Comparison Umarex NXG APX vs Hatsan Striker Edge

The type describes the basic principle of operation of the rifle. Nowadays, you can find pneumatics with a spring-piston principle of operation (with a conventional or gas spring), with pre-pumping (PCP), with pumping before each shot ( multi -compression rifles), powered by carbon dioxide cartridges and with an electric drive. Here is a more detailed description of each of these types:

— Spring-piston. As the name suggests, the basis of the mechanism in such rifles is a spring-loaded piston moving in a cylinder. The weapon is cocked manually (usually by a lever or a broken barrel), while the piston is retracted and fixed, the cylinder is filled with air, and when the trigger is pressed, the piston is released and moves forward under the action of a spring, pushing air from the cylinder into the barrel. Rifles of this type have simplicity and reliability of design, low cost, unpretentious maintenance, as well as ease of repair and tuning; they are considered an perfect option for beginner shooters, as well as for lovers of entertaining "shooting" at short distances, there are also models for airsoft among them. It is also worth mentioning the excellent repeatability of shots (with each cocking, a strictly defined portion of air enters the cylinder) and insensitivi...ty to heat and cold. On the other hand, such rifles require cocking (and most often reloading) before each shot, which can be quite tedious; and the operation of the piston mechanism creates a specific recoil, which adversely affects accuracy and makes it difficult to select optical sights (requires special optics, originally designed for this application). In addition, pneumatics of this type cannot be kept charged for a long time — with prolonged compression, the mainspring loses its properties.

— With gas spring. According to the general principle of operation, rifles of this type are similar to the spring-piston ones described above. The difference lies in the fact that instead of a conventional metal spring, they use a sealed reservoir with a special gas, which plays the role of a spring — shrinking when cocked and expanding when fired. This design has a number of advantages over conventional spring-piston. Firstly, the whole mechanism is much smoother and quieter, and the recoil is softer, which improves accuracy and simplifies the selection of optics. Secondly, the gas spring does not change its properties as it wears out, and such weapons can be stored even in the cocked state. Third, repairs and maintenance for gas springs are less frequent and less expensive (in terms of the number of shots between workshop visits). The disadvantages of rifles of this type, in addition to the need to cock the spring before each shot, include a slightly higher cost than that of classic spring-piston rifles, as well as sensitivity to cold: when the temperature drops, the gas pressure in the spring decreases, which worsens efficiency.

— PCP (pre-pumping). The energy source in rifles of this type is a built-in reservoir containing air (or other gas) under very high pressure — about 200 or even 300 atmospheres. Such a reserve is enough for at least several dozen shots, and a compressor, a scuba cylinder or a special high-pressure pump can be used to fill the tank (sometimes such pumps are even supplied as a kit). In general, PCPs are considered the most advanced type of pneumatics, and these are the rifles used by professional hunters and sportsmen. This is primarily due to the fact that such a design allows you to achieve a very high speed of the bullet, and the recoil is almost imperceptible — all this allows you to accurately shoot even at long distances. On a fresh gas station, the rifle gives excellent repeatability of shots; however, as the gas is consumed, the initial velocity of the bullet decreases, however, in advanced models, a gearbox may be provided to compensate for this phenomenon (for more details, see “Air supply by the gearbox”). PCP pneumatics can be easily multi-shot and provide very simple and convenient ways to feed the next bullet into the barrel. The main disadvantage of such rifles is the high price.

— Multi-compression. Another variety of rifles with a built-in reservoir; however, unlike the PCPs described above, the reservoir must be inflated before each shot. To do this, the design provides for a built-in pump controlled by a lever or other similar device; to pump enough air, usually, you need to make several movements. In such rifles, there is practically no recoil, while they are noticeably simpler and cheaper than PCP pneumatics, but they are inferior to it in terms of power. In addition, pumping up the tank before each shot is quite a tedious task; and the volume of air supplied to the tank at each filling (and, accordingly, the working pressure in the tank) will depend on the number and amplitude of movements made by the pump lever. On the one hand, this allows you to adjust the power directly “on the go”: for example, for a short range where maximum bullet speed is not required, you can not fully pump up the rifle in order to save energy. On the other hand, the actual volume of air and the pressure in the tank will be somewhat different with each recharge, even with the same number of lever movements. This negatively affects the repeatability of shots. Due to this combination of features, multi-compression models are not very popular nowadays, and their purpose is mainly recreational shooting.

