Now that I have been hooking some friends on PCP air rifles, I decided that I wanted to try some which were more reasonably priced (as compared to FX, Daystate, Brocock and even BSA) for an entry level airgun shooter. I wanted to know what I could recommend to them once they found out how that Crown they just shot would impact their credit card balance. So I decided to test a couple of 'gateway' PCP airguns, so to speak.
I have owned a couple of Hatsans in the past. The Vectis was fun with its lever action, but was too loud for my (and most, I think) back yards, and adding a moderator seemed a hassle on that gun. The Hydra was a pretty good gun, but I'm pretty much over a bolt action gun any more. Nice thing about the Hatsans is that you can adjust their triggers pretty easily, and get a really nice outcome.
So now I am comparing the AV Avenger and the Benjamin Cayden to both of those previously owned Hatsans, and seeing how they stack up. The Avenger cost me $349.99 to my door (thank you Baker Airguns), and the Cayden cost me $462.55 to my door (thank you Crosman - Sure did love that old AGNATION discount code). If I had chosen the more apples-to-apples wood stocked Avenger, the price difference between the 2 guns would have been about $32.50.
First the Cayden
When you pull this gun out of its box, the first thing that hits you is 'heavy'. And long. The grain in the wood stock is really nice - on one side. The other side is really plain. Hey, wood is a natural material which is not uniform. And this is a relatively inexpensive gun, so you get the cut of wood you get. My stock had a couple of little knots, but none which are going to affect anything, and certainly none like Giles had in his recently-reviewed Cayden.
In the parts bags with the gun were 2 magazines, a small Pic rail section w/hex bolt which you can mount under the stock for bipod use, some hex keys, o-rings, burst disks, a female Foster QD connector and the instruction manual. The gun comes with an unshrouded barrel with an air stripper at the muzzle. I was shooting at home, so I did not shoot it in this configuration. Remove the air stripper and you have a 1/2" UNF thread available, so I installed a DFL Tanto.
Filling the Cayden with air was easy as it just has a male Foster QD connector under a twist-and-pull-off cover at the muzzle end of the air cylinder. I have read where some folks complain about the protective (?) ears around the air fill connector, but I just approached the gun from below and it was easy to install and remove the fill adapter on the compressor line.
The Cayden feels like a quality gun. It is solid, and the stippling is nice. The grip allows a nice thumb-up hold, which I have found I prefer. Hand this rifle to someone who doesn't know airguns, and they won't know whether you handed them an air rifle or a 30-30 firearm. The action was consistently smooth from the first activation. It was a pleasure to use. You really don't feel the chambering of the pellet at all. Trigger was just fine out of the box. According to the manual it has an adjustable shoe only. As received my trigger broke at 2# 6oz. Very short '1st stage' take-up, some creep and a predictable break. Fully serviceable for a new shooter in multiple applications.
Chrono testing done first to see what pellet it would like. On high power I first tried the JSB variant Daystate 18.13 (unsorted/un-lubed, straight from the tin). I must have hit a sweet spot in the shot curve as my 12 chrono shots gave me an average velocity of 919 fps with an ES=7 and an SD=2.1.
The rifle felt solid and planted on the bench (front and rear bags), as it should have felt at this weight (10# 14oz with mounted Athlon Argos BTR Gen2 6-24x50, DFL Tanto and a mostly full air cylinder). It was very enjoyable to shoot. Best 5 shot group at 25 yards measured 0.26" CTC in light winds (3-9 mph coming from my 2:00). Groups shown below.
The power adjusting wheel on the Cayden is very difficult to turn, either by design (to prevent it from accidentally turning) or maybe because the gun is brand new.
Crosman says that the Cayden in .22 cal will give you up to 60 shots per fill. That's likely close to true. I didn't perform a full chrono shot string, but I would say that I get at least 4 good magazines before thinking about re-filling. Speaking of magazines, the Cayden's 12 shot (in .22) magazine is much like the well known Marauder magazine (but not interchangeable) so therefore it is good. Maybe because it holds 2 additional rounds it is just a little more difficult to load up. And going into the breech round side first (from the right side - so no issues if you use a big parallax ring on your scope) is a little unusual, and a little fiddly at first. But after inserting a new magazine 4-5 times, it seems to smooth out a bit.
