Xisco B-21 / Supermax1000 Review

Overall Rating

Powerful, and fairly accurate for the price

Trigger and rear sight pretty horrible

Introduction
I was going a little nuts, I had ordered on a Sunday, and it was now Tuesday of the next week. UPS ground is way too slow for airguns, ask for 3-day, unless you're really patient, or can busy yourself with other "toys." I had waited to order for a few weeks because I had quite a bit of money coming to me in tax returns, and I wanted to check the info on the web to make sure I wasn't getting a POS. I walked out to get the mail to find a very long box sitting on the porch. The UPS guy hadn't bothered to knock on the door or ring the doorbell.

I cut open the box expecting to find the actual B21 box inside, but there was just the Styrofoam packing inside, not that it really matters. Having been an owner of a QB88 (Tech Force 88, as Compasseco has named them), I was still a little skeptical about the quality of the stock, durability, and metal finishing. The stock was finished in a light color that I can't really even compare to any other wood finish. The stock looks pretty good, but has what seems like sanded down drips. Definitely not comparable to European guns, but at least it is tons better than the "hand carved, dipped in brown lacquer," or "sanded with golf shoes, varnished with a mop," Tech Force stocks.

The metal is smooth, with the exception of some blemishes here and there, but still has a matte finish, and, to me, seems to be blued. I don't really see any parkarized gray in the finish. The QB88 was blued, and fairly rough. The Crosman 1389 Backpacker I had had a REALLY rough finish, which I assume was blued, but it could have been just paint. Anyway, though the B21 finish is better than any air rifle I've ever had; it just doesn't compare to my Browning.

Also in the box were the two plastic "tins" of 8.9 gr. Chinese match dome pellets. Basically, they look like the CPs (Crosman Premiers), but with a longer skirt. They were loose enough to fall out of the breech. Recovered pellets showed no rifling grooves on the head. I suggest you avoid these unless you have an oddly tight barrel. It's bad for a springer if the pellets fit loose. It causes the piston to slam against metal rather than a cushion of air.

I pulled about 20 patches through the barrel, until they stopped coming out with black on them. Then I took a shot to decompress the spring and ran another patch through. Do'h! It's black, and I notice the smell of dieseled oil in the air. There's a smear of dark oil on the silver "bolt." It's the Tech Force all over again! On the other hand, seeing as how the staples in the manual were rusted, I was pretty happy to find that there was some oil in it. Better to have extra oil than rust. I'll have to blow through 500-1000 rounds to break it in. Oh, what a pity. (Sarcasm laid on pretty thick right here)

I mounted the scope I had, a BSA 2-7x32 Bronze air rifle scope, in the BKL 253 mount and did a rough zero with some nicked CPLs that I pulled out after cleaning 200 or so of them. Seems to be shooting really well so far. I'll have to put on a higher power scope after it's broken in for field target shooting and IFP practice.

Even though it's dieseling, it's not terribly loud. About the same as the QB88, I'd say, but I don't have it anymore to do any back-to-back shooting. After about 10 shots in the basement, getting the scope pretty well zeroed, the smell of burnt oil was getting pretty strong in the corner I was shooting from. I quit for the day, to go to the range later, and wring out the oil. Currently, the range I frequent is Delaware County Field & Stream (www.dcfs.org), in case you really care. Field target shooters in the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland should know it.

Build Quality
The action seems to be quite a bit better than the QB88. The cocking arm seems to be much better made. There is a tubular cocking mechanism instead of more stamped steel. Best of all, I can't find any roll pins in/on the B21, just screws and rivets. Roll pins, unless captive, always seem to work loose on me.

The scope rail is very looong, and has many places for the pin of a scope rail or scope stop to fit in. Judging by the fact that there is only one screw in the scope rail, I'd assume that they are now welded on, so no worry about it coming loose anymore. The BKL 253A mount fit after some "persuading" using the rail spreader feature. I won't be going back to scope rings for airguns any time soon, it's a very solid mount, and there's no need to align or lap the rings.

Out of the box, the trigger pull is quite heavy, but not horribly so. I'll have to work on that. Doesn't seem too much like a two-stage trigger, more like a one stage with a lot of slack before it.

After a Day at the Range
Wow, I'm impressed, and it's hasn't even been fully broken in yet, and it's still dieseling. I was able to hit standard airgun turkey silhouettes out to 45 yards. The gong at 65 yards was easy, and the pellet still had enough power at that range to move it. Damn, this thing shoots really flat with CPLs, anything from 10 to 35 yards can be hit pretty easily with the scope zeroed at 25 by just holding at the top or bottom of the kill zone. I hit about half of the 50 field targets even at a measly 7 power, and without making any scope adjustments for range.

One thing though. This rifle absolutely hates being shot from a rest. I tried resting it on a folded fleece jacket, and it was shooting all over the target. At least it loves the field target sitting position.

One of the butt pad screws pulled out of the stock. Had to take it home, and find the duct tape for a quick fix. I replaced both screws with slightly longer ones. Um, yeah, hardwood stock, sure.

I can't wait to get this thing out in the woods for some hunting. It should be deadly. It may actually be too easy. I still don't quite like the trigger. The lower you make the second-stage trigger weight, the longer the first-stage travel gets. If the second-stage length-of-pull is adjusted too low, you have a really long one-stage trigger. I have a hard time pulling through the first-stage slow enough to get to the nice, short, crisp, light second-stage. I think the trigger is very close to the trigger of the RWS sidelevers, you can read more about their triggers at The (unofficial) RWS-54 Home Page (http://www.eddiecolwell.tzo.com/RWS-54.com).

A Year Later
I still think it's a great rifle, but the trigger really holds it back. The trigger adjustment instructions in the manual are BS, and to this day, I still haven't mastered adjusting it. I just give up. If I can get 2 discernable stages, and a 2nd stage pull less than 8 pounds I'm happy. Oiling the trigger mechanism helps, but eventually wears off.
The weight and length of the rifle don't bother me that much, you kind of get used to it, but unless you have it very close by, it won't be your go-to gun. Running through the house with it to pick off a starling just won't happen.

It picks off 9mm casings easily at 10 yards, probably will at longer ranges too, but the basement is only 10 yards across. I once managed to pick off about 15 in a row without missing one. One-hole groups at 10 yards are easy, and I can call my fliers, so I know they're not caused by the rifle. The B21 will knock down or spin all of the field targets at DCFS, which is quite an accomplishment for a $135 rifle with a $50 scope. (Note: I later did a little better with a modified Crosman 2289 with the same scope and mount)

I have added improvised butt spacers and raised cheekpiece. It is now even longer and heavier than it was when I got it. Stock length of pull was 13.5", average length, by the way. I had to get a new carry case for it... wouldn't fit in any of the ones I had.

LINKS
http://olympia.fortunecity.com/kickbox/377/sm1 kindex.html#very%20top (note: the two pictured are the older model) - Another Supermax/B21 Review
http://www.funsupply.com - Fun Supply Inexpensive and reputable supplier of B21/B22 rifles
http://www.silverstreaksports.com - Silver Streak Sports Supplier of BKL scope mounts. After payment through PayPal, they shipped the same day, and I had the mount two days later. $35, get the biggest one unless you have a compact scope, you've got PLENTY of room.
(Prices subject to change without notice)

Members' Comments onSuburban's Review

• platinum matt on 16th Apr 2004

  Very well laid out and a lot of effort put into this review. Well done!!