GTA
All Springer/NP/PCP Air Gun Discussion General => Air Guns And Related Accessories Review Gates => Topic started by: Ole Coyote on January 30, 2021, 03:06:48 AM
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Well, after adventures in shipping, I received my Umarex Browning Buckmark, .177, breakbarrel pistol. The gun is constucted of all black plastic with a rifled, steel inner barrel, and a very nicely fitted, and Browning branded rubber grip. I was looking for a good plinker, and I think I found it. My brother, on the strength of my recommendation, also bought one, so I have two examples on which to base my review. I have to rate it a 2 as in 2much fun! But it took a bit to get there. The first problem was the sights. out of the box, the windage was right on, but elevation was a problem. We were shooting Stoeger X-Match 8.18 grain wadcutters, and Winchester Round nose. The sights are adustable, but trying to raise elevation bottomed out the rear sight on both guns. To make the native sights usable, we will have to reduce the height of the front sight blade. Don't worry, there is plenty there to work with.
Not to be prevented from doing a real shooting test, we added red dot sights. This was easily done with the integral, Picatinny, top rail. Once zeroed, these pistols are unbelievably accurate. I rate them very close to the Beeman P17. Then came the next problem, again, on both guns. The trigger, while crisp, is irredeemably heavy. I do not have a trigger scale, but I would have to guess the trigger is at least as heavy as my double action, semi-auto pistol. This turned out to be a not too terrible problem, either. The gun is really easy to disassemble to work on (here is a YouTube video on disassembly https://youtu.be/V9nAHNghDOI (https://youtu.be/V9nAHNghDOI)).
We tore them down, and found the trigger spring, at the very back of the gun. It is a very thick, heavy spring. With a cutting wheel on a Dremel tool, we took just about a whole coil off of the spring, and the gun now has a light, clean, crisp, and very shootable trigger. While we had the guns down, we removed the Auto-Safety cam. That was about 10 minutes of filing each. The cast zinc alloy internals yielded quickly to a file. This mod in no way affects the normal operation of the safety, only the auto-safety feature, which activates the safety on cocking.
In reality, even with the necessary mods, I have to give this gun a 5 Star review. It is easily worth the purchase price, and as earlier noted, just too much fun to shoot. I still love my P17, but this is much easier to load, and overall, a real pleasure to shoot. My brother and I have spent a couple of evenings tearing up soda cans on the back porch with them. Still loving my CP1-M, and my Crosman 2250, but it is too cold to shoot CO2 right now. My Umarex Buckmark will be getting a LOT of regular workouts.
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That does it. I had no choice but to order one. ;D
Like I really needed a reason.
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That does it. I had no choice but to order one. ;D
Like I really needed a reason.
You will not regret it, I promise.
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DF's brother here.
Just wanted to add my $0.02.
First of all, the +++
- Appearance: It is as close to a Buck Mark as you can get in in a springer.
- Barrel: steel with well defined rifling.
- Grips: The rubber(y) grips are as good as I have seen on many powder burners. I have never fired a Buck Mark, but I don't think you'll be disappointed.
- Accuracy: It is as accurate as I am at 7yds, staying inside the inside ring on a 4" target, practically the same hole, supported.
- Material: Zinc alloy receiver, polymer frame, polymer barrel cover.
- Trigger: Nice modular design. Simple, but no excessive drag in the parts. I did not feel a need to do any polishing.
- Ease of disassembly
Now the ---
- Trigger: WAY too heavy. There is no way to fire accurately with it.
- Overall fitment. barely adequate
- Weight: Only about half the weight of a Browning
- Pitcatinny rail: Plastic and the grooves are not 1913 standard. One of my red dots would not fit because the through bolts are too large.
I really wanted to like this gun right out of the box. But I couldn't.
First off was the trigger. I cannot say too much about what a disservice they did with the trigger pull. I would say that, between us, Dave and I fired about 100 pellets out of it without mods. I never was able to get the factory sights to work with my aim. To add to that frustration, by the end of the session, I was literally hitting the safety lever with a hammer to disengage it, and my thumb was sore. I went inside more than a little disappointed.
But, I am a tinkerer.
I came inside, pulled up a couple on disassembly videos on YouTube and went to work.
As I began to go over the gun some of my disappointment began to fade. The design is actually pretty good. You can disassemble it for maintenance with only 3 screws. 2 very small screws,one on each side, at the front of the frame, and the allen screw at the rear of the receiver. Then the barrel and receiver separate from the frame.
There are 2 pins holding the trigger module in. They should be removed from right to left as they are fluted on the left end. With the safety set to on, the trigger module lifts right out of the frame. I used a file to reduce the auto-safety cam, but a Dremel ball mill should work as well. I worked off, only the half of the cam inside the trigger housing, but you could probably just take the lever out and grind the whole thing down.
