Teaser Clickbait thread. I bought my first Chinese Air Rifle........but you will have to wait.

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cslinger

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I bought a Chinese air rifle. ME......Mr. Teutonic. :). I just really liked the look and potential feel. I should have it in a few days and will update then.

I saw one of my Air Arms guns and 3 Weihrauch’s packing bags and I am pretty sure one of them cocked it’s barrel to flip me off. :)
 
Congrats! The Chinese air rifles tend to be very reliable and pretty accurate.

I have had a break open one for...hmm, lets see, 20 years I think, maybe longer. Been a good truck gun for sage rats. Just oil it once in a while, and its good to go.
 
Now you've messed up. Pretty soon you'll have fifty of them and you won't even know where Germany is any more. I'll stick with my Dianas and Weihrauch.
 
Nothing wrong with Chinese. Theres a ton of rebrands out there you would never know by the names on them.

I remember when I was just a youngster ( we're talking ancient history) whenever people saw a label that said "made in Japan" it was equal to saying "piece of junk". But that sure changed over time as Japanese manufacturing processes matured and caught up with, and in some cases surpassed, other countries.

The same thing is happening in more recent times with China. But they are still not there yet in many areas. I know there are decent quality products coming from there including airguns.

I am not knocking them or trying to insult anyone who buys them. My only problem with Chinese products is political and not really a subject for discussion here.
 
You are certainly entitled to your opinion. Your list is of no interest to me personally. I am sure others are interested. I wish you happiness with your choices. That is all I will say.
 
Nothing wrong with Chinese. Theres a ton of rebrands out there you would never know by the names on them.

Now you've messed up. Pretty soon you'll have fifty of them and you won't even know where Germany is any more. I'll stick with my Dianas and Weihrauch.

Well the wait is over, now for some gratuitous unboxing and impressions. The Chinese gun in question is........the envelope please.......
A Springfield M1A.
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Huh what now????? I hear you saying. It is actually an under lever licensed replica air rifle of a SpringField M1A imported by and branded by Air Venturi. So on to my initial super quick out of the box thoughts.

First the bad.
-The first shot out of the rifle must have been going like 2500 fps. :D I have never had a rifle diesel so loudly on the first shot. It was so loud I was starting to thing that this rifle might even settle in to being too loud for my normal comfort level of shooting. It did not and settled in just fine after the first shot but that first shot was LOUD!!! AND SCREAMING OUT OF THE BARREL.

-The cocking stroke, while very easy, is CRINGY as all get out. A little squeak, doesn't feel good, a little gritty and just......well just YUCK. I mean it does the job but does so a little bit like your average DMV worker, with complete and utter disdain for you. :D

-The safety, while stylistically just like the safety on an M1A or M1 Garand etc. is backwards. Pull INTO the trigger guard to fire.....push out to safe. It is not an automatic safety so its really not all that intrusive in any way but for such a nice looking replica that seems a mis-step to me.

Now the MEH.
-The trigger is very smooth but even though it is listed as a two stage trigger feels more like a long 6lbs single stage trigger. Its hard for me out of the box to get a feel for it. This is as much learning curve as anything else. I have certainly felt WAY WAY worse triggers but this one is going to take some getting used to.

-The anti bear trap release is the bolt stop button. It works fine its just in a different location that I am used to and is a little awkward at first.

-The stock feels thicker/beefier then an M1A/M14. I suspect this is simply a concession to the mechanics packaging.

-The butt plate "shoulder thing that goes up" HA!!! see there is an actual gun part for that, but I digress.....at any rate the recoil shoulder plate is for show only. It is not functional. No big deal just pointing it out. I don't use it on the real rifles.

-She was shooting WAAAAAAYYYYYY LEFT out of the box.

Now The Good
-By God this thing looks and feels like an honest to by God M1A. It's about a 9lb rifle.

-The stock is pretty darn nice. Has a nice walnut look to it and mine has a nice subtle tiger striping in it. I have to say the stock looks and feels good. Better then I expected.

-The cocking effort is very light. The cocking lever is the "gas tube" and can actually be extended out should you want more leverage. I don't find the extra leverage is necessary.

-The shot cycle and noise signature is very pleasant. After that first shot that came out like a railgun everything is just a nice satisfying thunk. Its not very loud at all. Actually much quieter then I expected given it is "RATED" as a 1000 fps .177 springer so even dropping that down a couple hundred FPS its a fairly powerful springer yet quieter then I expected.

-The sights are just like M1A/Garand peep sights. Adjustments are similar, sight picture is identical and you would be hard pressed to tell you were not behind the real rifle to be honest. Now that is a bit of a double edged sword as the front sight post is a little thick and makes precision air rifle shooting a little difficult. That said I don't plan to scope this rifle and I got it simply "to shoot an M1A in my basement" and it will do that in spades.

-The cocking handle moves. It does nothing but you can pull the charging handle. I know, know.....Its my monkey brain going "oooo button....oooo shiney."

-Packaging was secure and excellent.

So there you have it my first Chinese rifle and its an American Legend. Yeah that doesn't really compute with me either but lets move on. :D Anyhoo here are a couple more pictures in my initial sight in stuff. If anything the trigger and the sights are what will make shooting this challenging but it seems to shoot fairly well mechanically so to speak. SO FAR I am getting a giggle out and that was the whole purpose and I am happy with the money I spent for what I got. That said I cannot help but wonder just how good of a rifle this could be if somebody like Diana had the rights to make it.

