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This little beauty got to my grubby hands last week. Many of these I've seen on the web have beautiful wood. This one doesn't have as much figure as some out there, but it's still a beauty.
Out of the box it was throwing JSB 10.34 pellets at 980-something fps, and she had quite a bark. Made a series of adjustments to the hammer spring tension (note- a few clicks go a long way at the top end), eventually settling on ~900 as a good balance of speed, sound, and air usage. At that setting the sound is much softer. It's acceptably quiet, but not whisper quiet... may look into the Bat moderator & see if the reports are positive, but it'll be fine as is for my backyard.
Working the lever was a little rough at first, but smoothed out within a few magazines. After the first range session, worked an alcohol soaked pipe cleaner around the mechanisms, then lubed the bearings very lightly with gun oil. The levers have no mechanical advantage, so won't be as light as ones that do, but they're now quite smooth with a satisfying, precise feel.
Took a few tries to figure out the best way to load the magazines. Tried with the skirts just inside the edge, but a few worked back out. Tried with the pellet in as far as it would go without poking out, and a few worked out the front. Pushing them in slowly, could feel the widest part of the pellet's head slip past the first o-ring & settle between the two. Must be the sweet spot; a tin later & no more working their way out. Have read of the Matador R5M/Lelya 2.0 magazines having issues indexing, but no problems with that. Something to keep an eye on.
Trigger was kind of a mess at first, but there's a happy ending. A little over three pounds out of the box. Shot CMP sporter rimfire (3 lbs minimum trigger pull) for a long time, so a three pound trigger doesn't scare me... crisp & predictable are everything. Unfortunately, it wasn't those either. First/second stage transition was indistinguishable, and the whole thing felt like it was dragging. The two Matadors I've owned were both bought used, and had acceptable triggers when they got to me. So, first time adjusting an Edgun trigger. Read the instructions, studied a drawing of the mechanism I found on the web, and went at it. ~20 minutes of alternately turning set screws & testing resulted in a very light first stage, solid wall at the second stage, VERY crisp release, and peak weight consistently between 1 lb 4 oz & 1 lb 6 oz. I don't want it any lower, and doubt it could go much lower (safely). Completely awesome for me, but I know some folks would want lower pull weight. If you're considering one of these, keep in mind you probably won't be able to achieve sub- 1 lb, at least through the adjustment screws.
Had to wait a while to assess the rifle's precision. The four or five days after it arrived were quite windy; 5-20 mph & never the same speed/direction for more than a moment. Used the time to get familiar with the rifle, trying different holds etc. Winds finally calmed down yesterday, and it was nearly dead calm for the last hour or so of shooting light. Got a rough zero at 50 yards, then shot the five, five shot groups shown below, consecutively:
Daylight fading fast, did one more group- 10 shots at 65 yards, all I can squeeze out of my backyard range:
Very, VERY pleased with those results! BTW, all shot with JSB 10.34 grain pellets.
If you stuck around this long, thanks! Here's a chronograph string for your enjoyment:
Out of the box it was throwing JSB 10.34 pellets at 980-something fps, and she had quite a bark. Made a series of adjustments to the hammer spring tension (note- a few clicks go a long way at the top end), eventually settling on ~900 as a good balance of speed, sound, and air usage. At that setting the sound is much softer. It's acceptably quiet, but not whisper quiet... may look into the Bat moderator & see if the reports are positive, but it'll be fine as is for my backyard.
Working the lever was a little rough at first, but smoothed out within a few magazines. After the first range session, worked an alcohol soaked pipe cleaner around the mechanisms, then lubed the bearings very lightly with gun oil. The levers have no mechanical advantage, so won't be as light as ones that do, but they're now quite smooth with a satisfying, precise feel.
Took a few tries to figure out the best way to load the magazines. Tried with the skirts just inside the edge, but a few worked back out. Tried with the pellet in as far as it would go without poking out, and a few worked out the front. Pushing them in slowly, could feel the widest part of the pellet's head slip past the first o-ring & settle between the two. Must be the sweet spot; a tin later & no more working their way out. Have read of the Matador R5M/Lelya 2.0 magazines having issues indexing, but no problems with that. Something to keep an eye on.
Trigger was kind of a mess at first, but there's a happy ending. A little over three pounds out of the box. Shot CMP sporter rimfire (3 lbs minimum trigger pull) for a long time, so a three pound trigger doesn't scare me... crisp & predictable are everything. Unfortunately, it wasn't those either. First/second stage transition was indistinguishable, and the whole thing felt like it was dragging. The two Matadors I've owned were both bought used, and had acceptable triggers when they got to me. So, first time adjusting an Edgun trigger. Read the instructions, studied a drawing of the mechanism I found on the web, and went at it. ~20 minutes of alternately turning set screws & testing resulted in a very light first stage, solid wall at the second stage, VERY crisp release, and peak weight consistently between 1 lb 4 oz & 1 lb 6 oz. I don't want it any lower, and doubt it could go much lower (safely). Completely awesome for me, but I know some folks would want lower pull weight. If you're considering one of these, keep in mind you probably won't be able to achieve sub- 1 lb, at least through the adjustment screws.
Had to wait a while to assess the rifle's precision. The four or five days after it arrived were quite windy; 5-20 mph & never the same speed/direction for more than a moment. Used the time to get familiar with the rifle, trying different holds etc. Winds finally calmed down yesterday, and it was nearly dead calm for the last hour or so of shooting light. Got a rough zero at 50 yards, then shot the five, five shot groups shown below, consecutively:
Daylight fading fast, did one more group- 10 shots at 65 yards, all I can squeeze out of my backyard range:
Very, VERY pleased with those results! BTW, all shot with JSB 10.34 grain pellets.
If you stuck around this long, thanks! Here's a chronograph string for your enjoyment:
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I can tell you that the effectiveness is not nearly as apparent on the .177 as compared to other calibers. I have left mine with the OE moderator.
The Alkin is proving to be a reliable machine. It is great to have an endless supply of clean dry air
They are great for filling storage tanks and cascade systems. They are not meant for direct filling of small airguns. The auto shutoff and auto condensate drain are not necessary but are very nice if you will fill tanks for friends. No need to supervise the compressor allows you to catch up or go shoot