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New Airsoft Lever Rifle

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Mr. Neutron
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Re: New Airsoft Lever Rifle

Post by Mr. Neutron » Sat Jan 14, 2023 2:58 pm

Well, I do have some questions that hopefully you might be able to answer, NCG!

What is a "PCP" powered rifle? Is that a pump style gun, or a spring?

Is most of your shooting with pellets or BBs?

Added in EDIT: Yes, it has been kind of a challenge to get to even shoot this gun, and then to not have it work as I'd imagine it should is sorta disappointing. Certainly not the most important thing in my life, but I'm hoping to use these types of rifles to introduce relatively new shooters, that haven't been raised around firearms (my 5 nieces), to having a bit of fun with an innocuous looking rifle. I'll get it worked out, one way or the other......
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Jimmie

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North Country Gal
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Re: New Airsoft Lever Rifle

Post by North Country Gal » Sat Jan 14, 2023 5:16 pm

PCP means pre-charged pneumatic, so it shares being a pneumatic with pump ups, CO2 or alternative gas gun like your air soft. Piston guns such as springers are a completely different kind of air gun all their own.

PCPs are now state of the art in the airgun world. Basically a PCP air gun employs a high pressure reservoir that you fill with air either by a special hand pump or, more often these days, a PCP compressor. The difference with a PCP compared to a pump up is that the reservoir is filled before you start your shooting session. There is no attached pump mechanism on the gun.

A PCP is similar to a CO2 gun in that respect, meaning no attached pump mechanism on the gun. A PCP, though, runs at much, much higher pressures (2000-3600 psi) than you can ever achieve with a CO2 gun. That gives you the potential for far greater power and/or more shots per fill with the PCP. Just as important, pressures in a PCP are not affected by air temperature changes as with a CO2 gun. In fact, PCPs often have some very sophisticated mechanisms to regulate air pressures as you shoot even to some match guns employing onboard computers. PCPs are easily the most accurate guns in the air gun world and some, like the ones used in International and Olympic shooting, are also the most sophisticated guns of any kind in the world. For these reasons and more, all competition match air gun shooting is done with PCPs.

Here's a couple of now vintage PCP match guns of mine.

Steyr LP 10. In its day, this model won more Olympic Gold Medals than any other air pistol.
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Daystate CR-97. Have shot many third of an inch groups and even some quarter inch groups at 50 yards.
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Mr. Neutron
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Re: New Airsoft Lever Rifle

Post by Mr. Neutron » Sat Jan 14, 2023 10:22 pm

Thanks for the Schooolin' and education on that, North Country Gal. Your advice, help, & thoughts here are invaluable!!! I doubt that I pursue pellet rifles to the level you have, but knowledge of such things is really nice & appreciated.

Changng gears here, I have to think a bit about my recent monetary spendings towards a lever pellet rifle. As I've said, I primarily want a decent one to introduce my family and friends to shooting, something quiet my wife can plink with, and selfishly, something I can simply practice some offhand shooting with here at home. I'm hoping that this Umarex Legends rifle I've ordered will allow that. But for the money I've recently spent on essentially 2 different rifles and needed accessories to support shooting each of them, I could've probably simply just bought something like, say, the Walther lever rifle for around $460 plus a bit more for the CO2, pellets, and such. Likely would've gotten a much better gun probably.

If DaytimeDave is watching this, or anyone else with experience with the Umarex Legends Cowboy lever rifle, I'd sure appreciate some insights and thoughts about that rifle, and any issues it might or might not have.
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Jimmie

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Re: New Airsoft Lever Rifle

Post by North Country Gal » Sun Jan 15, 2023 11:13 am

I have no experience with that kind of air rifle, but hopefully someone else like Dave can offer some advice.

If and when, down the road and so on ... if you're looking for a very easy to use and shoot and also a very accurate air gun that will last a lifetime, nothing else needed but some pellets, my suggestion is the little Weihrauch HW30 break barrel springer. Yes, it is a springer, but the recoil is so mild as to be a non-issue. I've helped many new shooters, including some of the grandkids, get started on airgun shooting with the HW30. Absolute joy to use.
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daytime dave
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Re: New Airsoft Lever Rifle