Next the AV Avenger.
I purposely chose to purchase the Avenger with the plastic stock for the price difference, and maybe to have a little handier field gun. When you take the plastic stocked Avenger out of its box, it immediately says 'air gun' or 'toy gun' in your hands - you won't mistake this for a firearm. But it does feel light and handy, directly opposed to the 'heavy and long' feeling of the Cayden (it is about 2.25" shorter than the Cayden + DFL Tanto). The stock is plastic, and doesn't feel or sound like a quality 'ballistic polymer' (think Glock) stock material. Tap on it and it sounds hollow, like a coconut. But then again, it doesn't feel flimsy or fragile. It has molded-in stippling and grooving, but these are nowhere near as effective in assisting your hold as they are on the Cayden.
The parts bag which comes with the gun includes 2 each 10-shot (.22 cal) magazines, a couple of little o-rings, a hex key, the instruction manual and a single shot tray (actually the SST was installed in the breech when I received the Avenger). The Avenger doesn't come with the little Pic rail in the parts bag - for this gun it comes pre-installed on the bottom of the stock.
Filling the Avenger was also easy as it also provides a male Foster fitting at the muzzle end of the air cylinder. The cap on this one screws off, but there aren't too many threads engaged so it comes off fast when you want it to. No protective ears on this fill adapter, so you can easily approach it from 3 directions (the barrel/shroud prevents accessing from the top).
The action on the Avenger was not so nice. On the first pull back (I always like to dry-fire new guns in a safe direction when received) it had to be kind of broken-free of some stiction of the pellet probe in the barrel (?), and then it was pretty light and pretty smooth. When I went to shoot the gun today for the first time for testing, the initial pull of the lever was stiff again. Then I recalled Steve Scialli's comments during his Avenger review where he tore up his probe mounted breech seal o-ring because he didn't lube it even though it says to keep it well lubed in the gun's manual. So before shooting I lubed the o-ring. We'll see if the stickiness coming out of the barrel after sitting continues.
With the Avenger you definitely feel the pellet chambering into the barrel. Its cocking lever has a Biathlon style lever, but this does not improve on the cocking lever design as much as it should. I worked the lever slowly and deliberately during my shooting - maybe if the lever is worked faster and harder one would not notice the graunchiness of closing the lever/chambering the pellet. The Cayden's lever is plain (ala Weihrauch HW100/101, Air Arms S510/S500) and just overall works nicer.
Chrono testing done first to see what pellet it would like. I first tried the JSB variant Daystate 18.13 (unsorted/un-lubed, straight from the tin), with the regulator as set from the factory. My 10 chrono shots gave me an average velocity of 917 fps with an ES=32 and an SD=10.1. One shot was obviously lower in velocity as compared to the others (891 fps), but I did not remove it from the shot string.
Due to its lighter overall weight (8# 2oz with mounted Vector Optics Sentinel 6-24x50 and a mostly full air cylinder) the Avenger felt a little less planted on the bench (front and rear bags). It was nice to shoot (the graunchy pellet chambering detracted from the overall experience). Best 5 shot group at 25 yards measured 0.20" CTC in light winds (3-9 mph coming from my 2:00). Groups shown below. Between the 2nd and 3rd groups I gave the scope 3 clicks up. On the 4th group the gun had fallen off the regulator (maybe impacted the 3rd group as well?). So I shot a 5th group after refilling with air.
Manufacturer data says that the Avenger should get up to 60 shots per fill. Once again I did not perform a full shot string, but it seemed to me that it was getting just a few good shots less than the Cayden, even though the Avenger fills to 4,350 psi (Cayden - 3,000 psi).
The Avenger's magazines are also pretty much like the 'Marauder standard' mags, and hold 10 rounds each. They were easy to load, and went into the breech easily and smoothly. They also load from the right side of the gun.
The Avenger's barrel is fully shrouded, and I felt the need for no additional moderator while shooting in my back yard.
Trigger pull weight on the Avenger was a pretty consistent 2# 2oz. The Avenger's trigger (as compared to the Cayden's) has a bit more light first stage travel, and a bit more creep before a predictable break.
The Avenger's plastic stock also allowed my preferred thumb-up hold, but was not quite as comfortable as the Cayden's.
