QB18 or QB20?
This air rifle is an experimental model produced by the Shanghai Airgun Factory and shown at the 2009 SHOT Show. It carries the designation QB18, serial number Y802557, but actually was at the show representing the QB20 model. The difference between the QB18 and the QB20 is really just the stock. The QB18 has a wood stock, the QB20 stock is synthetic.
What makes this particular air rifle unique is that the stock is printed with a prototype camoflage pattern - the QB20 shown in the Shanghai catalogue has a black synthetic stock. It's a "one of a kind", at least so far. Do I like it? Well, let's say I'm not keen on the cammo pattern...
I test fired the gun for this blog - certainly the first time it had been fired. There was no dieseling, but the muzzle velocity for three shots averaged 605fps with heavy (8.6g) "Peak" wadcutters, which matches the factory spec of 600fps well - this is a .177 model. Accuracy was commendable too, with my first three three shots making a tight cloverleaf at 10 yards over open sights. And this in spite of an incredibly heavy trigger pull of around 9lbs! This is not typical for the QB18, in my experience.
Overall, a sweet little gun. Light weight (5lbs 12 oz), easy to cock and shoot - with good accuracy. Maybe the factory thought it would never be shot, or they would certainly have done something about the trigger pull.
Will we ever see this model in production? Your guess may be as good as mine...
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5 comments:
Steve, is the cammo Realtree?
No, it's a "home brew" cammo patern. Not so sharp and clear as RealTree. I'm not wild about it.
I just picked up a QB20 from another vendor for my daughters to use. Frankly, I wish I hadn't. Let
me explain why.
Good points:
(1) low price
(2) nice synthetic stock (although the length of pull is very long -- that suits me as a tall adult, but
is less than ideal for my wife and
kids)
(3) good finish on the blued metal parts
Bad points:
(1) *incredibly* heavy trigger pull, about the worst trigger pull I've *ever* experienced
(2) crude sights (hey, how hard would it be just to have a square front blade and a matching square notch rear) instead of "fiber optic" sights that in this case are too small to do anything?
(3) an automatic safety (like that
part) BUT unfortunately, once you've taken it off you can't
put back on unless you "recock" the rifle (DON'T like that part).
(4) in 5.5mm (.22) caliber, an H&N Meisterkugelen doesn't even fully sink into room temperature duct seal; not looking for 1000FPS for a springer trainer, but I think even 450FPS (as claimed in the manual) might be "optimistic" in this case.
Just FYI. Maybe I just got a Monday morning or Friday afternoon unit, or maybe you just get what you pay for, but I'm not impressed.
Hi, anyone know how to relieve the presure in the cylinder. my safety is stuck on and I need to disassemble the Rifle to repair it. Thanks,
Capt. Keith
Capt. Keith,
It sounds as if your gun is cocked and - if so - I STRONGLY recommend taking it to an airgun repair specialist for them to fix. Don't try to fix this yourself!
As with any spring/piston air rifle, you MUST use an airgun spring compressor for any work like this on these airguns. The spring is very powerful and you can cause serious injury to yourself if you get something wrong!
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