Opinions on Mendoza RM 600?

[cfxdragon]

I heard from umarex today that my parts for the 350M will be shipped next week. It got delayed due to taking inventory during the first week of the year. I am tearing down the diana 35 of my friends to find out what parts to get ordered and will steal the front sight off of it to put a couple hundred rounds through the 350M tomorrow.

I am contemplating an RM600 in .22 that I saw for $70.

I wonder how it would do after a good tune?
Does it have the good Mendoza trigger or not?

For the price it could make a good "beater" gun.

Like I need another "BB" gun  

BTW if my wife asks, I'm blaming you guys for this terribly virulent addiction!

[longislandhunter]

I have the rifle in .177 caliber and she's a good shooter, but it relies on "controlled dieseling" to maintain proper FPS.  There's an oiling port on the top of the receiver and in order to keep the FPS up to factory specs you'll have to put a drop or 2 of chamber lube in there every once in a while.  I can't tell you if a tune would change this behavior as I never pulled mine apart.   I will say however that the metal work and bluing are extremely nice, the stock is one of my favorites as far as aesthetics and feel, the rifle has a nice balance to it and the strange "double trigger" setup is really nice...... light pull and crisp, at least on mine.  Sportsmansguide sells them really cheap periodically and I've thought about getting the .22 version but I have to admit that the "controlled dieseling" thing  has kept me from getting another one....  Hope this helps ya out.......

Jeff

[RedFeather]

Read the thread on the 2800, below. Same gun but a indexed shot repeater. I think a lot of guys stop oiling and let the gun settle in. Lower fps but consistent. I read Cardew's take on how most springers use a bit of migrating lube as fuel and wondered if something other than oil might be utilized in the Mendoza?

Regarding the 35, I doubt Umarex has parts. Could be wrong, but that gun hasn't been made in over twenty years. It's pretty simple, though. Ask on the Vintage forum. Mike Driskill and others collect these and work on them all the time. They can steer you to the best replacement parts, etc. And I think someone referred you to the PA blog?

http://www.network54.com/Forum/405945/

[cfxdragon]

The parts from umarex are for my brand new 350M. I did check out the vintage forums after you suggested in my original post on the 35 and found a huge wealth of info. You're right about the twenty year thing, the gun did go out of production in 1987. Thanks again RedFeather, your awesome.

I think I need to stop taking advise from Jeff. First the 350M (though I got the deal of the century on that one) and now the Mendoza. You will end up getting me divorced or in the poor house man...

I think I have a problem, does anyone know of a support group?

 

[longislandhunter]

I don't know Todd,,,, my 350 has been shooting like a champ ever since I bought it, I love that gun, sorry to hear yours is having problems.  As for the Mendoza,,,,,  I gave you the straight "skinny" on the gun...... like I said,,, just be aware that once the oil in the chamber burns off the FPS is going to drop significantly and you'll be down  to the 650 - 700 range....... the fps will be consistent but low unless you add more oil to the port......

Jeff

[HILMAN76]

I have a Mendoza 600 in .22, I sent it to Mike Melick for a basic tune. He said it was the most confusing trigger he'd seen and it was a PITA to put back together. There were no upgrades for springs that he could find thru JMaccari.So it was a deburr and lube job.It came out great.He mainly took on the job so he could see how the Mendoza looks like inside and see how it works.

The rifle shootsnice. Smooth trigger, I only shoot this rifle with open sights.No chrony numbers.

[cfxdragon]

The 350M shoots awesome. I really like the gun so far. The front sight had an issue out of the box and the gun came with the terrible "c" mounts. I had 1.25" or less groups shooting off hand at 10-15 yards, even with the loose front sight. My very first target shot (3rd out of gun) was less than 1/4" off of the perfect center of my target. I am going to steal the front sight off of the 35 to put onto the 350  so I can get a few hundred rounds through it so that when my scope mount arrives the end of next week I can mount the scope and get ready to do some hunting. I also want to chrony the 350 today as it is much smoother than I expected.

As far as the mendoza I am thinking of a .22 just for a squirrel, crow, and <20yd wood chuck gun that can be left in a case in the shed at my grandmother's farm and that dad can take out on the kawi mule. If it gets beat up I'm not out much. There are a lot of times that I am out there to do something for her and wish I had something close by.

[pindog2000]

i shot one this week actually the avenger 1100 shoots acuratly but u have to add oil to maintain the high fps if this isnt a bother go for it but if i were you i would get a mike melick b-25

[DougT]

My best friend and shooting buddy, WadeS, has the Mendoza in .22.  It is very consistent fps-wise but he says he wouldn't but one again after shooting it for 1.5 years.  We chrono'd it may times.  Shooting RWS 14.2g pellets this past summer at about 80*, it was shooting 640 fps.  He doesn't keep oiling it all the time, just a drop or two about every 1000 rounds or so.  I just chrono'd it thursday at 28* temperature and it was shooting the same pellet at 517 fps.  I chrono'd it again today at 38*-40* temperature and it was shooting 537 fps.  The factory claims 950 but I don't see how they got that even with dieseling and a light pellet.  I suspect he has a bad seal or broken spring.  One benefit is it is very  quiet, has NO hold sensitivity and shoots 30 yard groups about 0.5".  Just very little power.  In the warmer months Wade has shot a fair amount of crows and squirrels.  

The double trigger is very interesting.  It is nice to shoot once you get used to it and is light and predictable.  We took it all apart and you can only do small improvements.  Most of the parts are pressed/riveted together and we didn't want to get that deep into it.  We just cleaned up the edges we could and polished them.  A little grease and put it back together.  

Hope this helps.

[pindog2000]

it better guns out there for the price ur looking at. i bought a refurb ruger airhawk for my buddy at cabelas for 69 big ones a way better shooter than the mendoza with way more power just surf the web you can find rugers cheap at online stores and once you get one its a keeper have u notcied u cant find any rugers on the classifieds ??for the price you pay for a rws 34 clone to the tee u would be a fool to sell ur ruger.

[cfxdragon]

I hadn't realized that the airhawk was a 34 clone. Is the black hawk the same gun just in synthetic stock? and I assume the airhawk elite is just a thumbhole stock and nickel plated barrel?

[pindog2000]

yes sir the black hawk is the rws 34 panther clone.

[longislandhunter]

Sportsmansguide.com sells the Blackhawk for $89 bucks.  I picked one up during the summer and mine is a really nice shooter.  It's .177 but it's got a ton of power and is deadly accurate.  It's a fabulous copy of the 34 Panther.  I have the 34 Panther in .22 and I like my Blackhawk just as much.....

Here's the link  to sportsmansguide so you can look at it.................

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/ruger-blackhawk-177-cal-air-rifle-with-4x32-mm-scope.aspx?a=524681

Jeff

[SUPERFITTER]

TOO bad I live in Michigan, with our stupid laws!!!

[cfxdragon]

I see now that the ruger's are only available in .177. I was really kind of looking for something in .22. I have enough .177 and want to play with more .22 at this point I think. I am slowly trying to work my way up to a .305 or .45 someday I think. It would be such a rush to take an air rifle deer hunting.