I agree. I've had several Hatsans (AT44-10s .25 cal, AT44-10QE .22 cal, Hatsan Flash .22 cal, Nova QE .22 cal) and they were all great shooters. But they were HEAVY!!! I had to sell them, since I could hardly hold them. At my age, weight is a big consideration. I kept and still own the Flash because it is light and it is Accurate, with a capital A. I love it. The one Hatsan that I've owned that I did not love is the Hatsan Velox. I had one of the first in .25 cal and I loved the idea and would have loved the pistol if it did not have so many problems. I had the Velox packed and shipped back on the afternoon of the same day it came in.
Here is a rundown on my experience.:
1) Magazine Covers too tight. Had to loosen both ...., a LOT to get them to work.
2) Magazines do not cycle reliably. Had to remove and reload several time each use before magazine was empty.
3) Cylinder #1 (came mounted) developed an air leak:
a. After shooting about 6 round at about560 to 580 fps there was a loud 'pop' and
the next shot was 212 fps. Was using 20.06 gr H&N pellets.
b. After reload and another five shots, cylinder 1 was low on pressure. I pumped the
cylinder up to 250 bar. When I released the air from the feed line, the
cylinder air went down to about 100 bar. I tried re-pressurizing several times more
with the same result. Cylinder 1 has an air leak.
4) I tried to swap out cylinder 1 to the spare cylinder 2. I could not remove the
cylinder by hand. It had been installed far to tightly at the factory. I had to use a towel in a vice too
grip the cylinder hard enough to remove it from the Velox. Small air rush on removal.
5) Installed cylinder #2 on the airgun. Pressurized to 250 bar. When I released the
pressure from the feed line, pressure in the cylinder dropped to about 225 bar, but
recovered pressure back up to 230 bar. It seemed to hold pressure so I began
shooting a fresh magazine with 25.39 grain JSB pellets. Several times in shooting
the mag would not cycle. Reloaded several times but got to 10 shots averaging about
530 fps.
6) Reloaded the magazine and pressurized to 250 bar and again and pressure dropped to
about 225 bar and came back up to about 230 bar after releasing the compressor
line pressure. After two shots the magazine jammed and I could not get it out of
the pistol. I returned the Velox with the magazine still jammed in the breach, after removing
both air cylinders.
I had the best experience in discussions with Utah Airguns. They apologized for the problems that I had and agreed readily to my returning the Velox for replacement or refimd and supplied a prepaid label for shipping. The Velox is in transit back to Utah as I type. Customer Service at Utah Airguns is exceptional and was the best part of my experience with this airgun. I asked for a refund and will wait to see if any fixes are in the offing from Hatsan. This airgun could be a winner with a little QC and possible engineering changes but until I see them in the future, I'll hold on and listen for other experiences from purchasers. I really was disappointed with the problems I saw. I have since read that some who bought this airgun were experiencing 'bounce back' of the hammer spring, causing multi-shot automatic firings with one trigger pull. I did not experience that kind of 'auto' condition with my Velox. Thank goodness.