In response to an enquiry in the General Airgun section, I think it's time for an update.

Here we are 10 months or so on, and the Phoenix has seen an awful lot of service in that time. My doubts about the schrader valve haven't been realised, with the valve needing to be replaced only once in the 10 months I've had the gun. I've got another couple of valves in the gun case if they're needed, and I'd recommend other owners do the same, but it looks good now.

Reliability's been excellent, the shot count stays high at 90 odd shots per charge, and there's been no loss of performance. The stock's benefited from a thorough oiling with stock oil and looks great, the blueing's stood up to the rough and tumble of intensive hunting, and the accuracy's still spot on.

A bit more experimentation with pellet sizes and different makes has shown that my barrel prefers Daystate 4.51 or 4.53 - both better than 4.52 for some odd reason. 10mm groups at 38 yards in windless conditions prone rested are fairly standard.

It still hates Air Arms pellets - I think it's something to do with the shape of the pellet probe and the thinness of the Air Arms skirt.

It's produced the same HFT scores as my Ben Taylor regulated S400, the trigger's just a little more positive in feel - i.e. the S400's just a little bit too light (I suppose I could adjust it if I could be bothered), whereas the Phoenix has just a bit more positive feel at the second stage break point, without being in any way heavy. Much preferable in my opinion.

Magazine cycling remains reliable and positive with no glitches showing up.

All good - nothing bad to report.

Recommended.