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The Barra 400E BB Rifle

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Whirligig:
Does anyone own one of these?

https://barraairguns.com/products/the-400e

If so, what are your impressions?

Thanks,

-W

SawneyBean:
I just received mine today.  Accuracy is excellent...for a BB gun.   Within 10 yards I could pretty reliably hit dandelion heads.  I shot a few groups on paper and at 10 yards 5 shots would land in a dime sized group and then the 6th would go flying an inch away.   I mounted a 1-8 lpvo scope on it and with it set on 8x you could see the flyer just going off on it's own way, while the crosshairs remained on target.  Between 10 and 20 yards you can still hit small targets reliably, but for that you need to switch to full auto.   Recoil is imperceptible, so you don't have to fire controlled bursts, you just hold the gun on target and hold the trigger down until the target is hit.   In a way it is more accurate than semi-auto as trigger pull is no longer an issue.   From 20-30 yards things continue to open up with those flyers becoming the rule.   At this range, you can no longer reliably hit tiny targets, but soda cans will be no problem.    Past 30 yards, fuhgeddaboutit, the BB's are going their own way and falling like stones.

I would recommend putting a scope on it.  The stock sights are trash even by BB gun standards and the accuracy is sufficient to warrant one.   Also, it's just nice to be able to see your BB's impact and make corrections while you're plinking without having to shoot paper. 

The trigger is adequate.  Nothing to write home about, but it's not bad.   

It's a serious BB hose.   I went through around 600 BB's today without even trying.  The magazines and speed loader work well together and the speedloader can be used for Crosman mags too.   Not having to switch out CO2, having 50 rd mags, having multiple mags and having sufficient accuracy to make plinking fun and challenging just means you shoot and shoot and shoot some more.

Velocity was very consistent in the 390s, except when I first attached the battery and got two shots in the low to mid  300s.  I'm guessing it has a capacitor that needs to charge for a minute or so after the battery is first attached as the velocity was within 6 fps other than those two shots.  This was all shot at about 30' above sea level using Crosman Copperhead BBs.  I've read posts online where people speculate about modifying these for more power, but I think that's really a pointless endeavor.  This is an awesome plinker.  If you want power just get a Hatsan Blitz.

I'm waiting on some ASG Blaster BBs and will see if those deliver better accuracy.

The biggest thing they could do to improve this gun is to add a lrbho feature. 

I really think Barra is on to something with an AEG BB gun.   What I'd really like to see them do for the next model is just abandon the AR styling entirely and build a traditional Red Ryder style BB gun but with the AEG system.   Put a 700 BB reservoir inside the gun with a built in 50 bb spring loaded clip.  Get the sight line lower and the weight and the price down.   Keep the full-auto and the rails though.  Those work really well.

Jeff Marshall:
what is lrbho?

SawneyBean:
Last round bolt hold open.   When the magazine is empty on the Barra 400e it just dry fires.  The report is slightly different, but it doesn't otherwise let you know the magazine is empty.

Jeff Marshall:
Thanks for your post, I wondered how they performed. What is your cyclic rate on full auto?

I went with a gel blaster for my full auto fix; 100 shots for a penny, and a thousand-ish round magazine capacity.

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