Cricket Rifle cal 22 Incoming – anything to know?
What is there to know about the Cricket Rifle?
I intend to punch paper at 100y and beyond if possible. Please tell me what you know about this rifle. I could not find the threads that talks about the Cricket rifle, except the one at the YF, which I already read.
Any known issues? Expected accuracy groupings? With what pellet? Pressure fill range for its sweet spot?
Thanks.
I do not like surprises very much.
All Replies
If I were an air rifle manufacturer and I confirmed from testing myself that the gun shot with precision then packed it very, very well for shipping, I expect that it will perform the same way for a customer. If the customer were to contact me to say that the gun is inaccurate, I am going to bluntly tell him that he/she’d better check his/her shooting skills.
Hitting something is not as easy as putting the crosshairs on the target, pulling the trigger, and expecting the pellet to hit it even if the shooter is able to be as still as a monument. Even buying a supposedly “accurate gun” is not going to magically make an average shooter shoot so with it. It takes skill and more than just remaining motionless to really hit something the size of a pellet at 30 yards in just one shot only. BAR NONE!
in a .22 cal. and enjoy shooting a tact driver straight from the box without having to spend extra money on it in order to make it shoot the
way a gun should shoot from the box . With my .25 Vulcan out of the box I can hit my target at 192 yds. I haven’t heard anyone being able
to shoot the Cricket out of the box and shoot it that well .
FROM : THE BIRDMAN
Bird, come on man.. This is what I’m talking about. You honestly believe and stand behind this statement? You can’t just pull a Cricket out the box and have it shoot accurately? It’s a very possible the Vulcan is a better gun. Let’s state that as hypothetical fact just for the sake of my point. Ok, the Vulcan IS the best Bullpup ever created. Even if that’s true, why all the sudden is the Crickets reputation shoved down a few notches. Before the Vulcan, everyone was raving on how the Crickets are amazing- straight from the box. People still say send it to Ernest, but it’s fine without! Now all the sudden Crickets need all kinds of work done before they’re great shooters? I’m also surprised you say you can hit things at 192yds with the gun straight out of the box. I’m not surprised you can do it, I’m surprised you assume that’s normal for Vulcans and they all can! If I could do that with any brand straight out the box, I’d think wow.. THIS particular gun is one special gun..
I concur. People just need to shoot their new guns first before deciding to tune it. This is the reason why I shared shooting tips in a post (click here to go directly to the post: http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32756) that works for me to help airgunners and state that almost all the time it’s the shooter and not the gun that is the issue. None of my airguns ever needed a tune to shoot well. My AA S410’s barrel crown was accidentally marred when I dropped it but it will still shoot a fly in the forehead! The way I see it, good shooting skills should come first then finding the best pellet-to-barrel combination and best velocity for accuracy second. Dave put it excellently when he stated how much more accuracy one is able to achieve than pinpoint accuracy. But hey, if a guy wants to do what he wants to do, granted he’s got the means to do it, there’s nothing wrong with that. Just pitching in my two cents.
Great shooting by the way 218bee!
+1 what GKU said. I bought a brand new .25 Synthetic Cricket and it never needed to go to Ernest. It shot JSB Kings at 945 out of the box and is probably the most accurate airgun I own. As an experiment I tried shooting half a mag of old-style Kings w/flat base & thin skirt, and the other half of the mag w/new style (pointed base & thick skirt). Group you see is the whole mag, w/2 different JSB pellet types. Shot off a sandbag & not trying too hard @ 40+ yards ..Also, after about 1000 shots through it, it only takes about three patches and the fourth patch is clean & white.
One of the main reasons I disliked the Marauder was its magazines. The Vulcan seems to be another version of this. Crickets mags are a pleasure to reload, and you can even speed-load them as GKU pointed out.. Mines a straight up hunting gun and it needs to be quiet as we sometimes shoot near cows on a farm. The Cricket’s whole shooting cycle is very quiet for a gun this strong. For me the ultimate would be a .25 Hummingbird….Love the 2-motion smooth side cocking, magazine system & the great Colibri safety. (just not a fan of the “in the well ” pin safety). You listening, Kalibrgun?
But I digress.. To answer your original post, just get it & shoot a tin or two through it then decide what to do. If its anything like my .25 BP, you’ll love it.
I love my Crickets and new Mutant !!
I’ve shot my friend Vulcan 22 cal several times and IMO the things I don’t care for is the hammer slap/twang/ping is very loud, goes straight into the brain.
The mags take time to load unlike the Cricket/Edgun/Mutant no spring loaded mags are easy to shake load.
~ GKU
I have both a .25 Cricket Carbine and .25 Vulcan. Two very different rifles and equally impressive in they own way.
I find myself reaching for the Vulcan more mostly because of it’s short length.
When I take the Cricket out I right away notice the quietness of the shot and smoothness of the side lever.
Like the ease of insertion of the Vulcan magazine and that you know there will be a pellet in front of the probe if not fully loaded.
Like the ease of loading and larger capacity of the Cricket magazine.
Triggers I consider a wash.