Post by daytime dave » Sun Jan 15, 2023 12:06 pm

Jimmie,
I think the Umarex Legends lever action rifle is a really fine rifle in the $200.oo range. It will be a very good rifle to teach young people about firearms as the simulated "cartridges" are like handling real ammunition. All you need to do is save the brass "cartridges" after each use. Otherwise the gun is pretty useless. Using CO2 will allow for indoor and outdoor (warmer days from Spring to Fall) fun. The CO2 works on some pretty adult type of pellet guns as well.
I have had no issues with my lever action rifle. The CO2 loads easily and the cartridges do also. I have taught a friend about lever action rifles in a fairly tight urban setting with this rifle. It's not going to alarm neighbors nor over penetrate a backyard backstop. I showed him the principles of a lever action on the realistic platform of the Umarex. He learned how to load and unload it safely.
I think you will be much better served with your Legends gun than the green gas. I had a similar, one gun only introduction to a green gas gun. It sent me to the CO2 versions very quickly.
One of the added benefits of the Legends gun is the "cartridges" interchange with my CO2 Colt SAA and CO2 Smith and Wesson .44 magnum guns too. The cartridges are about .38 special equivalents. No matter the gun, they all work in each one so far. That gives you many more. I also have shot pellets out of the BB "cartridges". They worked well through the smoothbore barrels.
All in all, it's a fun rifle to shoot and a great teaching gun for youngsters. I hope to hear how you like yours.

Here are couple of pictures of the lever action and the SAA.

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Mr. Neutron
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Re: New Airsoft Lever Rifle

Post by Mr. Neutron » Sun Jan 15, 2023 8:21 pm

Well, a HUGE Thnk You to member Mags for this! He did some rootin' around on the interweb, sent me a PM, and I found out that the "Hop Up" on my gun was out of adjustment. I had no idea what "Hop Up" even was. Last week I did a google search on that term related to airsoft rifles, and found it it puts a slight bit of backspin on the pellet to help stabilize them a bit. But I kinda forgot about that while waiting for stuff to arrive, figuring IF it needed adjustment, I'd play with it after receiving all the junk I needed and after shooting the rifle some. I had not adjusted the Hop Up when I posted yesterday. I was trying to simply get it to shoot without an airsoft pellet trickling outta the end of the barrel.

From Mags' more concise explain than I could give:
Does your M1892 have a hop up adjustment? (Yes, it does)

The adjustment controls the depth of a nub that is inserted into the barrel. (where the "chamber" would be on a "real" firearm)
The nub does two things, acts as a hold back for the pellet and puts back spin on the pellet when it's fired.
If the nub is fully retracted, the pellet will roll out of the barrel. (This turned out to be 100% correct)
As I explained to Mags, I never received any sort of manual with the rifle. I also didn't receive the screwdriver or metric allen wrench (for Hop Up adjustment) that they evidently stopped including. I ordered it from this company (Evike), and in one of their own 3-4 minute long videos stated that the rifle came with the tools.

https://youtu.be/ajGeRACkvyU

I called them to ask about a manual and the tools last week or so, and honestly, felt I was just more or less given a "brush off" that day. I hope this isn't typical of their customer service. I was told that any manual was merely an instruction sheet, that really didn't give a lot of info. So I knew nothing of how to correctly adjust this "Hop Up" feature, let alone knew that it helped keep the pellet in the chamber until firing. Couldn't find instructions to download from their website, but maybe I just missed them somehow........

Anyway, again thanks to Mags, that Hop up got adjusted and now holds it ammo back until fired, as it should. I fired a few magazines of pellets through it this afternoon, the pellets stayed put until shot, and learned some stuff about the rifle.

Pros: It seems reasonably accurate out to 30' or so. I was actually hitting some empty spray paint cans from a bit longer distance, off hand (a miracle for me..... :roll: ). The adjustable ladder-style sight is nice; I can live with the sight picture on this rifle. It comes with the needed speed loader, a few pellets, and a cleaning rod. I like the real wood stocks & metal construction. Very little plastic is used for this rifle.

Cons: It takes a really deliberate, strong stroke of the lever to load the next pellet. Guess I'm spoiled by both of my Henry's smooth actions. The last pellet doesn't always want to load, for whatever reason. Again, I'm spoiled by something that works as it should work. The other cons are things I've already mentioned here or in earlier posts. No manual. The need for an extension to load the Green Gas into the tube reservoir, messy loading even with my O-ring effort for a fix, Hop Up nowhere near adjusted correctly, and kinda poor support from the folks I bought it from. I really hope that isn't their normal service, and that maybe I just caught someone on a bad day/at a bad time. I believe I mentioned to Mags in our PMs that they (Evike) were about as helpful as having Hemorrhoids. That's probably a bit harsh; I'm probably spoiled by the customer service from within the firearms industry from companies like Dillon, Lee, Henry, Ruger, and others.

I don't think that I could recommend this rifle to anyone considering it for a purchase, especially first time buyers like myself. Maybe partly my own fault for a lack of knowledge and research, but I kinda regret the purchase of this rifle.
DaytimeDave said:
I think you will be much better served with your Legends gun than the green gas. I had a similar, one gun only introduction to a green gas gun. It sent me to the CO2 versions very quickly.
I did a lot more research on the Umarex Lever Gun, and have one from Amazon that's supposed to be here to my house tomorrow. I love the fact that I'll be able to buy ammo and CO2 cartridges locally from a hardware store, and another local chain store (BiMart) as well. I believe I'm gonna like the cartridge loading/ejecting aspect of the Umarex, as well as the propellant type, but I really should wait until after shooting it for awhile before making a judgement. I'll report on that one in a few days or so.
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Jimmie

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Re: New Airsoft Lever Rifle (Final Update!)

