My new Dream-Tac Compact .177 backyard multishot plinker

Last summer I bought a Crosman 1720T pistol to try .177 because my impact was .25 and it's darn expensive to shoot and really loud! I even bought a Dream-Tac compact in .25 thinking I could turn it down really low but still the sound of the pellet hitting paper target in my suburban yard is just really loud on a quiet night. However I discovered I really love the form factor of the dream-tac compact, I even tried to modify it in just about every way and still like the original configuration the best. However I could not find anyone that has .177 barrel kit in stock so I decided to sell it and order a new .177 Dream-Tac Compact.



I called Utah air and was told 8-10 weeks of wait time, disappointed but at least got my self on the list, then a week later I got an email saying the dream-tac compact has shipped! Shocked and delighted I open it up like a kid on Christmas morning! Right away I saw some minor changes: 

- It still has the super light barrel system but really skinny like the STX barrel without shroud skinny. Hardly any room in there for it to act as a shroud and all because people wanted to put on the PP and the gun comes with a PP already installed. Not really happy about that because I've tried PP on a dreamline and even with 500mm barrel it didn't really do much so I'm rather not excited about the new "shroud".

- One thing I do like is the .177 barrel is now 380mm instead of 320mm, this gives it a little extra power to be more versatile

- Cocking lever feels a little different, it feels like it has a bushing installed with a bit more friction, however it is starting to loosen up after few hundred pellets

- It has what look to me 20 MOA rail! that is awesome!!!

- It came with the FX AR grip, it's a bit too skinny/slim for my taste but that's cheap to replace

After I put on a Barra H30 4-12 scope at 19 ozs, sumo moderator, Mission first AR stock and FX 300CC bottle the gun weight in right at 7lbs. That's pretty good but will think of ways to make it a bit lighter, honestly only place I can shave more weight is the scope and AR stock. The mission first stock is already under 6 oz so weight lost there will be minimal, I might do another one of my foam stock since I already have the material and that would save about 5 oz. There aren't too many good scopes out there in 4-12 magnification range with adjustable size focus or even AO with 30mm tube that's lighter than 19 ozs, not sure what to do there for now. 


First impression: just like the old one except for the PP, even though it's only adds 1 inch but for some reason made the gun feel much longer. I promptly took off the PP which is why FX got rid of the true super light barrel for and it just felt right! After taking off the PP and put the gun on the Chrony and surprise! speed didn't change at all! Oh well at least I got the 380mm .177 barrel. At the lowest setting the 7.9 crosman hollow point shoots at 680FPS, slightly higher than the 650FPS target but I can deal with it. Overall it's pleasure to shoot, light, compact and just feels great at a proper carbine. At first the CPHP didn't really want to group but after the barrel has been seasoned it's going into the same hole like I expected it to be. 



THEN yesterday I tried some 12.5 grain NSA slugs and WOW! at 20 yards the holes were touching(I pulled the last shot), pretty much same accuracy as pellets! Currently it's shooting the 12.5 grain at 750FPS, I probably will crank up the regulator just a little to see if I can get it close to 800FPS but it's shooting so well I'm a little hesitant about changing anything. Will try to stretch her out with the slugs one of these days. 

B3647FAB-34E8-4BEA-8D67-198AF67B3557.1613453121.jpeg




Over all I absolutely love the dream-tac compact! I've looked at many other guns but it simply doesn't have a peer in the price range, only gun think I can think of that might be better than a dream-tac for me would be a leshiy 2. However I'm not a big fan of semi auto and the mag system with tiny capacity, I go through 22 pellets way too fast even with lever action. 

AA15E2F8-0124-43E1-9656-A825B7B0C23F.1613453060.jpeg







 
Last summer I bought a Crosman 1720T pistol to try .177 because my impact was .25 and it's darn expensive to shoot and really loud! I even bought a Dream-Tac compact in .25 thinking I could turn it down really low but still the sound of the pellet hitting paper target in my suburban yard is just really loud on a quiet night. However I discovered I really love the form factor of the dream-tac compact, I even tried to modify it in just about every way and still like the original configuration the best. However I could not find anyone that has .177 barrel kit in stock so I decided to sell it and order a new .177 Dream-Tac Compact.



