First off I'd like to say that I am very impressed with the quality of the wood details and the stock itself. I can't believe the difference the thumbhole stock makes when shouldering the rifle. You really feel like you have complete control of it. The included Center Point 3-9x40 AOE scope is quite nice and makes target aquisition a breeze. I found the optics to be very clear and the red/green illumination is also a nice feature.
The box states that it has the easiest cocking force in its class, well I have to say it is very easy to cock the rifle. At first I seemed to be having irregular readings when I did my velocity tests. Turns out the breech seal was not seated evenly. Firing the rifle was a little bit of a surprise as it is very quiet. There is no twang at all and the gun shoots very smoothly. I haven't done a lot of shooting this winter but I could hardly wait to try out this new gun of mine. Once I got the scope sighted in I was getting quarter size groupings offhand at 27 feet using RWS hobby pellets. Shooting from a bench at the same distance with the rifle on a bag I was getting nickel sized groupings with the same ammo. I have to say that shooting this gun is very nice. Considering that it has the same powerplant as the Crosman Phantom 500 the difference is like night and day. Out of the box my Phantom was fairly loud, and very twangy. I will be tuning this gun to higher velocity specs but believe it or not I actually consider not touching it as she is shooting so smoothly. I haven't adjusted the trigger mainly because I'm happy with it the way it is. Again squeezing the trigger resulted in a very smooth, gritless pull. I can see how this could become my favorite air rifle. If I wasn't so power hungry I would keep her stock. But power hungry or not this rifle is similar to what my stock Phantom was out of the box, weak. Below are the chrony results using my usual fair of pellets.
Crosman Hollow Points
419
432
425
431.5
431
410
Avg fps. 424.75
Crosman Pointed
428
431
430
430.6
432
428
Avg fps. 429.93
Beeman Laser
490
483.5
480.8
Avg fps. 484.76
RWS Hobby
455
481
469
465.3
472
471
Avg fps. 468.88
As you can see the results look similar to those I took of my stock Phantom. Adequate for paper punching but not much more. Not even close to the 495 fps. even with lighter pellets. The Phantom/Quest 1000 piston will fit this rifle so this is an option I'm probably going to go with like I did with the Phantom 500. However I have heard rumours that the company will be issuing Benjamin replacement parts etc that may actually bring this gun close to Benjamin superstreak levels. Now that would be exciting.
All in all I am happy with this rifle. For myself anyway it is a definite step up from any break barrel springers I have used in the past. Granted it's still a chinese made gun, it's a not as rough around the edges. This one has a bit more finesse and finish. The design is nice and the ergonomics is definitely there. It looks very close to it's big brother the superstreak, less 4 inches or so. With the quality scope included this gun is a welcome addition to your airgun collection.
