Western Airguns Sidewinder/Rattler, Vulcan3 or Huben K1?

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Emu said:
At this moment, my vote would be for a Sidewinder.

I haven't found a con yet.... WELL.... I have only been able to shoot pellets with mines, but extremely well. No way to miss the slugs !
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I have had a .22 Huben for a few years, and a .22 Sidewinder for less than a week. I have more to learn about the Sidewinder, but I am coming at with a lot of hammerless airgun experience . . .

I'll do a more thorough review/post eventually, but I thought I would weigh in that between the two the Huben is the far better gun on many metrics - better build quality, massively better trigger, much quieter even at the same power level (even after switching to an external moderator, which did quiet it down from stock), and a sleeker shape (I find "tacticool" guns easily catch brush when hunting in the field with all their open spots). They are similar in terms of accuracy and efficiency, at least so far.

I will say that the removable magazine is nice to help make the gun safe and all that, but it is a far different animal than we probably think of until we experience it - these require great precision and thus have NO slop in them. I don't see ever getting to the point where it is as easy to swap out as most mag guns - on my Daystate and other mag guns, when I am shooting from the bench I can pretty much swap to a new mag without looking, but no way here - the best I can say is that swapping it out is a process. In the end, it does not really save any time over reloading the Huben, when you factor in taking out the mag, separating the parts to reload, and getting it back in the gun once loaded (plus spares are $150 each, and nobody will be making low cost 3D printed versions of these). The bottom line is that the non-removable mag is not really an issue once you learn it.

All that said, if I did not own the Huben to compare it to I would think it was amazing and would probably rave about it. But since I have both I can say that if I only could have one, the Huben would be the one hands down . . .

That is Huben vs. Sidewinder - I don't have experience with the Vulcan . . .
 
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on my huben .22 i get 3 mags (57 shots) from a 4500psi fill.
Shooting jsb rdm @ 950fps, and this is a 5 shot 100yard group with the upper and lower shots being sighters.
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AlanMcD said:
I have had a .22 Huben for a few years, and a .22 Sidewinder for less than a week. I have more to learn about the Sidewinder, but I am coming at with a lot of hammerless airgun experience . . .

I'll do a more thorough review/post eventually, but I thought I would weigh in that between the two the Huben is the far better gun on many metrics - better build quality, massively better trigger, much quieter even at the same power level (even after switching to an external moderator, which did quiet it down from stock), and a sleeker shape (I find "tacticool" guns easily catch brush when hunting in the field with all their open spots). They are similar in terms of accuracy and efficiency, at least so far.

I will say that the removable magazine is nice to help make the gun safe and all that, but it is a far different animal than we probably think of until we experience it - these require great precision and thus have NO slop in them. I don't see ever getting to the point where it is as easy to swap out as most mag guns - on my Daystate and other mag guns, when I am shooting from the bench I can pretty much swap to a new mag without looking, but no way here - the best I can say is that swapping it out is a process. In the end, it does not really save any time over reloading the Huben, when you factor in taking out the mag, separating the parts to reload, and getting it back in the gun once loaded (plus spares are $150 each, and nobody will be making low cost 3D printed versions of these). The bottom line is that the non-removable mag is not really an issue once you learn it.

All that said, if I did not own the Huben to compare it too I would think it was amazing and would probably rave about it. But since I have both I can say that if I only could have one, the Huben would be the one hands down . . .

That is Huben vs. Sidewinder - I don't have experience with the Vulcan . . .
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I have never own a Huben....

I like a lot the VULCAN 3, a lot !

But I am impressed by the sidewinder !!!
 
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AlanMcD said:
I have had a .22 Huben for a few years, and a .22 Sidewinder for less than a week. I have more to learn about the Sidewinder, but I am coming at with a lot of hammerless airgun experience . . .

I'll do a more thorough review/post eventually, but I thought I would weigh in that between the two the Huben is the far better gun on many metrics - better build quality, massively better trigger, much quieter even at the same power level (even after switching to an external moderator, which did quiet it down from stock), and a sleeker shape (I find "tacticool" guns easily catch brush when hunting in the field with all their open spots). They are similar in terms of accuracy and efficiency, at least so far.

I will say that the removable magazine is nice to help make the gun safe and all that, but it is a far different animal than we probably think of until we experience it - these require great precision and thus have NO slop in them. I don't see ever getting to the point where it is as easy to swap out as most mag guns - on my Daystate and other mag guns, when I am shooting from the bench I can pretty much swap to a new mag without looking, but no way here - the best I can say is that swapping it out is a process. In the end, it does not really save any time over reloading the Huben, when you factor in taking out the mag, separating the parts to reload, and getting it back in the gun once loaded (plus spares are $150 each, and nobody will be making low cost 3D printed versions of these). The bottom line is that the non-removable mag is not really an issue once you learn it.

All that said, if I did not own the Huben to compare it to I would think it was amazing and would probably rave about it. But since I have both I can say that if I only could have one, the Huben would be the one hands down . . .

That is Huben vs. Sidewinder - I don't have experience with the Vulcan . . .
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Just curious on an update on owning that sidewinder and your experience over the past year... I've been itching to get a slug shooting semiauto/auto
 
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I guess I'm lucky in that I have a K1 in 25 and a Vulcan 3 in 30. Both are fantastic at long distance shooting - hitting metal plates at 300 yards is a cake walk! The trigger between the 2 are different with the Huben winning out, but the Vulcan is no slouch. Both shoot pellets and slugs well. And both have enough power to kill anything I hunt. The fixed magazine on the Huben is a PITA, but I can't remember where I have ever run through 17 shots while hunting with it - I don't use it for ratting where the target count can get high if you are lucky! Ammo is slightly less expensive with the 25 and I get about the same shot count between the 2 as I don't have a compressor that will full load my K1 and I can't hand pump it that high - too old! Why pick? Do what I did!
 