Post by Mr. Neutron » Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:33 pm

Well, Well, Well...... :D

Again, many thanks to Mags! I got the AK/Matrix shooting decently this morning. It's no "Powerhouse" from 10 yards, as it struggled to knock over empty spray paint can targets. But it actually is fairly accurate. Needs some trigger work, but is still fun to shoot. It still has "issues" sometimes lifting the last pellet from the magazine :? , but I *think* I may have that figured out. I'm scheming on a DIY airsoft pellet trap, and this gun will likely become my indoor/basement rifle.

The Umarex Legend lever gun got here today! 8-) That thing is FUN!!!! I cannot thank Daytime Dave enough for recommending that rifle!

I've read that co2 guns lose some velocity when it's cool-ish outside. But we had an unusual dry day here today (we get somewhere upwards of 70" of rain here in Sandy :roll: ), so even with mid-40s temps, we went outside and shot the new rifle. Here's my wife havin' some fun with the first shots outta the rifle.


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My wife has a little antique/furniture refurbishing & reselling side biz. I was building solid body electric guitars, but have slowed down some on that. Because of these 2 hobbies, we have a ton of empty spray cans. If we just take them in to a landfill as they are, with wet unused paint inside the cans, here in Oregon/Clackamas County we pay a good bit for "Hazardous Waste" disposal I'm told. However, IF we can poke a hole in these cans (or take the lids of of gallon buckets of paint) and allow the paint to dry, our local transfer station accepts them for free as scrap metal. So, these empty cans become Candidos that need dealin' with!

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Four shots from "Jannie Oakley", and 4 dead Candidos!!!

IMG_0490.JPG

Some of the Krylon Candidos died a rather spectacular death; spinning and spewing. The Rustoleum cans died kinda "mediocre" deaths (little puff of spray paint/propellant, and fall over), and that bothers me. We've both had more troubles with that Painter"s Touch 2X Ultra Cover spray paint. It has given us more headaches when painting a guitar or furniture, and the goofy nozzle clogs during "the Money Coat", spewing globules of paint or clear coat........ :x They deserve to get shot, I tell ya..... :D Here's the "wound channels" of some sorta off brand paint, and a can of high-temp paint (shot with lead pellets, most of 'em):

IMG_0493.JPG


Here's the rifle after sending a few rounds down at the Candidos (also, the high-tech spent brass catching tarp):

IMG_0489.JPG

We each had a lotta fun shooting this rifle. It has a great trigger. Good sights. It shoots lead pellets as well or better than BBs. The lever loading of a new round in the chamber and ejecting of spent rounds worked flawlessly, and selfishly for me, seemed nicely "realistic". You can put your thumb on the hammer, pull the trigger, and ease the hammer down as you'd do on one of our Henry lever rifles. (Added in EDIT: It has a "shotgun style safety on the tang behind the hammer. For a safety, it was easy to deal with). We were giggling like 6th grade school girls when a Candido would die a swirling/spraying death. It was a fun time of shooting, and both of us like this rifle. I spoke to one of nieces this morning before I received the rifle, and she said she'd love to shoot a BB gun. To me, that's fantastic, as she really doesn't want much to do with shooting a real firearm.

I was supposed to go to my local range to shoot and keep working on some handloads for my .30-30 today, but got sidetracked needing to move a bunch of furniture for my wife, and couldn't go. After we got back home from dealing with the furniture, the Umarex was in an Amazon box on the front porch. I'm kinda glad I stayed home to shoot the new rifle this afternoon........ :)
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Last edited by Mr. Neutron on Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jimmie

An Okie living in Oregon

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Mags
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Re: New Airsoft Lever Rifle (Final Upsdate!)

Post by Mags » Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:56 pm

Mr. Neutron wrote:
Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:33 pm
... I got the AK/Matrix shooting decently this morning. It's no "Powerhouse" from 10 yards, as it struggled to knock over empty spray paint can targets. But it actually is fairly accurate....

Some of the Krylon Candidos died a rather spectacular death; spinning and spewing.
The AK @ 10 yds? I would think it should do better. Might think about fiddling with the hop up adjustment some more to get it dialed in better.

If you think left over spray cans are fun, so is left over spray foam cans! Best part after shooting them is the clean up. Let the spray and splatter cure then just rake it up.
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Re: New Airsoft Lever Rifle

Post by daytime dave » Tue Jan 17, 2023 9:53 am

I'm glad Mags was able to help with the green gas gun and I'm glad the CO2 is working well for you.
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