Taipan Mutant vs. Edgun Matador R3

According to Wikipedia, the inland taipan is considered to be the most venomous land snake related to the cobra family. Taipans move fast and possess highly neurotoxic venom and other toxic substances, which paralyze victim’s nervous system and clot the blood. Taipans are considered some of the most deadly known snakes. One drop of the inland taipan’s venom can kill up to 100 men (bioweb.uwlax.edu). The inland taipan is shy and rarely attacks. The taipan mutant can even be more deadly based on what you have seen in the mutant turtles created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

Dman/Jaime and Ernest have posted very positive reviews on the Taipan Mutant – the mighty beast created in the Ukraine. The high air efficiency is intriguing to me, but it remains many mysteries concerning this particular strain of Taipan. Dman finally sent me his beloved Mutant to play with. Thanks Dman!

Here are my thoughts on the Mutant, and I intended to compare it with my “aged” Edgun Matador R3. I have to say it in the front that this is just my personal opinion on the comparison.

Machining: The machining of the Mutant is outstanding, very smooth, polished very well, no sharp edges and corners, and slightly glossy in the metal, outstanding finishing I would say. It looks and feels better than my R3s.

Stock: The quality of the stock is okay (i.e., serve the purpose). The Mutant stock is also well machined and shoulders comfortably for me. My R3 stock looks and feels better than the Mutant in appearance.

Hand Grip: The Mutant grip is very ergonomic and just the right size for my hands. It is very comfortable and no sharp edges. I like it much better than the R3.

Cocking: The lever cocking is butter smooth, effortless and flawless, period. The bolt cocking in my R3 is also very smooth after polishing and lubing the chamber.

Cocking Lever: The lever is ambidextrous. You can swap mutant lever to left or to right, a thoughtful design. R3?

Magazine Indexing: The magazine is very easy to install. It cycles very well but you will need to count the shot to know the last shot or you will need to put a marker/label on the magazine wall to tell where you are at. I had some dry fires without knowing the last shot. I have no experience with the Edgun magazine and its cycling, so no comparison on this.

Single-Shot Tray: The tray is easy to drop in, and very smooth. I don’t know if the single-shot tray is available for the R3M from the factory.

Scope Rail: The rail is very well made. My Burris Signature Z rings fit into it very well. The R3 rail has an angle to accommodate long-range shooting. But I don’t know if the Mutant has the same. I put on my SS scope and sighted it in at 30 yards without any problem.

Trigger: This is one of the best parts of the Mutant. Dman has turned the trigger really well, light, smooth, and crispy break. It is very consistent. This is much better than the R3s I have (both.22 and .25). The Mutant trigger is fully adjustable. Unlike R3, the first and second stage adjustments are independent in the Mutant. The tension for each stage is also adjustable. Did I say it is super smooth? The smoothness of the trigger makes you feel good and enjoyable during shooting. There is a tiny hole beside the trigger adjustment screws. I don’t know what that is for, but I think you can apply a needle drop of glue to that hole to prevent the movement of the screw to ensure the consistency of the trigger. Although I don’t use it, the Mutant trigger has a simple and effective safety. Overall, the Mutant is much superior than the R3 in trigger category.

Speed Consistency: I have shot more than 5 strings at different days and times. Dman adjusted his gun to shoot 880-890 fps, I consistently got 887-890 fps in mean velocity (from 6 string) with 2.0 to 2.7 fps SD and 7 to 13 fps in max spread. The shot-to-shot variation is within 2.0 to 3.0 fps, with majority of them at 2.0 – 2.2 fps. Based on my record, the Mutant is slightly better than my R3 in SD, max spread, and shot-to-shot variation.

