Seneca Dragonfly Multipump

[JohnKSa]

I ordered a Seneca Dragonfly Multipump "by Air Venturi". The quoted section is a bit of marketing fiction, since, as far as I can tell, the airgun is made by Shaoxing (SnoPeak). Rebranding is rampant in the airgun world and I'm not complaining, just providing information.

Anyway, it arrived yesterday. I haven't had a chance to do much other than open the box and handle it, but I'm impressed so far. The multipump airgun market is mostly low end ($50 plus or minus $15 guns made with a lot of plastic) with the notable exception of the Benjamin/Sheridan guns by Crosman.

This gun definitely does not fall into the low-end multipump market. The front sight/muzzle guard and parts of the rear sight are plastic as is the triggerguard, but the few plastic parts are nicely implemented and do not detract either in terms of function or appearance. The rest of the gun is steel and wood. Just based on first impressions I'm going to rank it as being higher quality than the Benjamin/Sheridan guns. Or maybe that's just my rationalizing the price ($180) I paid for it. But it is definitely a cut above the typical multipump airgun.

It is similar to the Benjamin/Sheridan guns in that the pumping range is 3-8 pumps (Benjamin/Sheridan range is 2-8) and ONLY pellets may be used. The similarity continues with pumping effort--in fact my initial impression is that getting the pump lever closed on the 8th pump is even more work than on my Sheridan. Finding a comfortable place to hold the gun with the non-pumping hand is a bit awkward, just as it is on the Benjamin/Sheridan guns.

I purchased this gun with the goal of giving it as a gift, but the pumping effort is probably too stiff for the intended recipient. Even if I keep and use it, I predict that it will only rarely see a full 8 pumps.

It is different from the Benjamin/Sheridan guns in that it comes with a spring-loaded magazine that holds 9 shots in .177 and 7 in .22. One magazine (and a single-shot adapter) are included and additional magazines are available for about $20 apiece. They are identical to the Diana Stormrider magazines, a fact, which, if you think about it, tells you something about the Stormrider's origins.

The gun is nicely packed in a cardboard box containing fitted hard Styrofoam inserts. Also included was a well-written manual (no 'Engrish' that I noticed) and a small parts kit consisting of a series of O-rings and other parts that the manufacturer apparently feels might be normal wear items. The Styrofoam inserts contain cutouts for spare magazines, as well as for the typical "snuff can" pellet containers as well as a few other small cutouts. The outer cardboard box is sturdy and can be securely reclosed which means that the original packaging will serve well for storage and reasonably well as a case for transporting the rifle.

The stock fits me well, it is definitely sized for an adult, and the appearance is nice.

I'll do some shooting over the weekend, maybe even some chronograph work if I get really motivated, and will provide more information as it becomes available.

 

[cobalt327]

Various models from the SPA airgun line are being sold by several brands, Diana has the Stormrider and it's also sold under the mrodair brand along w/several others like the CP-1M which I own, CP2, etc.

The bottom line for me is, their guns (SPA I mean) are by and large well designed and well built airguns and are very affordable.
SPA (their site is a pain to navigate)- https://www.spairguns.com/
Another place these guns are seen- this site is even worse than SPA's- http://www.artemis-airgun.com/#flash

 

[JohnKSa]

The bottom line for me is, their guns (SPA I mean) are by and large well designed and well built airguns and are very affordable.

With the possible exception of pumping effort, I would agree based on my experience so far with the Dragonfly.

 

[cobalt327]

I read the same thing on another airgun board. The owner there attached an arm to help leverage. Looks aside, he says it works.

 

[JohnKSa]

I've been eyeballing it to see if there's a way to increase the length of the pumping arm without screwing up the looks of the rifle. So far I haven't been able to come up with anything.

 

[cobalt327]

This is what one fellow came up with:

 

[JohnKSa]

I don't like the look of that modification, but I see why it was done that way and I'll bet it's pretty functional. The gap between the lever extension and the stock had to be left so that the shooter could grip the gun at that point--there's really no other good place to hold the gun with the non-pumping hand.

HOWEVER, if the extension were brought all the way down past the triggerguard, it could be flush with stock and triggerguard and the shooter could hold the stock at the wrist with the non-pumping hand. Assuming that the wrist of the stock would hold up to that sort of strain, that could be a pretty good solution that maybe didn't look too terrible.

