New Cricket .25…Taking the Next Step
I decided recently to “bump things up a notch,” and buy a Kalibre Cricket in .25. For the first time I have gotten lucky with an airgun purchase. The Marauder was a bit anemic out of the box and it took adding a hopped up valve to fix that and the Condor has had accuracy issues which, I am in the process of fixing..so all good there. Don’t get me wrong; both are great guns.
But the Cricket arrived after work yesterday, and out of the box…all I can say is, I’m VERY impressed! Solid as a rock…beautiful clean lines…all black tactical look. I think had Borat been here, he might have said: “Great Success…She’s a Nice.”
I cleaned the barrel first thing, (it was filthy), then set it up with the Aeon 6-24X50 that I bought as well. It was chrony’d and checked for accuracy before leaving the retailer and here are their numbers, with JSB 25.4:
969.4; 969.7; 970.1; 970.1; 971.9; 972.7; 970.1; 972.5; 969.5; 974.1
After the set up, I threw a target up at 30 yards. Shot the first shot…right on the bull…held my breath, thinking…please, please, please be a good one and the second shot was right in there too. One flyer or I might have pulled it, then it settled down into grouping like a Mofo-D! :8:
I quickly shot the remaining 5-shot groups (JSB EK’s) before losing the light.
First shots right out of the box….(not sure why I only shot the 3rd bulls-eye once….must have gotten overly excited)
This is looking to be a real “shooter”….good power and accurate…oh, and the trigger? For the first time I understand what people are talking about when they use phrases “crisp” and “breaks like a glass rod.” Not touching the factory setting…works for me. Wonder how this gun will be once broken in. Couldn’t be happier.
For the remainder of the evening I sat on the couch, with it in my lap just looking at it….LOL.
KPinNC
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Hey Drum, When you start messing around with that hammer spring adjuster, a little bit goes a long way there. Also, they usually supply like 3 springs with them in the kit that comes with them. Earnest can give you info on which spring to use with the set up you want. He did my .25 and I don’t have a clue which one is in mine. I also have a hammer spring adjuster that he put in mine that you can adjust without tools, but other than scribing a line in it so I can glance at it and make sure it hasn’t moved, that’s all I’ve done with mine. I ain’t about to go fiddling with it, either one my .25 or .22 for that matter. They shoot too good as it is.
And don’t let ol’ Zonker fool ya, he’s got plenty of how 2’s it too. He helped me out more than once…
Lots of good folks on here… then there’s ol’ “unkel hootie”… 😆
I’m shooting at 880-890 fps. And yes that’s where you’ll start. What are you shooting now, FPS? As you’ve read from Saltwatertaffy I believe the .25s like it around 920fps. It should be fun so enjoy…..
thanks for the info…I manage to find a discussion on the Yellow. Turn the hammer spring adjuster on the back of the gun counter clockwise in small increments to decrease V. I see that on my gun, they got rid of the two little holes on the adjuster and replaced it with an Allen screw slot…much better. I’ll try it after the break in. Hoping for decent weather this weekend!!!!
I am no expert on tuning these, just shooting them. Hoot, Sir Ville, Ernest, and others have much knowledge tuning the Cricket. PM any of them and I’m sure they’ll be of help. And :tag:
Zonk, OUTSTANDING!!!!!
Yes I have a Chrony…but would like a procedure, if you can supply one.
k
Yes you’ll need a crony to adjust speed. This was last years shooting…
Hate to hear that. No way to get that replaced?
Zonk, thanks…I was shooting in a hurry and that’s the very first target…which is really an impressive thing, (not my shooting but the fact that the gun shoots so well before break in). Once I run say 1000 shot through it, which won’t take long, I’ll re-evaluate and see what needs to be done. I’m hoping not much 10-4 on the cleaning…but one question. Can the hammer spring be adjusted looser?
Man 3/8-1/2″ at 50? that’s sa-weet!!!
Thanks
KP
KP, nice shooting there. The more you shoot that thing the better it’ll shoot. Every tin you should probably clean your barrel as the .25 will dirty quicker than the .22. Also lapping the barrel will help in keeping it cleaner. My .22 will shoot 3/8″ to 1/2″ at 50 yards on calm days. What a great gun indeed.
:rofl: lets just say I was one of the unlucky ones lol. still love the gun though.
Uh, though I’m curious, I’m not going to touch that one…… 😳
I just about spit Dr. Pepper all over my screen! Got it up the nose trying to stop it! :suprisedn:
sounds awesome and congrats! want to trade shrouds? 😆
Thanks SaltwaterSlick. Yeah I was thinking that 970 might be a wee bit hot. Nice to know it’s there for heavier pellets. My other guns are around 900-920fps. I know that JSB EK’s like it around 920 for sure. Not sure at this point how to ease off that spring. Need to learn some stuff before tearing into it and really, I think I’ll just enjoy breaking it in for a while, then see where things lie. If you have any vid. links with some how-to’s please forward. I’m going to re-chrony it this weekend, as this gun came from CO, at altitude and might have been firing faster in the thinner air when they chrony’d it. Unlikely but…maybe. I saw one of Tofazfou’s video’s where they were shooting at altitude with something like 2 mil dots less hold over? Wow. that probably accounts more for the thinner air then atmospheric pressure. I’m pretty much more or less at sea lever here in NC. Thanks for the tips…duly noted!
Like you said…the addiction never ends!
KPinNC
Man I know EXACTLY how you feel. That was my progression too… from a CondorSS to the Cricket .25…. What a great gun! Looking at your shot string, you might want to ease off on that Hammer Spring a bit and get the speed down in the 920’s or so… Mine threw spirals on the pellets when it was that hot. When I backed it down, it instantly became a tack driver out to 75 yards and beyond. I didn’t really notice the spiraling until I set it up with one of those Ted specials (Casio Exilm camera and mount) and shot some slo-mo video… With the right lighting and target background, it was perfectly clear. It was like magic when I went from the 950 mark down to the 920 mark how it looked like I was shooting different pellets…
Just something you will want to check out as you get used to your new bug…
Welcome to the next phase of the addiction! My next step was a .22 Cricket… FUN to shoot! more shots and another tack driver… Next on my list is likely a .25 Vulcan when they become available… It never ends!
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Here’s my adjuster…
Don’t have a clue what it’s for……..