I visited Tenda's store the other day when I was in the city just to check it out. While there I thought, Im going to check out the PPS-50 just to see how it feels in my hands. Big mistake. After seeing and holding it, it went home with me in the car along with a 2nd 30 round mag.
Ive always wanted one... so it was a happy mistake.
After getting it home I took it apart and cleaned it, then lubed it. It was a bit dirty inside, just not from use, just the usual junk. Its not SUPER easy to take apart requiring 2 sizes of flat blade screwdrivers. Nothing aweful, but its not simple. The manual is decent and gives good exploded views so you know your re-assembling it correctly.
Once it was cleaned up I took it out in the yard with 2 mags filled with 20 rounds of CCI Mini Mags. I dont want to shoot mini mags all the time from this gun but I had heard it needs some break in so I figured id break it in with something thats got some kick. Both mags emptied with no issues what so ever. Filled them back up with 30 rounds each and again, perfect function, feeding, ejecting. NO issues with 100 rounds of Mini Mags fast and slow firing. Its winter here and I was just shooting at a stump so i cant comment on accuracy, but more on that later.
After the mini mags I loaded up 30 rounds of Thunderbolt and 30 rounds of CCI blazer, not the bulk packed stuff, the 50 round box stuff. (supposed to be better). Fed both mags, 30 each, without a single issues. Put the last 20 rounds of each from the boxes id opened into the 2 empty mags and again, no issues.
At this point I was impressed to say the least but wanted to check out what the cheap bulk crap would be like. So I loaded up a mag of Winchester white box (555)... all the other ammo I was using was round nose, the winchester was hollow point. Of the 30 rounds I fired I had 2 rounds get jammed up while feeding into the chamber. They got stuck but the bolt was moving wiht such force it bent the rounds nearly in half. Happened twice. I had 20 of these rounds left so I loaded them up and again, in the 15 rounds another stuck and bent round. They just fall out when you drop the mag... so not a big inconvenience, but clearly this gun likes round nose ammo. I then tried, just for the heck of it, some CCI Quiet... which did not work at all. The round was always left in the chamber and wouldnt eject... and the action wouldnt cycle anyway. Only tried 5 but it was clear they arent going to work. No real surprise.
After 250 rounds the gun had functioned flawlessly with anything round nose I fed it. Hollow point is off the table now. But im cool with that. I took the gun in to check it over and give it a cleaning. Upon initial inspection I noticed the both the front and rear sight were loose... like ready to fall off loose. Also, one of the front sight screws had fallen out and is now gone forever. Before you shoot your PPS-50, locktite the sight screws.
Once i started disassmebling the gun for cleaning I noticed the threaded rear cap on the action was loose, but not excessively. Cant loctite that part so ill just keep an eye on it. The tiny screws that hold the trigger group pins in were also loose... cant loctite these either. So im going to have to figure something out there.
When I removed the back cap and the action springs I noticed one of the spring guide rods was loose inside the end plate that holds it and the other guide rod. It looks like its maybe threaded in and the threads are starting to strip. Im not sure how important it is for this piece to be tight, but im going to get warranty on it as I dont think it should be loose like that.
The gun was dirty, but had continued to function great. I cleaned it all up and put it back together.
My verdict after 250 rounds... its a great gun. I paid $240 plus tax for the gun... bought one extra mag for a total of abotu $325. These are 30 rounds mags and they fed flawlessly. Youll be hard pressed to find another new, semi auto with 2 30 rounds mags for that kind of money.
Another note. The gun has dovetail groves in the reciever. I intend to mount a red dot so I had to buy a Dovetail to Picatinny adatper. got it on amazon for $12 shipped. If you wanted to do a scope you can buy dovetail rings so that shouldnt be a problem.
The gun is built nicely. It seems sturdy, everyting functioned as it should. Trigger was stiff at first but loosened up after I was done. Safety works nicely, cant comment on the sights as apparently they were super loose. The mag release works good. At first, mags were tricky to insert. After id put abotu 5 through it I got way more comfortable wiht the process to the point I can now do it without looking and without mistakes. Just takes getting used to. The bolt is held open by the magazine follower. So when you remove the mag, the bolt drops. I dont like that. its a bit unnerving and you cant lock the bolt open. This is one of the very few downsides of this gun IMO.
One of the biggest upsides is the style. Its just so different than any other .22 out there. It has such a great look and solid feel in your hands. Other than the loose screws and possibly the guide rod issue... I think its a well built gun. Not on par with a 10/22... but by no means bad.
For the money, I dont think you can do better if a high capacity .22 semi is what your after. I wouldnt necessarily pay any MORE for this gun than I did... I dont think its worth more. But for what I spent, I feel like I got more than my moneys worth. I will try one of the metal drums at some point. But for now, a 3rd stick mag is what I need Most. And more ammo.
