In a funk the last week or so when shooting offhand, so took a break from it today to get dope on my new .25 Cricket carbine. Shot some groups with the .22 as well, just to see how they compare under the same environmental conditions.
Hot & humid, but shade, a small fan, and a pitcher of iced tea helped keep it fun. Weather app was telling me 6-10mph wind, but it must've missed my ridge. Leaves were barely moving, maybe 1-3mph tops from my left to right. Dandy conditions for shooting.
Both of these were purchased from & tuned by Charlie Frear at Georgia Airguns (highly recommended, btw). Czech sisters with southern accents, if you will.
This design is, relatively speaking, older (middle aged?) in the PCP airgun world. Released 2015-ish, I think. Based on the 1st gen Cricket action- will be interesting to see if they get a refresh, linger on as is, or are dropped from the lineup altogether. No idea how popular they are, but suspect they're a small piece of the pie compared to Kalibrgun's bullpup platforms.
So how did I end up with two of them, both bought 7+ years after intro? Well...somehow managed to not notice they were a thing until recently. Why did I end up with them? They marry two things I've come to strongly favor in airguns: they're of eastern EU heritage, and are not bullpups. Now hold on, not badmouthing bullpups. They're popular for good reasons. Just don't shoot them as well, & have proven it to myself more times than I care to admit with a variety of makes & models.
So on with the show. Got the dope, but wasn't ready to stop shooting. Shot for groups at 50 yards, 5 shots to a group alternating between the two rifles on the first six, then two more with the .25 to finish the tin. JSB 15.89 in the .22 (black targets), JSB 33.95 in the .25 (orange targets). No cherrypickin' here, lest I be cursed with leaky o-rings & spilled tins.
Did chronograph work last week, both starting with 250 bar fill. 70 regulated shots with the .22 at ~30fpe, 43 regulated shots with the .25 @ ~60fpe. Pretty darn good with 250cc & 280cc cylinders, respectively.
Just tickled with how well mannered they are for their energy outputs. Very quiet, with "dead" shot cycles.