Length comparison of the 2 rifles as tested:
Groups shot this morning:
Conclusion:
I liked both of these rifles, which are more 'reasonably priced' as compared to the other rifles I shoot. I think that both would be excellent first rifles for new PCP shooters, based on my initial experience with them. And both would be fine 'only' rifles for shooters who don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole with airguns.
The Cayden was overall smoother to operate and shoot, and definitely had the higher quality feeling (and not just the stock) of the 2. So nice that it is backed up by a 5 year warranty from a strong company. Turkish manufacturing (and I'm sure a hand in the design) of the Cayden trumps the Chinese manufacturing (and design?) of the Avenger.
Accuracy from both guns was just fine. The triggers were not match grade by any means (out of the box), but at least one is able to meaningfully adjust the trigger of the Avenger. Both triggers would be very serviceable to a new PCP shooter.
It was nice that the Avenger's barrel comes fully shrouded, and its sound is pretty backyard friendly. The Cayden with DFL Tanto was really quiet, and it is nice that its unshrouded barrel terminates in standard male 1/2" UNF threads. Seems like the Avenger could also get an aftermarket moderator, but would require an adapter to 1/2 UNF.
Of the 2 rifles tested, it would obviously be nicer to carry the Avenger in the field as it is lighter, shorter and the plastic stock may stand up to wet or muddy conditions better than the walnut stock. But one doesn't get as good a grip on the plastic Avenger stock, and this would be even worse in wet conditions.
Both rifles performed fine on the bench, with the heavier Cayden and its very smooth action being a little easier and more pleasant to shoot. I really don't shoot offhand/unsupported much - I'm not good enough for that any more. But both rifles shouldered well and both felt very balanced. Of course the Cayden felt heavier, but even with the DFL and longer length it remained feeling nicely balanced and did not feel front heavy.
Accuracy was similar, and was better than I expected with both.
Avenger, of course, has both a regulator, and provides the means to tune the regulator in an easy and intelligent way (no gun disassembly required). So it definitely wins in the tunability category.
Durability - can't speak to that yet.
The Avenger should definitely win this battle based on specs. It comes from the factory with a shrouded barrel which makes it pretty backyard friendly as received. It has a regulator which is externally adjustable. It comes with a Biathlon handle on its side cocking lever, which is a configuration I prefer. It has a trigger which is actually adjustable in ways that matter. And it is the lower priced of the 2 rifles tested.
But the Chinese manufacture of a rifle which was developed to meet a price point seems to let it down. And I don't think that my opinion would have changed at all if I had gotten the gun with the more expensive wood stock. The accuracy was fine, but the action just wasn't pleasant to use. The trigger is adjustable, but just didn't feel as nice out-of-the-box as compared to the Cayden's. If I had to guess (based on having done no research and having only shot the guns for the first time this morning) I would guess that the Cayden will be the more long-lasting of the two. And without actual data, the Cayden seems to use its available air more efficiently. And having a large number of shots-per-fill, I don't think that I would miss it not having a regulator. In fact, I'll probably figure out whether the Cayden's hammer spring is easily adjustable, and use it to take muzzle velocity with 18.13's down to about 880 fps, and that will give me even more shots-per-fill.
I shoot off the bench and the Cayden was more enjoyable in that format.
And back to those Hatsans I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Of the 'Turkish 2', I would definitely rate the Cayden above the Hydra. And after this review of these new guns, I think that my quality rating would be Cayden - Hydra - Avenger. But my usability rating would be Cayden - Avenger - Hydra. The Avenger beats out the Hydra in my book since it has the side lever instead of a cocking bolt. Just don't like bolt guns any more, but that's purely personal preference. And the Hydra's accuracy seemed pretty good to me, but I don't think it is as good as the Cayden or Avenger.
I would be comfortable in suggesting either of these rifles to friends newly getting into PCP air guns, and not wanting to break the bank. The fact is, I'll probably end up selling these off to friends. These are fine to shoot, but I have grown to more fully appreciate shooting Crowns, Red Wolfs, RAWs or Wolverines. But I've already made the financial commitment to those guns, and I fully appreciate those who can't or wish not to (at least at the beginning...).
