The dreaded Chinese B2 Review

[TonyV]

Hi all,

Some of you will hate this but it had to be done..

Given the bad press these UK imported Chinese guns have and their impact on the local market, I decided to buy one for my 12 year old son, who's a total newcommer to shooting, and see if they really are value for money or just not worth having. I also love tinkering so I figured a cheap rifle is easier to bin if it all goes wrong :D

I received mine yesterday from combatcammo.co.uk - they sell the B2 .177 carbine for £25.
The gun arrived in a flimsy carboard box with no padding and had suffered an impact on the butt that will need polishing out at some point. Other bits that I had paid for in my order did not manifest and I trust COMBATCAMMO will see to it that they do ASAP - it would help if they were to pickup their phone..

Anyway, the gun itself looks quite well made, no flimsy plastic bits - all wood and metal as far as I can tell. It is a carbine with no fore sight yet the rear sight is left on the gun, probably because it is welded on.

There's no rust anywhere, the rifle was covered in what smells like motor oil, the stock is solid yet slightly smaller than a full rifle stock (compared with my ASI Magnum), it is light, quite well balanced and I was lucky enough to find that my old Crosman silencer slips straight on.

Judging by the looks of it, its safe to say that the original sights are total crap and a dovetail mounted scope is essential. Fortunately it has these and I fitted a 3-9x40 SMK scope with two piece mounts within minutes.

Cocking is begun by means of a thumb-push lock mechanism. Pushing it forwards, the barrel rotates down an inch exposing the loading port and the barrel can then be pulled back to compress and lock the spring. The effort required is reasonable although it is quite a rough experience.

The loading port appears quite tight as I could'nt get a Rabbit Magnum .177 into it but all other pellets I tried fitted OK (I have 12 different types at home).

The first shot out of it produced enough smoke to drop visibility in our corridor by 70% :o

I shot into a 1/2" piece of wood and was pleasantly surprised to see it penetrate deeper than pellets fired by my ASI Magnum, indicating that it must be producing at least 10ftlbs.

I needed to get this onto a range and see how it groups so my son and I went down to the 1St Ealing Rifle Club (not far from me, fortunately) and we tuned the scope to 20yds.

This is when we realised how unbelievably heavy the trigger is :eek: the piston thump and subsequent recoil is bone-juddering and because of this we found we couldnt achieve better than 10cm groups at 20yds :D

In conclusion, although I like the size/feel and looks of the thing, I would strongly NOT recommend buying one UNLESS you are prepared (as I am) to strip it down and polish/relube the entire gun, with special emphasis on the trigger mechanism.

Out of the box, it should be considered an unfinished project and I'd say its only good for plinking to around 12 yards although a lucky shot from it would probably kill most vermin at 40.

Tony.

[rusham]

Hi all,


we found we couldnt achieve better than 10cm groups at 20yds :D



That's pretty good really, I could only throw a B2 15 yards:D

[Kingplinker]

Good review but what gun powder do you use ? :D

Can you kick start it in the cold ? :cool:

Has you batting score improved since getting the B2 ? :p

Jokes aside if it gets your boy interested in our sport it can only be a good thing !

Dave

[Cocker (sp)]

Hi all,

Some of you will hate this but it had to be done..
I have one, but was too scared to admit it, let along do a review.

Given the bad press these UK imported Chinese guns have and their impact on the local market, I decided to buy one for my 12 year old son, who's a total newcommer to shooting, and see if they really are value for money or just not worth having. I also love tinkering so I figured a cheap rifle is easier to bin if it all goes wrong :D
Just might put him off for life :D

I received mine yesterday from combatcammo.co.uk - they sell the B2 .177 carbine for £25.
The gun arrived in a flimsy carboard box with no padding and had suffered an impact on the butt that will need polishing out at some point. Other bits that I had paid for in my order did not manifest and I trust
If you polish it out, the gun will have just one new polished bit.. £25 quid, you were ripped off well and truely, mine was £22.50

Anyway, the gun itself looks quite well made, no flimsy plastic bits - all wood and metal as far as I can tell. It is a carbine with no fore sight yet the rear sight is left on the gun, probably because it is welded on.
Correct not flimsy at all, it's made from genuine melted down railway tracks

There's no rust anywhere, the rifle was covered in what smells like motor oil, the stock is solid yet slightly smaller than a full rifle stock (compared with my ASI Magnum), it is light, quite well balanced and I was lucky enough to find that my old Crosman silencer slips straight on.
Used motor oil, they couldn't afford new

Judging by the looks of it, its safe to say that the original sights are total crap and a dovetail mounted scope is essential. Fortunately it has these and I fitted a 3-9x40 SMK scope with two piece mounts within minutes.
Another 4 hours trying to figure out the scope was zero'd fine, but the rifle had a zero mind of it's own..

