Ripley XL9 Review

Overall Rating

I only purchased this Ripley XL9 a week ago and have put over 1000 pellets through it so far, it seems the longer I have this rifle the less impressed I am with it for the money I paid I had to pay to get it. It's supposed to be hand made, yet there are some parts that are clearly the same as other makes, it looks like the stock has been turned out on a copy lathe with very poor attention to detail. The chequering is unfinished in many places and the fore end shaping is very unbalanced.

Accuracy has been good so far until the two grub screws holding the air tank to the barrel worked loose and the group size nearly doubled, probably would be better if the barrel was just left full floating. There is a bad mark near the magazine made by I think a slip of the gun makers tools, I had noticed this in the shop but when given the choice to wait over 6 months for another one decided I could live with this small mark.

The magazine is well made yet you need to keep the rifle tilted slightly forward when loading or the pellets will fall back out and/or jam and get crushed when you close it. Tilt it too far forward and pellets will pop out of the exit hole. Plus you have to manually align the magazine before closing or the bolt will foul the magazine between pellets and will not operate.

Very quiet with the supplied very lightweight moderator.

Again another recoiless rifle with a completely pointless recoil pad fitted.

Yes I know I am being fussy but after paying out over 1600 quid for this I think I have a right to be a bit fussy. I hope this is a one off for Ripley and not another case of a reputable company resting upon their laurels!

If you forgot the price tag and compared it with a similar rifle of a different make then yes it is a good, capable solid rifle but so far I'm yet to see what I paid all that extra money for.

I'll give this rifle a good work out over the next few months, as it deserves a chance and will update this review accordingly soon. But so far I think I'm going to be disappointed.