If you've made it this far, thanks for putting up with my ramblings. Obviously I'm not a gun reviewer. And I have not attempted to be exhaustive in my reviews - all thoughts above are based on one shooting session (so far) with each gun - Zero, Chrony, Accuracy. But if my insight was able to assist anyone looking at these guns, then I am happy about that.
I have owned a couple of Hatsans in the past. The Vectis was fun with its lever action, but was too loud for my (and most, I think) back yards, and adding a moderator seemed a hassle on that gun. The Hydra was a pretty good gun, but I'm pretty much over a bolt action gun any more. Nice thing about the Hatsans is that you can adjust their triggers pretty easily, and get a really nice outcome.
So now I am comparing the AV Avenger and the Benjamin Cayden to both of those previously owned Hatsans, and seeing how they stack up. The Avenger cost me $349.99 to my door (thank you Baker Airguns), and the Cayden cost me $462.55 to my door (thank you Crosman - Sure did love that old AGNATION discount code). If I had chosen the more apples-to-apples wood stocked Avenger, the price difference between the 2 guns would have been about $32.50.
First the Cayden
When you pull this gun out of its box, the first thing that hits you is 'heavy'. And long. The grain in the wood stock is really nice - on one side. The other side is really plain. Hey, wood is a natural material which is not uniform. And this is a relatively inexpensive gun, so you get the cut of wood you get. My stock had a couple of little knots, but none which are going to affect anything, and certainly none like Giles had in his recently-reviewed Cayden.
In the parts bags with the gun were 2 magazines, a small Pic rail section w/hex bolt which you can mount under the stock for bipod use, some hex keys, o-rings, burst disks, a female Foster QD connector and the instruction manual. The gun comes with an unshrouded barrel with an air stripper at the muzzle. I was shooting at home, so I did not shoot it in this configuration. Remove the air stripper and you have a 1/2" UNF thread available, so I installed a DFL Tanto.
Filling the Cayden with air was easy as it just has a male Foster QD connector under a twist-and-pull-off cover at the muzzle end of the air cylinder. I have read where some folks complain about the protective (?) ears around the air fill connector, but I just approached the gun from below and it was easy to install and remove the fill adapter on the compressor line.
The Cayden feels like a quality gun. It is solid, and the stippling is nice. The grip allows a nice thumb-up hold, which I have found I prefer. Hand this rifle to someone who doesn't know airguns, and they won't know whether you handed them an air rifle or a 30-30 firearm. The action was consistently smooth from the first activation. It was a pleasure to use. You really don't feel the chambering of the pellet at all. Trigger was just fine out of the box. According to the manual it has an adjustable shoe only. As received my trigger broke at 2# 6oz. Very short '1st stage' take-up, some creep and a predictable break. Fully serviceable for a new shooter in multiple applications.
Chrono testing done first to see what pellet it would like. On high power I first tried the JSB variant Daystate 18.13 (unsorted/un-lubed, straight from the tin). I must have hit a sweet spot in the shot curve as my 12 chrono shots gave me an average velocity of 919 fps with an ES=7 and an SD=2.1.
The rifle felt solid and planted on the bench (front and rear bags), as it should have felt at this weight (10# 14oz with mounted Athlon Argos BTR Gen2 6-24x50, DFL Tanto and a mostly full air cylinder). It was very enjoyable to shoot. Best 5 shot group at 25 yards measured 0.26" CTC in light winds (3-9 mph coming from my 2:00). Groups shown below.
The power adjusting wheel on the Cayden is very difficult to turn, either by design (to prevent it from accidentally turning) or maybe because the gun is brand new.
Crosman says that the Cayden in .22 cal will give you up to 60 shots per fill. That's likely close to true. I didn't perform a full chrono shot string, but I would say that I get at least 4 good magazines before thinking about re-filling. Speaking of magazines, the Cayden's 12 shot (in .22) magazine is much like the well known Marauder magazine (but not interchangeable) so therefore it is good. Maybe because it holds 2 additional rounds it is just a little more difficult to load up. And going into the breech round side first (from the right side - so no issues if you use a big parallax ring on your scope) is a little unusual, and a little fiddly at first. But after inserting a new magazine 4-5 times, it seems to smooth out a bit.
Next the AV Avenger.
