N/A Red Panda

TonyP said:

So what the heck is up with the Red Panda's.... Only a small batch came threw then nothing.. Cricketssss....
They were suppose to be all the hype with new models being delivered in june.. August still nothing. nothing in the news about red panda. No ones talking. no one is making videos.. Nothing.
So whats up with this? Any more coming? what about the other models???

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The Panda owners have been a quiet bunch.
Thought i'd see more targets, or tuning videos by now...or a complaint or issue(probably a good thing)

I'm still looking forward to their sub $1k dollar EQ model to come out.
No interest the SLS. a semi is just going to make me spend more on pellets

There have been 2 RPs show up at our N50 matches and they seem to be shooting pretty well. Only comment that I have heard from our bystanders is that they are VERY VERY loud without a moderator. I can't confirm that as both RP shooters have always been shooting in my relay at the opposite end of the rifle house.

Maybe more mods after the first production run?

I’m guessing you don’t hear a lot of chatter because they are a super niche gun. A 17 lb (or whatever it exactly is) definite bench only gun I would think only appeals to a very small fraction of the overall airgun community. Fewer of them out there in comparison to other high end guns.

TonyP said:

I heard all the Hype.. I seen the videos.. Now crickets...... No other models came in june like they said. no further stock or any type of eta on new batches. No info. dead silent. nothing.No real life review or data from anyone other then a couple main stream Youtubers

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No I hear you. Anyone looking for one there is a used one at Utah. I mean Utah is looking for someone that likes a panda more than their money but it’s there.

A couple of them showed up around here. Their performance wasn't anything to write home about.

Based on all the hype before 2024 RMAC, I was ready to pull the trigger on the RED Panda after RMAC. IMHO, I was disappointed with the feedback and hype afterwards and no longer am interested in the RP. I might think differently if more You Tube vids come out with impressive grouping beyond 100 yards. BTW, I'm a long distance shooter.

I looked into the new BinTac Mcar for long distance shooting, but at $3500 for a new "to the market" pcp , it's overpriced.

rodjava said:

I looked into the new BinTac Mcar for long distance shooting, but at $3500 for a new "to the market" pcp , it's overpriced.

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3.5k for the MCAR? Ugh... that's a nope.

caliusoptimus said:

3.5k for the MCAR? Ugh... that's a nope.

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Yup it still a very expensive AEA , way to expensive. In reality $3,500 for a toy of any brand, Is way to much money. And when you get tired you be lucky to get $1000+ one thing is to have a hobby but throwing the money to the trash knowing that is a loss is another thing.. me personally I would not spend more that 2k+ in a pcp and to do it so it has to be Free money

I was talking with Donny and the guys about getting one of the PRS versions for NRL22 shooting. Was told that the PRS version would be a month or two later, but still haven't seen them. I was able to talk to a few guys that handled the rifle at different shows and different events. While yes the bench version is quite nice, we can't forget that Thane is a HELL of a shot. And he has had thousands of rounds through the rifle. Not saying that Thane or Donny are lying to anyone or that they are trying to pull a fast one, but would be curious if the barrels are different. I believe that Thane was using a prototype rifle and there is that possibility.

I was able to hold the bench version when I made a stop at Donny's shop. And it is a monster and was a solid rifle! I was really interested and had the money ready to go, but in the end didn't want to wait and went with the RAW HM1000x instead.

Hopefully when more of them come into the country we will hear more and have more of an idea of how they function.

I may have a report for you later today

mercado said:

Yup it still a very expensive AEA , way to expensive. In reality $3,500 for a toy of any brand, Is way to much money. And when you get tired you be lucky to get $1000+ one thing is to have a hobby but throwing the money to the trash knowing that is a loss is another thing.. me personally I

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It's actually 2600 for the mcar. 2400 for the preorder. Still a LOT for an AEA. I'm not at all opposed to spending large sums of money on things you enjoy... but the value for the money is very important. Not sure if I see enough value with the mcar or the RP.

the rare bench panda

caliusoptimus said:

It's actually 2600 for the mcar. 2400 for the preorder. Still a LOT for an AEA. I'm not at all opposed to spending large sums of money on things you enjoy... but the value for the money is very important. Not sure if I see enough value with the mcar or the RP.