I think I could use the trigger spring as a helper on my pick-up. It is that stiff. I tried some other springs I had laying around, but couldn't find one that would work. But, the trigger was so bad, I didn't feel like I had anything to lose, so I got out the Dremel and a cutting wheel. I must warn you that it would be VERY easy to go too far here. You SHOULD be (but I do not guarantee) safe if you line the cutting wheel on the end of the spring wire and take only that first turn. Again, I warn you. Take too much and the seer will not engage, and you'll be looking for a replacement spring. (Or, maybe, you could fit a washer over the spring guide.)
As I said the hammer and seer surfaces are pretty smooth. They might benefit from a modest polish, but I just put a little grease on the faces. I also lubed the interface for the safety.
I was never able to identify what caused the issue with the action of the safety, but I have not had another problem with it since re-assembly.
I worked Dave's over as soon as it came in.
As Dave said, we put reflex dot sights on and zeroed. We have each completely destroyed about a dozen soda cans,each, since, and I love the way this gun shoots.
I will probably fill the void in the grip with Crosman wad cutter pellets to add some weight.
This is not a perfect gun out of the box, but, if you're willing to tinker, it's a darned good plinker.
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Thanks for a nice written review.
Didn't have watch a commercial, wait for a video to load, waste time on an intro, just solid info. Five stars
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UPDATE! -- My RMR sight arrived today... As TheRRDon noted, the Top Rail does not have a true M1913 form factor, so the RMR would not fit. Nothing to fret over, a few minutes with a file cut enough of a slot that it fit fine. This gun is still all aces in my book!
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DF's brother here.
Just wanted to add my $0.02.
First of all, the +++
- Appearance: It is as close to a Buck Mark as you can get in in a springer.
- Barrel: steel with well defined rifling.
- Grips: The rubber(y) grips are as good as I have seen on many powder burners. I have never fired a Buck Mark, but I don't think you'll be disappointed.
- Accuracy: It is as accurate as I am at 7yds, staying inside the inside ring on a 4" target, practically the same hole, supported.
- Material: Zinc alloy receiver, polymer frame, polymer barrel cover.
- Trigger: Nice modular design. Simple, but no excessive drag in the parts. I did not feel a need to do any polishing.
- Ease of disassembly
Now the ---
- Trigger: WAY too heavy. There is no way to fire accurately with it.
- Overall fitment. barely adequate
- Weight: Only about half the weight of a Browning
- Pitcatinny rail: Plastic and the grooves are not 1913 standard. One of my red dots would not fit because the through bolts are too large.
I really wanted to like this gun right out of the box. But I couldn't.
First off was the trigger. I cannot say too much about what a disservice they did with the trigger pull. I would say that, between us, Dave and I fired about 100 pellets out of it without mods. I never was able to get the factory sights to work with my aim. To add to that frustration, by the end of the session, I was literally hitting the safety lever with a hammer to disengage it, and my thumb was sore. I went inside more than a little disappointed.
But, I am a tinkerer.
I came inside, pulled up a couple on disassembly videos on YouTube and went to work.
As I began to go over the gun some of my disappointment began to fade. The design is actually pretty good. You can disassemble it for maintenance with only 3 screws. 2 very small screws,one on each side, at the front of the frame, and the allen screw at the rear of the receiver. Then the barrel and receiver separate from the frame.
There are 2 pins holding the trigger module in. They should be removed from right to left as they are fluted on the left end. With the safety set to on, the trigger module lifts right out of the frame. I used a file to reduce the auto-safety cam, but a Dremel ball mill should work as well. I worked off, only the half of the cam inside the trigger housing, but you could probably just take the lever out and grind the whole thing down.
I think I could use the trigger spring as a helper on my pick-up. It is that stiff. I tried some other springs I had laying around, but couldn't find one that would work. But, the trigger was so bad, I didn't feel like I had anything to lose, so I got out the Dremel and a cutting wheel. I must warn you that it would be VERY easy to go too far here. You SHOULD be (but I do not guarantee) safe if you line the cutting wheel on the end of the spring wire and take only that first turn. Again, I warn you. Take too much and the seer will not engage, and you'll be looking for a replacement spring. (Or, maybe, you could fit a washer over the spring guide.)
As I said the hammer and seer surfaces are pretty smooth. They might benefit from a modest polish, but I just put a little grease on the faces. I also lubed the interface for the safety.
I was never able to identify what caused the issue with the action of the safety, but I have not had another problem with it since re-assembly.
I worked Dave's over as soon as it came in.
