Well, this is my first attempt at a review... It started after i sold my R7, and was bummed out at the fact that i can't immediately replace it with another in .177 due to financial constrains. I was at the shop when they delivered a box of rifles, some B12s and some B16s, which seemed the same but with a skeleton polymer stock. We opened one for the shop and i was suddenly impressed with this new product from Xisico, as they have being turning out some pretty decent stuff lately (shot a B25 lately???) It shouldered Ok, almost, do I dare say it?, an R7? BLASPHEMY!!! Nope, If what you are expecting a reproduction of an R7 in the quality and feel the likes of a Bam B26 (r9 clone) you will be dissapointed. But get pass that, pick it up... yes, the blueing is decent and there is only an X with the caliber stamped on the Upper part of the spring guide. The rest? no mystery wood, or at least is not finished in that horrible orange finish older B3 where done in. Nope the wood is smooth, the grain is nice and it feels solid. It is a smaller rifle than a B26, but it does have some meat to it.
Well, it was inevitable... i got something for the underdog, and this rifle is undereverything. No reviews, I think one hunt story, no info or reviews... So today i arranged to take one home for a go over and well, if i said it surprised me, it would be the understatement of the year! Got home with a sample that was a showroom model, and has been shot a couple of hundred times (mostly by me...lol) At the beginning, it smoked a lot and the trigger felt very heavy, but now, No smoke and smooth shooting is on order. I cleaned the bore, wiped most of the mystery oil of and gave it a nice and careful relube and reassembly, without opening the action, so this review is of a rifle that has being only home prepped and broken in, so it is what to expect. I shot it with several different pellets to see if it groups with any, and all the pellets used weight in at less than 7.8 gr (daisy WC). tried lasers, hobbies, RWS super H, silverbears, and i even threw in a couple of PBAs (just wanted to know how it shot with them, i mean something is gotta be shooting this things...lol) Best groups with open sight were done with the RWS super H (6.9 gr)... Great! it likes Hollow points. The original true glo sights are just barely strong enough to get adjusted, but i would not play with them much, as the rear unit is mostly plastic and the elevation and windage screws will eventually eat their own threads... So off they go... I had a small scope in 4x32 laying around and that went on it perfectly with light mounts.
This rifle cocks easily with less than 20 Lb of effort. The action is very quiet while cocking, solidly locking at the end. The breech is smooth and the pellets (most of them sat flush if not fell in about 1 mm. while closing you can notice the hinge is very solid and it has very little play, if any. It also locks into place solidly... Now, it has a automatic safety in the back of the action very much like a RWS 240, but it is plastic and one must be mild with it. just apply a little pressure and click!, is off. Every thing in this rifle is like a scale down version of a B25, until you pull the trigger, and then your mouth drops... It is got to be one of the quietest springers out there, Bar none. Yes, i said it, this thing is quieter than an R7. Now before you cry foul, remember, i did own one till like a couple of days ago. And i shot it. A lot. It was broken in, and yes it was very quiet, but this B12 is got it beat. Well there is got to be a perfectly clear explanation... it must shoot like crap, it uses a spring from a ball point pen, it is detuned, etc, etc,etc... Well out comes the chrony, and there i start shooting it, and what do i get? Well here is a sample:
664.4, 661.4,669,7,660.8,659.8,651.3,652.9,654.0,667.8,653.0, etc, etc, etc... For an awesome average of 669.48 FPS and a 6.88 ft/lb muzzle energy reading...
That is.... R7 kind of numbers... "well, how smooth is it?" nowhere near an R7, but smooth enough for you to be able to follow through a pellet to a target. The action will never walk a scope off. And talk about scopes, the reason i used a 4x is because this is a short to medium range rifle. Plotted in Chairgunpro i was able to have it zeroed in at 12 yards and hit anything from 6.7 yards to 32 yards by aiming dead on.. after that it will hit 45 yard targets with 4 inches of holdover. Dude, 45 yards is 135 feet. Yes, that is far for anything at this powerlevel. Up to 30 yards it will still deliver 5 ft/lbs which can be used to dispatch small pest. But how does it shoot? well great that you asked, because this little rifle stacks the pellets (5 shot groups)at the zero range in a 10mm hole. ( that is about 2 .177 pellet head next to each other). pass to 20 yards, under a nickel. and the Ram silhouette gat repainted 2 at 30 yards. And no one heard a thing. This would make a great bird gun, as well as a Lady/young rifle. It does not have a youth reduced proportions, but is just big enough no to look ridiculous. (like shooting a .22 semi rimfire). But to all good things, there is a bad. Ok, not a Bad, but since we are spoiled, it is noticeable. The trigger is not bad, it is just not a rekord... It is a single stage, no adjustment. It got smoother and it really does not weight that much, but is not a rekord. You pull, it gets harder till it stops... and you can hold it there for ever. An extra oz. and bang! there she goes. I imagine that it will wear out a bit more but that is all you will get.
Overall not a bad rifle. It shoots good, looks good, sounds good (no, wait, it sounds excellent!) and you can shoot it all day without tiring. Got a nutter close by? headshot... starling? good bye... spinners, cans, cheerios, lifesavers, olives... it does not matter. it will send them flying. In my book Xisico is got a 8.5 (the R7 is a 9.5), and the best part of all, no one knows about it yet. You can't get better than this for less than 80 bucks... let me show you: THE B12...
