I FINALLY got mine out to the range!!!
I was in a great mood to begin with as I hadnt been shooting in over a month. The day just got better when I pulled out my SU-22.
Zeroing the iron sights was easy. The rear peep sight adjusts in reliably consistent increments. Once I got everything dialled in I was breaking clays at 100m without too much trouble.
Then I mounted a small Bushnell TRS-25 red dot sight I also got from Wanstalls and zeroed that in. WOW! This sight was made for this gun. I installed it, adjusted it close to where the irons aimed and was bang on in no time. I had to spend a little more time getting used to the red dot dight picture, but it wasnt too long before I was consistently shooting 1" five round groups at 25m from a seated, unsupported position. That is pretty impressive for a short, midweight barrelled rifle. With a bit of magnification and a rest, I bet this gun will do way better. But that wasnt the thing that impressed me the most about the rifle.
There are two things that make this gun stand out in my mind.
1) That is achieves pretty good accuracy with such low weight. With a varmint style
.22 at the shoulder, you cant really hold your point of aim too long. While waiting for that perfect shot, the weight of the gun starts to get to you and you start to loose your stability. This thing feels like it weights NOTHING when you are looking down the sights. It feels like I can hold it on target all day long.
2) This gun seems to happily eat anything! I had some AE 38gr hollowpoints, some Winchester 37gr hollowpoints, and some CCI subsonics. Some of the ammo I brough with me today, I found at the bottom of my hunting pack. It was a partial box that had been rattling around in there for god knows how long. The only stoppage I had out of the 350 rounds I fired today was a failure to fire from this box.
Even with the quiet subsonic ammo, the gun reliably fed and fired every round. Even with CCIs cavernous hollowpoints of soft lead, there was not so much as a hiccup. The ejected cases all landed in a neat pile at the edge of the bench.
The magazines I am using with this gun are the BDM 10 rounder that came with it, and three BDM 25 rounders I ordered from another dealer. The 25 rounders do not fit in the stock, but the 10 rounder does.
In all, I wouldnt want to write a review of this gun comparing it to an off the shelf
10/22. I like the 10/22 (And what it can become with extensive mods) far too much to slam it so hard. Its hard to measure up to the SU-22 when comparing rugged little plinkers.
The only three things I can see changing on this rifle are:
1) Delete the agressive serrations on the trigger. A smooth one would feel nicer and would likely improve my own accuracy.
2) Build in sling attachment points on the left side of the gun.
3) Reduce triggerpull weight. Mine was about 7lbs out of the box if I remember correctly. After a quick polishing of the hammer and sear, the trigger pull is very crisp although still a bit heavier than I would like. Its just too much of a PITA to take the trigger mech apart again. This reduction in trigger pull would mitigate the flex in the synthetic trigger that lead some owners to purchase an aftermarket, metal trigger. With reduced pull and a smooth texture, the trigger pull should feel as nice as on my PMR-30.
Thanks for bringing these in Wanstalls!