 

[JohnKSa]

I put about 30 shots through it tonight. My non-pumping hand which had to hold the gun is not especially happy at the moment. Most of the shots were done at 4-6 pumps but I did shoot a couple at 8 pumps just so I could say I did. Honestly, the pumping effort was less of an issue than trying to find a comfortable place to put my non-pumping hand to hold the gun securely while pumping.

The magazines worked fine but loading them is not intuitive. First you wind the spring all the way round using the index plate and load a pellet in tail-first from the front of the magazine. It's not obvious which side is the front of the magazine just by looking at it. Then you turn the magazine over and move the index plate around one notch at a time loading the remainder of the pellets in nose first. The manual explains how to do this so it's not something you'll have to figure out on your own.

Any operation involving .177 pellets is somewhat tedious, so I won't pretend that loading the magazines is a piece of cake, but they work as advertised and the issues dealing with them have to do more with the tiny pellets than with the magazines themselves.

I had one glitch while shooting from a mag when I tried to cock the gun and leave the bolt open while I pumped. When I tried to run the bolt forward, it jammed and would not go forward. I had to pull it back and remove the mag and ended up dumping a pellet on the floor. From that lesson I learned that it's best to run the bolt back and then forward before pumping rather than leaving it open during the pumping.

There's no need to count shots when shooting, when the magazine is empty, the bolt won't go forward.

I tried a few shots with the single-shot sled which was provided and it worked properly. Again, messing with .177 pellets is always a bit of a fiddly proposition but that's not an issue with the gun.

By design, the gun will not pump up unless the bolt has been run to cock it.

The safety does not come on automatically, so it probably makes the most sense to run the bolt to load a new pellet and cock the gun, then apply the crossbolt safety, then pump, then set the safety to fire and then shoot. Otherwise you're pumping a cocked and loaded gun which isn't especially ideal.

Setting the crossbolt to fire isn't silent, so that's something to consider for hunting. Of course, pumping isn't silent either, and neither is running the bolt.

Initially I found it a bit tricky to load the magazines into the gun, but that was mostly learning curve. Once in place they are held securely by a rare earth magnet, didn't shift around and worked fine. The same approach is used for the single-shot sled.

The windage adjustment is quite securely locked. The manual provided enough of a hint to do the windage adjustment properly but wasn't really thorough. Loosen the screw on the left side of the rear sight and then use the screw on the right side of the rear sight to adjust the windage. Once the windage is set, tighten the screw on the left side of the rear sight to lock everything. There are no setting detents on the rear sight windage adjustment screws, but there is a tiny row of ticmarks on the sight to act as reference points when adjusting the windage.

The elevation adjustment is the typical single screw adjustment. Clockwise for down (compressing the spring under the rear sight) and counter-clockwise is up. The up direction is marked on the sight near the elevation screw. The elevation screw does not have detents and this probably isn't ideal since the most convenient place to place the non-pumping hand is directly behind the rear sight. I found that it was very easy for that hand to wander forward and push against the rear sight. That said, I did not observe any issues with the sight setting changing during pumping so maybe it's not going to be a problem.

Accuracy seems fine and I had no issues with the sight picture. The stock was comfortable and the trigger reach and hand placement on the stock felt good.

The trigger has some creep but it is not overly heavy and I didn't find it to be a hindrance to good shooting.

After shooting I noticed that the stock screw forward of the trigger guard was loose so I tightened it. I didn't check all the screws before shooting the gun so I don't know if it loosened or was loose out of the box. I'll keep an eye on it for awhile to make sure it's not loosening.

 

[chicharrones]

I ordered a Seneca Dragonfly Multipump "by Air Venturi". The quoted section is a bit of marketing fiction, since, as far as I can tell, the airgun is made by Shaoxing (SnoPeak). Rebranding is rampant in the airgun world and I'm not complaining, just providing information.

That's a neat air rifle. I never knew it existed until I happened across your thread.

 

[JohnKSa]

It is a very neat design. It would be just about the ideal multi-pump rifle if pumping effort were better.

 

[LoonWulf]

Perhaps if they get popular enough someone will Fab up or market an aluminum, or steel, extension kinda like the Daisy 880s use. Not sure how stiff it would have to be.

That could probably be blended into the trigger guard, especially if the stock had a channel for it to sit in.

Id like to try one of these rifles, a .22 would be a nice compliment to my 78repeater.