For anyone interested in the Independence mine has finally arrived, not had chance to put some lead downrange yet but I’ve had a good poke around and here’s my impression so far;

Fit/finish
- Very very good, and surprisingly comfortable to hold, feels good and stable on the shot. I was worried that with such a high magazine and no adjustable cheek I’d struggle to get a scope settled where I wanted it but its clearly been thought through in the stock design. The finish is very nice, machining is excellent and nothing feels 'cheap'. Without a scope it is very pointable despite that extra weight from the pump. I would recommend a lighter weight scope to keep the balance sweet.

Features
- The pump is easy to use and not very taxing at all, possible a little more effort than the old match grade SSPs but you really don’t notice it. In .177 at the 190bar Mark I am getting one shot to one pump with no problems. Cocking is nice, magazine is just another FX tensioned mag so nothing new to report there. Lots of rail space on the breech and the safety is nice and solid once set up (more on this in a minute) even though it can only be used when cocked.

As I said no lead downrange yet so I can’t comment on accuracy but the chrono readings are fantastic. The trigger is finished well but it’s setup from factory was not good but it’s super easy and intuitive to adjust, and I now have it set exactly as I want it and is exceptionally crisp. You can also adjust how the safety acts upon the trigger blade, which must be done once you’ve set the trigger up.

I’m very impressed so far and if it groups well then it’s a keeper for me!