I picked this up from my FFL yesterday. First impressions were not favorable. Fit and finish is what you\'d expect for a $130 /- semi-auto pistol. Gritty slide action, crusty trigger, stiff components, sharp edges.
The first thing I did when I got home was break it down \"field strip\" style and observe it. Wow, the amount of casting slag and sharp edges were higher than I\'ve ever seen on a production gun. Every machined edge was almost knife-sharp. Every place there was a casting mark, was very pronounced. I got out my diamond files and starting knocking down edges, cleaning up slag, and making this pistol less crusty. The feed ramp was horrible. So much casting slag that I would guess that a round nose profile would have lots of trouble feeding. I took a round diamond file to it as well and got it smoothed out. So, after about an hour of de-horning and slag cleanup, I cleaned up all of my removed metals, lubed and re-assembled. MUCH better feeling and manual operating. The \"click\" reset is awful on this trigger. It takes a LOT of attention to discern when the reset has taken place. The safeties that are built into this pistol are horrible. Absolutely horrible. There is a fix for them. A VERY easy fix. You\'ll have to do a search on your own if you are interested. From the factory, this pistol requires LOTS of manipulation of safeties and this and that in order for it to function. It must be made to a certain state\'s requirements in order to be legal to sell or to mitigate lawsuit liability. That\'s the only reason I can think of as to why it operates the way that it does.
Once I cleaned up all the crusties, got the safety devices tamed, and manually cycled the pistol properly lubed, I took it to the range. What a fun little bugger to shoot! I ran several different types of ammo through it without hiccup (had one FTF \'fail to fire\' due to round, not pistol). Minimal recoil, expected in a .22lr chambering, easy to handle, fairly accurate, and did I mention FUN?
Summary: If you have some know-how in the gunsmithing world and don\'t mind buying a pistol new in the box and doing a bit of tuning up, this is a good buy. If you are a novice to the gun world, I wouldn\'t suggest this pistol as it could very easily be too cumbersome to enjoy. The public opinion and experience, by way of the internet, seems to be that these pistols do not typically run very well without a long break in period or making some clean-up attempts, similar to what I did.
Would I buy it again? Probably not, only because I don\'t need/want another cheap .22LR plinker pistol. I think it will run well for years to come and it filled it\'s niche. It\'s a $130 grown-up toy. Buy it for what it is, and you won\'t be disappointed.
*Never modify your firearm without fully understanding it\'s operation and safety, and how those characteristics will be affected by any modifications made. If you are not qualified or do not have the proper training/understanding on how to perform gunsmithing tasks, do not alter your firearm. Seek the assistance of a professional gunsmith.
Rating:  [4 of 5 Stars!] |
|
Login to your account
[
