EDgun Matador R3 versus Kalibr Cricket, my comparison….
Hi guys,
Warning for those who don’t like images:
This is going to be a thread with lots of graphics….. 😉
As promised, I’ll try to share with you my personal opinion and findings while comparing these beauties:
As some of you may know, I have two Matador Std R3s and I have one Cricket (with access to another one). All are cal.22……
My wait for my Matadors should be well documented on this very forum…..
The Crickets were a part of a group buy masterminded from Europe somewhere. The Crickets were shipped in parts to Norway and reassembled by my good blueprinting friend Egon Olsen. In the process he had to remove a “restrictor” screw that had been put into the guns before shipment. Most probably because of Power limitation rules at origin….
The Crickets arrived with no documents whatsoever. No instructions, – no nothing. I don’t think this is standard procedure though…..
The Cricket weighs less than the R3, – and is approx 5 cm shorter. Not a lot, – but overall it makes the Cricket even easier to handle than the already tiny R3….
The side by side comparison was done from my modest little shooting table at my summerhouse:
– and the shooting range is here, – with my target set up at 46mts:
Why 46 mts ? Simply because I could not pull my shooting stand further back right now. A huge tree has fallen during winter, and all the branches have taken up my space… 👿
First problem: How to fill the f…. Cricket ?
The fillprobe nut is so tiny that a standard foster coupling gasket will not seal. The entire probe is small, – and you fear you may break it while trying to tighten it:
The above (sorry for the image quality) is a comparison between ED’s, Cricket’s and Falcon’s fill probes. You can probably see what I mean….
As I could not make a standard Fostergasket fit, Egon had to make special gaskets that we fitted into the Foster coupling itself. Not an ideal solution, – and I have no clue how long it will last…….. 🙄
On the fill probe: Matador 1, Cricket 0 points.
Air filling:
I honestly dont like any of the solutions that these two manufacturers have chosen………..
The Cricket people have come up with the worst. To expose the hole for the fillprobe, – you have to slide forward the tip of the reservoir. But that stupid tip is retained by a spring, – and slides back with a smack once you let go:
If you’re not careful when taking the fillprobe back out, the tip will spring back and ruin the fill probe O-rings faster than I can say my name….
While filling, the “tip” rests on the previously mentioned small nut. And there’s not a lot clearance. So a bigger nut (for those with lathe skills), – is not going to help you much. A thicker nut might…….
In short: A very stupid filling system, – BUT once you know how to operate it and care is taken, – at least it covers the hole when filling is over.
The Matador does not come with anything to cover the filling hole at all:
I use tape right now, – but a plug of some sort would be good….. 😉
My preferred system would be that of Falcon:
The tip of the reservoir has been turned into a curled “collar” that you rotate to expose the hole. Simple, easy and effective. And few moving parts that may break or go astray……….
Now, I have no idea how much air I can fill into the Cricket, – and the gun gauge certainly does not help much:
I trust the gauge on my fillkit, – and 3000 psi is roughly on the border between green and yellow…….
Points for airfill procedure: Matador 1, Cricket 0. In my opinion….. 😉
Cheers from Trygve 😀
To be continued……….. 😀
(if you so desire…… 😳 )
All Replies
In production ????
Since when ????
And what about stability over time ?
Could this have to do with the problems seen in this thread by meech1456:
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24756
– and also the std .25 belonging to our friend Nik ??? 😎
Just curious…… 😀
It is in production now, the benefit is lower air consumption and as a result more shoots from the fill and less noise of the shooting. I estimate efficiency of a new valve system about 10-15 % in comparison to the old one.
You haven’t tried a new valve system on R3 yet :)[/quote]
What is the bennefit from the new valve? When will it be in production?
