My first AR . Need suggestions and feedback

[felix.ragav]

I've been planning to buy a Indian made AR for quite sometime and have been doing my homework on these forums recently. From what I've been reading, Cannon,Tommy,AK-Agni, AIMCO and SDB seem to be the other options available for the aam-aadmi, besides the IHP ones.

My Aim is to pickup a few basics and work my way from there. I'm planning to practice/plink in my terrace and I'm thinking .177 cal, mainly because I feel i need range and accuracy. I really dont want to invest a huge amount in a AR for now.

I am particularly interested in .177 cal AR's manufactured by Cannon,Tommy and AIMCO. The Cannon and tommy AR's are pretty hard to buy when compared to AIMCO ones which seem to be the only online shop in India which accepts online orders. I am not particularly interested in approaching local armouries as they seem to bloat up the price on what they carry.

I am now looking for help from the learned folks here. I am pretty keen on the Model 35 in .177 by AIMCO. Is it a good rifle to start with?

[FN-Five-Seven]

I am now looking for help from the learned folks here. I am pretty keen on the Model 35 in .177 by AIMCO. Is it a good rifle to start with?

I think you mean the Model 35 by Deluxe not AIMCO .
Details Here

I don't think AIMCO makes any Air Rifle in .177 .

Anyway , a few months ago , I was able to get my hands on a Model 35 by Deluxe in .22 not .177 .
It was priced at Rs 3600 + 5% VAT .
For that price I was getting a rifled barrel , a peep sight additional , ball locking system instead of chisel , nice crisp trigger , a rail for mounting scope , provisions for attaching a sling . The fit n finish , the stock , the blueing was good . A good buy I would say . So the .177 one would be equally good .

My two cents

F-N-Five-Seven

[felix.ragav]

Thanks Five-Seven,

Excuse my noobishness

I was looking for reviews on this Air rifle but I couldnt find any.

I have a few questions and was hoping you could answer them. How reliable has it been so far? I am planning to get a scope in the future, does the gun carry a suitable 11mm rail or a bigger one? Is the cocking effort high? Is the gun well balanced? What pellets do you favour?

It would be great if you can you post a few pictures of your AR here.

R

[FN-Five-Seven]

Well first and foremost , I don't own this Air Rifle .

It belonged to a friend of my cousin . We ended up plinking for half a day , putting holes in aerosol cans . The rifle was just taken out of the box . So I cannot actually comment about the reliability or accuracy of it . I guess , only after you put around 500 to 750 pellets through the barrel , the rifle settles in and you get to see what you have actually bought . All I can say is that , none of the screws came loose or sights fell off .. lol .
The owner was told that he needs to change the spring after 5000 pellets .
The pellets we were shooting was "Bullseye " pointed .

The scope rail , I think was a 11 mm one . But I think , it does not matter . I mean , a decent , AR rated scope will burn a hole of Rs 7500 or more in your pocket . Given the USD has touched ( or even crossed ) the Rs 60 mark , the scopes will be more expensive . I don't see the point in putting a Rs 9000 or more scope on a Rs 3600 Air rifle

Again , just my two cents .

F-N-Five-Seven

[felix.ragav]

Thanks for the reply F-N-five seven

I guess what your saying makes sense. I'll worry about a scope when I upgrade. I guess i'll make a order pretty soon.

Also what is your say on getting cleaning wads? Are they needed for a new rifle as a weekly ritual cleaning or do I start worrying about those a few years and maybe a few thousand pellets later?

R

[FN-Five-Seven]

Cleaning Wads are necessary if you want to clean the bore of a Under Lever or a Side Lever Air Rifle . You can easily clean the bore of a Break Barrel Air Rifle by running patches with the help of a Cleaning Rod or a Pull Through . Of course you can use Cleaning Wads to clean the bore of a break barrel , but I don't prefer it as it just increases the cost of shooting the rifle . I would much rather spend the money on pellets than cleaning wads .

Speaking of pellets , don't buy a particular brand of pellets in bulk , like 5000 pellets , at first . Rather buy different brands in small quantities , like box of 100 or 50 . Shoot every brand through your rifle and see what brand suits your rifle the best .

As for cleaning , you need to clean the bore of the rifle before you start shooting and after you finished shooting . Also you need to apply a thin coat of oil in the bore when you store it , or else you run the risk of rust in the bore . You need to clean the bore often during the "break in " period , which will be around 500 to 750 pellets .
Shooting , cleaning lubricating , maintaining , tuning air rifles will be a hobby which will keep you engaged for a life time .

So get your rifle and enjoy and be safe .

F-N-Five-Seven

[felix.ragav]

Thanks for the headsup on the wads and pellets. Im planning to get master shot wadcutters and pointed tip ones for a start.
Also, what oil do I use? Anything of preffered choice or rundown motor lube??

[bennedose]

You may need to tighten all screws after 50 to 100 shots. I believe that it is best not to put any oil at all in the internals of the air rifle. Even a few micrograms of oil in the piston chamber will cause dieseling and foul a lot of things apart from accuracy. Air rifles require remarkably little maintenance apart from basic care like keeping it clean and dry.

In the long term it is only accuracy that matters. In my experience it is most frustrating to shoot off 20 pellets and miss most of them even if your rifle is giving you speed of light muzzle velocity.

Again, in my view pointed pellets are usually not as good as round or flat head ones in terms of accuracy. But you may need to shoot 50 to 100 pellets of each type before you know exactly which ones your rifle likes. By sheer chance it appears that an IHP 35 I have likes light 11 grain (700 mg) Marshal shot flat heads as well as heavy, pointed Mastershot triple heads, Until I discovered that I used to think Mastershot triple heads pointed were the second worst type of pellets available.

[Basu]

Dear Felix,
Most of the guns who are being being talked by you,come in .22 only .Except SDB and cannon some times make in .177.
Said guns are pretty good for plinking.Those who make these guns ,are machinist only.They have no idea what is shooting pleasure all about.
If you can tune them properly, they get elevated to a nice plinking AR soon.
My local 35 in .177 , can hit a 3" wide bamboo repeatedly at 25 mtrs with peep sight and bench rest after proper tuning. It is not a bad performance at all in the given price.

Basu