Air Efficiency: Dman had 10.4 cc-bar/FPE in his string (see topic on “Meet the Taipan Mutant… update”). I believe he turned down the reg pressure a little bit (?). He tethered the gun with a large tank and closed the tank valve to use the large tank gauge for accuracy purpose. I read off the pressure change directly from the small gauge in the gun, and the calculated air efficiency is between 11.2 to 12.1 cc-bar/FPE (average 11.6 from 6 strings). In general, it is about 1.87 to 2 bar/shot (JSB 18 grain with 885-890 fps). The speed drops at ~118 bars. From 220 bar to 118 bar (or 115 bar in some strings), you will get ~55 shots with consistent velocity. My R3 has air efficiency ~12.2 cc-bar/FPE, which is close to the Mutant, but I have to said the Mutant edges out my R3. On the other hand, the R3 has larger air reservoir, and I can get 68 to 72 shots with 200-bar fill. Concerning the shot count, R3 wins. I don’t know if the Mutant air usage can be further “improved” by changing reg setting, hammer weight/spring, or valve spring…

Sound Report: The loudness is similar to that of R3, the Mutant may be slightly louder because of its high-pitch sound signature. This is very subjective…but the wife also says Mutant is louder.

Shroud: OD is 30.5 mm, shroud has some baffle inserts. The end-cap is a screw-in type, so it gives the possibility of installing an add-on LDC to further reduce the report. It is difficult to install LDC to the R3 without making a new shroud and adding adaptor for the LDC. In terms of the convenience of installing LDC, the Mutant wins.

HST Adjustment: Mutant has an external HST adjuster, very nicely made, easy to adjust and it is very responsive. There is a side screw to prevent the accidental turn of the adjuster. There is no HST preload on the spring so you can reduce the speed to zero if you want it to. In R3, you need to remove the stock to adjust HST, and the adjuster is difficult to turn and the thread of the adjuster is easily damaged by the little set screw (there is improved adjuster in newer version of the R3 and R3M). My R3 .25 came with damaged HST screw.

Air Filling: The fill hole can be closed by turning the cap, a very nice design, which R3 does not have. You can adjust the location of the fill hole in the Mutant. Dman didn’t send me the fill probe because it was not included in his original package. No problem at all because the probe is compatible with the Edgun probe. But the fill speed in the Mutant is kind of slow. I believe the fill speed is adjustable from the air-inlet screw in gauge assembly.

Pressure Gauge: Same as the Edgun air gauge (Kiwa).

Accuracy: This is the most important subject. A nicely made gun without accuracy is like a hamburger without meat. I am not a good shooter, I just wanted to find out what the Mutant is capable of in my hands. I normally shoot with bipods, but I specifically purchased the Caldwell front and rear bags to test Mutant accuracy. Although it is not thorough, at 30 yard one-pellet hole accuracy is achievable by the Mutant (see some groups in the picture). I tested it with different head size of JSB pellets from 5.46 mm to 5.51 mm (~18.1 grain). It appears that the Mutant likes 5.50-5.51 mm better (target #9 and #10). The groups seem to become larger for smaller head size (5.46-5.49 mm, targets #6, #7, and #8). At 50 yards, the Mutant is capable of producing 0.20” to 0.30” groups with 5.48 mm to 5.51 mm head, when I am in the good mood. The 0.3” to 0.4” group is very common (see some groups in picture). Those shootings were done under windy conditions and sometime with rain. The R3 LW barrel is specifically made to use JSB 18.1 pellets, but the spec of JSB pellet keeps changing and is inconsistent, head size from 5.46 mm to 5.53 mm (most recently was 5.47-5.48 mm), thin to thick skirt, different sizes and depths of head-base… which is very annoying and causes many fliers. My R3 only likes the “old-style” JSB (thin skirt, wider but shallower head-base, and 5.50 mm head size). My Edgun is the first generation R3, its barrel might be different from the newer models. Nevertheless, the Mutant is not that picky and much easier to shoot with compared to the R3. I like the Mutant better.

Conclusion: In some aspects, I feel that the Mutant is superior than my R3. Ernest said: “This thing put the Edgun and cricket in the back Seat‼” now I understand what he means. He also said, “1: All the negative things I know about the edgun and crickets you don’t see on the Mutant. 2: All the positive things I see on the Mutant I don’t see them on the edguns or crickets.” I don’t know about the Crickets since I don’t have one, but concerning the Edgun, R3 in my case, I agree with him.

Regards,
Endo

30-yard target:

50-yard target: