Shanghi Airgun QB78 .177 or .22 Review

Overall Rating

Nice quality stock and general finish. Simple design, very customisable.

Very heavy and rough bolt action. Rear blanking plug was installed upside down (no kidding) so bold tube not seating correctly on main tube.

I bought the de-luxe in the summer with a view to tuning it up straight out of the box. I knew not to expect blistering performance and at average 492fps/2.4fps SD with the 'recommended' pellets (Milbro Select) that's exactly what I got. In fact I was shocked that my 27 year old Vulcan out performed it by a mile.
However after 'flowing' the valve assembly, opening the transfer port to 3mm, shimming the hammer by 4mm and grinding the hammer block by 1 mm (plus making a new, streamlined bolt probe because I accidentally drilled the original off!) my Chrony told me the muzzle energy was temporarily on the wrong side of legal (!) so the hammer shimming came out again. Whoops. All that work took about 2 hours and cost nothing really, just a couple of washers.
Needless to say this is now one cracking gun which with a 4x32 scope and the recommended silencer, will hold its own against kit 3 times as expensive. I would say that heavier pellets seem far more suitable to this weapon - I'd like to test some FAC pellets just out of interest. I will add, though, that despite my reservations, the Milbro Select pellets are the best in terms of standard deviation through the chrony. If you have some basic hand tools and a bit of courage, try some of the mods listed on various internet sites - you won't be disappointed. If you don't have the skills, all the upgraded parts are available from various dealers in UK.
At the moment I'm lucky to get 30 shots from a pair of CO2 powerlets, then 'the drop' sets in. However whilst it's 'on tune', it will group in 10mm at 25 yards.
Next mod will be to fit a filler cap instead of the plain end cap and get a bit more gas in the reservoir. I wish now that I'd bought the QB-79 with the bottle but there you go.... You live and learn :o)