Cocking is begun by means of a thumb-push lock mechanism. Pushing it forwards, the barrel rotates down an inch exposing the loading port and the barrel can then be pulled back to compress and lock the spring. The effort required is reasonable although it is quite a rough experience.
crack,creek,clunk

The loading port appears quite tight as I could'nt get a Rabbit Magnum .177 into it but all other pellets I tried fitted OK (I have 12 different types at home).
Use just a pellet, using a rabbit down there is never going to work, not even as a bore cleaner

The first shot out of it produced enough smoke to drop visibility in our corridor by 70% :o
Hmm, lots of used engine oil up there too then..

I shot into a 1/2" piece of wood and was pleasantly surprised to see it penetrate deeper than pellets fired by my ASI Magnum, indicating that it must be producing at least 10ftlbs.
At least 10ftlbs...then again it might be a chunk of balsa you shot, tell the truth

I needed to get this onto a range and see how it groups so my son and I went down to the 1St Ealing Rifle Club (not far from me, fortunately) and we tuned the scope to 20yds.
Tuning the scope is going to have much more power than tuning the b2 rifle itself..

This is when we realised how unbelievably heavy the trigger is :eek: the piston thump and subsequent recoil is bone-juddering and because of this we found we couldnt achieve better than 10cm groups at 20yds :D
I've been using the new style '2 trigger finger technique' I can now pull it adequetly without getting single finger strain. Infact I am working on the 'triple finger' just now, but the blade is a little short..

In conclusion, although I like the size/feel and looks of the thing, I would strongly NOT recommend buying one UNLESS you are prepared (as I am) to strip it down and polish/relube the entire gun, with special emphasis on the trigger mechanism.
Consider a vmach conversion, then again £800 is a lot to pay:D :D

Out of the box, it should be considered an unfinished project and I'd say its only good for plinking to around 12 yards although a lucky shot from it would probably kill most vermin at 40.
Lucky, I would say, hitting a wooly mamoth at 40yrds would be a bloody miracle

Tony.


Top review there m8

[Marko]

...the loctite for when the screws start to come out! For the record, mine crono's at about 7-8ft/lbs after having about 300 pellets put through it. I have broken my index finger twice while pulling the trigger and I thought it had become diseased when I left it alone for a month due to the amount of rust which had appeared all over it! However, with the very first shot, I did hit the target at 40 yards.

[Cocker (sp)]

... I did hit the target at 40 yards.

Tell us more, what target was that, A bright yellow JCB, The Post office tower, Edinburgh Castle?

[TonyV]

Yes I know, it performs pretty much as expected.. but do you know that charlydatuner.com actually has a trigger mod for the thing? The Yanks really do make them shoot sweet.

No, I wont waste money buying better bits for it, but I will polish and give a good seeing to its internals using Paddy's molly spray.

I really think that if I can soften the trigger a little, it will shoot like any other midrange springer (my ASI Magnum included) and thats all I'd expect really.

I wasnt joking about the power though, it did penetrate most of the way through a 1/2" plank of pine. That may well have been due to dieseling though so I wont even bother trying to chronograph the thing until I've reworked it and put a few 100 pellets through it.

I'll loadup a pic of it later on so everyone can recognise one and avoid it like the plague :D

[Cocker (sp)]

I'll loadup a pic of it later on so everyone can recognise one and avoid it like the plague :D

Don't do it, its hideous.

If you do, I will be forced to upload a pic of mine also....

