B25S vs. Ruger Air Hawk vs. RWS 34P
I have 34P’s in both .177 and .22. Been looking for cheaper springers as a matter of interest in what’s possible. First success in that department was the Air Hawk. It’s outwardly almost as nice as the RWSs though as delivered the trigger was a poor approximation of the RWS with poorly made parts. My sample dieselled for only a few shots and with some trigger touch up settled right in to be a nice shooter.
I decided to give the Xisico B25S a try since it, too, is a close copy of the 34 and for my purposes ordered a case of three from Mike Melick/Best Airguns/Flying Dragon. Any of you who think Mike is the finest of birds are….RIGHT!!!
The plastic stocks suit me and my inclination to use open sights, fuzzy eyes and all.
The B25Ss I got are not as nicely finished as the Ruger which is not quite as nice as the RWSs. I’ve been through one of the three Bs. First I did my basic trigger tune. Initial dieseling was frightening: first shot produced a big orange spark flying across the garage and a huge “BANG.†Maybe that put the slight “whoopee†in the spring, dunno, doesn’t matter. It was still making quite a bit of smoke after fifty shots. Nuff o dat mess!
I haven’t touched the RWSs, have now been through the Ruger and one B25. Internally, the Ruger is rather nicer with noticeable attention to detail and sharp edges compared to the B25
Ruger has a washer inside the piston that takes the end of the spring, B25 does not. The metal sleeve that fits inside the piston is very flimsy in the B25, sturdy in the Ruger.
Both Ruger and B25 had a flimsy base washer between spring, guide, and trigger mechanism that was allowing the base of the guide to collapse into the end of the trigger housing. I made sturdy replacements that shift the spring load to the outside and on to the large part of the housing. I polished spring ends (a hard Scotch Brite wheel in a bench grinder makes good, fast work of this) taking care to eliminate the sharp corners that can dig in to end washers, etc.
I wiped up most of the greasy mess inside both with paper towel on a stick. Inside of the B25 tube was/is rough, Ruger is just right, no cross hatching needed. I used a brake hone lubed with carburetor cleaner to improve the B25 tube though a nice cross hatched finish was not going to happen. Cleaned up all parts first with carburetor cleaner then brake parts cleaner blowing all dry with compressed air. No way would I put water in there!!! There are places for water to get that it would never get out. I did a LOT of filing of nasty stuff on the B25. Much less was needed in the Ruger. I used a file to round a lot of nasty edges on the cocking lug of the B25.
The ONLY lube I used for reassembly is my old buddy CRC Synthetic Brake & Caliper Grease. It is fairly stiff; doesn’t separate; has moly, graphite, and PTFE; and has worked wonders for me on everything from brakes to triggers for many years. I used a small piece of poly foam and a stick to apply very thin layers of CRC to the insides of the main tubes, the pistons, and the inner piston tubes. Used the greasy foam to thinly coat the springs. Used my fingers to apply a light coating to the outside of the pistons and the inner piston tubes. Put a fairly gloppy layer of the stuff inside the inner piston tubes, applied it like “tar†to the springs, put a good sized blob on the piston ends of the springs and a big fillet of the stuff around the base of the spring guides on top of the new washers. Used the CRC to assemble all other parts with a thick smear of the stuff down the channel of the piston where the cocking lug slides..
I put a new standard seal in the B25 to replace the one the factory chewed up during original assembly. The Ruger’s seal was fine and quite a different thing from the B’s.
Results? Gratifying. B25 and Ruger are both buttery smooth, nicer than the RWS 34s nice as those are from the factory. The B .22 is chronying about 730 plus or minus about 8 with RWS Hobby and 710 with Meisterkugeln. Ruger .177 is running just under 1000 with RWS Hobby and 930 with Meisterkugeln also plus minus 8 ish. B is a one ragged hole proposition, for me the Ruger is hold sensitive, but I’m getting there ( I suspect the high cheek piece that forces my face hard against it to use the open sights).
I am pleased. No fancy springs or seals (cheap was important) were used. The CRC super grease worked just like it has on everything else over the years: amazing. Cost warning: a 12 oz lifetime supply tub of CRC runs over $15 at the auto parts store and it’s worth it. I have demonstrated to my own satisfaction that the inexpensive B25 can readily and cheaply be made into a super slick shooter if one has sufficient skill and confidence.
