I bought my first PCP air rifle a while back. I decided to get the AvengeX in 0.177. I wanted something for target practice in the back yard that's extremely accurate. I shoot lead free only.
Well I've been messing with the AvengeX for a few months and put at least 1000 rounds through it, and I think I'm going to sell it and buy something else. The problem I have with it is this: I can get it dialed in and shoot at 10mm group at around 15 meters with H&N Baracuda green pellets, but inevitably I pull it out on another day and the zero is way off, sometimes as much as 4cm. I've also noticed that the zero shifts quite a bit if I shoot with a bipod, vs steadying the gun against a post.
After tinkering with the damn thing for many hours, I think the reason is how flexible the front barrel band area of the gun is. If you put *any* torque on the stock it twists the barrel band. As it twists it shifts the barrel. I've tried fixing it in various ways, including 3D printing a huge brace, but nothing has worked.
I generally shoot real ARs, and I just can't get over how finicky this gun is by comparison. I can store one of my ARs for a full year, and pull it out and the zero is still perfect. I would like to find an air rifle like that.
I've had other issues with it too. Pellets have a tendency to fall out of the mag. When they do they can easily fall backwards into the action, where they get mangled by the hammer. I've had to dissasemble the gun at least 3 times to get jammed pellets out of it.
Any recommendations? I would like to spend less than 1k, ideally in the 500-700 range. I'm considering the FX DRS but it's a bit pricey.