so in the future i would like to get something compact with a lot of power. something from 35-45 cal. a few options i thought of were the bintac m50, bintac t9, or aea hp max with the 10 inch barrel. if anyone has any other suggestions im open to hearing them. like i said trying to keep a compact package but powerful. chose aea and bintac because i am hoping to keep the price up to 1k at most. and if anyone has experience with any of the aforementioned guns please feel free to provide your experiences with them. thanks guys!
AEA opinions on aea guns
- Thread starter 30clipslinger
- Start date
I've had experience with the aea hpss 22.. not worth it's weight in pennies unless you want to fight with it until you get tired of it..
in the price range you mentioned I think you might look into a Benjamin bulldog.. but a from pitbull..
probably don't have the name correct.. look for Benjamin bulldog or Benjamin Pitbull..
Mark
in the price range you mentioned I think you might look into a Benjamin bulldog.. but a from pitbull..
probably don't have the name correct.. look for Benjamin bulldog or Benjamin Pitbull..
Mark
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The most buggy commercial products I have ever purchased. I had the HP max in 357 and semi auto HP carbine in 25. Both were constant headaches, repeated failures... leaks, jams, broken valve pins, broken valve seats, chewed up screws and non standard parts on new guns etc..
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I would do a lot of research before deciding on a model. I have a challenger big9 357 and besides having the worst trigger ever put on a gun it does what it is supposed to do. Only aea I’ve owned. Some models seem good others very problematic. I would avoid anything semi auto from them. They seem quite problematic. A good YouTube channel to watch for aea success and failure is macabespeed.
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I have a HP max .30. The half truth? It’s been a great gun. It’s accurate and powerful for its size. The whole truth? I rarely ever shoot it because I don’t want something to break. But when I shoot a couple shots, it hits where I’m aiming. Mine is an in case of emergency, break glass kind of gun.
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It's a shame you can't get a don cothran anymore or I'd recommend one. I was probably one of the last to be able to get one. An evanix Rex p is an option. They have traits I am not a huge fan of but have a better reputation than AEA. Theyre probably more than 1K but xp airguns is another option
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I was actually going to ask about the Rex p. It looks great I kind of wish it was magazine fed but maybe they did what they did for a reason. Watched some videos of compact powerhouses jamming up over and over so maybe that’s why they went the single shot route? Who knows lol. I will def consider it though. Never heard of xp airguns
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There is an upgrade, don't know if it's still offered that can substantially increase the power of a Rex p, search for African air ordnance. It makes the gun bigger though because it uses a larger rear tank.
What I don't like about them is the underlever style cocking. It exposes the trigger and makes engaging the safety after each shot a must. The mechanical parts of this mechanism are exposed, sand and dirt could easily get in and make it crunchy. The only thing holding up the lever when closed is a ball bearing in a recess, there's lots of slop on it that I don't care for. Also the stock handle I found to be very uncomfortable and crappy although they can be swapped for most AK style grips i think.
There's some nice features like a burst disk on the tank. It's a pretty simple but solid design not too unlike an airforce air gun. I haven't checked those in a while but if the airforce talon p comes in larger calibers now id probably recommend one of them over the Rex p.
The xp pistols may only come in super large calibers, might have to ask them is a smaller caliber could be made, I bet it could
What I don't like about them is the underlever style cocking. It exposes the trigger and makes engaging the safety after each shot a must. The mechanical parts of this mechanism are exposed, sand and dirt could easily get in and make it crunchy. The only thing holding up the lever when closed is a ball bearing in a recess, there's lots of slop on it that I don't care for. Also the stock handle I found to be very uncomfortable and crappy although they can be swapped for most AK style grips i think.
There's some nice features like a burst disk on the tank. It's a pretty simple but solid design not too unlike an airforce air gun. I haven't checked those in a while but if the airforce talon p comes in larger calibers now id probably recommend one of them over the Rex p.
