Just got a P17

[fv22]

Never had a decent shooting pellet pistol. Reading posts here it seems lots of people really like the P17, since it's so cheap I decided to try one. Just arrived from PA today, was planning on cleaning the barrel before shooting but got home late and I wanted to at least try a few shots before I lost light so the cleaning would have to wait.

First impressions are positive, fits the hand well, feels sturdy and looks good. Grabbed some Diabolo basic's and went out to try a few shots. Figured I would do 10 shots just to see what happens. Some complaints I heard about the P17 were it's hard to load, did not find that at all, first pellet (a wadcutter) went right in the hole easily as did the 9 that followed. Next complaint I heard about was hard to pump, ok it's not easy but nowhere near as bad as I expected from some of the reviews I read online. I have some arthritis in both hands and still had no problem.

Set up target at 7 yards, first 6 shots covered about 1.5 inches, not bad considering a probably dirty barrel, no pellet testing and me getting used to the feel of the gun and open sights. By then I was starting to like it but then I put the next 4 shots into 1 ragged hole about 1/4" ctc! Wow, now I can't wait to clean it and spend more time getting the feel of it. Hope I can keep it that good most of the time. I'll be busy for a while but hope to get at least a little more time with it over the weekend. Thanks everyone who wrote about this gun before me!

[dan_house]

clean  the barrel, adjsut the trigger and find what it likes to eat.

then shoot it. Itll get batter as it breaks in and as you get more used to shoooting it

[superchikn]

I did not care for mine at first.  Boy was I wrong.  I have three now. Bought one for my sister in law and will be getting one for my brother in law.
My first has several tweaks done to it, one is more basic and one stock so far (it is still in the package)
I just have not been able to shoot any since I broke my wrist about 5 weeks ago.   

[BerkshireHunter]

I got one about a week ago and was so impressed I bought another one for my brother for a graduation gift.

My only complaint is the sight elevation screw moves a tad pumping it but I just added some loc-tite so it should be good now. It feels like a duty pistol & it should be a good training aid.

[ErikDK]

I pushed the molded-in nut out of the rear sight of my Weihrauch HW40, which is basically the same gun.

The plastic is less than 1 mm thick below the nut.

No big deal, since I can only hit something with it by using either a red-dot sight or a 2x20 scope.

With a shoulder stock, it would make an excellent carbine.

[Tom Tucker]

I still pull mine out every now and again.  I'm always surprised at how many pellets I end up putting through it.

[fv22]

Finally made a little time to clean barrel and put some more rounds through the P17. Put probably 20 patches through the bore and never got completely clean. Got tired of cleaning, wanted to use it so I went for the good enough factor and took it outside to shoot. Shot about another 25-30 rounds and did not do as good as the first 10 shots. Guess it liked the dirty barrel! Not bad but was not able to put 4 in 1 ragged hole again. Must have been beginners luck the first time...

Wish I had more time but maybe later on in the week will get to put another 50 or more through it. Will see what happens then.

[Stinger177]

You know, you're not an official P17 owner until you've pinched your shirt.

I love my P17. I have an $18 Red Dot on it and I have to say that it compares very favorably in shooting, trigger, and looks to my Zoraki HP-01 (Webley Alecto).

[Stinger177]

Forgot to add that you can fit some wheel weights in the grip to make it handle a bit better. The yellow things are foam E.A.R. plugs to keep them from rattling around.

[45Bravo]

You know, you're not an official P17 owner until you've pinched your shirt.

My nephew was shooting his new one I gave him for his 15th birthday.

He accidentally closed it on his right nipple, he was cussing, fussing, and dancing a jig, all the while with the pistol hanging on his chest like velcro.

His girlfriend and I thought it was among the funniest things we had ever seen.

He didn’t feel the same way we did. 

[4duece107]

Enjoying my P17. Ditched the red dot. Gun is so accurate I need the sights to make the best of it. Well worth the 27 dollars I paid for it.

[kerplunk]

You know, you're not an official P17 owner until you've pinched your shirt.

I love my P17. I have an $18 Red Dot on it and I have to say that it compares very favorably in shooting, trigger, and looks to my Zoraki HP-01 (Webley Alecto).

I also am a proud new P17 owner, and I guess I'm official because I pinched my shirt yesterday. I knew the trigger was going to be good from the reviews, but I'm still super-impressed. I chronied mine at 370 FPS with Crosman 7.4 gr pointed and 375 FPS with the wadcutters. It seems to be grouping well when I do my part, but more testing is needed. It seems to like RWS Superdomes just as much as Crosman Wadcutters, but again more testing is needed.

[Tater]

You know, you're not an official P17 owner until you've pinched your shirt.

It's funny because it's true.  Got lucky here, mine likes cheap Crosman Destroyers.

[avator]

Yep.... I love me some P-17.
Speaking of initiation.... Betty Lou...... well, nevermind.
It was one of those ... had to be there... moments.

[Moke]

It seems that I jumped into official ownership with the P17 biting my left pointer finger so hard as to leave a cut, to the side-center of the pad, perhaps 3/8" long and slightly crescent shaped. And with quite a bit of dripping blood. It was my first time trying to cock it.
Qualified?

[Bob H.]

Yep, you're qualified.  A few years ago, one of the ladies was shooting my P17 and and almost caught something that had grown on the right side of her chest.  Yes, an accident waiting to happen.  After that I counterbored the piston, making the pistol much easier to cock.
BobH.

It seems that I jumped into official ownership with the P17 biting my left pointer finger so hard as to leave a cut, to the side-center of the pad, perhaps 3/8" long and slightly crescent shaped. And with quite a bit of dripping blood. It was my first time trying to cock it.
Qualified?

[Insanity]

I think this winter I will massage mine to get some more fps.

[wjjones]

I think this winter I will massage mine to get some more fps.

My P17 shoots a little hotter than my HW40, but it also has a little more "bark" to it.  I think that will be the result if you "massage...to get more fps".

[Stikkershokk]

Can I suggest spraying a lot of Rem-Oil in the pump tube to wash it out?

There were lots of complaints about chewed up o-rings.

I washed mine out with remoil and got a lot of metal dust out of the air pump.

[Tom Tucker]

I think this winter I will massage mine to get some more fps.

My P17 shoots a little hotter than my HW40, but it also has a little more "bark" to it.  I think that will be the result if you "massage...to get more fps".

Both of my P17's average 446-447fps with JSB 7.33's after a gentle "massage."  I have several preps I do to a P17 when I get it, but the one that really bumps up the fps is getting the compression just right.  It has to be very close to zero dead-space, but not quite.  One of them was only shooting 395fps, so after experimenting with aluminium tape on the piston (6 layers or 0.03") I ended up gluing a 1/32" thick, ~24.5mm wide aluminum disc to the face of piston.  I got it from a craft store.  The other gun arrived shooting 425fps, so all it needed was 2 layers of foil tape to have full compression.  There is about 7-8fps hiding in the transfer port as well - it can be slightly enlarged (my guns stopped gaining after .116"), and the part where is meets the valve can be rounded off a bit if you can figure out how to get in there...