You haven’t tried a new valve system on R3 yet 🙂
And who’s fault is that ???? 😉
You know where to ship new models, – don’t you ????? 😀
Ed
ED, – there is alot more information in a 20 mpx image than in a 10 mpx image…. 😉
While the higher number of pixels may not be relevant to most, – it caters for an opportunity to crop small parts out of a picture and enlarge them to a good size without seeing much loss of quality. Also a higher mpx is better for big (huge) size prints.
If in doubt try enlarging an old 3 mpx image and compare with an enlargement (same size) of an image of 10 mpx. Easiest way to do it is by zooming in on the screen. On a low mpx image the pixels themselves will appear as small squares very quickly while the 10 mpx image will not show up the same rugged edges until you’ve zoomed in quite a bit more…..
That said, – NIKON has just released their 24 mpx D600 which is the low end of their full frame cameras. And people go nuts about it, – completely forgetting that they most likely will have to upgrade their computers and other stuff veeeery quickly. To manipulate images of 24 mpx in for instance photoshop, is much more time consuming than images of half the number of pixels. And not to forget the need for storage capacity which doubles when moving from 12 mpx to 24……
For most, – the mpx “race” is irrelevant and probably a pain in the ass…..
But this is probably a bit off topic…..????? 😉
You haven’t tried a new valve system on R3 yet 🙂
I know that the R3 standard tank is 289cc in volume, what is the cc volume of the cricket?
also regarding 300bar fill, why not fill/if say fill to 300bar and shoot down to 100bar instead of 200bar?
As much as I agree with ED above, – if you see further up in this thread you’ll see the comparison of shotstrings. I know this has become a looong thread with lots of information, – but it should be easy to scroll down to see the page where I have put up graphs of my shotstrings. The Cricket has a reservoir of 280 cc………
From 300 bar and down to 200 it seems you get fewer shots than from 200 down to 100. From a full 300 bar fill the Cricket seems to give you roughly some 90 good shots before breathing problems start. (Shotstring linked to by Kazzz).
The same gun offers some 50 good shots from 200 and down to the same breathing problems in my own findings….
The above should indicate some 10 more shots from 200 bars and down. I shall have to stress that this exercise is NOT exact “science”. However the indication is clear enough.
I have on my list of things to do a lot more complete shotstrings from both guns from different fills. I’ll post them when I have had the time to do it……….. 😉
Also you’ll get only one 300 bar fill from a 300 bar scubatank. After one fill, – the tank is no longer having a 300 bar fill but slightly less…..
Add to that the safety issues related with a 300 bar pressure. The guns may be ok with it, – but gaskets, fillkits, hoses etc. may not……..
Better safe than sorry is a good principle in my book …. 😉
An ideal fill in my world is some 210/220 bars, and I shoot down til some 120 bars where the regulator comes off duty.
It’s in the air-efficiency departement that the R3 really outmanouvers Lady Cricket. You get a lot more shots out of one fill from the R3 than the Cricket. This has to do with how ED has designed his air channel and regulator…. 😀
It appears that the Cricket is using more air pr shot at a given speed/pellet than the R3………….
Cheers from rainy Oslo 😀
I consider calculating the number of shots from 300 bar is a kind of marketing trickery of manufacturer. It is like saying that “Our new camera has 20 Mpixels instead of 10 of the competitor!” just passing over in silence the fact that matrix of the competitor’s camera has bigger phisical size and 20 Mpixels are got just by mathematics. And the fact is that 10 Mpx with bigger matrix will have much better quality of the picture then 20 Mpx with smaller matrix.