The xp pistols may only come in super large calibers, might have to ask them is a smaller caliber could be made, I bet it could
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The talon p looks amazinggg!!! I would love to grab that but it looks like the highest caliber it comes in is 25. I would grab it even if it came in 30. My heart is broken about the aea guns man. They look like exactly what I’m looking for but tbh reliability should be one of the biggest priorities. Reliability beats aesthetics for sure. I wish Benjamin made a microcarbine I would be all over that
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I had a aea terminator and it was my most despised airgun ever. I currently have an AEA challenger bullpup with upgraded valve and the sear broke on me, it's made of very poor quality metal. I had a fabricator replicate the part in hardened tool steel like a wrench is made from and the gun has worked well since then but I can't say I recommend even their non-semi autos, although I think they have a better reputation than the semis. Yeah, last I looked the talon only went up to .25, shame. It could easily be made In larger calibers.
I used to have a Rex p and it is ok, I sold it once I bought my don cothran though
I used to have a Rex p and it is ok, I sold it once I bought my don cothran though
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not to mention that they were too lazy to put the proper hole in the action so it sometimes pulls the pellets and sometimes the skirts back into the action down into the trigger group..
I almost bought a seat pro for long distance shooting and I can't even say how glad I am that I never got the frustration of owning one..if like the one that is a derringer but all the reviews that say they are good you see them having trouble with at least half the shots..
that bad and you are better off buying rocks..
Mark
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understated..I don't ever want to have a aea even if it was free.. they are so bad there's no degassing screw.. might as well have a loaded gun that doesn't work correctly and will fire at it's will..
definitely not safe..
just my opinion and if I ever get the idea of getting one someone needs to make sure I don't..
Mark
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Damn guys I’m really glad I posted this thread to hear people’s experiences. I think I would have def gotten one and end up being disappointed. And since I am new to this I would not do very well tinkering and trying to fix these kinds of issues myself. I may have to just raise my budget a bit and buy some other microcarbine in a high caliber. Thanks everyone and anybody else have a different option for me feel free to post
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I had .51 Challenger, it required some initial tune up, but then it went through 150+ slugs without problems.
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I have 4 AEA's and shoot them all. On the HP's the weak link is the poppet valve and the magazines. They do require some tuning but then they shoot. Not a good first gun for someone I think. Some people have a lot of trouble with them that I just haven't experienced. They are simple made and robust IMO. I shoot one every day. The power and accuracy potential of the guns is what I like. Terminator trigger on mine is 4.5 lbs and shoots very well. Right at 108 ft lbs with 50.2 g. pellets. With all the dissatisfied people you can pick up used ones at good deals. Send it off to someone that tune them. I'm not sure if Motorhead tunes AEA's but Firewalker does or did.
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I have two AEA's, one is a .25 cal Challenger Standard and the other is a 9mm/357 big bore bullpup. My opinion is they are made very well but use very low-quality ancillary components. All of the small parts are questionable at best. Things such as O-rings, valve pins, and springs seem to have low quality control. I really like my .25 cal. Its light weight, powerful and accurate. I'd say the build quality of the action is better than my AV Avenger. The AEA is nicely finished aluminum where Avenger is plastic covered pot-metal (some sort of zinc casting alloy). But with the low amount of shooting I do, I was shocked that the hammer spring wore out!
Its kind of amazing. The fit and finish is quite good! But then they make it iffy by using low quality components.
I also don't think the distributors are doing a good job of keeping spare parts in stock (depending on the part). I would have had to order the hammer spring I needed from Europe if I wasn't able to adapt something else.
I like the guns but its only because I love to tinker and build things. If you are not that then I wouldn't recommend them.
Here some stocks I made for mine.
Its kind of amazing. The fit and finish is quite good! But then they make it iffy by using low quality components.
I also don't think the distributors are doing a good job of keeping spare parts in stock (depending on the part). I would have had to order the hammer spring I needed from Europe if I wasn't able to adapt something else.
I like the guns but its only because I love to tinker and build things. If you are not that then I wouldn't recommend them.
Here some stocks I made for mine.
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This is my HP max .457 that started as a .510. Could not get it to group with 10" or 22" barrel. Bought a .457 barrel kit and it shots so much better. I have a HP max .30 that is very accurate. Fingers crossed no problem.
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