...Just prove yours wasn't a one off.....:D

[queens_own]

Hi All,
I too fired my friends B2 and found the trigger to be a little tight! well alright a lot tight, I then found out what they mean by equal and opposite forces! with my right hand and finger pulling on the trigger and my left trying to hold the gun on target....not easy, how I envy you people who got groups in inches at 20 yards!!!
It would probably be easier to stalk the rabbits and then bash them over the head with it.:p

Ken

[Reeco]

Hi Mate, If you are prepared to strip give it a good clean and polish, it should shoot a little bit better. I think you are right in your thinking, if you bought your Son a state of the art air rifle and he didn't like it, you would have had to sell it on at a great loss, so if he can learn to shot one of these, he is going to be a better shot with a nicer rifle, this is for sure, if and when you buy a nice air rifle for him, he will really appreciate how well it is built. Good Luck al the same. ATB. Reeco

[Cocker (sp)]

you would have had to sell it on at a great loss,

True, might loose 50% of its value, let me think £12.50?

so if he can learn to shot one of these, he is going to be a better shot with a nicer rifle, this is for sure
Again, true, he'll be a world champion in no time

Dave

[Reeco]

Hi Me Old Cocker, writing before we think again are we lol @ u, only kidding Mate, this is what I wrote,
" if you bought your Son a state of the art air rifle and he didn't like it, you would have had to sell it on at a great loss "
Meaning if he say bought a HW 95 K and his son didn't like shooting or air rifles, he would then have to sell for say 60 - 70 % of it's value.

You spot on about becoming a world champion though lol. ATB. Reeco

[TonyV]

You see, you lot just dont understand child psychology..

My son's initial reaction after shooting the B2 at home a couple of times was "I think I'll leave it for now, dad, I need my finger for the PC mouse..", he has a thing for his PC and hardly ever goes out because of it.

I then, mercilessly, dragged him away from his neverending war strategy game and took him to the range where he spent a further 2 painful, yet enjoyable hours, firing the B2.

Then, rather craftily, I whispered to him that airguns with crisp, light triggers and no recoil actually exist and that whether he will actually own one depends entirely on how well he does in his next set of school tests :D

My uncle did something similar to me when I went over to live with them in Spain as a kid. He bought me a bike and said I could ride it for 30min. for every storybook page I translated from Spanish into English. It was hard, given that I didnt know Spanish at the time, but I did learn bloody quick :)

[Cocker (sp)]

I was given my B2, I will never sell it, just wanted to see the other side, It makes me appreciate the ultimate springs guns I own even more. :D

Great laugh it is indeed. :D

I will happily loan, lend or borrow it to any of my club members, knowing it can only come back improved....

Did I say it was the best calibre, .22?

.
.

[kevmar]

I would enjoy the challenge,
and try to make it
perform at it's best with some tlc and decent essentials
e.g spring and guide,and lubes as you say.
Like a lot of things in life there is a lot of snobbery and one up manship
mines bigger then,,,,,,,,,etc.
It would be quite a thrill ,out shooting guns costing 20/30 times more
with this little springer.
Kev. ;)

[Cocker (sp)]

I would enjoy the challenge,
and try to make it
perform at it's best with some tlc and decent essentials
e.g spring and guide,and lubes as you say.
Like a lot of things in life there is a lot of snobbery and one up manship
mines bigger then,,,,,,,,,etc.
It would be quite a thrill ,out shooting guns costing 20/30 times more
with this little springer.
Kev. ;)

Exactly my point, they are fun.

[TonyV]

Rest assured that I will feedback how it shoots after my relube. I wont use any new parts though, just polish, molly and LT2 grease. My son also wants me to hack off and file down the rear sight - he says it spoils the gun's mean looks; bless him..

Tony.

[dunn220]

It would be quite a thrill ,out shooting guns costing 20/30 times more
with this little springer.
Kev. ;)

not quite as bad but i was shooting at the club on sunday (admittedly only zeroing with 1 other member@ 30 yards), should have seen his expression when we commented on the targets.......his aa400 against my xs79, the groupings were the same.....:D even he was impressed when i told him the cost of it......:) :) :)............

[roger]

I've got an old B2, Trigger is crap and it smokes more than Dot Cotton. However, on my makeshift 6M indoor range, my 9 yr old daughter consitantly shoots 96 ex 100 on 10m targets. I know its short range, but she can shoot it much better than I can......she's never used anything with a decent trigger and thinks its great, because she can put pellet on pellet and beat her Dad!!!

[REwulf]

I only got back into air rifle shooting after 25 years when I bought an old sharp e innova .22.
With it I thought hitting a beer can at 30 yards was an acheivment!
Things have changed since with getting to A grade in FT.Obviousley not with the sharpe ,but.
If I hadnt got that Sharpe.....