— Gas balloon. A type of pneumatics powered by interchangeable cartridges of gas, usually liquefied carbon dioxide. As in PCP, such a tank allows you to make a lot of shots — even a traditional 12-gram can is usually enough for several dozen; and some models use 88g carbon dioxide containers. At the same time, the rifles themselves are cheaper than PCP, but they have less power. It is also worth noting the rather specific characteristics of carbon dioxide as an energy source. On the one hand, it maintains working pressure for quite a long time — it does not decrease as long as carbon dioxide remains in liquid form in the cylinder. On the other hand, the actual gas pressure depends on the ambient temperature, and the initial velocity of a bullet for such pneumatics can change markedly even with daily temperature fluctuations. And of the unambiguous shortcomings of such rifles, it is worth noting that for them you have to buy not only bullets, but also gas.

— AEG (electrically driven). Pneumatics that uses an electric motor drive as a power source. According to the design of the working mechanism, it is similar to the spring-piston mechanism — the basis of this mechanism is a cylinder and a spring-loaded piston. However, the piston in this case is not retracted manually, but with the help of the mentioned electric motor. For the shooter, this means, first of all, that the rifle does not need to be cocked due to muscular strength — for a shot, it is enough to press the trigger, the rest will be done by the electric motor. In addition, in such pneumatics, automatic firing mode can be provided without problems (see below). Note that for a number of reasons this principle of operation is practically not found in traditional pneumatics, but it is very popular in airsoft models; such rifles (“drives”) often copy real military weapons.

The muzzle velocity provided by the rifle - that is, the speed of the bullet as it exits the barrel.

All other things being equal, a higher bullet speed provides greater range and accuracy, and also simplifies aiming at long distances: the bullet flies along a smoother trajectory and requires fewer adjustments in height, and the influence of side winds decreases with increasing speed. On the other hand, this indicator directly affects the price of the rifle; and in some countries, legal restrictions on the ownership of pneumatic weapons are also related to the muzzle velocity of the bullet.

As for specific values, in the weakest modern rifles the initial speed does not exceed 150 m/s, and in the most powerful it can be 300 - 350 m/s or even more(remember, the speed of sound is 330 m/s). In general, for recreational shooting at short distances, this parameter is not particularly important, and detailed recommendations for choosing pneumatics for more specific situations can be found in special sources. Let us only note that in AEG electric drives (see “Type”) the initial speed extremely rarely exceeds 150 m/s, but this is done solely for safety reasons: such “weapons” are intended for military-tactical games and initially involve shooting at people, and the high speed would be unsafe for players even with protective equipment.

It is also wor...th considering that this indicator is not strictly defined. In any type of pneumatic it depends on the weight of the bullet (the lighter the faster); therefore, in the characteristics it is usually customary to indicate a certain average velocity for standard ammunition (usually weighing 0.5 g, in AEG - 0.2 g). In addition, in multi-compression rifles the actual speed of the bullet is determined by the degree of inflation, in gas-cylinder rifles it is determined by the ambient temperature, and in PCP models it is possible to achieve higher speeds than declared by replacing the air with a special gas (for example, helium). Nevertheless, this characteristic makes it possible to evaluate the capabilities of the rifle and compare it with other models, including those that differ in type.

The type of cocking system provided in the design of the rifle.

The cocking system is responsible for placing the trigger mechanism on the combat cocking (in the position of readiness for firing), and with a multi-shot design, it is also responsible for sending the next bullet into the chamber. Such systems are usually divided according to the method of control. Variants found in modern times include but are not limited to barrel fracture, lever ( side or underbarrel), pump action, bolt action (including varieties such as biathlon and bolt action), and autococking. Here are the main features of each of these systems:

— Fracture of the trunk. In rifles with this type of cocking, the barrel is fixed on a rotary axis, and folds down with each reload. In this case, not only the trigger is cocked, but the chamber is also opened, allowing you to load the next bullet. This option is found exclusively in spring models — conventional and with a gas spring (see "Type"), it is with such rifles that a barrel break is best compatible. One of the key advantages of such systems is their low cost. In addition, breaks are very easy to use, do not require special skills and are suitable even for inexper...ienced shooters. So such pneumatics are extremely popular nowadays. At the same time, it is usually made single-shot (with very rare exceptions), constant folding and unfolding of the barrel can be quite tedious, and the barrel mount tends to become loose as it wears, which reduces accuracy and power.

— Autoplatoon. Systems that do not require the shooter to take any additional actions to cock the weapon; found in PCP pneumatics (see "Type"), gas models, as well as AEGs (the latter, by definition, are made only by auto-cocking). In accordance with the name, a platoon in such weapons is carried out automatically before each shot — usually, with sending the next bullet into the chamber (although there are also single-shot models where the bullet must be inserted manually). Anyway, auto-cocking is extremely simple and easy to use. In addition, on the basis of such mechanisms, even fully automatic weapons can be created (see "Automatic mode"), although most rifles with this feature still work in the single-fire format. Among the disadvantages of such systems, one can note the complexity of the design and rather high cost, as well as the fact that air / gas is additionally consumed for the operation of the auto-cocking. This reduces the number of shots per charge, and can also reduce the initial speed compared to similar models with manual reloading (however, the latter is predominantly characteristic of gas-balloon rifles).

