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- Benjamin EB22
- Glider's review
Have a picture of Benjamin EB22?, please send it to us.
Picture courtesy of Ray Elton.
| Value for Money | 8.3/10  |
|---|---|
| Reviewer Rating | 8/10 |
| Overall Rating | 8.3/10  |
By Glider
on 27th Oct 2006
| Value for money | 10/10 |
|---|---|
| Overall value | 10/10 |
 Glider's recommendation | |
Good and hefty without being heavy.
Build quality is very good.
Material quality is also very good; all metal and wood (no obvious plastic).
Extremely powerful for a pistol.
No real windage adjustment screw.
I should begin by saying that I have very little experience of air/CO2 weapons. With five years in the Royal Artillery, my main experience is with military small-arms (I was a marksman with my old 7.62 SLR) and bigger guns. However, these are my impressions of the Benjamin EB22:
The first thing I noticed from the box was the heft and build quality. I had read as many reviews of different pistols as I could during research prior to buying the EB22, and reviews concerning the EB22 were consistently good. However, I still expected a stereotypical 'air pistol' feel; a bit light and 'plasticky'. This is definitely not the case with this pistol, with the possible exception of the 'solid' hardwood grips (carved from two comparatively thin sheets of timber, but that's fixable). I have handled semi-automatic 9mm pistols that felt cheaper.
After checking the pistol over and giving it a rub down, I sighted it in. This is when I got my second surprise. This thing is powerful! Things have come a long way in the 30 years since I was a kid and owned a BSA Mercury. The power of the pistol did impress me. Whilst you only get around 30 full-power shots to one powerlet (as others have noted), the first shot really surprised me. I have used firearms converted to .22 for indoor range use that gave less of a whack! The target backing I used was 3/4" plywood and the pellets (BSA interceptor, 14.8gr) have penetrated 1/4 - 1/3 of the depth (at 7 metres).
Not only is it powerful, but it is extremely accurate (and consistently so). The rear sight needed depressing by one turn, which was simple enough. Happily, it didn't require a windage adjustment as there doesn't appear to be a proper windage adjustment screw. I guess you'd need to loosen the rear sight front mounting screw and then tap the sight in the required direction, which, in my opinion, is a bit hit-and miss (no pun intended).
Nevertheless, having zeroed the sights, I managed to cut out a 1cm square bulls eye (single hole group) with 5 rounds from 7 metres. Once that target was dead, I went for the heads of the 2 drawing pins holding it up and managed to knock out both, each on the second shot. Bear in mind I had owned this pistol for less than an hour at that point. Maybe it's my lack of modern airgun experience, but that impressed me a lot!
I bought two types of pellet with this pistol: BSA Interceptor (these were advertised at 15.43gr, but show 14.8gr on the tin) and Crosman Powapell (14.3gr). The grouping seems tighter with the BSA pellets, which also seem to fit more snugly in the breech.
One of the main reasons I bought this weapon was to deal with a couple of the local squirrels that have started eating my bonsai. The majority of the advice I have heard suggests that one should only use rifles for pest control (to ensure clean kills). However, Crosman offer up the rat-buster 2240 as a pistol suitable for vermin control and whilst I haven't tried that pistol, I'm prepared to bet the EB22 is at least as effective, and possibly more so (several sites advertise the EB22 as "probably the most powerful CO2 pistol you can buy").
There are two reasons I feel this pistol will do the job. First, my garden is only 26 feet long (which is why I didn't go for a rifle in the first place) and the squirrels with which this area is over run, have no fear of humans. Second, after trying the pistol, I really don't think it would have any trouble at all at ranges between 10 & 15 metres. This basically means that if you can see a tree-rat clearly enough to aim properly (without using a telescopic sight), this weapon will take it cleanly.
In summary, I had fairly high expectations when I ordered this pistol due to the positive reviews I had read, yet the EB22 still managed to surprise me pleasantly in all areas that matter; build quality, power and accuracy.
It is not a flashy, complex weapon. It does not attempt to look like something it isn't. If you don't want to be James Bond or look like a gangsta, but appreciate quality, enjoy target shooting for its own sake and for your own skill (i.e. without the benefit of telescopes and laser pointing), or if you have problems with the local tree-eating vermin, this is definitely the pistol for you.
| Helpful | Unhelpful | Agree | Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Total Respect: +3
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