Seneca Aspen and alike rifles

[Vampp]

Hello,


I'm pretty new to the forums and only own a Gamo Swarm Magnum until now.
I've been looking on PCP's for a while now , to be honest right after i bought the magnum.

I live in Eastern Europe and for us here it's very hard even to own Air Rifles , permits , takes a lot of time to get accepted , firearms courses etc.
Pest control is forbidden even on rats.
It took me about 5 months to get the GAMO , and i barely managed to get it at full power. Europe versions are usually found in 24 joules.
Normally we must pick them up ourselves , but i was lucky the Slovenian seller sent it via Courier and actually nobody checks those packages here.

The best PCP i found for my needs is the Air Venturi Seneca Aspen.
I loved the FX Independence and that was in Europe , 1000 euro didn't scare me that much but it's no longer available anywhere for some reason.
Seems like a pretty cheap investment for a sort of PCP , but for me it would be best because if i go shooting i can't carry a scuba or pump with me ( even on my own land ).
What i would like to know about the Aspen are the following :

- If it's by any chance sold in Europe by trusted shop
- By any chance can i find spare parts in Europe
- Could anyone provide some information about the durability , i'm a pretty inexperienced handyman , even tough i learned very much from my gamo i'm not sure exactly how hard to change parts in a PCP ( especially one with a build in pump like the SENECA)
- How does the hand pump last over time ? I shoot around 200 pellets a week and i would like to know how often do i have to actually maintain it (cleaning , oiling , greasing , change pump air filter etc ).

Sorry if questions seemed less tough then they should but as i said i haven't even held a PCP rifle , just youtube and forums.

Thanks in advance and a Happy New Year all!

[Big Rick]

I will be following this thread. I too am interested in the Aspen and have read a lot of reviews, many of which are not good but I know this is the place to get accurate information. Good luck Vampp in your search.

[Vampp]

Thanks Rick.

Yes i've heard about the issues.
But i wrote to pyramid air recently and they told me that a lot of the issues ( especially with the pump ) were fixed.

I would like a owner or a expert ( i see there are a lot of them on the forum ) to tell me if it's worth it.
It's hard to get a air rifle and i think there is only one person in my entire country who repairs them , but he usually works with gamo break barrels.
So i'm actually looking for a good and dependable PCP.

A fire rifle is off limits unless you are a hunter (takes 2 years to get a license, and after 1 year till you can get a rifle ) , but i don't call it hunting what happens here, where 10-20-30 people stay in a line and other people with dogs scare the animals into your direction.
You can also use them at a range , but usually the few there are here have 75 meters at most and a 308 cartridge costs about 4-5 bucks. Don't get me wrong i can't complain about money but i don't like throwing it away.

If a fellow European is selling one or a FX independence in .22 or .25 i'm interested in buying it , because it's easy to actually import it after paperwork.

[Back_Roads]

 I know it is available in the UK now. Otherwise check with https://www.facebook.com/pg/airgunexporter/about/?ref=page_internal

[Vampp]

Hi Black_roads,

The ones i saw in the UK i saw they are set to 12 FPE.
Is it set from the pressure gauge or has a smaller transfer port?

I sent a email to the site ( this was a couple of months back ) .


Thanks for the help!

[sticman77]

Thanks Rick.

Yes i've heard about the issues.
But i wrote to pyramid air recently and they told me that a lot of the issues ( especially with the pump ) were fixed.

I would like a owner or a expert ( i see there are a lot of them on the forum ) to tell me if it's worth it.
It's hard to get a air rifle and i think there is only one person in my entire country who repairs them , but he usually works with gamo break barrels.
So i'm actually looking for a good and dependable PCP.

A fire rifle is off limits unless you are a hunter (takes 2 years to get a license, and after 1 year till you can get a rifle ) , but i don't call it hunting what happens here, where 10-20-30 people stay in a line and other people with dogs scare the animals into your direction.
You can also use them at a range , but usually the few there are here have 75 meters at most and a 308 cartridge costs about 4-5 bucks. Don't get me wrong i can't complain about money but i don't like throwing it away.

If a fellow European is selling one or a FX independence in .22 or .25 i'm interested in buying it , because it's easy to actually import it after paperwork.

the aspen is my first pcp, and has been very accurate, and easy to use.  the pump on it does need an o-ring replaced every 4-5 thousand shots if you're just using the built in pump.  maybe less than that, i've learned how to be more patient with it.  but it will need serviced at some point.  there are quite a few good threads on this forum and others on how to perform the repair.  other than that, the only other maintenance is you will want to add some oil to the pump whenever it starts feeling stiff.

i'm also pretty inexperienced with tools, etc.  but with the information on forums, and friendliness of people on forums, i was able to eventually get the repair down to 20 or so minutes comfortably.

my only complaint with the gun would be the bulkiness of it.