I called Utah air and was told 8-10 weeks of wait time, disappointed but at least got my self on the list, then a week later I got an email saying the dream-tac compact has shipped! Shocked and delighted I open it up like a kid on Christmas morning! Right away I saw some minor changes: 

- It still has the super light barrel system but really skinny like the STX barrel without shroud skinny. Hardly any room in there for it to act as a shroud and all because people wanted to put on the PP and the gun comes with a PP already installed. Not really happy about that because I've tried PP on a dreamline and even with 500mm barrel it didn't really do much so I'm rather not excited about the new "shroud".

- One thing I do like is the .177 barrel is now 380mm instead of 320mm, this gives it a little extra power to be more versatile

- Cocking lever feels a little different, it feels like it has a bushing installed with a bit more friction, however it is starting to loosen up after few hundred pellets

- I has what look to me 20 MOA rail! that is awesome!!!

- It came with the FX AR grip, it's a bit too skinny/slim for my taste but that's cheap to replace

After I put on a Barra H30 4-12 scope at 19 ozs, sumo moderator, Mission first AR stock and FX 300CC bottle the gun weight in right at 7lbs. That's pretty good but will think of ways to make it a bit lighter, honestly only place I can shave more weight is the scope and AR stock. The mission first stock is already under 6 oz so weight lost there will be minimal, I might do another one of my foam stock since I already have the material and that would save about 5 oz. There aren't too many good scopes out there in 4-12 magnification range with adjustable size focus or even AO with 30mm tube that's lighter than 19 ozs, not sure what to do there for now. 


First impression: just like the old one except for the PP, even though it's only adds 1 inch but for some reason made the gun feel much longer. I promptly took off the PP which is why FX got rid of the true super light barrel for and it just felt right! After taking off the PP and put the gun on the Chrony and surprise! speed didn't change at all! Oh well at least I got the 380mm .177 barrel. At the lowest setting the 7.9 crosman hollow point shoots at 680FPS, slightly higher than the 650FPS target but I can deal with it. Overall it's pleasure to shoot, light, compact and just feels great at a proper carbine. At first the CPHP didn't really want to group but after the barrel has been seasoned it's going into the same hole like I expected it to be. 



THEN yesterday I tried some 12.5 grain NSA slugs and WOW! at 2 yards the holes were touching, pretty much same accuracy as pellets! Currently it's shooting the 12.5 grain at 750FPS, I probably will crank up the regulator just a little to see if I can get it close to 800FPS but it's shooting so well I'm a little hesitant about changing anything. Will try to stretch her out with the slugs one of these days. 

B3647FAB-34E8-4BEA-8D67-198AF67B3557.1613453121.jpeg




Over all I absolutely love the dream-tac compact! I've looked at many other guns but it simply doesn't have a peer in the price range, only gun think I can think of that might be better than a dream-tac for me would be a leshiy 2. However I'm not a big fan of semi auto and the mag system with tiny capacity, I go through 22 pellets way too fast even with lever action. 

AA15E2F8-0124-43E1-9656-A825B7B0C23F.1613453060.jpeg







Sure hope it would shoot in the EXACT SAME HOLE AT 2 YARDS.

https://www.sportoptics.com/

Slightly lighter than 16 oz and brighter and clearer than your Chinese Barra H30.

17-18 yard minimum side focus. Back the power down to shoot closer.

These rarely go on sale.

It's the next level in bright and clear compared to what you are already used to believe it or not even if THIS Leupold is one of their cheaper their budget line model.
 
I'm personally not a fan of MTC and Optisan Glass nor their warranty.

Your results may vary since you got bad eyes anyway.

Actually you like your Element Helix glass so the MTC may pass your own eye test.



Thanks I'll stay away from MTC, the viper connect was very underwhelming. yes I got bad eyes and still like my Helix! hahaha


TOTALLY WORTH BUYING...

HURRY LESS THAN 2 DAYS LEFT...

Modify the side wheels to use on other brands of scopes!!!

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I'm personally not a fan of MTC and Optisan Glass nor their warranty.

Your results may vary since you got bad eyes anyway.

Actually you like your Element Helix glass so the MTC may pass your own eye test.



Thanks I'll stay away from MTC, the viper connect was very underwhelming. yes I got bad eyes and still like my Helix! hahaha

Im with you I love the Helix. I got the Helix on my Crown and I'm thinking on whether I should get the Titan or another for my Savage 10 .308... I also just saw 910 Airgun tuning and repairs have them just making it more and more tempting, to get a second one haha. 

https://910airguntuningandrepairsllc.com/collections/frontpage/products/helix-6-24-50-ffp
 
Thanks guys, it’s one of those guns once you tried it and understand what it’s for it darn hard to beat! For the most part I think it will be as pictured except for the grip, I got 2 inbound to try. 