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TattoosByJohnnyV said:
Just curious on an update on owning that sidewinder and your experience over the past year... I've been itching to get a slug shooting semiauto/auto
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I've had a sidewinder .30 for almost a year now, I've gotten to be pretty quick with swapping out the magazine. I used it a couple of days ago to blast apart a pumpkin we've had on our porch since October. Mine has been super reliable and accurate, no problems with it so far. I find pellets to be a little more accurate, but it handles slugs just fine.
 
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TattoosByJohnnyV said:
Just curious on an update on owning that sidewinder and your experience over the past year... I've been itching to get a slug shooting semiauto/auto
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The best summary would be to say that I think it is a good gun, but I'm just not sure it is right for me. My main issue with it is how loud it is mechanically. I got the muzzle well tamed with a Huma Mod 40 on it, but it is now probably as loud back at the action as it is at the muzzle, and of course that is where my head goes. I have a condition with my right ear, and I shoot right handed, and I just can't shoot it comfortably for more than a few shots without some ear protection, and it is the only air gun I have that needs this extra help. This issue makes me kind of have a love-hate relationship with it, but just because of its fitness for my use. I really want to get the noise down, and then I'd shoot it more, but for now the Huben is my go to gun.

The accuracy is great with JSB Monster redesigned, and is a close second with 18.1 grain pellets too, but it does not like much else. I've tried a few slugs and some are OK, but I did not find anything great - but I did not look hard as the gun is even louder at the higher power levels and I just don't want the noise.

Accuracy really shines above 900 fps, and is OK in the 850-900 range, but is poor below that which is a shame - the noise drops considerably down around 800 fps or less, and I would be happy to shoot it there but it does not want to be there.

For someone that was OK with a louder gun running at high power it would be a nice bit of kit. I did have one problem with it - the spring in the mag advancing mechanism broke and it stopped advancing. AoA sent me a part to swap out (it was simple, but I did need to take the bottle off and degas the regulator) and it fixed it, but the gun probably had less than 1000 rounds through it at the time. The good news is that AoA said that a publicly released parts diagram would be out sometime this year, along with parts support, and that is something that I really like in a gun.
 
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AlanMcD said:
The best summary would be to say that I think it is a good gun, but I'm just not sure it is right for me. My main issue with it is how loud it is mechanically. I got the muzzle well tamed with a Huma Mod 40 on it, but it is now probably as loud back at the action as it is at the muzzle, and of course that is where my head goes. I have a condition with my right ear, and I shoot right handed, and I just can't shoot it comfortably for more than a few shots without some ear protection, and it is the only air gun I have that needs this extra help. This issue makes me kind of have a love-hate relationship with it, but just because of its fitness for my use. I really want to get the noise down, and then I'd shoot it more, but for now the Huben is my go to gun.

The accuracy is great with JSB Monster redesigned, and is a close second with 18.1 grain pellets too, but it does not like much else. I've tried a few slugs and some are OK, but I did not find anything great - but I did not look hard as the gun is even louder at the higher power levels and I just don't want the noise.

Accuracy really shines above 900 fps, and is OK in the 850-900 range, but is poor below that which is a shame - the noise drops considerably down around 800 fps or less, and I would be happy to shoot it there but it does not want to be there.

For someone that was OK with a louder gun running at high power it would be a nice bit of kit. I did have one problem with it - the spring in the mag advancing mechanism broke and it stopped advancing. AoA sent me a part to swap out (it was simple, but I did need to take the bottle off and degas the regulator) and it fixed it, but the gun probably had less than 1000 rounds through it at the time. The good news is that AoA said that a publicly released parts diagram would be out sometime this year, along with parts support, and that is something that I really like in a gun.
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Thank you so much this really helps.
 
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Frito169 said:
For me Rattler was available and has longer barrel. Sidewinder is lighter with removable magazine. If I had a choice I'd probably go Sidewinder next time lol
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AlanMcD said:
I'm curious on why you chose the Rattler in .30 over the Sidewinder in .30 cal . . . . no judgement in the question; just curious . . .
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I’m glad someone is speaking on the differences between the two. The .30 Rattler produces more power than the the .30 Sidewinder, but the Rattler lacks a removable magazine. I wondered why the Sidewinder is not capable of producing the same amount of power. A longer barrel may account for some of the increase in energy produced. I hadn’t realized the barrel was longer.
 
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Ezana4CE said:
I’m glad someone is speaking on the differences between the two. The .30 Rattler produces more power than the the .30 Sidewinder, but the Rattler lacks a removable magazine. I wondered why the Sidewinder is not capable of producing the same amount of power. A longer barrel may a point for some of that. I hadn’t realized the barrel was longer.
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5 inches longer which is why it produces more power but guessing uses more air
 
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AlanMcD said:
I'm curious on why you chose the Rattler in .30 over the Sidewinder in .30 cal . . . . no judgement in the question; just curious . . .
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First, It was available in stock, It has a longer barrel and thus a bit more power, and in my experience longer barrels tend to help me shoot more accurately, it has more rounds (17 per mag) and lastly, I didn't like the design of the system for the removable mags of the sidewinder. I'm going to try and keep this tuned for medium to heavy slugs for Coyote-shaped targets.
 
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