Attack of the Clones – The all new P12 Bullpup

Please guys, I will remind you that this is a world stage and this is the first time this rifle has been on show in the public eye.. This thread will be the first and only info on this bullpup until its distributed. This thread will come up on many web search engines and will be read buy thousands of potential customers and also the manufacturer. Can I please ask that you keep it on topic throughout the duration of the review.. Regards, Wingman.

There has been much talk of a Bullpup some say an EDgun clone from China yet no one has actually handled one or
in fact seen one other than a few photo-shopped factory images on the interweb..

Until now that is..

I have just taken delivery of the two very first production prototypes for testing and review purposes, one in .177 and one in .22 and for the curious minds out there Im going to completely tare these down and compare them to their European counterparts for you all and answer every question you and the manufacturer want answered..
At this stage this rifle is not available but to the public but once the manufacturer gets the required feedback on their new product and make any modifications needed they will hit production and be distributed to their representatives around the globe. You cant buy these directly from the factory unless you are a representative as they don’t deal directly with the public and they have a minimum purchase number of 100 units. Please don’t ask me what these will retail for as it will depend entirely on your location and local distributors costs and mark ups. However I can tell you it will be cheaper (much cheaper) than any other bullpup currently available on today’s market.

Will this new low priced Bullpup compete with the European bullpup market needing very few mods right out of the box?
….or will it always be an entry level rough around the edge rifle with the quality resembling a the QB series of rifle etc that the tinkerers on a budget among us will flock to and replace every part on the rifle until it no longer resembles its original form and end up with something they can never recover their cost on when they eventually get pissed off with it and sell to buy the European Gun they wished they had bough in the first place..

Here is the Factory info on this pup before I get into this..
They are made by the Snow Peak Airgun factory in Shaoxing China who are well know for making cheap springer’s, some owners have remarked that they have been of reasonable quality but I have never owned or inspected one so I will not comment.

Snow peak Airgun factory was established in 1976 and at present, the company has 10 series with more than 30 specifications of airgun products, and owns several patents. The company also cooperates with internationally well-known airgun brands, and is rich in mature OEM experiences with a strong design and R&D team, they boast a first-class quality control system and testing equipments.
PCP Rifles are a new venture for Snow peak and they are gearing up to produce two PCP rifles, the M10 which looks to be a Air Arms S400 clone and this one the P12 bullpup which will be the subject of this independent review.

This is the manufacturers specs for the P12 bullpup they have released on their website.

MODEL P12 Bullpup
Magazine capacity: Single shot
Manual safety
Available in .177 (4.5 mm), .22 (5.5 mm) calibres.
Air tube volume: 317cc
Fill pressure: 20mPA, 200 Bar, 2900Psi
Precision rifled steel barrel for accuracy.
Scope mount rail & shock absorber scope stop.
Stock: European hard wood
Over all length: 710mm (28”)
Weight 3.1kg (6.8lbs)
Max velocity: 4.5mm (.177cal) 1100fps
5.5mm (.22cal) 1100fps

Please note this will be an evolving thread with an extensive unbiased review that tests every component of these PSP’s professionally and thoroughly.
I will first test and provide data on the rifles exactly as they arrived from the factory floor and then (should I need to) I will provide a list of all defects, point out any “quirks” and improvements needed to bring them up to an international standard.

Once all testing and data collection is done going onto a section of “extensive modification and tuning” in an attempt to get this Bullpup to be “all it can be”
I have a stock of new .177 and .22 L/W and BSA match barrels should the stock barrels be less than perfect.

Where is the .25cal model I also hear you all ask? I also have two new .25cal match grade barrels, one BSA and the other Lothar Walther that will I test on this platform for all those modders out there with the burning desire for more energy..

I know there will be plenty of questions rattling around out there already but please allow me the time to finish this first section before slamming me with them as I will do my best to leave all questions unanswered in the initial review.. I will be open to all questions and suggestions once I complete this initial review and start on the field testing stage.