Accuracy wise I can’t say yet as I but think it might go to the Vulcan. Really need to put more time into the Cricket
Feel pretty good about owning both rifles :smilen:
Plenty crickets shoot just as well out the box than vulcans there more aless same gun apart from the cocking mechanism just like there’s plenty vulcans out there with issues that need ironing out bullpups are fast becoming a fashion item like a pair of shoes show me any that out shoots the shooter Vulcan I’ve seen are very loud the cocking action is nothing like a colibri either which s really super slick claiming one bullpup to before accurate than any the other top bullpups is total bollocks edguns are still very sought after for a reason not because all the newer bullpups are lot more accurate how much more accurate can pin point accurate be I’ve seen £300 pcps just as accurate as £2k pcps a accurate pcp is just that how can u get any more accurate than pin point accurate It may fit u better but general conscious s that the .25 cricket is better as the .25 Vulcan suffers more muzzle flip at full power
Steel , forget the cricket and all the work that needs to be done on it in order to make it into a great shooting gun . Buy a Vulcan at least
in a .22 cal. and enjoy shooting a tact driver straight from the box without having to spend extra money on it in order to make it shoot the
way a gun should shoot from the box . With my .25 Vulcan out of the box I can hit my target at 192 yds. I haven’t heard anyone being able
to shoot the Cricket out of the box and shoot it that well .
FROM : THE BIRDMAN
Google search- Varmintair Cricket carbine .22
He did an extensive blog on the rifle in .22 & .25
Really good stuff with a bunch of pictures.
I’d try it out first and tinker with the HST after 2,000+ shots if your brave enough operate the inners.
Then decide if you’d like an Ernest tune.
Both of my Crickets BP shot great out of box, but after tinkering a bit their shooting even better now.
~ GKU
Guess I’m like lot of purchasers, mainly I am not as mechanically adept as many on these forums, I ordered a cricket rifle in 25 from WWAG earlier this week and paid to have it sent directly to Mr Rowe to tune it up. (I’ll be dressing it with an Aeon 3x12x50 I also ordered from WWAG) That adds several weeks to the anticipated shipping to me but well worth the wait and Ernest does things to set the rifle up that I would not dare attempt at this point.
I will satisfy my need to punch paper and varmints with my synrods until then. 😆
Lagger,
Starting on your rifle late this week, I’m going to grind off the barrel band, rifle has POI issue when the barrel resting on the side or bottom of the band and contact will differ with pressure change—-so going to make a real free floating barrel unless you don’t want me too??
speed around 890fps with kings for max count of 50+ shots
BP Tuner
Thanks a million for the update, Please go ahead and grind away, POI \ accuracy is VERY important obviously. 45 fpe is probably adequate for the woodchucks, and coyotes, shot placement is more important for certain. I can’t wait to be shooting her 😎
btw is this poi issue unique to this particular rifle or in general regarding the cricket rifle
The biggest complaint I found from other owners is some of the .22 rifles come shooting 26 – 27 fpe max. Mine arrived a little underpowered for my needs(removing racoons). After turning the hammer spring and adjusting the regulator it was shooting the 18.1s at 820 fps. So I sent it to AZ for a power tune and he also adjusted the trigger. Now it is shooting the 18.1’s at 905 fps. On a 3100 psi fill I get 3 magazines(42 shots).
hey Sam, got it from WWAG. They sent a test card with it. It seems to look realistic.
BP Tuner
What is the starting pressure on a shot count like that?
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I’d try it out first and tinker with the HST after 2,000+ shots if your brave enough operate the inners.
Then decide if you’d like an Ernest tune.
Both of my Crickets BP shot great out of box, but after tinkering a bit their shooting even better now.
~ GKU
Guess I’m like lot of purchasers, mainly I am not as mechanically adept as many on these forums, I ordered a cricket rifle in 25 from WWAG earlier this week and paid to have it sent directly to Mr Rowe to tune it up. (I’ll be dressing it with an Aeon 3x12x50 I also ordered from WWAG) That adds several weeks to the anticipated shipping to me but well worth the wait and Ernest does things to set the rifle up that I would not dare attempt at this point.
I will satisfy my need to punch paper and varmints with my synrods until then. 😆
Lagger,
Starting on your rifle late this week, I’m going to grind off the barrel band, rifle has POI issue when the barrel resting on the side or bottom of the band and contact will differ with pressure change—-so going to make a real free floating barrel unless you don’t want me too??
speed around 890fps with kings for max count of 50+ shots
BP Tuner
007 where did you buy the Cricket rifle? As others stated above get some JSB 18.1’s and 15.89’s and shoot it. You should put a few patches with gun oil through the barrel then a couple of dry patches.
The biggest complaint I found from other owners is some of the .22 rifles come shooting 26 – 27 fpe max. Mine arrived a little underpowered for my needs(removing racoons). After turning the hammer spring and adjusting the regulator it was shooting the 18.1s at 820 fps. So I sent it to AZ for a power tune and he also adjusted the trigger. Now it is shooting the 18.1’s at 905 fps. On a 3100 psi fill I get 3 magazines(42 shots).
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I know what you mean. I was real bummed about my first pcp- Marauder .25. I would shoot sitting in a lawn chair using a pair of homemade shooting sticks. I was getting 2″ groups when I first started. Of course I didnt know any better so I thought it was the Marauder and sold it for an AA s510. My thinking being that a “better” gun would allow me to shoot better.. Nope! Lol
I realized it was absolutely my fault the first time I used a bipod on the air arms and shot from a bench. The improvement was undeniable. It seems like common sense that if your a newbie shooting off of unsteady sticks that you’ll have worse groups than a proper setup.. But at that point I was so fresh I didn’t know any better.
I still can’t shoot well from sticks because I don’t ever practice it. I should, but I enjoy a bipod whether I’m lying prone on the ground, or sitting at a bench. I can’t shoot freehand for anything. I could hit sparrows at 30yds, but anything past that I better be using some kind of rest.