I'm Wondering How Many Lucky People Got a Umarex Octane for Christmas

[UmarexOctane]

I'm also wondering how many of these new Umarex Octane owners will come here in search of information about their new air rifle?

Back when I first got mine, there was virtually no usable information available on the internet other than the Umarex sales pitches and advertisements.  With the exception of a few youtube videos  showing only performance reviews that were basically all the same, (including my own video) there was very little about how to modify, upgrade and how to spot potential problems with the Umarex Octane.

Now, a few years on, enough folks have had enough time to test and tinker with these budget air rifles to be able to bring their performance levels up to where they rival that of the most expensive break barrel air rifles.

When searching for info on this particular air rifle, GTA is a among the best  places to start but there are now other sites and Umarex Octane User Groups that specialize on the Umarex Octane.  For the serious performance seeker, these are the sights to look for.

Tim M.

[UmarexOctane]

That's incredible!

Either no one got a Umarex Octane for Christmas or, none of those that did are members of this forum; or, all of the recipients of this brand and style of air rifle are happy with it as it is out of the box.

OK; if you couldn't already tell, I'm just trying to up my post count in addition to trying to get a feel for the Octane ownership within this forum's membership.

Our Octane users group usually grows by a few members after each Christmas cycle.  It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be this year.

Tim M.

[Geoff]

Hello,

I own one that I won in a raffle.  It is a 22 cal.  When it first arrived I was getting around 30 fpe from it.  As things settled down it was closer to 25 fpe if memory serves me.

Out to the 50 yards I have tested it she shot plenty accurate for hunting and not bad for paper punching. 

[UmarexOctane]

The Octane I bought a few years back must have been one of the old models.  Other than the horrendous trigger pull everything else about it was as you've described yours as being.

I didn't like scope that came with mine so I installed a set of Peep-Sights.  My eye sight is such that I either need a scope or a good set of Peep-Sights.  After upgrading the trigger I can now hit feral pigeons out to sixty yards with a whole lot more hits than misses and with boring regularity.

I just wish I had more free time to shoot mine.  The Octanes being sold now have some upgraded components.  These newer factory components really don't do anything to enhance performance.  They're just made to hold up a little better under the recoil of this air rifle; I think.  The original multi-layered sear has been replaced with what appears to be a cast-metal sear made as a solid unit.  They also come with what appears to be a stronger main spring.  It appears to be just a sort of lawyer-proofing.

My old-school multi-layered sear started coming apart earlier this year.  The folks at the Umarex service center were kind enough to send me out one of their newer sears and the heavier main spring.  I suspect they may have gotten sued or threatened with a law suit at some point due to the design flaw of that previous sear.

On my own Octane, it started mis-firing because the multi-layered sear started pivoting apart at the rivet.  Kind of like a Japanese fan when you open it up.  This caused the claw on this sear to engage only partially which lead to accidental discharges.  It's not hard to imagine some kid shooting himself or his friends accidentally under these conditions. That's a law suit waiting to happen.

Tim M.

[GP2004]

I own an Octane. I bought it because I found it at Wally World online for an unbelievable price. I have not shot it much because of the difficult trigger. I does hit hard, but I have trouble with accuracy. I enjoy my AGs that have an good trigger more than the Octane.

[uglymike]

I briefly had one about a year ago, briefly is the key word. Basic Umarex Chinese import......bad.

[grimeszee]

I owned one and it broke the gas ram in about two weeks of use then the replacement one was so week I gave the "dang" thing away. sorry for the bad news but I will never own another one of the overhyped POS's

[UmarexOctane]

I'm sure that there are others who have had negative experiences with Umarex Octane air rifles that we'll never hear from.  A certain percentage, like the ones posted above are statistically expected but are generally not the norm.

More common negatives stem from the "Over-Hyping" of a product like the Octane that doesn't even come close in performance to what is said of them and expected of them when you take them out of the box for the first time. For example; the velocities stated in their ad campaigns and the two-stage adjustable trigger makes it sound like the trigger on these air rifles can be adjusted to match grade specs.   NOT!  The micro-weight lead-free pellets that are used to boost velocities for advertising purposes really don't shoot worth a darn out of any Octane who's owners I've communicated with.  14 grains and up pellets shoot far better but none of those come close to matching the touted velocities.

The one I bought never gave me alot of problems.   I already knew that the "Hype" was nothing more than advertising "Hype;" just like nearly every other air gun that hits the market; so I didn't go into it with a mindset predisposed to endure a let down.  I just wanted an air rifle that was a good platform to work with.  Mine is now what I consider to be very accurate.  My Gas Spring gave up the ghost in July of 2015.  By then I'd owned it for a couple of years and put several thousand pellets through it.  The factory replacement Gas-Spring that I bought gives me similar velocities that the previous Gas-Spring was giving me before it went bad.

I replaced my factory trigger with a Match-Grade-Trigger component and it now shoots just as good if not better than some of the higher end air rifles.  If you shoot them enough times, things will eventually wear out or break; especially on a heavy recoiling air rifle like the Umarex Octane.

It's sad to hear of the problems that others have had with their Octanes.  I'm pretty happy with mine.

Tim M.

[RudyN]

I am getting ready to order one in the next few days.   I will net the group know how it goes.

[UmarexOctane]

I am getting ready to order one in the next few days.   I will net the group know how it goes.

That's cool.  I see from the list below your post that you already own a couple of other air guns.  I only own my Octane, a couple of daisy red ryders (one of which I'm converting to Gas-Spring)   and I also own a air pistol.   I don't know what make it is.  I've had it in my storage room for years and I've only shot it a few times.

