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All Springer/NP/PCP Air Gun Discussion General => Air Guns And Related Accessories Review Gates => Air Gun Review Gate => Topic started by: rkr on June 15, 2012, 10:30:35 AM

Title: Viking Mk2 Bullpup
Post by: rkr on June 15, 2012, 10:30:35 AM
Some time ago I got interested in bullpups and decided that I wanted to convert my Dynamax to a bullpup to have a short and handy backyard gun. I asked around for bullpup kits, one thing lead to another and I ended up buying a used Viking Mk2 bullpup made by Huub.

Now this being a second hand gun it required some fixing and I ended up doing a complete overhaul of the gun. The gun had been gamo dipped and that dip had found it's way to various parts of the gun where it shouldn't have. The gun was originally sold to UK and had received there a stiff and incorrectly cut hammer spring that I had to fix. The scope rail was also damaged and Huub fixed that on his expense (a great guy to deal with). I also had Tunajussi to do some magic to the barrel while gun was apart :)

Eventually I got it all back together and working the way I want so I thought a short review would be in order. The gun uses Tench regulated BSA Ultra Multishot action and is 49.5cm long. The barrel is only 7,5" long and there is a nice fully functional shroud surrounding it. The shroud had originally Edgun type baffle system that was a bit on the loud side. I replaced it with Weichrauch type improved internals (more absorbing material than HW uses and plastic baffles) which quieted the gun down considerably. The MMC cocking system has been replaced by a cocking knob that attaches to the hammer. I originally had my doubts about it but in practice it works very well, once you've fired you can cock the gun with your index finger and thumb. Since the knob operates the hammer directly I can also decock the gun while leaving the pellet in the barrel which is a very useful feature for hunting situations. The trigger mechanism is very nice and crisp, not much difference to a regular BSA trigger and can well be used for target shooting. It also retains the normal BSA trigger group adjustments and the trigger linkage can also be adjusted.

Once all the little issues had been fixed I made a cheek pad for the gun, mounted a camoed Leapers SWAT 3-12 scope and went to shoot some groups at 20 yards. H&N FTTs did 7mm groups while JSB exacts gave 6.5mm and finally JSB heavies gave 6mm hole (see photo). That's the same as my Scorpion SE does so as far as accuracy goes this gun seems to be as accurate as any other despite it's short barrel. The only downside is that it only gets 25 shots before it drops off the regulator, good enough for my needs and I can live with that. If the need for more shots appears I can sacrifice some length and add a Scorpion airtube + longer shroud. The power is set for 11+ fpe and it does 759-763 fps shot string on the regulator using H&N FTTs.

All in all a very compact and nice gun that can hang up with full size rifles. Needles to say I'm happy and can recommend one for those wanting a short bullpup.   
Title: Re: Viking Mk2 Bullpup
Post by: Motorhead on June 15, 2012, 12:32:40 PM
Never heard of them ? ..... Nice compact rig for sure !
Title: Re: Viking Mk2 Bullpup
Post by: rkr on June 15, 2012, 02:30:25 PM
Huub makes them on order. Not that many floating around but the next best thing to Edguns as I see it. Hammer forged BSA barrels are known to be among the best out there so accuracy should be fine. As a bonus you get the multishot capability which I think is a must. I've seen some nice 60cm long Vikings that use full length Ultra barrels, enough for 18 fpe. The weaver riser block is not that nice looking so I ordered a set of high rise mounts to replace it. Some more camo work is also in plans to make the looks more uniform :)
Title: Re: Viking Mk2 Bullpup
Post by: rkr on July 08, 2012, 12:47:59 PM
A small update with high scope rings and completed camo job:

(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/abbababbaccc/Viking-1.jpg)

(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/abbababbaccc/Viking-2.jpg)
Title: Re: Viking Mk2 Bullpup
Post by: .22 Varmint on July 08, 2012, 01:59:33 PM
Very cool setup! Never seen one quite like that.

Andrew
Title: Re: Viking Mk2 Bullpup
Post by: rkr on November 18, 2012, 08:02:04 AM
A short update. I got a .22 conversion parts for the gun and it's now getting 20 shots at 20 fpe. Not bad for such a short gun. 21.3 grain baracudas are leaving the barrel at 650 fps which is enough for 40 yards or so. The gun also received some new gizmos to allow night time pest control/hunting.

(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/abbababbaccc/Viking-NV-1.jpg)

Your average DIY Night vision set up with 501B torch equipped with a single IR led.

Another new feature is the power adjuster at the rear of the hammer tube. 
Title: Re: Viking Mk2 Bullpup
Post by: rkr on December 20, 2012, 03:09:14 AM
Some more work went in to gun and tuning it. I made a blast tamer for the gun and installed a 10" barrel that goes further inside the shroud. This netted 35 regulated shots at 20 fpe using JSB RSs, I think that's quite excellent for such a short air tube. I also modded the shroud internals and the gun is now as quiet as it was in 12 fpe .177 form. Next one is 2" longer shroud to make the action noise to overpower the muzzle blast :)
Title: Re: Viking Mk2 Bullpup
Post by: rkr on March 16, 2013, 09:26:14 AM
Some new features, a pressure gauge and longer shroud:

(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/abbababbaccc/Viking-long-shroud_zps317d5284.jpg)

I experimented with different shroud internals and it is now more quiet than a stock Weihrauch "moderator", the sound of pellet hitting a live target is much more louder than the muzzle report  ;D

The new barrel is a bit pellet picky but does well with JSB Exact Expres, some 5 shot groups at 20 yards:

(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/abbababbaccc/22-groups.jpg)