First up.. The un-boxing… second…the strip down and comparisons, is it actually a clone?

The boxes The P12s were shipped in were unremarkable, just the usual Chinese brown box with the stamped on black writing..
Two rifles were packed in the one box and both had the model and calibre marked on the ends.

Inside the rifles were secured in place with some high density foam, no way they could move but a sharp blow to the top of
the package could go through the two layers of cardboard and cause damage for sure. I would be nice to see a layer of foam on the top as well.

A bag of bits is taped to the inside of the box, but not well enough… the bag can sill rattle around within the box and
contact the stock.. both rifles had small dents in the lower stock caused by the metal parts in the bag..

The rifle comes shipped with an operators manual, some spare O rings, 4 Allen wrenches, a fill probe and a male foster fitting for the probe.. a nice addition for sure! Even the Allen wrenches are of good quality and Im still not sure if shipping a PCP with tools to fix it is a good thing or a bad thing.. The spare O rings are very soft and of low quality.. they would be be better replaced with some nitrile or poly 70 durometer if you can get them. The probe comes without the O rings fitted so I fitted some good quality ones from the get go..

There is a small collar on the bottom of the probe that the thicker Oring supplied fits onto sealing it inside the foster fitting. I chose to leave this out and fitted mine with a dowdy washer instead. Just a note, all the gas threads (Probe and gauge) on these guns are 1/8 NPT not 1/8 BSP.. this is the standard for most Chinese made air guns. Both rifles came shipped basically empty, there was about 5 bar in the cylinders just to keep the O rings good.

First Impressions:
The build quality of these rifles is actually really good… well better than I had expected anyway..

The bluing on the steel barrels is perfect and I can not fault it, the machining tolerances and threading etc is great.. the alloy parts have been bead blasted and anodised and I had to look pretty close to spot any machining marks at all! The alloy has a charcoal matte finish that I personally prefer for all types of air rifles.

There is a few very small blemishes in the breech on the .177 which looks like small pits but the .22 is spot on.
The finish on the cylinder is very average and it marks very easily, there is parts at the front of the cylinders on both rifles where the alloy is “grinning” through the black anodizing where it looks worn.. more on this later..

The rifles I received have been fitted with a new Weaver stile rail rather than the 11mm dovetail pictured on the Snow Peak website.. Great!

They are easy enough to cock and push the bolt home with ease! The safety mechanism is in the front of the trigger and operates like a Benjamin Marauders safety, back for safe and forward to fire. Not every one cup of tea! But better than nothing, I suppose a non-loaded rifle is better, load when ready to shoot. is the key!
The triggers were set as a two stage with a little bit of gritty creep then about a 2 lbs break.
Not perfect but I have felt worse for sure..

I filled them both and dry fired them, they are both very loud and would lean toward wearing earmuffs… yup “that loud”.. they have a shocking PING that resonates for about 5 seconds after the shot! Both guns have breach leaks from the bolt probes and the front of the breach where the barrels fit up which Im glad I found before I put my face to the action! I will sort that little issue later too..

The P12 is fitted with an integral forward mounted glow in the dark pressure gauge to keep the shooter informed of all-important residual pressure even on those night hunts..
TIP: don’t trust the pressure gauge on the P12 rifle! They are cheap and in both cases inaccurate when compared to several of my dive bottle gauges, the rifle in the pic below has exactly 200 bar in the tank tested on both my dive bottle gauges.. however, it reads 220bar on the guns manometer.

Always fill to the gauge on the dive bottle/pump not the one on the gun.
I will be replacing my cylinder gauges with good quality units in the near future.

What really grabs the eye with these new China dolls is the stock design woodwork fashioned unusually from what I’m pretty sure is is beach wood. I is much lighter in colour than the stock pictured on the Snow Peak website, It is more of a honey tone but the wood grain looks good and has no voids or knots. There is a few darker areas where they needed more sanding before the final finish was applied but it could easily be stained and refinished or repainted to the owners preference.