New Cricket .22 Standard Skeleton Stock
Placed the order with TGAG on Wednesday 13th, picked it up from the post office today Saturday 16th 😀 😀 , still waiting for a fill probe adapter so no full test yet 🙁 , air gauge was half way in the green, took a few shots over the chrony, JSB 18 gr 880 fps, JSB 15 gr 930 fps.
Compared noise level to my fully shrouded FX 400
Cricket shooting 18 gr jsb @ 880 fps 97db
FX 400 shooting 18 gr jsb @ 930 fps 84db
Not a scientific test just using my iphone
I have a Hawke Sidewinder TAC 30 6.5-20X42 need a scope mount recommendation please
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The best Hawkes are mid-priced scopes and what I would call best bang for the buck. They are a notch or two below the high-end scopes running in the $1000-1500+ range which I own (Nightforce NSF and a Leupold Tactical) two of on powder burners. I throw the Bushnell Elites (except the 6500s) in with the Hawkes since the latest Sidewinders optics have improved so much and Bushnells customer service is stinky here in the US. If I had an unlimited budget I would buy the best glass made. I choose to buy more high-end airguns and keep the scopes in the $500 range but thats just me. I own about 30 scopes in total of which 6 are Leupolds, 5 Hawkes, 4 Nikons, 8 Bushnells, a Mueller, a Swift and a few others. I have had more problems with the Leupolds and Bushnells but I have owned them a lot longer than the Hawkes. The Hawke Sidewinder Tactical 8.5-25×42 is a good scope but when you crank up the magnification it will be a notch less clear on the edges and a little dimmer in low light than say my Nightforce. The question is for airgun use and $1000+ difference how much do we care. I turn my 6.5-20×42 Hawkes up to 20x most of the time and leave them. I like to see their whiskers. 😎
Many folks feel like the high-end scopes costing a lot more are better but when you review some of the independent testing results on clarity, brightness, and environmental testing the actual results become a lot less clear (pun intended) with Leupold and Nightforce being somewhat disappointing when compared with Zeiss or even Nikon scopes of the same price range.
Yea I only asked cause I can get the Hawke Sidewinder 30 Tactical SF 8.5-25×42 at a decent price…and being that my matador is coming in the next week or so..I want a good scope…in my past with rifles, your scope should be close to the price of what your rifle was…and the old saying “you get what you pay for”…in dont want to use a cheap scope and not get the full feeling of what the matador can do….I want to chop playing cards in half…lol
I own four Hawke Tactical Sidewinder 6.5-20×42 scopes and the Tacticals were redesigned a few years ago and improved. The newer Tacticals had better (thinner) reticles and optics than the standard Sidewinders and the regular Sidewinders were being dumped by Eabco (who told me this story), on EBay, and elsewhere at significant discounts. More recently, though it appears the regular Sidewinders have been updated including adding the 20x 1/2 mil dot etched glass reticles and the price ($529) has been raised to match the Tacticals and they have added new Sidewinder SR Pros. So I still see a lot of pre update Sidewinders out there for sale that I would wonder about. I am not sure how you can tell the difference on some of them. I am tempted to get one of the newer Sidewinders with the 20x 1/2 mil dot reticles but haven’t taken the plunge yet. I might need one for the new Cricket that arrives today.
http://www.hawkeoptics.com/sidewinder-30-side-focus.html
Hey str8….how would you compare your hawke sidewinder to the Hawke Sidewinder 30 Tactical SF 8.5-25×42…I have an option to buy this one over the one you have and want to know if there is any kind of difference…
I mainly shoot outdoor bench rest I have no problem with the cover at all, but last Saturday went on pest control hunt, took the cover off and left it off, no problem, 3 ground squirrels from 25 to 80 yards.
So far this gun is the most accurate in my collection can’t say enough good things about my cricket, its shooting ½ inch groups at 50 yards, with no flyers, pellets straight out of the box, I wish it had a nicer trigger and is quiet like my FX Royale 400. But then I made a custom shroud for the 400.
I wonder if the .25 caliber shroud would fit the .22 and be more effective, just a thought
So my walnut standard Cricket .22 should arrive on Wednesday priority mail from Scottsdale.
I see some folks complain about the wood breech covers (both for and against them). One issue mentioned was they easily come off. Since I shoot mainly from an outdoor bench rest that isn’t too much of an issue but it may be while hunting in the woods. How do you mitigate this issue? Fasten it? Remove it?
Thanks,
Brant
I definitely prefer the skeleton.
Those are nice rings, I’m sure those will work. The best way is to try different height rings and see which work best for you. The high rings worked for me a few others as well. I’m sure that shroud works great it got some volume.
What a great looking gun.
You got that fast!
Made the shroud myself from 24 inch aluminum pipe, it’s as quiet as my .177 Marauder.
Will these rings work?
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/107898/burris-30mm-zee-weaver-style-rings-matte-high?cm_vc=subv1485115
Congrats :party: Looks like mine, you’ve got a hot one going 880s with heavies. I went with high rings to get a comfortable cheek weld. WOW that’s a big shroud on the 400, is that one of Josh’s ?
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My new Cricket just arrived. I’ll post picts in another thread in a few minutes but most notable the pressure gauge has numbers and no colors! They shipped it with almost 200 bar. 😛 Beautiful wood.