In PCP guns everything is the same. 300 bar and calculating the number of the shots from the number can give a novice shooter a good impression of a gun. But he would never think about where to take 300 bar filling every time. In the best case the tank has about 280 bar, or even it has 300 it will work just for one time, then you have to either go to fill the tank or to fill the gun with the low pressure and all advantage in the number of shots disappear imidiatly 🙂 But marketing is perfect — bla, bla, bla number of shot from one fill… 🙂
So I consider the best pressure gap is about 200-220 bar down to 120-100 bar. So I say about number of shots based on that figures. More over I myself DECREASE the number of shot in my adv. just in case a client have more then I declared and happy of getting some more shots free 🙂
Ed
zocoloco-
I know that the R3 standard tank is 289cc in volume, what is the cc volume of the cricket?
also regarding 300bar fill, why not fill/if say fill to 300bar and shoot down to 100bar instead of 200bar?
thanks,
Hi all,
Apparently the subject of this thread is of an enormous interest. While fast approaching some 37.000 (!) views, this thread has now become the 2nd most read/viewed thread on this forum,- only “beaten” by my own “waiting” thread (which btw is still being viewed by lots of people)….! 😯
Viewers come from all over the world. I have found references to this thread in forums in more than 20 countries, – some even with my own pictures…
Should be good news for those in the business I think……. 😉
But may I remind you that my observations/comments are those of one person only. And I share with you what are my own personal views as well as information (links) to other possible sources of interest as I find them. Others may have different views/opinions….
I appreciate that Ed takes an active part, – and I fail to understand why Maverick and/or the rest of the Cricket team don’t. I think this is sad, – as their qualified views most likely would have improved the quality of the thread. They have been invited, – but for some reason they don’t want to participate… 😥
There will always be angles that I forget, don’t have the capacity to cover etc. etc. etc. Therefore please don’t hesitate to ask or point at angles left out. – either via the thread itself or via pms…… 😉
I’ll try to answer to the best of my ability (not that it is worth much…. 😳 ). My intention is to keep feeding you with my experiences
until they want me 6 feet under………. 😉
Or lock me up……… 😳
Or get rid of me in another way. Some have already tried, – but not even this worked:
😳
Zocoloco,
Thanks for the heads up on google translate found a version for my iPad at google.com it works great!
Ghost
Me again……. 🙄
– and here a brand new Cricket test with some comparing remarks towards the end. Again from the same Czech website:
http://www.fieldtarget.cz/vetrovky/kalibrgun-cricket.html
There’s a picture in there somewhere showing a walnut (?) stock with holding capacity for 4 xtra mags, – much like in the synt. version….
I haven’t seen too many of these comparisons, – but apparently there’s nothing important that differs from my own findings, – at least not in this one… 😉
Cheers from Norway where shooting is impossible right now. Strong gale force winds (24 m/s) at the moment……. 😥
Sorry Guys, – here I am again:
Just had a call from someone I happen to know in CZ. He could advice me of the following:
Apparently Kalibr (CZ) is planning a modular system wherefrom some 25 different models of Cricket can be derived. AND they are in process with a webisite where you may build (and order) your own gun from scratch… 😯
Much like you build and order a Dell PC………???
Models available from cal.177 via all normal calibers and up to 9mm….
Apparently first 500 guns produced in the CZ factory already, – most of which are for export…
Rumours are that all official licences for production of bigger calibers may not be in place…….
But take this info for what it is, – rumours only……..
Interesting times ahead….?
I would certainly think so………. 😀
For those with an interest in the Cricket, – this could be interesting reading (posted this in another thread as well). Lots of images which apparently confirm Maverick has started his CZ-Production:
http://www.fieldtarget.cz/ostatni/kalibrgun-valdy-eu-s-r-o.html
You may use Google to translate (worked well in Norwegian at least)…. 😉
Apparently interesting times ahead…… 😀
I for one certainly welcome more Crickets into the US and Western markets. It is not until we have several EDgun/Cricket comparisons that any sort of objective conclusions may be drawn, – if at all possible to do so…. 🙄
Roll on competition………..!!! 😀
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It is in production now, the benefit is lower air consumption and as a result more shoots from the fill and less noise of the shooting. I estimate efficiency of a new valve system about 10-15 % in comparison to the old one.
So i should have it in my edgun bought 1 month ago by Estonia partner? From what serialnumber is it implemented?