Stoeger XM1 Bullshark .177

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Dairyboy

Dairyboy

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Jul 23, 2016
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Washington, United States
So I ordered one of these from Rich at Airgun Revisions and should be here this week. Topping it off with a Discovery 2-12x24 HD scope. Plan is to tune it lower around 10-12fpe for a sub 50yd critter gitter. Weight seems pretty good at around 6.5lbs, length is nice and compact with a working shroud around 27", power seems to have way more than I'd ever want if I went for a higher power tune down the line, and forward cocking will be nice for quick follow up shots.

Anything to look out for for these airguns? The reviews I have watched so far seem to be pretty positive and they seem to do well out of the box. I'm not expecting amazing accuracy if I can hold sub 1" groups out to 45yds I'd be happy.
 
The barrel will probably be pretty dirty. Expect to pull 10-12 patches for it to clean up. In my 3 P35s the hammer spring was not well balanced against the regulator setting. So I would expect to have to go up on the hammer spring to find the peak and reduce from there. I also find that if I reduce velocity 5% or more with the hammer spring my first shot is low in velocity (after the gun has been sitting). If you don't want that (like for pesting) you can go back up slightly and it has normally gone away. You may end up wanting to reduce the regulator but that is not a big deal. There is a screw on the back of the air tube to release the air. Then it will come with a tool that looks like a short tube. That is the wrench to remove the air gauge. Normally you won't just get the gauge, you will remove the big nut on the end of the air tube. That will allow you to see the lock nut (I think it's 12mm) and the slotted head of the adjustment screw.

You may know better than me what you want but my original Prod tune of 12-13 fpe did not consistently put down squirrels like I wanted. I'm sure it will with very good head shots but I like to be a little higher in power. Closer to 20 fpe. But if you want to shoot 8 grain pellets or something, then you might want to go that low. My P35-177 likes H&N Baracuda Match and H&N Baracuda FTs. I've shot better 30 yard challenge targets with the FTs but I may switch it back to the Matches now that it is squirrel season here. Chairgun says they will drift slightly less in the wind. It also says 177s drift about twice as much as 22s - at least the way mine are tuned with the pellets they like. I can only shoot a 195+ score in very low wind. But I get about 100 shots per fill.

Others have posted they got very good accuracy from knockouts. Both weights. Mine hates them but yours may love them.
 
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JimD said:
The barrel will probably be pretty dirty. Expect to pull 10-12 patches for it to clean up. In my 3 P35s the hammer spring was not well balanced against the regulator setting. So I would expect to have to go up on the hammer spring to find the peak and reduce from there. I also find that if I reduce velocity 5% or more with the hammer spring my first shot is low in velocity (after the gun has been sitting). If you don't want that (like for pesting) you can go back up slightly and it has normally gone away. You may end up wanting to reduce the regulator but that is not a big deal. There is a screw on the back of the air tube to release the air. Then it will come with a tool that looks like a short tube. That is the wrench to remove the air gauge. Normally you won't just get the gauge, you will remove the big nut on the end of the air tube. That will allow you to see the lock nut (I think it's 12mm) and the slotted head of the adjustment screw.

You may know better than me what you want but my original Prod tune of 12-13 fpe did not consistently put down squirrels like I wanted. I'm sure it will with very good head shots but I like to be a little higher in power. Closer to 20 fpe. But if you want to shoot 8 grain pellets or something, then you might want to go that low. My P35-177 likes H&N Baracuda Match and H&N Baracuda FTs. I've shot better 30 yard challenge targets with the FTs but I may switch it back to the Matches now that it is squirrel season here. Chairgun says they will drift slightly less in the wind. It also says 177s drift about twice as much as 22s - at least the way mine are tuned with the pellets they like. I can only shoot a 195+ score in very low wind. But I get about 100 shots per fill.

Others have posted they got very good accuracy from knockouts. Both weights. Mine hates them but yours may love them.
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Good info! Yeah I'm looking for to shoot the 8gr around 750-800fps give or take. It will mainly be used for sparrows and starlings and pigeons within 25yds. I've had good results with a HW30S which shoots only ~630fps with 8gr so this should work fine. I will likely drop the reg pressure. Glad to hear it sounds pretty easy to work on.
 
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I like them because they are short and light and don't have the same sort of, in my mind, inappropriate materials like my Avenger. Solidly built and accurate. But you would only have to cock it to know it is not a "high end" gun. I don't mind the cocking motion at all but it doesn't feel anything like my Caiman. But on a lightly tuned 177 the cocking is going to be light, just kind of long. How far down to turn the regulator to get to 850 on an 8 grain is a guess but I would try half a turn. The quickest and easiest way to get to the regulator is through what I call the front end, the muzzle end, of the airtube. But for that to work the O-rings on the regulator have to grab the airtube enough for you to loosen the lock nut on the regulator. If the gun has been shot some it works. But if the regulator spins rather than the lock nut loosening you have to go in through the back end of the gun. In a way that is easier because you are not using a long extension on a ratchet on the lock nut and a really long screwdriver on the adjustment screw but going in through the back means the airtube has to be out of the gun. The only somewhat tricky part of that is getting the clamping yokes that clamp the barrel to the airtube positioned correct so the gun will cock. It's a good idea to measure the location of the yokes before you loosen the nuts and unscrew the airtube. On my home made wooden stocks I have inletting for the yokes I can use for alignment going back together but I do not remember if the Bullshark stock has something like that or not.
 