Once you get used to the trigger pull, I'm pretty sure you'll be happy with your new Octane.  I look forward to hearing your experience.

Tim M.

[UmarexOctane]

A gentleman who had just picked up one of these trigger upgrades contacted me to tell me that he'd installed it but now his Octane wouldn't fire.  He was left with a cocked and loaded Umarex Octane that he wasn't sure what to do with.

The fix was a simple one and once he took care of it he re-installed the Match-Grade-Trigger component and now he's a happy camper.  I was glad to hear it too. 

Since this little incident took place I decided to make a video tutorial showing how easy it really is to install one of these upgrades for guys who shoot the Umarex Octane; also the Ruger Yukon and any other air rifle with a trigger group identical to the Octane.  A few of the guys on this forum have installed these just fine without any tutorial but, I know that not everyone is as mechanically inclined.  Even those of us that are good with such things have been known to re-assemble a part wrong from time to time.  I know I have.

Sorry about the poor quality.  I'm afraid my videography skills leave alot to be desired but even still, the video is just clear enough to show the simplicity of the design.

Tim M.

[GP2004]

I liked your video. The clear trigger group that shows how the parts line up is a very good idea. I would like to order the 'duck head' part.

[UmarexOctane]

I liked your video. The clear trigger group that shows how the parts line up is a very good idea. I would like to order the 'duck head' part.

Hi GO2004:

Thanks for the kind word about the video.  I'm happy it's getting a good reception from Umarex Octane owner/shooters. 

I'm afraid I'm not authorized to sell those components here on this site at this time.  The best I could do would be to direct you over to the Umarex Octane Shooters group at the Yahoo Groups site. 

I know it's a hassle but like I said, I don't have permission to sell these trigger upgrades here.  The only reason I posted here was because I've had a few of the member here join that specific air rifle shooter group then decide to try one of these upgrade components for themselves.  Alot of our members only joined to check out what mods are available for the Octane.  They spend more time here than there so I posted so that they were aware of the new video.

Tim M.

[GP2004]

I googled Umarex Octane Shooters group at the Yahoo Groups and got nowhere. I figured Google would block Yahoo stuff, so I tried Yahoo search and got nothing. How do I get to Yahoo groups?

[UmarexOctane]

I haven't been a member here for to long but, even though I have skimmed over the rules and guidelines, there are still alot of things that I don't know if they are permissible or not.   

I'm a member of a few other forums from bullet casting to engineering and each one of them tends to have their own set of rules about steering people to other web pages.  Some of these forums don't make any mention of this; it all depends on how a particular moderator happens to be feeling on that particular day.

Here's the web address to the group in question:   https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/umarexoctane/conversations/messages 

You should be able to click on it as a link but if not, just cut and paste it onto your browser.  I know that having to go about this in this way is really kind of stupid but, as I explained before, I don't have permission from the powers that be here to sell these Match-Grade-Trigger upgrades from this sight.   Depending on how the mods are feeling, even mentioning them might be construed as something it's not.

Thanks for getting back to me on this.  Sorry about the hassles.

Tim M.

[Wolfer]

Have been doing a lot of reading here on the forum trying to pick a good dependable Magnum break barrel. Every time I think I have it figured out I read something new and back at square one again. My short list is Octane, Nitro piston 2 , Hatson 125. Feedback please. I want a gun I can shoot often and hunt with that I don,t have to pamper and will last. I sure don,t ask for much.   Wolfer

[sactargetshooter]

Now that I have shot the FD MM fully tuned XS28M for a while, I have to say it gets better after 500 rounds or so. Shoots JSB Jumbo Express (14.3gr) at 855 FPS for about 23 FPE at muzzle. The trigger is pretty good for a magnum piston gun, let off is crisp and predictable.

The Octane is a gas-ram version of the same action, but the trigger unit has to change because of the gas-ram design. I think a fully tuned XS28M is still the way to go because it is backed by Mike's warranty. Being a spring piston, you can also swap in a Vortek tune kit at a later time.

I also tried out a Hatsan 125 Sniper Vortex. Great trigger, but mine had a loose breech lock up and I had to return it. The 125 has a more pronounced shot cycle and noise compared to the XS28M for a few more foot pounds of energy. The Hatsan was about the same price as a fully tuned XS28M out-the-door. Given these two choices, and based on my experience, I think the XS28M is a better choice.

Although the XS28M is not muffled, it has a standard 16mm barrel. An LDC can be added using a 16mm to UNF converter. That does make the gun awfully long at 56", but the LDC significantly helps to reduce report for indoor practice and it also changes barrel harmonics. A Weihrauch LDC on the XS28M is significantly more quiet than a Hatsan 125 Sniper.

That being said, I also know the Hatsan is very tunable. I just don't want to have to deal with that (tuning) with a brand new gun.

I would check out the XS28M and see if that fits your needs.

[Wolfer]

I had forgot to ad the xs28 to my short list. There is something that I really like about getting a new gun and only worry about putting some lead through it. Thanks again for the reply.    Wolfer

[sactargetshooter]

That's my impression of the XS28M. Granted, it still needs to be seasoned with 500 pellets or so, but nothing like the frustration of having to return a gun due to QC issues. The Hatsan took 300 pellets to stop dieseling, and who knows how much that dieseling is damaging the piston seals.

The XS28M is also compatible with most parts intended for the Diana/RWS 350. This means tune kits, barrels, etc. are all options.

[GP2004]

You can look into a Ruger Yukon. Similar to an Octane but with a rather nice wood stock.