Airmax Dominator vs. ATI Nova Liberty help with decision

[MWin81]

Hello all,
I've been looking at both of these rifles and reading as much as I can but I'm struggling to make a decision. I was wondering if you guys could chime in and provide your experience/opinion about these rifles.
Thanks for any input.

[Lastdog]

ATI liberty!

[SoCalZac]

I don’t have an Airmax but I do have a Liberty. I love it. It gets an awesome shot count, it is accurate, and the trigger can be made to be pretty darn acceptable. I know Wayne has both and likes the Airmax better. I’m sure he’ll be in here soon to let you know why.

[miksatx]

I have a Dominator the side lever pin fell out. Spent a hour getting another pin. Haven't read of any Liberty side lever pins falling out.

[fatmike]

Tuning in as I am having the same situation. In my quest it seemed like the liberty was a better unit but will need the poppet changed out. The price is better on the liberty too.   I'm anxious to read more on these two.

[Wayne52]

I've never had any real problems with my Airmax Dominator since I've owned it.  It's probably the best .22 that I have in Chinese made guns.

[MWin81]

The Airmax does at first glance seem to be a little more premium product. And since it is made by a known company and sold under the Diana name I would think this would help with parts availability. The included moderator also looks nice as noise level is important to me. The magazine requiring a loading aid does seem like it would be annoying though. I guess ultimately I'm just trying to decide if the extra cost of the Airmax is justified. Most people seem to really love the Liberty as well. Each one has potential for greatness but I feel your kind of at the mercy of the Chinese QC lottery. I wish I had tons of cash I would just buy them both.

[Wayne52]

Mine is super quiet for doing 38fpe with the 23 grain cast pellets I've been shooting through it, it's worthy of a crow at 70yards with little modification.

[randy_68]

tough decision for sure.
 Here is my experience with these two.

I owned a Diana Outlaw .22 ( AKA Dominator). Loved it. Nice and slim, light and not too long. Fairly quiet, smooth side lever, nice trigger. pretty good accuracy. Yes, it took a little work to get it up to snuff but it seems like most low and mid priced guns do..
I rebuilt the reg as it was creeping bad, added baffles in the empty shroud, redid the linkage pin that falls out with a heavy coiled pin and adjusted trigger. It got 55 shots with 15 gr JSB at 915 fps.

I worked on an Liberty for a friend. Nice gun. Cheaper but heavier, longer and bulkier than the Outlaw. Decent trigger, smooth side lever, can be made quieter with baffles, Excellent accuracy, Not sure on shot count as he returned it before getting too far into it because it leaked out the reg seat and couldn't get it to seal. Could have fixed it with more time and if we could have got parts but he decided to send it back.

overall both guns are pretty nice for the price you pay but I preferred the Outlaw as it fit me better. Still think about buying another one someday. Not sure why they never caught on except maybe because of price.
Anyway, my 2 cents.

[smythsg]

I have both a Liberty in .22cal and a Dominator in .25cal. Both are very capable weapons with similar features.

I have my .25 Dominator shooting H&N Baracuda pellets at 49 ft lbs and it is deadly accurate, smooth as glass, and has been quite reliable. (Yes, I too had to replace the cocking pin, but it was a 10 minute job to add a roll pin that has lasted ever since with no more issues) I also upgraded mine with a Huma regulator, and it has been worth every penny. The Dominator is an excellent field gun and is still my goto for small game hunting.

The Liberty (Synthetic) was purchased on a whim because it looked like a lot of features at an unbeatable low price and it has lived up to it's expectations. I have mine shooting H&N Sniper Magnums at 900+ fps and it too is very accurate and a capable hunter. (Couple more hammer spring washers and a 1/4 turn of the regulator) Recently I thought about selling the Liberty, even had it boxed up, but changed my mind after thinking it over. It is a lot of gun for not a lot of cash, and has a lot of support on the Forums.

Like Wayne, if I had to pick one of the two, I would have to keep the Dominator. It is as close to the perfect small game field gun as I can imagine. To some extent it comes down to personal preference as both guns are quite capable, but the Dominator just feels a little more refined in the hand to me. With that said, I am glad that I have the Liberty and plan some additional upgrades for it in the future.