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I can't find the Mcar anymore online. Bigairgun.com and Bintacllc.con had the Mcar listed for $3500/$3000 presale for the 45 cal with 38 inch barrel. Now nothing. Perhaps Bintac is reconsidering lowering the price for their experimental big bore?

rodjava said:

I can't find the Mcar anymore online. Bigairgun.com and Bintacllc.con had the Mcar listed for $3500/$3000 presale for the 45 cal with 38 inch barrel. Now nothing. Perhaps Bintac is reconsidering lowering the price for their experimental big bore?

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Not sure. I saw the 2400 presale price on bigairgun earlier this morning... now the mcar isn't there at all.

Ya I went to look and I don't see it.. They even edited a video they posted and cut that out.. Clearly something happened.. Not sure whats going on.

Anyone actually pre-order?

Well, I shot the Red Panda yesterday and today with a little over 1,000 pellets down the pipe. Here are my initial observations:

- Fit and finish is extraordinarily good, easily on par with FX, AAA, AA, Daystate and other premium brands.
- It’s heavy, extremely heavy but weight is your friend on the bench.
- There is no doubt It’s a purpose built BR rifle for sure.
- If the safety is engaged, you can pull the cocking lever back but it won’t engage the hammer.
- Cocking is extremely smooth and quite easy for a .30 cal. Easily done with one finger.
- It can be single loaded as the mag well is wide open. However, the rear edge is quite sharp and my thumb is quite sore and red from single loading.
- Some barrels prefer to shoot lubed pellets but this one likes the pellets straight from the tin.
- The rear air tank makes a good bag rider if you are so inclined to shoot from a bag?
- The rifle’s gages are set up for a right hand shooter which is appreciated being a righty.
- The Foster fill fitting is on the rear right side. I like to shoot tethered and would prefer it either on the left side or in another location that doesn’t interfere with my shooting hand.
- This is my first experience with an Arca Swiss rail. I had to order an adapter for my AccuTac bipod. However, I found it very easy to slide the bipod to any position along the rail’s full length. I like it.
- The gun, in its present tune is an air hog. I only got two mags before the pressure dropped from 4100 to 3000 psi.

Now for the Range report… Yesterday I used my FX pocket crony and the speeds made no sense to me. The first shots were 875 and then the speeds fell quickly. The “shooting” reg was set to 2150-ish and the 1st reg was set to 2900 and the main air tank was at 4100. All gauges are in PSI but it’s stamped on the side to fill to 300 BAR? The HS was set to the middle position as was the transfer port. There is no manual included with the rifle so I deferred to the few YouTube videos I could find on tuning.

I left the reg alone and played with the HS adjuster but again the speeds made no sense as it would go up and down. For example one 70 shot string had an extreme spread of 243 FPS, yes you read that correctly, 243 spread with a 38 standard deviation! I got sooooo frustrated and headed home thinking the FX Crony was the tool that couldn’t be trusted. Today I returned to the range with my Digital Pro Crono and used it in conjunction with my FX and lo and behold they agreed with one another, as I had verified in last range trips. Uh oh this is not good. I decided to put the HS setting back to factory setting in the middle and then started adjusting the transfer port and finally I was able to quickly move the velocity up or down with VERY little adjustment off of factory center.

I was tuning for JSB 50 grain pellets and wanted to get them up between 920 - 940 and could easily do that with the transfer port adjuster. Once the speeds were at 925-930 I started drilling a ragged hole at 100 but after just a few shots the velocity rapidly dropped. Long story and lots of $$$ pellets later I discovered the transfer port setting was not holding. I could see the adjuster would move one or two graduations even though I had the locking nut on the right side as tight as my fingers could turn it, without using a tool. I couldn’t shoot a full mag without the speed falling off so I couldn’t verify the tuning was in harmony. Again another frustrating day and a loss of hundreds of $$$ pellets $$$.

I believe the rifle has a LOT of potential so don’t read too much negativity into my initial review. After I got home I made a call to Donny FL and they suggested adding a TINY drop of BLUE LocTite to the threads of the locking nut. I removed the nut, well actually it is a male threaded stud with a thumb head cap, cleaned the threads and added a SMALL drop of BLUE LocTite and it’s back in the safe to set up. It’s going to be a week before I can get back to testing again so I will report back next week. In the interim here are targets I shot today at 100Y. When the speed was up and holding, that is when I was able to shoot a single under dime sized ragged hole. BUT, when the transfer port adjustment slipped and the velocity dropped off the groups quickly opened up. I’m not posting cherry picked groups, just as the targets were shot by a Joe Average shooter.