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| Accuracy | 7/10  |
|---|---|
| Handling | 8/10 |
| Value for Money | 10/10 |
| Overall rating | 8/10 |
Full review by
Librarian
on 14th Jun 2007
User Rating : 8
Respect :
0
Good Points: Affordable, Reasonably accurate, Positive safety catch, ambidextrous stock, packaging is environmentally friendly.
Bad Points: Sent through post still charged, Safety catch awkward to operate, no case or bag, crap sights.
General comments: I ordered the QB78 from Blackpool Air Rifles as a kit and overall I am glad it came as a kit. I got the gun, a silencer, a Hawke HD 4 x 32 scope and even a pack of 10 CO2 cartridges which were not mentioned in the spec for the kit.
So what's it like? Straight from the box this has the look of the Crosman 1077/1077W and is often described as a copy of this rifle. It's not. The look may be similar enough to provoke the comparison but closer examination reveals that there are vital differences. For example to describe the sights as "Basic" is to miss the opportunity to use the word "Primitive". Davey Crockett would be at home with these. A plastic ramped blade foresight and metal back sight where the elevation is adjusted by sliding a notched quoin (it's a ramp) in and out and then moving the entire assembly sideways along a slotted screw hole to give windage is not current practice. The gun is also single shot so the differences can be major and I have no idea about the mechanics of the Crosman. This is my first CO2 rifle so there is nothing for me to base comparisons on.
Now let's go back to the box. This is a thick cardboard affair clearly labelled with the contents and various statistics about the gun on it. It has only three expanded polystyrene sections, the muzzle, the trigger mechanism, and the butt, so it really is environment friendly. The packaging would be fine for bulk transport but not for individual mailing. Blackpool Air Rifles took one look and covered it in so much bubble wrap and carton tape that it actually took me longer to get the gun out of the box than it did to assemble it. Well done Sean or whoever packaged it.
OK I've got the lid off and I see a neat looking gun with a label on the ambidextrous stock giving me all the standard warnings about safe practice and the dangers of shooting and I pick it up to examine it, laugh at the sights, spin it over to find the safety and set it to off, cock the gun and raise it to sight out the window and BANG. Shaking slightly lower the gun and read the label on the other side of the stock which says "Caution this gun is charged."
Now before I set off on a rant about why the hell wasn't the charged label on the side of the stock visible on opening the box I invite anyone reading this to remember the basic rule of gun handling which says "always treat any gun as being loaded". I got off lightly because I dry fired knowing that a PCP or CO2 gun will not be harmed, but, if there had been a bit of stray packing or near someone's eye or ear
Right, one clean pair of underpants and on with the motley. I've got a neat little gun with a nicely grained hardwood stock which is reasonably well finished, only at the front of the stock on one side just where the fore end attaches to the barrel is there a bit of poor machining. Otherwise the staining and polishing are perfectly adequate. The blueing is not spectacular particularly at the muzzle end but not bad enough to reject the gun and at the price I paid for the kit, £119.00, it would be churlish to even think about it.
Well I've already had a laugh at the iron (pressed steel & plastic really) sights so the next move is to fit the scope supplied with the kit. The mounts supplied are two piece four screw mounts and the mounting groves go right to the back of the gun so you only need to loosen the grip screws at the side and slide the mounts on. A few seconds to tighten them enough to hold the mount steady, remove the eight clamp screws, sit the scope in the recess, align the crosshairs, reposition the mounts, tighten the grip screws, check the alignment, put the top back on the clamp, tighten up all screws and head for the range.
The Range, yeah right, my back yard. By using the front garden, the side of the house and the back garden I can get 30 metres. Down prone and fire five shots. Find out about the stiff safety. Needs a single positive push and drop to load but nothing extraordinary. No spotterscope so a walk down to see that this actually does what it says on the tin, a inch group of 5. Nowhere near the bull but that is easy to adjust out after I've done it twice more to be certain. Since I've taken the rear sight off I can now take the foresight off and slip on the silencer. I have no idea of the make but it fits snugly to the barrel and clamps on with a single screw, it does not affect the grouping or accuracy and reduces the discharge to a pop. The nasty crack which comes from the naked barrel is certainly a thing of the past.
I don't have a chrono so there are no power or speed measurements but with normal pellets, Eley Wasps, I got through and through on several beer cans from base to ring pull and put holes in steel cans using Dynamic Sn2 pellets.
The manufacturers quote 480fps but, like Umarex, fail to say what weight of pellet gave this result so I can only assume that it will be approximately 6ft/lbs.
I don't believe in stripping a gun as soon as I get it. I prefer to let it bed in for a while and later, when I know which niggles need to be sorted, I will do them. I am almost certain that the safety will need to be smoothed out but I have no problem with trigger pull or balance. I have short fingers but find the stock allows me a good grip and with no cheek plate the gun is OK for left handers. I have no way of determining the quality of the steel but that is one that only time will tell and as I didn't start with a full charge I don't know how many shots to expect.
Overall you are getting more than you pay for particularly with the kit. Just remember that this is not a top end or high powered gun. I got it to shoot rats attracted by my neighbours aviary. He keeps it clean but we get rats, mice and squirrels stealing the seed. For my purposes this gun works very well and my neighbour is happy too.
Librarian's review and ratings | 1167 words
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