Discovery, Trail, or other?

tactical lever

tactical lever

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Fox Creek, Alberta
Looking for a high powered air rifle. I want .22, multi-shot would be nice I would also consider .25 cal if attained decent velocity. I was leaning towards the Discovery until I saw the Trail NP and XL, now I am torn.

I like the price of the Trails, low noise level and instant gas ram power, but I will have to modify my shooting style and the trigger may not be that great.

I like the quick, (or at least easy) follow up shootability of the Discovery, but I'm not a fan of carrying around a pump, (a scuba tank wouldn't be an option), and while it doesn't come with a scope, it would be easy on anything I would mount on it. I also like that it's handy, accurate and tunable. I also hear that they're loud.

Are Marauders available here? That may address my biggest concern with the Discovery.

I'm also open to suggestions. I know that I could shoot cbs quietly, but that isn't really an option that I'm willing to explore in semi-urban areas. This would be a target/hunting arm so the more sub-sonic power, the better.

Thanks guys!
 
I remember reading on a website somewhere that the Crosman Marauders are not available in Canada due to the shrouded barrels.

Here's a link to the one I'd really like to have.

h ttp://www.crosman.com/airguns/benjamin/BPE3571
 
Yeah, that's pretty cool, but I guess there is such a thing as too much power, for what I want it for. A bit less power and range than a .22 rimfire is desireable sometimes. That's quite a bit of money too.

I'd like to hear from everyone that has these rifles, as well as the Condor owners (even though they're a little pricey for me) as far as sound level, scope mounting, power, ease of use etc.
 
I wanna get one of those Discovery models at some point. I like their compactness, and something about anything nitrogen charged kind of turns me off due to servicability, (not that I've heard anything negative, but I deal with nitro charged bicycle components which sometimes lose the charge and require special tooling to reboot). Pretty powerful gun for just over five pounds.
That Maurauder looks sick, though.
 
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Go to airgunsource.com and check out the Hammerli Pneuma. You'll need a pump but that's a $525 airgun for $300.

It is a little more gun than a Discovery which you also mentioned you were considering.
 
I have a Disco .22 and a Hamereli Pnuma .22 is on it's way so in about a week I'll have an idea if the Pnuma better. What I'm expecting is about 100fps more, a better/adjustable trigger and better accuracy.
In my info searching I did see one sight that had reviews of both,http://www.straightshooters.com/navagationpages/ourtakselections.html, the Disco rated 5,4,4,4 and the Pnuma rated 5,5,5,5 (plinking, target, pest, hunting).
IMO if you go for the Disco get the one with out the pump, and get one of a different brand. The Disco pumps have a poor reputation, and I'd agree, my pump is no good and it really wasn't used that much.
 
Looking forward to your comparison. Did you pick it up from airgunsource? What about rebuilding the pump for the Disco? Only asking because it would be cheaper than a Hill and might not be a big deal.
I may be interested in your pump if you decide to get rid of it in the near future.
 
Yea, I'm getting it from AGS. I opened the pump and found that in several places on the main pump tube the chrome plating is flaking off leaving rough patches that have chewed up the seals. It would be a major overhaul to fix this pump, but if someone wanted to have a go at it I'd likely give it away for just the cost of shipping. Right now I'm using an airforce pump, it looks very similar to the Disco pump but so far it is working fine, but if I knew then what I know now I would have spent the extra $ and got the hill pump.
 
This is a head to head comparison of my Benjamin Discovery .22 vs my newly acquired Hammerli Pneuma .22. I used the same Scope, a 5-15X40 Legend, for all the tests.
The Pneuma is about 2lbs heavier, and is over all physically larger. With the pistol grip thumb hole stock the Pneuma is, IMO, the more comfortable of the two.
I was not happy with the Disco trigger, but I've polished up the surfaces that contact one-another and installed a trigger spring that I purchased from DerekVinyard, I'm still not in love with it, but it's much better. The Pneuma trigger has a bit longer pull than I really like but, it is smooth. I'll likely play with it's adjustments in the near future, but right out of the box it's pretty good.
I only have 3 types of .22 pellets right now, they are Crosman premier hp, JSB exacts, and H&N sport. Since I have quite a few of the Crosmans that is what I used for my shot strings, and I just shot some 5 shots groups with the others for accuracy.
For the Pneuma,I shot a 30 shot string, that takes the reservoir from 200bar to 100bar .The first 15 are the most consistent going from 980fps-960fps the next 5 it dropped to 930fps another 5 took it below 900 the final five ended around 870fps. For accuracy I was shooting 25m and the JSB were the best with a .450 group, the Premiers were prone to having fliers that messed up their groups, and the H&N were all over the place.
For the Disco I did two tests one with the factory hammer spring and one with the hammer spring which I also got from DerekVinyard. I only shot 25 shot strings because that took the reservoir from 2Kpsi to 1Kpsi. With the factory spring the first 10 went from 810-830fps where it leveled off till around the 18th shot where it began to fall off back to 810 by the 21st then dropping rapidly, finishing at 770 for the 25th shot. With the DV spring the first 12 shots varied from 848-864 then began a progressive drop off, by the 22nd shot it was down to 760 and 1Kpsi. I did fire 3 more shots seeing about 20fps drop with each one. For accuracy with the factory spring the H&N were better, .950, but not by much, but with the DV spring the JSBs were better, .900.
I'll do more testing, but right now its looking like the Pneuma is the better gun.
 
How heavy are the pellets you were velocity testing with? And when you say long trigger pull for the Pneuma, is it because it's a 2 stage type pull?

I came within I think a few minutes of buying the Pneuma, then they sold out. Then I squandered my money on something else (other guns) as I was waiting for the new model repeater to be classified. :redface:

Thanks for the review traog, I'll be looking for your future reviews while scratching up money for the new model....
 
The Crosman Hps are around 14.5 gr and the JSBs are 16 gr. and the H&N wadcutters are 13 gr, (note, don't bother using wcs in a gun that exceeds 500fps).
It is a 2 stage trigger, the first stage is very easy and there is a definite start to the second stage. The second stage moves smoothly with a continuous pressure and I can feel it moving right till it breaks the shot. For shooting from a bench rest it's actually good but for shooting freehand I'd rather that it was more like my rim-fire silhouette guns that are set to go off about as soon as there is any 2nd stage movement.
I've lucked out and have just purchased another Pneuma, this one is a .177.
 
check out the at44

Same gun as the hammerli, available from sniper Hatsan branded, 10 shot sidelever or pump action, .177,22 0r 25. Rumor on the caf is they can reach 50+fpe. The Condor is a little pricy and loud (if there is no Home Depot nearby), but a much more powerful gun 100fpe ish in .25
 
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