I’m sure I don’t have to justify this on here, but for one reason and another I felt like treating myself to a new gun recently, nothing fancy (and certainly not to upgrade from my Izh46) but just for the odd bit of plinking for which I’m happy with a single-shot springer – as I explained in a shop that otherwise only had CO2 pistols. So, on the basis that it didn’t seem too bad, and it was cheap, I bought one of these (well, the clue is in the title).

It is, of course, a fairly typical cheap chinese springer – blued steel and wood, but roughly finished. One major exception to this is the rearsight which is largely plastic but does offer proper, click-stop adjustments for elevation and windage. It is similar to the rearsight on the old Gamo underlevers, with the elevation screw underneath the cylinder end block. The foresight also appears to be a synthetic block, presumably a push-fit over the muzzle, and between them they give a reasonable sight picture.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n...%20QS24/02.jpg

The end block is secured by a single vertical pin, and incorporates a short mainspring guide although I didn’t notice quite how well it fitted the spring. The rough finish on the mainspring and piston can also be seen, but there is at least a synthetic piston seal. The breech seal, on the other hand, was a compacted mass of leather, almost certainly useless; once it had all been dug out I was able to find an o-ring (with another behind purely to act as a spacer) that fits and seems to work well enough.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n...%20QS24/03.jpg

With the grip removed, the trigger mechanism is exposed which is itself contained in a removable housing. The essence of the mechanism is that the trigger rotates the long horizontal lever supporting, at its rear end, the sear; this removes the support from the sear, allowing it move from the path of the piston. The trigger is actually remarkably good; there is what appears to be an adjustment screw bearing on the intermediate lever - this is only accessible with the grip off – although I haven’t tried adjusting this to see quite how much difference, if any, it makes.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n...%20QS24/04.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n...%20QS24/05.jpg

The other, irregularly-shaped lever forms part of the safety. This lies alongside, and just behind, the trigger pivot; pulling the trigger causes it to rotate, moving the front end down where it will be blocked – and so prevent the trigger from any further movement – by the sliding safety catch in the trigger guard when it is applied. The safety is also applied automatically as the gun is cocked, pushed back by the cocking link.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n...%20QS24/06.jpg

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Handling-wise, the safety is one of the poorer features as there is very little travel between on and – pushed forward – off, leaving access to the trigger still a bit cramped. I’ve now removed the safety catch, which also makes re-assembling the trigger mechanism a bit easier; the cocking link still blocks movement of the trigger itself while the gun is opened.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n...%20QS24/08.jpg

The grip isn’t too bad as it comes, the rear edge of the trigger guard might get in the way for some but it doesn’t give me any problems. In spite of the gun’s low power, around 300 ft/s, cocking isn’t as comfortable as it could be due to the shape of the foresight and the relatively short cocking stroke of less than 90 degrees. I did try using a Webley Typhoon cocking aid but, while it will fit, it doesn’t sit neatly and feel secure enough to use.

At this point I’d like to have been able to say I’ve tried it at the club and actually got a reasonable group at 10 metres. Well, half true at least. I didn’t persevere with it for too long, but I was getting a long vertical string of shots up roughly the left-hand third of the card. If the group had been as tall as it was wide, I would’ve been happy; at least there is enough adjustment in the sights to zero the gun at 10 metres.

Regards,

Iain