[TonyV]

Roger: yes its ideal for kids as it is relatively small and light in weight. Do you have the carbine version? - if not just lop a few inches off as it will be even easier for her and you wont notice any difference in accuracy :rolleyes:

I've stripped mine down already and am happy to say its all solid inside. The only plastic part is the round cap that closes off the chamber, behind the spring and trigger holding pin. I was shocked, however, to find that all the parts within are coated with black paint, making them about as slippery as a rubber matt.. I think it will vastly improve once I'm done with it.

I'll upload some pics and more on the rebuild soon.

Tony.

[fossil]

Hi Tony.
I bought one a few months back,I stripped and polished it and
made a replacment piston head out of alliminium and an o-ring,
I also drilled and tapped the front of the trigger guard at an
angle so that I could screw a bolt to push the trigger back to make it adjustable,just be careful not to over adjust it.They used this method on
a lot of the old bsa and webley air guns so it must be alright.:)

regards.
tony.

[Jega]

I'm sure this must ring a lot of bells with other parents it certainly did with me .O.K. so the B2 isn't the greatest piece of kit in the world but you have to start some where without risking losing a shed load of money if the young un doesn't take to it .
For my part my son got a B2 for his birthday last year and loved it ,shooting up coke cans ,targets ,barbie dolls etc it also gave us a chance to teach him how to use a rifle SAFELY .Santa was very good to him this year and left a nice new HW99S under the tree along with a 3-9 x50 scope .After about 6 months with the B2 he really appreciates his new gun and is already getting very accurate with it so much so he is wanting to have a go at the NEFTA series this year.
So lets not slag our oriental brothers too much ,yes it would be nice if a British manufacturer could knock them out at these ridiculously low prices but the main thing is it gets the young 'uns interested.

[Reeco]

Hi All, Jega spot on, If more youngsters get in the sport of air gunning by way of the B2, then so be it. I can tell you this It wouldn't matter to me what rifle you have as long as you enjoy the sport. ATB. Reeco

[TonyV]

Hi Tony (fossil),

I wish I had the facilities and skills to machine parts too :(. Even a small hobby lathe would come in well handy.

I was thinking about doing just that to the trigger, to reduce creep, but I have nowhere to drill it properly and would probably screw it up if I attempted it with just a hand drill.

How did yours shoot after reworking?
Did the aluminium piston significantly reduce recoil?

Cheers,
Tony.

[fossil]

Hi Tony.
My gun does shoot nice for a cheap chinese,If you clean
and polish the gun and lube it properly you will probably
do just as well with the leather washer.
The best mod is the trigger adjusting bolt, it tranforms the gun no end.:)

regards.

tony.

[TonyV]

Tony: just finished testing it after putting it back together again.

It shoots great now (see my other post) and I get hardly any creep - the trigger is really crisp!

Tony.

[Supersonic65]

Don't knock 'em too much....

1 year ago my 14yo stepson decided he wanted an air rifle and asked his Dad (who is the thickest, irresponsible d1ckhead you've ever met) for one, he got the the usual response of 'got no money, blah blah blah'. I thought I'd get in quick and teach him the SAFE, SENSIBLE way to do things, so I bought a pair of B2s.

I'll point out at this stage that I hadn't touched or owned an airgun for over 25 years but during my military time had shot SLR, SA80, GPMG, LMG, AK47, UZI, S&W pistols, Browning 9mm among others.

Upon receipt we stripped them, cleaned them, nicked a pallet from work and salvaged anything that could be shot from the bin!! having mastered iron sights we bought a couple of cheap scopes that get knocked out of zero every 20 shots! we had a cracking 20 yd range in the g/fs garden.

we both got hooked and since then i have purchased an AA410 plus gubbins, a BSA Ultra plus gubbins, 4 CO2 pistols, 3 spring pistols and a Crosman Nightstalker plus all sorts of odds and sods (damn you ****!!)

We always start every session with a bit of fun with the B2's and an iron sight competition though.

Moral of the story - the B2 is a gateway to better things!

PS i was right about the real dad - his first 'go' with the B2 he took a pot shot at next doors satellite dish - tw@t!!!

Mock at your peril!!

PPS Extra strong mints make satisfyingly exploding targets!!!!

Nige

[Reeco]

Hi All, Supersonic, Nice story and great reading, from small acorns grow big trees. ATB. Reeco