— Underbarrel lever. Systems that use a lever under the barrel, which must be pressed down with each cock. Like the barrel fracture described above, this method is used mainly with spring-piston mechanisms and gas springs. It is more convenient and reliable, since the barrel of the rifle constantly remains motionless, there are no fasteners in its design that can loosen up and fail. On the other hand, the lever design is noticeably more complicated and more expensive than the tipping one, and therefore is quite rare.
Note that the inflation lever in multi-compression models (see "Type") is usually not responsible for cocking the weapon, so a different cocking method is indicated for such rifles (although there are exceptions). And in gas-balloon models there is a special kind of underbarrel lever — the so-called Henry brace, as in classic cowboy hard drives (in fact, such pneumatics usually just copies this weapon).

— Side lever. Systems using a lever on the side of the rifle — usually on the right. They are found mainly in models with a spring-piston mechanism or a gas spring. As in the case of the underbarrel lever, the main advantage of this method can be called the immobility of the barrel, which contributes to accuracy and reliability. On the other hand, such a cocking system is usually made for right-handers and can be uncomfortable when firing from the left shoulder; in addition, the side lever is somewhat more difficult to fit into the design than the underbarrel. Therefore, this option is not widely used.

— Shutter. Systems using a classic type bolt handle — sliding back and forth. This cocking does not provide air pumping, and therefore is used only in gas-balloon type rifles, PCP, and some multi-compression models (see "Type"). Pneumatics with shutters are mainly made multi-charged — this is the very idea of \u200b\u200bsuch systems (feeding the next bullet from the magazine); however, there are exceptions. In general, this is a fairly simple, practical and reliable method of cocking, however, nowadays, more specific types of shutters are increasingly being used — biathlon and bolt; they are listed separately in our catalog and described below.

— Biathlon shutter. A variety of bolts (see above), copied from small-caliber biathlon rifles. In such systems, as in traditional bolt mechanisms, the cocking handle is located on the side and moves back and forth. The key difference is that this handle is mounted on a swivel mount and, when reloading, does not slide along the guides, but swings on the axis. The biathlon bolt differs from the side lever of a similar design (see above) in its location (in the rear of the rifle), the shorter lever length, and also in that it does not provide air pumping. Many shooters find this shutter more convenient than the classic one — in particular, it has a very small operating force, so you can move the lever without looking up from the sight. And in some models, for cocking, you don’t even need to remove the “shooting” hand from the handle — just hook the lever with your index finger, pull it towards you with a slight movement of your wrist, and then, if necessary, move it forward with your thumb. The biathlon action is used almost exclusively in PCP rifles (see "Type").

— Bolt lock. A kind of bolt (see above), which, when reloading, not only moves back and forth, but also rotates around its axis — similar to how it happens in many classic firearms like the Mosin rifle or Remington 700. Actually, the similarity with a real weapon this is precisely one of the key advantages of such systems: they are appreciated by fans of traditional rifles, and can also be good simulators for developing basic shooting skills from more serious "bolt" weapons. Most pneumatics with such cocking systems are PCP or gas-balloon, only a few models use the multi-compression principle (see "Type").

— Pump mechanism. Systems that use a movable handguard for cocking — like pump-action shotguns, hence the name. The main convenience of such systems is that cocking can be carried out without removing the hands from the weapon. On the other hand, the constant movement of the forearm knocks down the sight and adversely affects accuracy, so this method of cocking is not very popular in air rifles.

The type of barrel fitted to the rifle.

This parameter is indicated by the type of the inner surface of the barrel, the options may be as follows:

— Rifled. Barrel, on the inner surface of which spiral grooves are applied. This is the most popular variant among modern air rifles — in fact, the term "rifle" itself comes from the screw rifling in the barrel. Thanks to internal rifling, the bullet emitted from the weapon twists around the longitudinal axis, which ensures a stable trajectory and improves shooting accuracy. The disadvantages of this type of barrel can only be attributed to poor suitability for working with balls: there are relatively few rifled rifles compatible with these types of ammunition, while it is best to use special balls made of lead or other soft material with them (traditional steel balls wear out a lot rifling). However, this point cannot be called a serious drawback.

