My first impressions of the Kalibrgun Cricket .35:
I received cricket just last week Thursday but I wasn't able to do anything with the gun except fire a couple dry fires and shoulder the gun. As soon as my wife left for work Friday morning, I took the gun out and started to work on putting a scope on. I dug through my gun closet and found several scope rings to try. This is my first bullpup; so I never understood why bullpup guns need high rings. With every gun I've owned, I always put my scope as low to the barrel without touching the barrel. After shouldering the gun with low rings, I couldn't even bring my eye in-line with the scope. So I had to settle with the highest rings I had on me and even these rings are still to low for me.
After tightening the scope to the gun, I took the gun outside to site it in. I aired the gun up and loaded the first mag. Loading pellets in the mag was very simple and easy to do. I think every gun should use the same principal. Once both mags were loaded, I noticed the pellets are held in very securely and would not make noise rattling around in your pocket which is a plus if you are stocking prey. The mrod's magazine would rattle in your pocket when you walk around.
I don't have any pictures of any pellet groups right now because I felt I needed more time with the cricket to get respectable groups. When I put the cricket in my rifle holder, I had to find the right spot for the gun. Firing the gun in the rifle rest was very uncomfortable. The fore end of the stock where you would normally hold the gun was position right on the front rest. The rear of gun was positioned in a manner where I had to reach around the rest to fire the gun, and then the scrunch rifle position on the picnic table all added to an uncomfortable shooting position. What I'll have to do is put in a sling stud in front of the stock and mount a bipod. use sand bags for the rear and I should get respectable groups. As for now, I was getting one hole groups at fifty yards and 1.5 inches at 75 yards.
Comparing the Mrod .25 to Cricket .35
Shouldering the Mrod .25 is just like shouldering every gun I had since I was little. A very natural feel. Before I shoulder the cricket, I never gave it much thought to holding a rifle. The cricket makes you hold the gun in a very scrunch up stance is the best I can describe it. The gun is held very close to you which makes it easy to maneuver. One thing I noticed about carrying the gun was when I had to go out back to the my shooting range. Walking out the back door holding the gun with one arm, my air tank strapped to my back, and opening the sliding door with my other arm was very easy to do. Almost every time I walked through the door with the Mrod, I would hit something with the tip of the gun or bang something with the tank. The biggest plus, and the main reason for buying this gun, is maneuvering the cricket inside a truck. The six inches really makes a big difference. (was going to add something but decided not to. HAHA)
I'm very impress with my Mrod .25. In most situations, I would say the Mrod can keep with the cricket. Obviously I would feel more comfortable with the Mrod since I've owned the gun for 2 years. I just need trigger time with the cricket. I only had the cricket three days now. The part I really noticed about the cricket is the shear power. I had to check over my back stop after I was done sighting in the gun at fifty yards which is something I never have done because I built my backstop with very strong materials.The trigger on the cricket is awesome. Very light and crisp. The trigger on the Mrod is nice too but the trigger on the cricket is amazing. Still getting use the cricket's trigger though. I wish the safety on the cricket was like the safety on the Mrod. The Mrod's safety is easy to put on safe and fire for my fat fingers. I had to be really careful with the cricket's safety. Trying to move the safety forward without touching the very light trigger took getting use to. I also didn't like the feel of the safety pin. Yes...the safety is a small metal pin which to me felt cheap. I think at this gun's price range, the gun should have a better safety but in the scheme of things, it's a small thing to fuss about.
I'm sure there is more things I haven't mentioned but its late. If you read through this, you must not had anything important to do. This is my first review and I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions or comments on the gun, let me know and I'll try my best to answer.
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