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Sounds good. I appreciate all the info you have presented. I will likely mark the airtube with pencil to line up if I go that route. It's pretty similar to a Taipan in that regard. I'm not expecting it to be the best thing out there. I've got a Notos also and while it's a great gun one can tell it's not high end. But that's OK. Using for pesting on the dairy and in my truck I don't always want a nice high end gun
 
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So I received it today.

The good: it actually feels really nice in the hand, the cocking is surprisingly nice for a gun in this price range, the reg is working extremely well, mags are nice and metal which surprised me and trigger is actually pretty nice. Working shroud from the factory which is nice, and shot cycle is very much "dead". Sweet shooting little gun.

The bad: barrel was extremely dirty, one of the dirtiest I've seen. Accuracy is not good. Actually it's very bad so far with JSB 8.4gr and CPHP 7.9gr at 25yds I'm getting 2"+ groups. Scope is new so I will be throwing on a known good scope just to check but think it's the barrel. Or it's just that picky and need to try different pellets. I'm shooting at 800fps so not like it's throwing them crazy fast.
20241010_214948.jpg

These were the JSBs. The weird part is it seemed like every other shot would be a flyer then others go in the clover leaf.
 
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I've never shot any pellets lighter than H&N Baracuda FTs, almost 10 grains, from my P35 so I have no experience with anything that light. I have tried changing velocity to see if I could get a gun to like a particular pellet before but I was totally unsuccessful. But still it seems worth trying a little bit of an increase in velocity. All three of my P35s shoot much better than that so I am pretty sure yours will do better but possibly not with light pellets. My P35-177 will shoot JSB 10.3s pretty well but does significantly better with H&N Baracuda Match and H&N Baracuda FTs. If you have not tried a H&N 8 grain pellet it may be worth a try too.

If you take the action out of the stock you will see a little spring a bit ahead of the trigger on the rod which transfers the trigger motion back to the sear. That spring controls first stage pressure and adds to second stage. Relaxing it will reduce both the first and second stage of the trigger. The sear engagement screw is there with a lock nut back on the bottom of the action block. Turning it in will reduce the second stage but, as you probably know, if you go too far the gun can fail to cock or go off on it's own.

Checking the screws is a good point too. My P35-22 was shooting poorly one time because the screws holding the action in the stock were loose. I was surprised it made a difference.

If you are trying to limit over penetration with the light pellets you may also want to try some 10 grain knockout slugs. They will expand limiting penetration a different way. Others have reported really good accuracy with them (my P35 absolutely hates them, however).
 
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Anyone ever have a problem with the mags causing accuracy issues? I wanted to check them and it looks like they are getting skirts bent every time. I pushed some through the mag and noticed all my skirts got bent on both mags. I'm going to test some single loaded groups to see. I checked baffles lastnight, screws are all good. Crown looks good and no burrs on it. I guess I'd have to see if anything on the barrel port but how smooth everything feels I doubt it. I thought I found a tin of 10.4gr FX pellets but turns out the had 12.5gr NSAs in it??? So that was a bust. Haven't shot anything over 8gr in years as I haven't had a .177 PCP in years. I will probably order some 10gr pellets and maybe some of the new MK3 Knockouts. But want to test single loading first to see if that changes anything.
 
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Shot some groups out of my truck on a bag so not perfect but I can do pretty good from this. Top 2 are 5 shots single loaded. Much better not amazing but likely just not it's preferred pellet. I can live with that. Bottom 2 from the mag first 5 shots were in the left. Terrible accuracy. Last 6 shots from the mag on the right. So I think the mags are too tight. But I can live with this the crazy flyers I was seeing yesterday I couldnt.

20241011_074503.jpg
 
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Dairyboy said:
Shot some groups out of my truck on a bag so not perfect but I can do pretty good from this. Top 2 are 5 shots single loaded. Much better not amazing but likely just not it's preferred pellet. I can live with that. Bottom 2 from the mag first 5 shots were in the left. Terrible accuracy. Last 6 shots from the mag on the right. So I think the mags are too tight. But I can live with this the crazy flyers I was seeing yesterday I couldnt.

View attachment 503374
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I am interested in it for slugs
 
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I only use the factory magazines in my 25 caliber because I cannot find any after market. I have shot from them without an apparent accuracy issue but I don't like them and have been worried enough about an accuracy effect to check. I much prefer Carm magazines. Unfortunately shipping takes awhile but they are much, much better magazines. No backwards loading required and spring is much lighter. I used one to shoot my one 200 with my P35-22 and a 197 with my P35-177. Carm only makes an extra capacity magazine in 25 (and single round loaders) and it hits me right in the face. But if you shoot from your right shoulder you could also get their slightly bigger magazines.

Glad you've located most of your accuracy issue.
 
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JimD said:
I only use the factory magazines in my 25 caliber because I cannot find any after market. I have shot from them without an apparent accuracy issue but I don't like them and have been worried enough about an accuracy effect to check. I much prefer Carm magazines. Unfortunately shipping takes awhile but they are much, much better magazines. No backwards loading required and spring is much lighter. I used one to shoot my one 200 with my P35-22 and a 197 with my P35-177. Carm only makes an extra capacity magazine in 25 (and single round loaders) and it hits me right in the face. But if you shoot from your right shoulder you could also get their slightly bigger magazines.

Glad you've located most of your accuracy issue.
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I have spoken with @Tango Sierra about making some xm1 magazines in all 3 calibers. Not sure where he is with that as that was a few weeks ago, but give it time!
 
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