[smythsg]

Matt, when loading the Dominator magazine, I just take another pellet to seat the one that is being pushed into the mag. Quick, easy, not a big deal. I can load the mag without an assist, but you do have to have small fingers...

[darkcharisma]

I love my Liberty. I modded mine to shoot 55 fpe with 26.1 grain slugs. and 62 fpe with Billy's big plenum. the Liberty can fill to 300bar and has a regulator, the reg has spike/creep problem though. dont know much about dominators. the thing that got me excited is the barrel is slug ready and that 300 bar fill.

[Wayne52]

I'm not sure if the Liberty has German Beech for the stock but the German Beech that's on my Dominator seems to be a much better finish plus the stock itself is more resilient to denting than the Liberty.  That might have just been the luck of the draw on the wood selected too because I'm sure that German Beech probably comes in a big variety of cuts being it's such an inexpensive wood compared to a lot of others.  I really like the mags for the Dominator, I can load and empty chamber if I choose whereas in the case of the liberty you can't with the kind of magazine it is.

[Sky777]

I don’t owned both guns.. I do have 2 Seneca aspen in .22 and .25.  Both are reliable and works right from the box.. my bet would be nova liberty which also manufacture Seneca aspen.. good luck.

[smythsg]

Matt, just to make your choice a little harder, I took my .22 Liberty to the WMA yesterday and walked 5 miles through the logging trails with it. While the North GA woods were not dialing up any live targets to shoot at, several cans and bottles met their fate at various ranges. The Liberty was quite accurate shot after shot, and cycled flawlessly, providing a high level of confidence. I ordered a couple of Gauntlet magazines and they worked perfectly as well, so that was a plus.

The rifle was a bit more bulky than my Dominator and felt just a bit heavier. It just didn't feel as good in the hand as the Dominator, however it is a worthy hunter and I don't think you will be disappointed, especially at the Liberty's price point. The Dominator will still be my goto rifle, but I am glad I decided to keep the Liberty and plan to up the power range just a little more.

[MWin81]

Thank you so much everyone for all the information. I'd have to say at this point I'm leaning towards the dominator due to its light weight, low noise, and compactness. I'm going to mull it over for a few more days before I make my final decision. If anyone else would like to put their two cents in it would be appreciated.

[smythsg]

Ok Matt, final post I promise..  . Today I reconfigured the Liberty to shoot 21 gn H&N Baracuda pellets at 935 fps for a tad over 40 ft lbs. ( 1/2 turn counter clockwise of the reg adjuster and one more washer shim on the hammer spring) Yes it uses a bit more air in this configuration, probably limiting me to two mags before falling off the reg, but I generally use my airguns for hunting and that is plenty of high powered shots for a day in the field. So far the accuracy is still very good with the Cudas, and the Crosman baffles keeps the noise level to back yard friendly.

While the Liberty will not replace my Dominator as my goto rifle, I am quite impressed with what you get and can do with the Liberty!!

[AVS Stephen]

Before I became addicted to the ATI Nova Liberty I was seriously considering the Artemis m16 or m16a which is the same gun as airmax Dominator. I have been doing some research on this gun as my interest is piqued again. Does anyone know if this gun can be tuned upto 45fpe and does it like slugs?

It's a really nice gun but where I live shooting sub MOA at 100 yards is just not very doable with a sub 30 fpe gun. By the ocean, we have 15 to 18 mph winds on a regular basis.

[smythsg]

Hi Stephen, my M16 Dominator is .25 cal and I currently have it shooting 31 gn Baracudas at about 49 fpe. Nothing serious has been done to it yet, just experimented with different hammer spring configurations. I think Wayne has drilled out one of the ports on his .22 cal and has it shooting close to 40 fpe.

The Dominator has some room to grow, but the plenum size may limit what can be accomplished. There was a gentleman that was working on a larger plenum but I haven't seen updates to that recently.

As for slugs, I have not tried any in my Dominator yet, but I do have some and will give those a try and let you know.

[AVS Stephen]

Steve, Thanks for that. That's pretty good on Wayne's gun. The BC on the .22 cal is great in windy locations.

Here is a video I just posted showing how good the Liberty does with Slugs