As Dave said, we put reflex dot sights on and zeroed. We have each completely destroyed about a dozen soda cans,each, since, and I love the way this gun shoots.
I will probably fill the void in the grip with Crosman wad cutter pellets to add some weight.
This is not a perfect gun out of the box, but, if you're willing to tinker, it's a darned good plinker.
With the aid of this excellent description, I opened up mine and clipped 1 1/2 coils from the trigger spring. I also polished the surface of the sear and spent 20 minutes crawling around on the basement floor looking for a tiny bushing that dropped out while I was reassembling the gun. Finally found it and was amazed how far the little bugger bounced and rolled. As a result of shortening the trigger spring, I am shooting much better than before. I'll try some optics on it to see what it can really do. Open sights with my eyesight are really open.
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With the aid of this excellent description, I opened up mine and clipped 1 1/2 coils from the trigger spring. I also polished the surface of the sear and spent 20 minutes crawling around on the basement floor looking for a tiny bushing that dropped out while I was reassembling the gun. Finally found it and was amazed how far the little bugger bounced and rolled. As a result of shortening the trigger spring, I am shooting much better than before. I'll try some optics on it to see what it can really do. Open sights with my eyesight are really open.[/b][/i]
This is precisely why I opted for an RMR. TheRRDon did as well. We are both 65, and neither of us sees as well as we used to. In my case, with my glasses, I can't see my front sight; without my glasses, I can't see my target. This cheap little RMR takes care of that! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001560855442.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.1e2f4c4dndwDky (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001560855442.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.1e2f4c4dndwDky)
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I had to do an addendum to my review. With something over 1500 rounds, but probably not more than about 2000 rounds, my Umarex Browning Buck developed problems and had to be retired. Since the warranty was compromised anyway, I took it apart and inspected it. What happened was it was going off on close, and by the end, would not even cock without going off, actually bear trapping me once. On tear down, I found that the tooth of the sear no longer had a sharply defined edge, but also, there were signs of wear on the piston/sear surface. My guess is this is a materials defect. To be fair, TheRRDon has kept up with me almost shot for shot, and his Buckmark is not showing any malfunction whatsoever. We have not torn his down for inspection, but it has not evidenced malfunction. I have not lost faith in the gun, and another one is on order. My only additional comment is a warning... Though this is not a particularly powerful gun, exercise caution in loading. The beartrap is not an experience I wish to repeat, nor is it one you will enjoy.
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That's good to know.
Years ago I almost had my finger nipped off. From now on, I load the pellet, then fully cock it.
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My replacement Buckmark has arrived, and the trigger is much better than the first one. I don't think it will be necessary to adjust the spring. The sight rail is a little off from the bore in the vertical axis, so I had to shim my red dot (a little snippet of expired credit card) to get it to zero, but it is a great little shooter, out of the box. Once again, I am a Happy Kamper!
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I have had one of these pistols for about a year and my results are pretty much in line with the OP. On mine the trigger pull is heavy but fairly crisp, if "crisp" is the right word. There is no creep or drag. It is not so heavy that it is hard to shoot accurately, fortunately. To get the elevation adjustment high enough would require nearly unscrewing the elevation adjustment screw out of the base. I did not like that, so just left it a few turns into the base. If I am shooting pop cans, I just aim at the middle of the can instead of a 6 o'clock hold. At 30 feet or so, it will hit them every time offhand if I do not mess up. I chronographed it recently using Crosman 7.4 gr Premier Pointed pellets and it was right at 300 fps. Velocity is not high but it sure is easy to cock, which I like. Using the same pellets my Beeman P17 was right at 400 fps. The P17 requires noticeably more effort to load and cock. The velocity champ was my 40+ year old Webley Premier Mk II, at 445 fps. As others have said, the Buckmark grips are darn nice and give a firm feel while cocking and shooting.
The Buckmark has worked perfectly for the 500 or so shots through it The $50 price was worth it to me.
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For those of you that have the Buckmark and the Beeman P17; how does the accuracy compare?
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I can shoot the P17 with more accuracy and precision than the buckmark. However, that may be due to both the trigger and the fact that the P17 has a much smoother shot cycle since it is not a spring piston mechanism. Shooting the buckmark is easier from a loading standpoint. Shoving the action of the P17 closed has pinched me more than once. The buckmark is very enjoyable and easy from the loading standpoint.
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Good to know - Thanks
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Good to know - Thanks
I absolutely agree with Tom. The P17 is a better gun, but the Buckmark is easier to shoot. Since with pistols, I am mostly plinking, the Buckmark is my goto pistol. If I decide I want excellent accuracy, I skip right up to my 2250 or CP1M. Since I got the Buckmark, I haven't even taken my P17 out of the drawer