Ive always wanted one... so it was a happy mistake.
After getting it home I took it apart and cleaned it, then lubed it. It was a bit dirty inside, just not from use, just the usual junk. Its not SUPER easy to take apart requiring 2 sizes of flat blade screwdrivers. Nothing aweful, but its not simple. The manual is decent and gives good exploded views so you know your re-assembling it correctly.
Once it was cleaned up I took it out in the yard with 2 mags filled with 20 rounds of CCI Mini Mags. I dont want to shoot mini mags all the time from this gun but I had heard it needs some break in so I figured id break it in with something thats got some kick. Both mags emptied with no issues what so ever. Filled them back up with 30 rounds each and again, perfect function, feeding, ejecting. NO issues with 100 rounds of Mini Mags fast and slow firing. Its winter here and I was just shooting at a stump so i cant comment on accuracy, but more on that later.
After the mini mags I loaded up 30 rounds of Thunderbolt and 30 rounds of CCI blazer, not the bulk packed stuff, the 50 round box stuff. (supposed to be better). Fed both mags, 30 each, without a single issues. Put the last 20 rounds of each from the boxes id opened into the 2 empty mags and again, no issues.
At this point I was impressed to say the least but wanted to check out what the cheap bulk crap would be like. So I loaded up a mag of Winchester white box (555)... all the other ammo I was using was round nose, the winchester was hollow point. Of the 30 rounds I fired I had 2 rounds get jammed up while feeding into the chamber. They got stuck but the bolt was moving wiht such force it bent the rounds nearly in half. Happened twice. I had 20 of these rounds left so I loaded them up and again, in the 15 rounds another stuck and bent round. They just fall out when you drop the mag... so not a big inconvenience, but clearly this gun likes round nose ammo. I then tried, just for the heck of it, some CCI Quiet... which did not work at all. The round was always left in the chamber and wouldnt eject... and the action wouldnt cycle anyway. Only tried 5 but it was clear they arent going to work. No real surprise.
After 250 rounds the gun had functioned flawlessly with anything round nose I fed it. Hollow point is off the table now. But im cool with that. I took the gun in to check it over and give it a cleaning. Upon initial inspection I noticed the both the front and rear sight were loose... like ready to fall off loose. Also, one of the front sight screws had fallen out and is now gone forever. Before you shoot your PPS-50, locktite the sight screws.
Once i started disassmebling the gun for cleaning I noticed the threaded rear cap on the action was loose, but not excessively. Cant loctite that part so ill just keep an eye on it. The tiny screws that hold the trigger group pins in were also loose... cant loctite these either. So im going to have to figure something out there.
When I removed the back cap and the action springs I noticed one of the spring guide rods was loose inside the end plate that holds it and the other guide rod. It looks like its maybe threaded in and the threads are starting to strip. Im not sure how important it is for this piece to be tight, but im going to get warranty on it as I dont think it should be loose like that.
The gun was dirty, but had continued to function great. I cleaned it all up and put it back together.
My verdict after 250 rounds... its a great gun. I paid $240 plus tax for the gun... bought one extra mag for a total of abotu $325. These are 30 rounds mags and they fed flawlessly. Youll be hard pressed to find another new, semi auto with 2 30 rounds mags for that kind of money.
Another note. The gun has dovetail groves in the reciever. I intend to mount a red dot so I had to buy a Dovetail to Picatinny adatper. got it on amazon for $12 shipped. If you wanted to do a scope you can buy dovetail rings so that shouldnt be a problem.
The gun is built nicely. It seems sturdy, everyting functioned as it should. Trigger was stiff at first but loosened up after I was done. Safety works nicely, cant comment on the sights as apparently they were super loose. The mag release works good. At first, mags were tricky to insert. After id put abotu 5 through it I got way more comfortable wiht the process to the point I can now do it without looking and without mistakes. Just takes getting used to. The bolt is held open by the magazine follower. So when you remove the mag, the bolt drops. I dont like that. its a bit unnerving and you cant lock the bolt open. This is one of the very few downsides of this gun IMO.
One of the biggest upsides is the style. Its just so different than any other .22 out there. It has such a great look and solid feel in your hands. Other than the loose screws and possibly the guide rod issue... I think its a well built gun. Not on par with a 10/22... but by no means bad.
For the money, I dont think you can do better if a high capacity .22 semi is what your after. I wouldnt necessarily pay any MORE for this gun than I did... I dont think its worth more. But for what I spent, I feel like I got more than my moneys worth. I will try one of the metal drums at some point. But for now, a 3rd stick mag is what I need Most. And more ammo.