[Madd Hatter]

I've had my Aspen since last March and it's been very reliable for me. I will say when I first received it it took a lot of pumps after each shot get it back up to 3000 psi and after maybe 100 shots the pump because very hard to pump. I fixed the problem by putting 6 drops of silicone oil in the pump and pumping it a few times then repeating that until the pump work just fine. I do pump it back up after each shot using 5 to 6 pumps to maintain 3000 psi which on my rifle is the sweet spot. As they say, your results may very. lol

[Roark]

I have had no problems with the freedom after two months.I think you need to use a little more oil than the manual calls for.And not try to pump it up fast thus overheating the oring.

[Madd Hatter]

That's why I pump back up after each shot. I keeps the pump a lot cooler than pumping back up from 10 shots.

[Nomadic Pirate]

I like the low power, high power feature on the Aspen.

[Vampp]

Thanks for the answers guys!
I really appreciate them especially on the new years eve! I wish you a happy new year and happy shooting . I feel i was born to enjoy this but unfortunately in a wrong country.

So back to the seneca , would you recommend the .22 or .25.
My Swarm Magnum is .22 so my first instinct is to go for .25 on the aspen.
But i'm not really sure , i aim to shoot 50-100 meters , so i'm not sure if it's strong enough for the .25 or the FPE retention is still good at that distance.
I own a lot of land at my grandparents and they have farm animals , especially chickens are taken by bird predators and foxes. Even tough the law is not really on our side , unless the fox makes a criminal complaint there are no issues.

Also the orings you were talking about before , are they easy to get?
It does not really matter if it's from the US because a 30 euro shipping it's no problem if i buy 10 and seal them of with one void plastic bag i think.

I found a guide earlier this year that stated that 2 turns to power it up should take the velocity to about 950 FPS ( on the .25 ). Has anyone cranked the power up?
I use heavy JSB domes on my magnum and they work pretty darn good a around 970 fps. So i'm guessing heavier .25 will be the same if cranked up.
The lighter ones seem to have a curve in air .

[sticman77]

That's why I pump back up after each shot. I keeps the pump a lot cooler than pumping back up from 10 shots.

this is the mistake i was making initially.  i would pump it up all the way, shoot it back down to 1500, then pump it back up.  now keep it around 1800-2000 on low, and 2200-2400 on high

Vampp - o-rings should be #006 Buna-N O-Ring.  these are the ones i bought:

[Back_Roads]

 I think .22 has plenty of power for larger small game, using the heaviest .22 pellets that are accurate, or Air Velocity Sport swaged slugs, a member here developed just to fit the bore of the .22 Novas.
 All depends on the availability of ammo for you. 

[Vampp]

Black_roads i can get mainly H&N sports and JSB.
I'm still more interested in the .25 as i already own a .22 , even tough it's a break barrel.

But what i am curious to know is if the .25 can handle the h&N 31 grain slugs on factory high setting.
I'm hoping to get around 800-850 FPS on those slugs even if i loose a couple of shots along the way and if i increase the number of pumps to get a shot.
I'm not sure if this is possible so i'm hoping that a member can help with some facts , or can confirm my theory.
Mundillar in europe offers a huge variety of .22 ammo and also some of the best for .25 , they have fair prices and shipping is around 15 euro but i buy a lot when purchasing so it's not a big issue.

Also thank you for the link to Airgunexporter , they answered in the new years eve and they told me they can get the Independence , Aspen and Indy.
Independence seems to have a little more power from the factory settings but i'm guessing the price is over 150% more so i'm pretty sure the aspen can be tuned to that 45 fpe also ( maybe sacrificing a few shots from 1 fill in the process ).
The Indy on the other hand seems to have a .30 caliber , but i'm not really sure it can shoot more then 3-4 consistent shots per fill , and the price is too much for me at the moment.
So i decided to take it slow go for .25 then move up the ranks.

One question i forgot to ask was about the moisture , none of the 3 rifles actually have a filter on that.
My region is not know for high humidity but i would like to know if the rifle is hard to take apart and more important if it's hard to put it back in place . For my springer i need a press in order to grease the piston and change piston seals.

