Hercules (Xisco USA) B-4-2 .177 caliber Reviews

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Good Points: Cheap, rugged, and simple. It's like the AK-47 of air rifles. Real wood stock, all critical parts are steel. Well balanced. Cocking and loading is straightforward.

Bad Points: Kinda heavy. Not super accurate or ultra powerful. The stock could use some work. The scope rail looks like an afterthought.

General comments: $40 for a wood stock all steel springer shipped to my door? How could I resist that? It arrived in a couple days and looked about how I expected after reading the reviews here.

I've shot a hundred or so pellets through it now, and it's accuracy has been improving. However, most of the screws seem to work themselves loose regularly.

I decided to put some luvin into the Xisco B-4-2, so I removed the stock, hung it from a wire, and sprayed it with a can of paint stripper. The brown paint immediately cracked up and 15 minutes later I scraped most of it off. Then I hosed it off with the garden hose, let it dry a bit, and started sanding. After about an hours worth of work, I have got a pretty nice looking stock with only one putty area and I think I can get that sanded out with a bit more work. It was getting dark so I put it back together and stuck a $10 Wal-Mart Daisy Electronic Point Sight on the scope rail. I took a couple plinks, and the sight works pretty nice, but I need to zero it in still.

I'm going to sand the stock a bit more, then lightly stain it to bring out the grain, and maybe some matte clearcoat to finish it off. Overall with a couple hours of work, it will really improve the rifle's looks.

Once the stock is all done, I'll put blue Loctite on all the screws to keep them good and snug. A couple lock washers here and there might not be a bad idea either.

I'm considering silver-soldering the scope rail down, or else just getting a short steel picatinny rail and soldering that down to replace the 3/8 dovetail groove mount.

It should be a pretty nice looking pellet gun when I'm finished, and its perfect for backyard plinking and varmint patrol. It seems pretty accurate within 10m or so at least. I'll need to use the red dot sight to see how it does any further out.

4W4K3's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Purchased my Hercules (Xisco) B-4-2 from South Summit.com for $29.99. Very good price, fast delivery, good business. It was double boxed and not smothered in oil, which made me very happy on both accounts.

At first glance, right out of the box, the stock was what stuc out the most. It was horibly finished, very uneven and streaked. Don't get me wrong, the wood was/is nice, solid hard wood, but the stain job was pretty bad.

The internals and body of the gun are very nice. For a Chinese gun ...

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I am Francois from South Africa and I love my Hercules pellet gun.
I have modified my scope mountings and added a silencer and a high powered rifle scope to my B4 245 Hercules and the results were staggering. So much so that I frequently hunt large fowl with it in the countryside.
Just about a week ago I took out a guineafowl, larger then a chicken at about 25 meters.
What makes this astonishing is that your target, the head and neck at that distance, is very small.
The Hercules B4 245 comes ...

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I got this for my thirteenth birthday. I sighted it in with a Daisy 4X10 and made many squirrel kills from 15-20 yards away. After about 500 shots however, the gun began to lose its velocity and accuracy- I had to shoot a bird twice from 10 yards away to kill it. It also began to aim a little high. I adjusted the scope and even got a new one but it didn't help. I advise the Gamo Shadowhunter 1000 for accuracy and power, but its a little expensive.

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I read some favorable reviews on the B-4-2 and I'd thought I'd try it. What I understand, I got a later model that had a different trigger hand grip than the earlier models. First thing I noticed right away that I didnt like was the grip for the trigger hand. It doesnt seem made for a person with small fingers. You almost have to stretch your hand to get to the trigger. What I do is instead of taking a regular grip, I dont wrap my thumb around the gun. I leave it towards the outside so I can pos ...

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After only 10 shots I was able to sight in the gun to shoot(with open sights)about a 3" group at 10 yards. The gun handles and balances very well.

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If you are looking for a full size rifle with a fair degree of accuracy with limited power ranging in the 500 fps, with a mediocre finish then this gun is for you...
Even if it aint an RWS or airarms it's well worth the price and is alot better than a entry level crosman.

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The b-42 .22 caliber for the price is a great air rifle. I payed $40 including shipping and handling, and for the money you couldn't get anything better. It's accurate, all wood and metal, and has sling swivels. Think about it for $40 dollars you could barely get a cheap plastic pump from walmart.

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It's like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. I think it would be a great starter gun but not a great choice for experienced shooters. It has wonderful accuacy for 40$ but the quality is not so good. Saftey on the gun is a little vonerable to slipping off without you knowing.

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Overall, the Hercules B-4-2 in a .177 caliber or a .22 caliber air rifle is a good choice for a beginner or advanced shooter. The cost of the rifle is great, especially when you take into consideration all the extras. Basically all the same functions as the higher end models even though it is a China made rifle. Solid wood stock, sling mounts (which most rifles don't have), adjustable rear sight, and ease of use. I would recommend this rifle to anyone interested in a good all around pellet rifle ...

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I have owned a Hercules B-4-2 for over 2 years now and I can only give praise about this air gun. It is a spring piston air gun and is made of solid blued steel and comes with a hard wood stock, on the stock it has 2 swing swivels for placing a shoulder belt (a good advantage when hunting out in the field). Out of my collection of 6 air guns, it is my favorite air gun. It is fun to shoot and has a push button elevation back sight that is handy for, it really gives you an advantage for short dist ...

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Although often given lavish reviews on the web, and despite being very common and often very popular, the .177 caliber Hercules B-4-2 air rifle is very unimpressive. The wood and mechanical qaulities are abyssmal on this model, and the fancy looking scope rail has to be welded in order to work well. The saddest part is the velocity. The gun, in .177 caliber, is boasted by it's dealers as having a muzzle velocty of between 800 and 900fps. Seems like a good deal for $30, huh? Well, in reality, mos ...