Stoeger X20 mini review

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gunsaholic

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Okay guys, I'm kinda new to the airgun sports but I thought I would give a short comment on the Stoeger X20 in .177 that I acquired awhile ago. Finally got to try it out last weekend and I must say that I was quite surprised. It took about 2 shots to sight in the scope that came with it. Then I was putting pellets through the same hole at 20 yards using JSB 10.4 gr. pellets. The targets were stuck to a 3/8" piece of plywood and the pellets were passing through the plywood with no problem. I tried the 8.4 gr. JSB exact and was consistently hitting 2 1/2" spinners at 35 yards with them. You often hear bad reports about the scopes that come on a gun from the factory so I was waiting for the crosshairs to disappear after a few shots but so far so good. Yes, the factory trigger leaves a lot to be desired. I have an aftermarket trigger for it so I'm sure it will be quite an improvement once I install it. The barrel was quite hard to break open for the first 3 shots but after that it wasn't a problem, not for a 1000 fps rifle. This gun is also quite heavy so I would not be buying one as a "kids rifle". Thus far the gun has not seen a lot of use but at this point I am quite pleased with the performance. I feel they are pretty good value for the dollar.
 
I have the x20 as well. The spring broke at around 1000 rounds so I replaced it and took the opportunity to replace the trigger. The difference with the trigger refit is extreme... While breaking the gun down I noticed that there is a ridiculous amount of very heavy grease on everything so I cleaned it up and then re-oiled and regreased where appropriate. The gun runs much better in every way now.
 
gunsaholic said:
Okay guys, I'm kinda new to the airgun sports but I thought I would give a short comment on the Stoeger X20 in .177 that I acquired awhile ago. Finally got to try it out last weekend and I must say that I was quite surprised. It took about 2 shots to sight in the scope that came with it. Then I was putting pellets through the same hole at 20 yards using JSB 10.4 gr. pellets. The targets were stuck to a 3/8" piece of plywood and the pellets were passing through the plywood with no problem. I tried the 8.4 gr. JSB exact and was consistently hitting 2 1/2" spinners at 35 yards with them. You often hear bad reports about the scopes that come on a gun from the factory so I was waiting for the crosshairs to disappear after a few shots but so far so good. Yes, the factory trigger leaves a lot to be desired. I have an aftermarket trigger for it so I'm sure it will be quite an improvement once I install it. The barrel was quite hard to break open for the first 3 shots but after that it wasn't a problem, not for a 1000 fps rifle. This gun is also quite heavy so I would not be buying one as a "kids rifle". Thus far the gun has not seen a lot of use but at this point I am quite pleased with the performance. I feel they are pretty good value for the dollar.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the writeup!

Air rifles are underrated fun in general. I try all summer long to match my accuracy with powder burners outside vs. my air rifles in the basement's winter range. The skills I acquired over winter stay sharp on squirrels n' greckles too.
 
Seeing as you are new to the sport I can offer a couple of quick pointers- but of course you may find my BS is just that!

Typically springers work better with lighter pellets- the heavy ones work better in pre-charged rifles. Spring life CAN be reduced shooting heavy pellets unless the rifle is tuned to shoot heavy pellets (piston weight is the primary driver here). This is not a hard rule- every gun is different and I don't have first hand experience with the X20. A new gun will also take hundreds of shots to break in- so expect your shooting experience to only get better!

The next thing is that springer guns REQUIRE the shooter to be very consistent with hold and shooting technique in order to get good accuracy. Test it yourself by seeing the difference in POI when you "hard hold" vs soft hold. Look up artillery hold- it is something you should try if you want to get the most accuracy out of your gun.

Upgrade the trigger- absolutely 100% upgrade that crappy creepy stock trigger. I have that GRT trigger in all my compatible rifles- one goes on before I even shoot the gun with the crappy stock trigger now.

The last thing is that springers are somewhat sensitive to pellet selection as well. Find a pellet that works with your hold and your groups will be much better than 2.5" at 30 yards.

Air rifles are pretty ignored here in north america- i always get attention at the range and the main comment is "I always thought air rifles were toys"... I think they are the best for teaching how to shoot: shooting technique is critical to success, they cost nothing to shoot all afternoon, they require virtually no maintenance, they teach excellent wind reading skills and finally they require significantly less "safe range" than a .22lr. Welcome to the club!
 
gunsaholic said:
Okay guys, I'm kinda new to the airgun sports but I thought I would give a short comment on the Stoeger X20 in .177 that I acquired awhile ago. Finally got to try it out last weekend and I must say that I was quite surprised. It took about 2 shots to sight in the scope that came with it. Then I was putting pellets through the same hole at 20 yards using JSB 10.4 gr. pellets. The targets were stuck to a 3/8" piece of plywood and the pellets were passing through the plywood with no problem. I tried the 8.4 gr. JSB exact and was consistently hitting 2 1/2" spinners at 35 yards with them. You often hear bad reports about the scopes that come on a gun from the factory so I was waiting for the crosshairs to disappear after a few shots but so far so good. Yes, the factory trigger leaves a lot to be desired. I have an aftermarket trigger for it so I'm sure it will be quite an improvement once I install it. The barrel was quite hard to break open for the first 3 shots but after that it wasn't a problem, not for a 1000 fps rifle. This gun is also quite heavy so I would not be buying one as a "kids rifle". Thus far the gun has not seen a lot of use but at this point I am quite pleased with the performance. I feel they are pretty good value for the dollar.
Click to expand...

Good to hear you enjoy it. I'll be in the market for an air gun soonish and I'll keep this in mind.
 
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