Happy New Year to everyone!

[sticman77]

Black_roads i can get mainly H&N sports and JSB.
I'm still more interested in the .25 as i already own a .22 , even tough it's a break barrel.

But what i am curious to know is if the .25 can handle the h&N 31 grain slugs on factory high setting.
I'm hoping to get around 800-850 FPS on those slugs even if i loose a couple of shots along the way and if i increase the number of pumps to get a shot.
I'm not sure if this is possible so i'm hoping that a member can help with some facts , or can confirm my theory.
Mundillar in europe offers a huge variety of .22 ammo and also some of the best for .25 , they have fair prices and shipping is around 15 euro but i buy a lot when purchasing so it's not a big issue.

Also thank you for the link to Airgunexporter , they answered in the new years eve and they told me they can get the Independence , Aspen and Indy.
Independence seems to have a little more power from the factory settings but i'm guessing the price is over 150% more so i'm pretty sure the aspen can be tuned to that 45 fpe also ( maybe sacrificing a few shots from 1 fill in the process ).
The Indy on the other hand seems to have a .30 caliber , but i'm not really sure it can shoot more then 3-4 consistent shots per fill , and the price is too much for me at the moment.
So i decided to take it slow go for .25 then move up the ranks.

One question i forgot to ask was about the moisture , none of the 3 rifles actually have a filter on that.
My region is not know for high humidity but i would like to know if the rifle is hard to take apart and more important if it's hard to put it back in place . For my springer i need a press in order to grease the piston and change piston seals.

Happy New Year to everyone!

happy new year to you too! 

air velocity sport (same guy who makes the slugs) has a great teardown in his review of the liberty (same gun, just without the pump).  i'm very much mechanically challenged, and using this as a guide has made any work on the gun pretty easy.


also this thread on another forum will walk you through the pump specific repair that needs to be done on the gun, as well as list what special tools may be needed:
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/stuck-halfway-thru-seneca-aspen-nova-freedom-pump-repair-photos/

[Vampp]

gc208 thank you a million !


I am watching the first video now.
It's very interesting that the Liberty has a regulator , are you sure that the Aspen has one also?
I found it's manual online and the guys from HAM actually made adjustments only from the hammer spring. ( picture attached )
The guy from the video made adjustments from the regulator spacer giving it more space to retain more air. Honestly i didn't even know the Aspen has a regulator , because every review said that you are the regulator.

[sticman77]

gc208 thank you a million !


I am watching the first video now.
It's very interesting that the Liberty has a regulator , are you sure that the Aspen has one also?
I found it's manual online and the guys from HAM actually made adjustments only from the hammer spring. ( picture attached )
The guy from the video made adjustments from the regulator spacer giving it more space to retain more air. Honestly i didn't even know the Aspen has a regulator , because every review said that you are the regulator.

sorry for the confusion! there is NO regulator, i misspoke.  the barrel, shroud, stock, etc. are all the same.  air sources are all different.

[Madd Hatter]

The Freedom aka Aspen does have a Regulator. It's called the shooter! I pump my Aspen back up after every shot. 5 pumps usually does it everytime. It makes for good accuracy and it saves the pump from excessive heat which kills the #6 pump Oring which is the biggest problem the pump has along with inadequate lubing.

[Vampp]

gc , no problem m8 , honestly for me also it looked as the same rifle without the pump.

Robert, that is what i read about it.
The independence stock reaches to 45 FPE at .25 caliber . What i want to do is reach the same with the Aspen , so i'm researching if it's possible , mainly because i want to use slugs for larger hunt.
The 38 FPE stock power on the Aspen may not be enough to get a steady 850 FPS on the H&N slugs. I need to know if it can reach that velocity with the 31 gr from the slugs.

[Madd Hatter]

I can get 52 fpe out of my Liberty .22 I think with one of Duy's DC valves and the receiver drilled out to .217 it should be no problem. It has a HS adj already and the barrel can be opened up to .200 or so. The biggest problem is to change out the poppet valve the air cylinder is precharged to 1800 psi and it takes a special probe to repressurise it. I would see if Duy can install it for ya as he's taken one apart and knows how to work on it. My Aspen .22 gets 38 fpe with the HS adj turned in to 1/2 turn out from max and the pressure up at 3600 psi. I'm probably going to do all of the mods I did on the Liberty to my Aspen later this year when it's out of warranty. Don't need a hot rod .25 as I already have a Sumatra that will give me 93 fpe stock.