Norica Marvic 2.0 in .177"

[averageplinker]

I picked up this Spanish break barrel when on offer recently by Pellpax. The usual RRP is claimed to be £244.95 and they were selling them for £84.99 plus £20 postage...It seemed rude not to buy myself one at that price. I will note my initial impressions here and update it as I use it more.....

(Please bear in mind I have only put about 100 shots through her so far)

Overview
- It is a long full sized break barrel, with a shallow and fairly straight stock (which makes it look even longer, but I think it looks quite smart)
- Unscoped the balance point is a little ahead of the trigger guard
- The open sights are cheap looking but work fine
- The metal work and wood finishes are great for the price paid (ok/good for a £250 rifle)

Cocking stroke
- It takes a bit of effort to cock the rifle, certainly not a junior rifle in size of effort
- The cocking has smoothed a little in use
- When first received, the last bit of the cocking stroke needed a bit of extra effort to ensure the safety engaged. When I later downloaded the manual it noted if the trigger was adjusted too light the safety engagement can be affected. It was quite light so I wound in the trigger tension screw a little and low and behold the safety now engages more readily

Firing cycle = jump, buzz, twang It seems a little better with lighter pellets. Maybe it will get smoother with use? Maybe it will need a fettle?

Trigger
- The trigger is meant to be a 2 stage trigger but at the current setting I can feel no stages
- As it is, it is an ok single stage trigger, certainly much better than I had a few years back on a Hatsan Stryker in .25"
- I am hopeful of being able to adjust it to my liking at some point in the future

I have mounted a scope and have been been trying several pellets in it whilst getting my eye back in as I have hardly been shooting during the pandemic.

Next I will try some proper accuracy testing, and to that end tonight I have cleaned the barrel ready to see what accuracy I can achieve with JSB exact express. It needed several pull throughs with oiled patches.

I will add to this review as I use her more.
Rich.

[averageplinker]

So today I had a day off, and apart from having loads of life admin and chores to do I thought I would try some accuracy testing with JSB Exact Express in the now clean barrel.

Testing was done on a bench at the club I use, scope was set at 9x, range was 25yds, fore end of the stock rested on the palm my hand which was rested on a shooting bag.

It should be born in mind that I have hardly shot in 2 years, and not any springers, so I need practice.

Given the caveat above I was really quite pleased with the accuracy. Taking 5 shot groups I was seeing groups between the size of a 5p to 1p coins. I couldn't manage to keep 10 shot groups that small which would end up between the size of a 10p to 2p coin.

I think there are 3 limitations to the ultimate accuracy here:
#1 Me - I need to practice
#2 The trigger - I think tweaking the set up might aid accuracy
#3 The firing cycle - is quite harsh, but not unusually so for a factory spec springer

By way of comparison I had also taken my .22" Mk1 HW85 which is running a TBT kit including a short stroke nose extension. It will not surprise you to hear that cocking and firing this is a lot smoother than the Norica. It is also a lot easier to cock which confirms my initial feeling that the cocking effort is high in the Norica.

Rich.

[TonyL]

Will you be trying a few more pellet types, Rich?

[averageplinker]

My earlier testing with a few domed pellets and 1 flat head suggested that the barrel isn't particularly fussy as long as the pellets are of a good quality (RWS, AA (JSB), JSB et al. The firing cycle with lighter pellets was nicer hence why I selected express to properly test the accuracy @25 yds.

I have a feeling if I push the range further I would need to redo the pellet testing to check which hold it together best at up to 45yds (in case the rebel/nutter in me does decide to use it for a couple of HFT shoots for a giggle).

Currently I am toying with the idea of plinking away with a tin of cheaper pellets I have knocking about to run her in before doing more accuracy testing with good pellets.
Rich.