Well color me impressed, Cricket is a shooter....

I had a bad experience with a .25 Cricket rifle a couple of years ago that I couldn't get to shoot well and the retailer was not able to fix it so they refunded me. I was a little put out because I otherwise liked so much about the rifle. When a deal came up on the classifieds last week for a .22 I decided I wanted to try another one and jumped on it.

I love it. It's super quiet, super accurate, has a great trigger and feels ergonomic. I love that it has a built in regulator so that you can't fill it too fast or too much. The engineering of the fill system seems very well done and gives you a certain confidence that I like. The trigger is awesome. A nice two stage very light and predictable breaking second stage that seems to be around a pound if I had to guess, maybe less. It has a great shot count, I can get 4, 14 shot magazines in a row with no change in POI and then I fill again. The moderator does it's job well. I had it off to clean the barrel and took a shot with it naked and the gun is LOUD. Kudos to whomever designed the moderator.

The safety is kind of a joke, the probe or bolt that you slide back and forth will slide out of either side fairly easily and you have to be conscientious not to push it too far one way or the other or it won't "click" into it's slot for safe or fire. Also, as everyone knows, the magazine is a bit fiddly, but once you get used to it, it's not that bad. Neither of these nit picks are deal breakers for me as they're pretty minor things to deal with, especially in light of how much the gun has going for it. It's very very accurate, and I haven't had as much time to play with it as I would like, but so far I think I can say that the FX Royale .25 I had still edges it out slightly. I could put multiple groups in a row under a dime at 50 yards with that gun and I haven't quite got there yet with this cricket. I'm going to keep trying though.

Some pics of the gun and some groups at 50 yards just shot a few hours ago. 















 
Thanks 30cal! The BSA I have takes that magazine idea to the next level and it actually has a solid scope rail over the mag with no breaks so you have unlimited possibilities with scope placement. It's not a picatinny rail though. However after using the BKL rings I've got a new appreciation for the dovetail rail. Thanks for the kind words!

Regards,
Cliff
 
"NMshooter"Not sure if this is true but I had heard the .25 had a different barrel. I love my .22 Cricket Carbine. I have an Aeon 6-24 x 50 scope. It's a good combination. Nice shooting! I think this rifle is definitely overlooked and is very cool looking.
Enjoy,
Doc
The .25 has a lothar Walther barrel while the .22 have a CZ barrel. 
 
"FearnLoading"
"NMshooter"Not sure if this is true but I had heard the .25 had a different barrel. I love my .22 Cricket Carbine. I have an Aeon 6-24 x 50 scope. It's a good combination. Nice shooting! I think this rifle is definitely overlooked and is very cool looking.
Enjoy,
Doc
The .25 has a lothar Walther barrel while the .22 have a CZ barrel. 
Ahhh.... good info, I'd have had no idea. Even so, the accuracy was so bad on the .25 that I had that there had to be something wrong with it. If LW regularly produced barrels with that bad of accuracy they'd be out of business in no time. Thanks for the info though!

Regards,
Cliff
 
Another great post Cliff. Good to see you not give up on the Cricket. I have a .25 Cricket that is more accurate than my .22 FX 400?
My FX isn't regulated. That could be my problem? My buddy Paul just got a regulated .22 FX 400 and I can shoot tighter groups with his than I can mine? Might have to call AOA and send that bad boy to them for a reg install?
It's strange how rifle accuracy can vary from rifle to rifle of the same make?
 
"CampFussell"Another great post Cliff. Good to see you not give up on the Cricket. I have a .25 Cricket that is more accurate than my .22 FX 400?
My FX isn't regulated. That could be my problem? My buddy Paul just got a regulated .22 FX 400 and I can shoot tighter groups with his than I can mine? Might have to call AOA and send that bad boy to them for a reg install?
It's strange how rifle accuracy can vary from rifle to rifle of the same make?
I hear ya Jim, it's almost like playing the lottery buying a new gun to see if it's going to be a shooter or not. I've sort of switched sides and almost prefer buying a used gun that can be spoken for from a reputable member. My Royale 500 was regulated. I'm a believer in the regulators. The most accurate guns I've shot all had them. All the best and hope all is well at Camp Fussell!