I purposely chose to purchase the Avenger with the plastic stock for the price difference, and maybe to have a little handier field gun. When you take the plastic stocked Avenger out of its box, it immediately says 'air gun' or 'toy gun' in your hands - you won't mistake this for a firearm. But it does feel light and handy, directly opposed to the 'heavy and long' feeling of the Cayden (it is about 2.25" shorter than the Cayden + DFL Tanto). The stock is plastic, and doesn't feel or sound like a quality 'ballistic polymer' (think Glock) stock material. Tap on it and it sounds hollow, like a coconut. But then again, it doesn't feel flimsy or fragile. It has molded-in stippling and grooving, but these are nowhere near as effective in assisting your hold as they are on the Cayden.
The parts bag which comes with the gun includes 2 each 10-shot (.22 cal) magazines, a couple of little o-rings, a hex key, the instruction manual and a single shot tray (actually the SST was installed in the breech when I received the Avenger). The Avenger doesn't come with the little Pic rail in the parts bag - for this gun it comes pre-installed on the bottom of the stock.
Filling the Avenger was also easy as it also provides a male Foster fitting at the muzzle end of the air cylinder. The cap on this one screws off, but there aren't too many threads engaged so it comes off fast when you want it to. No protective ears on this fill adapter, so you can easily approach it from 3 directions (the barrel/shroud prevents accessing from the top).
The action on the Avenger was not so nice. On the first pull back (I always like to dry-fire new guns in a safe direction when received) it had to be kind of broken-free of some stiction of the pellet probe in the barrel (?), and then it was pretty light and pretty smooth. When I went to shoot the gun today for the first time for testing, the initial pull of the lever was stiff again. Then I recalled Steve Scialli's comments during his Avenger review where he tore up his probe mounted breech seal o-ring because he didn't lube it even though it says to keep it well lubed in the gun's manual. So before shooting I lubed the o-ring. We'll see if the stickiness coming out of the barrel after sitting continues.
With the Avenger you definitely feel the pellet chambering into the barrel. Its cocking lever has a Biathlon style lever, but this does not improve on the cocking lever design as much as it should. I worked the lever slowly and deliberately during my shooting - maybe if the lever is worked faster and harder one would not notice the graunchiness of closing the lever/chambering the pellet. The Cayden's lever is plain (ala Weihrauch HW100/101, Air Arms S510/S500) and just overall works nicer.
Chrono testing done first to see what pellet it would like. I first tried the JSB variant Daystate 18.13 (unsorted/un-lubed, straight from the tin), with the regulator as set from the factory. My 10 chrono shots gave me an average velocity of 917 fps with an ES=32 and an SD=10.1. One shot was obviously lower in velocity as compared to the others (891 fps), but I did not remove it from the shot string.
Due to its lighter overall weight (8# 2oz with mounted Vector Optics Sentinel 6-24x50 and a mostly full air cylinder) the Avenger felt a little less planted on the bench (front and rear bags). It was nice to shoot (the graunchy pellet chambering detracted from the overall experience). Best 5 shot group at 25 yards measured 0.20" CTC in light winds (3-9 mph coming from my 2:00). Groups shown below. Between the 2nd and 3rd groups I gave the scope 3 clicks up. On the 4th group the gun had fallen off the regulator (maybe impacted the 3rd group as well?). So I shot a 5th group after refilling with air.
Manufacturer data says that the Avenger should get up to 60 shots per fill. Once again I did not perform a full shot string, but it seemed to me that it was getting just a few good shots less than the Cayden, even though the Avenger fills to 4,350 psi (Cayden - 3,000 psi).
The Avenger's magazines are also pretty much like the 'Marauder standard' mags, and hold 10 rounds each. They were easy to load, and went into the breech easily and smoothly. They also load from the right side of the gun.
The Avenger's barrel is fully shrouded, and I felt the need for no additional moderator while shooting in my back yard.
Trigger pull weight on the Avenger was a pretty consistent 2# 2oz. The Avenger's trigger (as compared to the Cayden's) has a bit more light first stage travel, and a bit more creep before a predictable break.
The Avenger's plastic stock also allowed my preferred thumb-up hold, but was not quite as comfortable as the Cayden's.
Length comparison of the 2 rifles as tested:
Groups shot this morning:
Conclusion:
I liked both of these rifles, which are more 'reasonably priced' as compared to the other rifles I shoot. I think that both would be excellent first rifles for new PCP shooters, based on my initial experience with them. And both would be fine 'only' rifles for shooters who don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole with airguns.