— Smooth. Barrel with a smooth inner surface, without rifling. One of the main practical advantages of this design is "omnivory": smooth barrels can be used for both bullets and balls (although the specific type of ammunition used depends on the model of the rifle). In addition, a flat surface is noticeably easier and cheaper to manufacture than a grooved one. The main disadvantage of such a weapon is its rather low accuracy, since the projectiles fired from it are not stabilized due t...o rotation. Smoothbore rifles are designed primarily for recreational shooting at short distances; it is also worth noting that such barrels were originally used in airsoft drives, in particular, AEGs (see "Type").

Load capacity determines the amount of ammunition that can fit in a rifle's magazine at one time.

— Single shot. As the name suggests, these rifles can only hold one bullet, usually directly in the chamber (back of the barrel); You have to reload your weapon after every shot. This is not very convenient due to the need for additional manipulations, and the rate of fire suffers significantly. At the same time, single-shot rifles are usually quite simple in design, which ensures, on the one hand, reliability, and, on the other hand, low cost.

— Multi -charged. Rifles that can hold multiple bullets or pellets in a single charge. For their placement, special devices are used — removable or non-removable stores, drums, etc. The capacity is usually between five and several dozen rounds of ammunition. At the same time, for "omnivorous" models (see "Type of ammunition"), the capacity for balls is usually higher than for lead bullets — often 2-3 times; there are even options that are multiply charged only when using balls — bullets in them can only be loaded one at a time. The advantage of a multi-shot weapon over a single-shot weapon is obvious: you can fire several shots from it without being distracted by reloading. Reloading itself, if more difficult, is not much. On the other hand, due to the complexity of the design, such models are significantly more expensive; and in some types of pneum...atics (see above), multiply charged is not applicable by definition.

The type of ammunition the rifle is designed to use.

— Bullets. In this case, a bullet is called a directional projectile, with a clearly defined front and rear. The specific form of such projectiles may be different, but they all have a number of common features. So, any bullet at the same initial speed flies further and hits more accurately than a ball. And the material is usually lead or another soft metal, which provides a number of advantages. Firstly, bullets work great with rifled barrels (see "Barrel"): the edges of the bullet clearly fit into the grooves on the inner surface (many bullets are even able to slightly expand at the time of the shot, for the most dense fit in the barrel), the projectile is effectively spun and stabilized, while the wear of the rifling is minimal. Secondly, the bullets flatten out when they hit a more or less hard surface — this minimizes the risk of ricochets and allows the use of such ammunition even when hunting fairly large game. The disadvantages of bullets include perhaps a higher cost than that of balls.

— Balloons. Most of the models that use this type of ammunition are designed for airsoft and refer to AEG's (see "Type") or spring-piston ("spring" in airsoft jargon) rifles. The balls in this case are plastic, large in size, which reduces penetration and minimizes the likelihood of injury. Traditional air rifles for this type of ammunition are very rare. They use metal balls — usually steel with or witho...ut copper or zinc coating, less often lead. Such projectiles are distinguished by a very low cost and a good penetrating effect, however, they are noticeably inferior to bullets in terms of convenience and efficiency. First, the balls themselves are less accurate, they have more spread and lose speed faster. Secondly, hard metal makes it difficult to use with rifled barrels, which, again, further reduces accuracy. Thirdly, due to the same hardness, steel balls often ricochet. The last two points are not relevant for the mentioned lead balls, but they are much less common than steel ones. So in general, this type of ammunition can be recommended for recreational shooting at short distances — up to 10, less often up to 20 m.

— Lead bullets / balls. Rifles that allow the use of both bullets and balls. See above for more information on each type of ammunition, but here we note that the main option in this case is still bullets; balls should be considered as a fallback. Usually, separate stores for different types of projectiles are supplied with such "omnivorous" rifles.

The working length of the rifle barrel is from the chamber where the bullet is loaded to the muzzle. The shortest barrels found nowadays have a length of just over 200 mm(and in some AEGs even less than this value); the longest reach 500 – 600 mm.

There is a stereotype that the muzzle velocity directly depends on the length of the barrel. In firearms, this is true — but not in pneumatics. Firstly, in such rifles, the initial velocity depends on a number of other indicators — pressure, the quality of the barrel treatment, the efficiency of the valves, etc. on the first 20 – 25 cm of the barrel, then the gas pressure drops noticeably. The exception is PCP rifles, in which the longer barrel really makes it easier to achieve high speeds. However, again, so many additional factors affect the final result that models with the same barrel length can differ markedly in initial speed.

The second common stereotype is that a longer barrel improves accuracy and accuracy. This is true in the context that a longer barrel allows for a greater distance between the front and rear sights, making it easier to aim carefully. Technical accuracy does not depend on the length, but on the quality of the barrel processing.

Summing up all of the above, we can say that the length of the barrel for an air rifle is more of a reference than a really significant paramete...r, and when choosing, it is better to focus on more "close to life" characteristics — first of all, directly claimed muzzle velocity.