@gendoc since you have the 22, have you tried NSA 17.5 or 20 grain slugs? You should be able to sling them at around 750fps very accurately. I need to find time to shoot the 12.5 slugs, with slugs this little gun can be insanely versatile and can reach out to 100 yards with ease! 
 
A while back someone posted a question if you could only have one airgun, what would it be. Even with my giant yard and mostly unrestricted shooting, I could live happily ever after with my Compact .22. It would probably also benefit my bank account. They are great pellet guns. Like qball, I’m also not a fan of the new barrel system. I’m glad I have the previous model. The newer ones kinda look like........
DF2E95CF-8743-492B-B835-A02662593B21.1613531550.png

 
A while back someone posted a question if you could only have one airgun, what would it be. Even with my giant yard and mostly unrestricted shooting, I could live happily ever after with my Compact .22. It would probably also benefit my bank account. They are great pellet guns. Like qball, I’m also not a fan of the new barrel system. I’m glad I have the previous model. The newer ones kinda look like........


keep that gun!!! I wasn’t smart enough to get the dream-tac compact V1 in 177 when they were available and for last 3 months I called and asked EVERYONE and no one had a .177 V1 barrel kit. 😭😭😭




 
Thanks guys, it’s one of those guns once you tried it and understand what it’s for it darn hard to beat! For the most part I think it will be as pictured except for the grip, I got 2 inbound to try. 



@gendoc since you have the 22, have you tried NSA 17.5 or 20 grain slugs? You should be able to sling them at around 750fps very accurately. I need to find time to shoot the 12.5 slugs, with slugs this little gun can be insanely versatile and can reach out to 100 yards with ease!

Yes i have tried nicks 17.5 slugs at 833fps.

Decent groups 50yrds >1"

I haven't played much with them yet.




 
Yesterday I noticed my POI was shifting and I thought to myself oh no! hope I don't get intenseaty's wondering POI problem that he battle forever. I took the barrel out and realized I only needed to loosen 2 small scrub screws and I remember there is a third and bigger scrub screws behind the 2 smaller one. So I took off the rail adapter and the 3mm scrub screw was on really tight from a lot of loktite but it was not touching the barrel, after tighten the large scrub screw tight against the barrel along with tighten the 2 smaller ones the POI shift is gone, dead nuts accurate again. 



Just curious, does anyone know why FX doesn't use the large scrub screw to secure the barrel when it is clearly made for securing the barrel? I understand that with the rail there isn't access to that scrub screw which would make changing barrel take a bit longer, 3 minutes longer at best but sacrificing accuracy for convenience doesn't seem to be a great idea.
 
Yesterday I noticed my POI was shifting and I thought to myself oh no! hope I don't get intenseaty's wondering POI problem that he battle forever. I took the barrel out and realized I only needed to loosen 2 small scrub screws and I remember there is a third and bigger scrub screws behind the 2 smaller one. So I took off the rail adapter and the 3mm scrub screw was on really tight from a lot of loktite but it was not touching the barrel, after tighten the large scrub screw tight against the barrel along with tighten the 2 smaller ones the POI shift is gone, dead nuts accurate again. 



Just curious, does anyone know why FX doesn't use the large scrub screw to secure the barrel when it is clearly made for securing the barrel? I understand that with the rail there isn't access to that scrub screw which would make changing barrel take a bit longer, 3 minutes longer at best but sacrificing accuracy for convenience doesn't seem to be a great idea.

The large grub screw is actually used as a plug. That hole is from drilling out the transfer port in the milling process, so a grub screw with loctite is added to prevent air from escaping there during each shot. It can be tightened down to the barrel, nothing wrong with that at all, but as you mentioned, it makes barrel changing take longer. Very rarely does that screw ever have any effect on POI or accuracy in any way. Normally, there is no difference between tightening that screw or having it slightly off the barrel, but it does make a difference if it is not properly sealing, as you will lose about 10FPS due to the air escaping. 

Either way, glad you found a solution! Might not be a common fix, but it was a fix for your rifle, and that's what matters 👍



Buck