The Cayden was overall smoother to operate and shoot, and definitely had the higher quality feeling (and not just the stock) of the 2. So nice that it is backed up by a 5 year warranty from a strong company. Turkish manufacturing (and I'm sure a hand in the design) of the Cayden trumps the Chinese manufacturing (and design?) of the Avenger.
Accuracy from both guns was just fine. The triggers were not match grade by any means (out of the box), but at least one is able to meaningfully adjust the trigger of the Avenger. Both triggers would be very serviceable to a new PCP shooter.
It was nice that the Avenger's barrel comes fully shrouded, and its sound is pretty backyard friendly. The Cayden with DFL Tanto was really quiet, and it is nice that its unshrouded barrel terminates in standard male 1/2" UNF threads. Seems like the Avenger could also get an aftermarket moderator, but would require an adapter to 1/2 UNF.
Of the 2 rifles tested, it would obviously be nicer to carry the Avenger in the field as it is lighter, shorter and the plastic stock may stand up to wet or muddy conditions better than the walnut stock. But one doesn't get as good a grip on the plastic Avenger stock, and this would be even worse in wet conditions.
Both rifles performed fine on the bench, with the heavier Cayden and its very smooth action being a little easier and more pleasant to shoot. I really don't shoot offhand/unsupported much - I'm not good enough for that any more. But both rifles shouldered well and both felt very balanced. Of course the Cayden felt heavier, but even with the DFL and longer length it remained feeling nicely balanced and did not feel front heavy.
Accuracy was similar, and was better than I expected with both.
Avenger, of course, has both a regulator, and provides the means to tune the regulator in an easy and intelligent way (no gun disassembly required). So it definitely wins in the tunability category.
Durability - can't speak to that yet.
The Avenger should definitely win this battle based on specs. It comes from the factory with a shrouded barrel which makes it pretty backyard friendly as received. It has a regulator which is externally adjustable. It comes with a Biathlon handle on its side cocking lever, which is a configuration I prefer. It has a trigger which is actually adjustable in ways that matter. And it is the lower priced of the 2 rifles tested.
But the Chinese manufacture of a rifle which was developed to meet a price point seems to let it down. And I don't think that my opinion would have changed at all if I had gotten the gun with the more expensive wood stock. The accuracy was fine, but the action just wasn't pleasant to use. The trigger is adjustable, but just didn't feel as nice out-of-the-box as compared to the Cayden's. If I had to guess (based on having done no research and having only shot the guns for the first time this morning) I would guess that the Cayden will be the more long-lasting of the two. And without actual data, the Cayden seems to use its available air more efficiently. And having a large number of shots-per-fill, I don't think that I would miss it not having a regulator. In fact, I'll probably figure out whether the Cayden's hammer spring is easily adjustable, and use it to take muzzle velocity with 18.13's down to about 880 fps, and that will give me even more shots-per-fill.
I shoot off the bench and the Cayden was more enjoyable in that format.
And back to those Hatsans I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Of the 'Turkish 2', I would definitely rate the Cayden above the Hydra. And after this review of these new guns, I think that my quality rating would be Cayden - Hydra - Avenger. But my usability rating would be Cayden - Avenger - Hydra. The Avenger beats out the Hydra in my book since it has the side lever instead of a cocking bolt. Just don't like bolt guns any more, but that's purely personal preference. And the Hydra's accuracy seemed pretty good to me, but I don't think it is as good as the Cayden or Avenger.
I would be comfortable in suggesting either of these rifles to friends newly getting into PCP air guns, and not wanting to break the bank. The fact is, I'll probably end up selling these off to friends. These are fine to shoot, but I have grown to more fully appreciate shooting Crowns, Red Wolfs, RAWs or Wolverines. But I've already made the financial commitment to those guns, and I fully appreciate those who can't or wish not to (at least at the beginning...).
If you've made it this far, thanks for putting up with my ramblings. Obviously I'm not a gun reviewer. And I have not attempted to be exhaustive in my reviews - all thoughts above are based on one shooting session (so far) with each gun - Zero, Chrony, Accuracy. But if my insight was able to assist anyone looking at these guns, then I am happy about that.
