermin at 40.
Tony.
PS. The following pics show the rifle, its main spring, spring guide and trigger and my first attempt at 20 yard groups following its reworking.
The coin is a 5 pence piece, measuring 18mm in diameter.
g]
A lead Rabbit Magnum only managed to dent the casing though.