Sighting in part 1. You can see the pellet strikes WAY to the left as I got it moved over. Once there it seems like it will do what I want it to do. Shoot cheap pellets in my basement out of an M1A.
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Sighting in part 2. Working towards dialing it in a bit.
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One more quick update. I tightened the stock screws a bit and just sort of yanked through the trigger pull instead of trying to stage and managed to put up this rather nice 10 shot group. I don't know how repeatable this will be but as I said the rifle appears mechanically accurate enough. Subjectively MY GOD THERE IS SOME GIGGLES TO BE HAD SHOOTING AN "M1A" IN YOUR BASEMENT ON THE CHEAP.

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As always take care and shoot safe.
Chris
 
Sounds like an over abundance of giggles. How far can you shoot in you basement?

My basement wall to wall is about 58-60 feet. So shooting range I have about 18-19 yards. Which is plenty for me. I RARELY get to stretch the air rifles out to any real distance and frankly if I have real distance I am shooting powder burners.

So far I think this will do exactly what I want it to do. Would I prefer it to be of a higher overall quality? (cocking stroke, more steel etc.) Yes. Would I have paid more for that? Yes. Do I feel like I got my money's worth? Yea... so far I would have to say yes. For $199 bucks and then take off my Discover points I am completely satisfied and it really does scratch that "REAL GUN FEEL" itch. Like I said above, plant yourself behind the gun on the trigger, looking down the sights and you really cannot tell much difference if any from the real deal until the shot breaks and there is no BOOOM!!! As a replica goes I am very happy and doubly so that it is a springer PELLET gun and not a PCP or C02 BB gun.

Does the action live up to even a half decent German or English gun? HEEEEELLLLLLLL NOOOOOO!! Not even in the same ballpark. I mean still playing the same game but definitely aaa ball vs the bigs. That said dollar for dollar it's a very nice shooting experience that scratches the itch that it was bought for. I will not, however, be going on a Chinese air rifle binge unless they provide me with other similar replicas.

Here are a couple more targets from tonight.
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Glad to hear you are happy with it. I don't have a basement so all my shooting is in the yard right now. I do have an attic that I could get about 15 yards out of if I move some stuff around. But here in South Carolina I can usually manage to get out even through most of winter.

For what it is worth Diana makes a spring piston Mauser K98 replica if you want to return to Germany. They make it in both a PCP and spring piston. Just a thought.
 
For what it is worth Diana makes a spring piston Mauser K98 replica if you want to return to Germany. They make it in both a PCP and spring piston. Just a thought.

Ohh, I am aware. :). It’s actually been on “my list” for some time. I just wanted to try a bit more modern of a replica and I like peep sights. That Diana 98 will likely find its way to me at some point.
 
My old eyes don't handle peep sights too well. Although since I got my Diana 280 I have been tempted to try a Williams peep on my HW30. For 10 meters out to 50 feet I might be able to manage. I used to enjoy a peep on my Mossberg 144LSA.
 
Ehhh my eyes sucked long before they got old. :)

I do really want to give the Diana K98 a go but while I am VERY BLESSED to be able to drop $140 bucks on a whim (The M1A with my Disco points) the Diana is “real money” so to speak.
 
I hear you about budget issues. I sunk what was for me a ton of money into this 280. It is far from stock. It was tuned and customized by Hector Medina. I absolutely love the rifle but it will probably be my last. At least it will be for a good long time. But that's OK. It is a real sweet shooter.

Hope you get your K98 soon. Sorry if I sort of hijacked your thread.
 
Pretty cool. I want one. Do they make it in a .22?

Pretty sure they do make it in .22.

I have to say I have put more pellets through this rifle in a shorter time then most any of my others. Nestling in behind it and you ARE SHOOTING AN M1A/M14 between that and just sort of slinging pellets down range without any real formal attempts at groups and this thing is a BUCKET OF FUN. I mean it’s internals feel janky as all get out but man it’s fun to shoot and groups just fine.

I guess she is that girl we all dated that we would have never brought home to moms ;)
 
04-07-07-01-Crosman-M1-Carbine.jpg 5f43d415851e091746416f4ab7f87474(1).jpg I found a used CROSSMAN M-1 CARBINE slide action bb repeater. I will rebuild it instead to round out my collection of variant V-350's. Almost bought the one you have but like restoration of old stuff.
 
Well alas Chinese rifles are not for me. This M1A started puking plastic internals and sheered a trigger group pin in a VERY short time. Sucks because it truly was one of the most fun rifles I have ever shot and I would have happily overlooked the janky internals if they had been reliable........alas back to Germany and England for me.

lf Diana or Weihrauch or ANY reliable airgun maker would produce this I would happily drop $450-$550 on it.
 
I wish I had the money for one. I bought and restored this because of your post. Its shooting good now. But its bbs. For indoors its alot of fun.
Well alas Chinese rifles are not for me. This M1A started puking plastic internals and sheered a trigger group pin in a VERY short time. Sucks because it truly was one of the most fun rifles I have ever shot and I would have happily overlooked the janky internals if they had been reliable........alas back to Germany and England for me.

lf Diana or Weihrauch or ANY reliable airgun maker would produce this I would happily drop $450-$550 on it.

It’s funny you should post that. Those really do intrigue me.
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Before and after pics
 
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