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
To check what’s under and that it can be removed 🙂
Do you mean the shroud covering the barrel, – or the part covering the baffles of the silencer ????
I’ve never removed the barrelshroud.
The silencer shroud/cover is screwed on and is easy to remove on my guns. BUT I never do when I clean it. No need to with a proper bore snake. You may probably have som rust in your threads….? You should be able to rotate it couterclockwise and slide it off towards the barrel end. But be careful with the O-ring at the the tip (or you may want to replace it with one form OldGoats set of O-rings):
You may have seen this before……… 😉
But why do you want to remove it ??? The only time I do that is when I want to check for fragments of cleaning pellets that I may want to vacum out…
Cheers 😀
Zoco, sorry I was a little bit too soon :))
Nice “tutorial”!
Did you ever unscrewed the shroud of the R3? Looks like mine is gluwed on to it! :/ Or you just simply don’t remove the shroud?
Neither would I, – but better safe than sorry ! Some have already had bad experiences with damaged threads in the aluminium parts. That’s why I ask… 😉
_____________________
Now, a bit about barrel cleaning of her Ladyship compared to the R3. Kazzz has already made a point about this elsewhere, – just as I was planning to share my experience here……….
Anyway, here goes:
Anybody would want to clean their barrels after a while….
I do it in two different ways:
I either use this:
or this:
– and sometimes both……..
As pointed out by Kazzz, – the R3 can be a bit tricky to clean if you don’t have the right equipment. And you don’t want to remove the bolt assembly too often as threads may finally give you problems….. 🙄
My boresnake is slim and flexible enough to be guided through from the muzzle end (carefully while passing the crown) and all the way down to the pellet tray (bolt pulled back). The tip of it reveals just enough of the slot for me to put a cleaning patch through it. I use a toothpick to help me, and once through I pull the patch in position with my pliers:
I pull patches through a few times until clean, – and that’s it. No need to unscrew anything…….. 😀
The right equipment is crucial. The boresnake has to be thin enough but also stiff enough to be guided through the baffles of the silencer……
Every now and then I shoot a cleaning pellet through to check………. 😉
I am not overly happy with chemicals so I never use them when cleaning my barrels……..
For her Ladyship I use the same method. But as the entire silencer is easily removed, I do that first:
Once the silencer is off, – the rest is veeery simple, – but again the toothpick is my assistant when “threading the needle”:
Her Ladyship allows me to penetrate her with my snake even with the silencer in place, – but somehow it’s more complicated with her than with master R3…
Shoting cleaning pellets through her (or any gun for that matter) is recommendable with silencer on only. That is if you don’t want a sudden visit from your local SWAT team……… 😉
I mentioned the “crown” a little higher up……….
I’ll compare the crowns of these guns a little later……….
Cheers from me in Oslo 😀
Air Force has this problem with the bolt eventually carving a notch into the aluminum bolt slot, as it experiences the cocking force and blowback from the shot.
Perhaps the “fixing element”, made of steel, is not visible from the outside and locks the bolt in place in the interior, while the aluminum is exposed to only minor lateral forces of cocking and firing. Note the bolt hangs out the back and does not fit into a breech notch to hold it in place….thus an interior bolt locking mechanism.
I can’t imagine Ed not thinking this through thoroughly prior to releasing it.
Regards,
H 😯 😯 T
Ed, can you confirm that you trust this upgrade completely ? Is the Al alloy grade 9999 ?
Zocoloco, thanks for not making me be the first to ask this question.
Getting one already/ ? Nice. Anyone in the Mid Atlantic area want to meet up so I can put a few rounds through the barrel? get in touch. Or if someone wants to work a deal on a R3 or newer let me know.
I’m about to receive one Matador in Autumn but I don’t want to experiment. I prefer to prevent rust than to have problems with my Al breech.
Ed, can you confirm that you trust this upgrade completely ? Is the Al alloy grade 9999 ?
Zocoloco, thanks for not making me be the first to ask this question.
Hmmm……
I am not sure that I understand this completely…..
Does this mean that the “bolt assembly housing” shown below will be entirely made of aluminium ? If so, which grade ? Is it still your duralumin grade “D16T” or which grade are we talking about ?
I know that Daystate had to move from the 7072 grade alloy that was too soft for their blocks and they are now using 7076 which apparently is doing the trick……..
What do you mean by “fixing element”….??? Is that the forward breech where the barrel is fixed and also the “pellet tray” and transferport ????
I am curious now as a new bolt and bolt house assembly may open up for a redesign of the assembly and may be opt for a mag solution as well……..
Hmmmmmmmmm…….
Happy holidays…….. 😀
The inside surface of the alu breech is processed more precisely and there is almost no gap between the bolt and the whole, it is very smooth moving, besides the fixing element is made as a separate part, made of steel.
Lelya and Veles don’t have bolthandles, – and the problems I have mentioned are related to the bolthandle “eating” on the alu breeches as you flip up the handle and pull it back. Have caused “corners” to be rounded and “slots” to be “widened” too much for comfort……… 😉
Happy holidays !!!! 😀
No problem with allu Veles and Lelya. No, I am just leaving tomorrow for Portugal, will be back home in September.
Sounds good as long as the alu is hard enough…… 😉
There have been several problems with FX as well as Daystate because of wear and tear of alu breeches……..
Are you back from vacation now ????
Cheers from me in Oslo….. 😀
In the autumn we plan to turn into aluminum breech. No rust any more.
What crony are you using and how often do you clean the barrels.
I also wanted to know about any other rust issues, I have noted your bolt. Are both guns having issues?
Thanks.
I have several chronographs, – one of which is shown higher up in this thread…. 😉
Rust is not really an issue now that bolts are being made of stainless steel. But the breech blocks have also been machined out of some steel quality (thanks God for that), – and care should be taken to prevent any rust. Just apply some silicone grease on the surface (protects well against rust) or any other suitable stuff……..
Barrel cleaning: I use a bore-snake and dry filts every 500 shots or so. Not really needed that often but still…… 😉
I also clean if going from one pellet to another………
Occasionally I would shoot a filt pellet which cleans quite well, – but you run the risk of getting filt fragments playing around inside the silencer. Not a big deal, – but you may want to unscrew the silencer from time to time and vacum the dust away……..
😀
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Hey Kazzzzz,
When I got my R3 a couple of month ago, I hard time removing the tube. I sprayed a little WD-40 onto the coupling and let it sit for a few hour I believe. I gave it a quick twist and that took care of the sticking. There was no rust. I place a small amount of anti-seize compound on the thread and reassembled. Now it unscrews with ease. However, I don’t usually take it off when I clean the barrel. I use a method similar to Zoco’s. I use a drinking straw to guide the pull-thru into the bore.
Gabe G.