Hi Don-B, guys,
I have one in .22. It's my first "real" air pistol; I've some others, but they're CO2 'powerlet' or pump, more toys than serious air guns. Got a Sig-Sauer P226 replica in .177, thinking maybe the Sig quality would be there.... it ain't. Got fed up and started looking around for a PCP of decent quality in my price range, and had about given up when I stumbled across this one. I've got a friend who shoots competitively (read: invited to Camp Perry....), and he loves these PCP airguns. I bounced this one off him, and he pronounced it 'not bad at all,' which is high praise, given that his usual stuff is Feinwerkbau and similar stuff.
I'm not tremendously knowledgeable about PCP's, (my background up 'til now has been with regular ol' metallic firearms), but I know I like this one. It's heavy-ish, has a decent trigger with a clean break (all comments are offered with the caveat: "... given that it's an entry-level piece..."); the 'comes-with' iron sights are serviceable, but you'll want optics to get the most out of this thing... I got an inexpensive red/green dot sight, mounted it on the (airgun standard) 11mm rail, and this thing turns into a tack-driver. It's the first piece I've owned that consistently lets me make one ragged 1/4 - 5/16" hole at 10 meters (and I haven't yet found the pellet it likes best... still looking for that one,) and that's given my rudimentary level of skill with airguns. Add a bipod, and I should be able to narrow that down even more. That's probably not impressive to you guys, but after shooting metallic, I'm used to much larger groups than that!
The magazine is kind of troublesome... doesn't always feed and is fussy to load, and really isn't at comfortably at home on this kind of pistol, anyway. Magazines are for rapid-fire, as far as I'm concerned, and bolt-action has no place in that world. I just use the single-shot tray, and I'm perfectly happy with that. Besides, the magazine interfered with the mounting of the dot sight, rendering the whole thing moot anyway.
The bolt handle is kind of delicate; thin shaft and a little on the long side; so there's a lot of leverage on that thin shaft... treat it nicely! I usually seat the bolt by pressing on the back of the bolt itself, not by using the handle. Also, and I'm not really sure why, but the part of the bolt breech block that the bolt handle shaft bears against when the bolt is closed (the surface that takes the pressure of the bolt handle shaft when firing) began to peen over after a few hundred rounds. What was a snug fit now has a little slop in it, and there is visibly displaced metal. Not a lot, but it's there. I've taken to keeping my thumb on the bolt handle when firing to keep this from getting any worse (if it's even going to get worse... don't want to find out.)
Overall... I'm impressed with the price/performance ratio. It's not a bad piece by any means, and given the cost, is actually a bargain for what you're getting. It's not perfect, but then what is? Even the really expensive stuff has it's quirks and has room for improvement. As a plinker and even a semi-serious target shooter, you can't beat it! Obviously not competition-level, but that's not what it's intended for anyway. I'm more than happy with mine.
By the way: one of the reviews I read said that the moderator was not removable... this is inaccurate. Mine came right apart for cleaning (and had a surprising amount of crud in it after a couple hundred rounds.) Be careful, though... there's a bunch of parts in there (baffles and spacers,) and they'll come tumbling out if you're careless about opening it up.
That's my impression, for what it's worth.
