Benjamin Akela pics

[randy_68]

I just got in a new Avenger .22 a couple weeks ago. Last Thursday I was showing it to a friend of mine that was thinking about getting one. After shooting mine he asked me to get him one. Well I decided to just sell him mine instead of him waiting. I only bought it to have a spare gun , loaner to keep around anyway.  So he handed me the cash and I ordered an Akela on Friday from Crosman. Couldn't pass up the deal of free shipping and 25% off.
    So, for $487.00 I must say this gun is well worth it. Its even worth the $649.00 list price in my opinion. I've bought a lot of guns the were that much more and this Akela is right up there with the more expensive guns. The fit and finish are excellent on mine.
   Yes the stock is a little dry and could stand a good coat of finish but its fine as is. The pistol grip fits me well and it shoulders good. I like the stippling on the grip.
  The side lever is so smooth that when chambering JSB 18 and 15 gr pellets its hard to tell you did. My trigger breaks at 1 1/4 # so weight wise its about perfect. Its not really a two stage that I can feel, more like a long single stage. There are screws underneath the receiver that appear to be for the trigger but I'm not going to mess with it as its fine like it is.
     The adjustable cheek piece is nice however I need to order extra high rings to use it. I have high rings on it now but had to remove it so I could see thru my scope.
I like the mags as they hold 12 rounds and load just like a Marauder and various others . Inserting them in the receiver seems backwards but it works so no issues there. The power adjuster works ok but since it is small and  doesn't have detents it only gets you close to returning to previous setting. I just use high, med, and low. High and low are pretty repeatable but med can be off depending how close you get to your previous setting. Not a big deal if you shoot a couple over the chrony after adjusting.
BTW. Mine was shooting 15 gr at 1000 fps on high and 18 gr at 945 out of the box. It was holding just over 3000 psi when I opened the box.
   I shot a total of 60 shots before refilling at 1500 psi shooting both 15 and 18 gr jsb and adjusting power up and down.. Just standing against my garage door frame it was stacking them both on top of each other at 35 yards. Seems to be very accurate. Boderline backyard friendly on high power but very quiet on low and med power.. It is quieter with 18 gr though and there is a little ping by your ear when shooting.
It has a drilled barrel adapter followed by a spring and 7 cone baffles. Pretty nice setup.
Since I'm more of a bullpup guy these days I like it better than the Avenger. The Avenger is great and has more options , its lighter and more adjustable but I like my shorter guns plus this gun has a beautiful stock. Personal preference.
This gun will be right at home next to my two Hubens.
I just have to decide what pellet I want to set it up for. I'm leaning toward either Crosman cpum or JSB 15 gr.
So far I really like the gun and unless something catastrophic pops up I don't see me changing my mind.
Here are a few pics

[KnifeMaker]

It looks very nice! The only thing I would have to do away with is the finger grooves. My mentor always said that finger grooves fit some of the people well, and most not at all.  Kinda a one size fits one size kind of thing.


Both of us refused to use them on our Knives as it cut out the larger part of the shoppers at the Shows.


I put the original type Ergo Grip on my Raptor. Felt terrible due to the grouves. I removed them and now I love it.


Knife

[randy_68]

Yea I know what you mean about the finger grooves not fitting everyone but I have med size hands so they fit me fine. As you can see in my avatar my Hubens also have them and they fit me fine too.
One thing that needs attention is the safety. Its very hard to operate so I will have to look into it and see what I can do about it. Or just leave it off.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Nice pis Randy... Congrats!
Nice thing is the safety is manual, and not the Auto-rest type.
That was a pleasent surprise on my Kratos.

[randy_68]

I ordered a couple different sets of rings as my scope is too low and too far back. May have to try a different scope too.

[Wayne52]

Great looking pics Randy !!! Very nice looking Bullpup with that walnut stock on it.  I got my Cayden today but haven't taken any pic's of it yet. I did do a 48 shot chrony string with it.

[mrbulk]

Randy, so in effect you traded your Avenger for an Akela? Awesome!

Of course not in the way you might think. From what I've been hearing/reading the Avenger is a superbly variable gun that can be nearly all things PCP to nearly all people, and I still want one but am unwilling/unable to pay for one and wait while not having a PCP to shoot, so like you I ordered the Akela as well (should be here Monday), but will still get an Avenger ... maybe when they bullpup it!

[randy_68]

Randy, so in effect you traded your Avenger for an Akela? Awesome!

I guess if you look at it like that then yes I did trade the Avenger for the Akela. I've bought quite a few different  things lately so I need to slow down some or I'll catch heck later on.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I ordered a couple different sets of rings as my scope is too low and too far back. May have to try a different scope too.

I found these Leupold 5580 rings at the local gun store.
High enough to clear the mag on my Kratose and Offset, I mounted them forward... GREAT buy in IMHO



You can get them online, such as Midway...
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1362216847

[mrbulk]

Scott, I like the way those offset rings can mount in either direction depending on one's individual scope setback (or forward) needs.

[Hoosier Daddy]

 
My thoughts exactly.. very versatile.
 Thinking outside the box, you could mount the rear one pointing forward and the front one pointing rearward for short scopes... and vise-versa for long scopes for more support.
On a Picatiny rail, the possibilities are nearly endless!

[mrbulk]

It'd be like a Picatinny Playground...

[Fate]

That gun just disappeared to me, as well as any others that use the same mag.

The mag is too high and eliminates all but high scope mounting options. I'll never own a gun that I can't mount a scope however I want, which for me is always as low as possible.

Nope. Never.

[mrbulk]

That gun just disappeared to me, as well as any others that use the same mag.

The mag is too high and eliminates all but high scope mounting options. I'll never own a gun that I can't mount a scope however I want, which for me is always as low as possible.

Nope. Never.

Jeff, if you don't mind a bullpup, then the Akela version of these guns actually has its magazine lower than the scope rail...

[mrbulk]

Randy - I couldn't tell, but in the second pic with the shroud off - is the actual barrel diameter still kinda thick like it looks, or thinner?

[Hoosier Daddy]

That gun just disappeared to me, as well as any others that use the same mag.

The mag is too high and eliminates all but high scope mounting options. I'll never own a gun that I can't mount a scope however I want, which for me is always as low as possible.

Nope. Never.

I got a Quest I'll sell you cheap....$75...
Use as low rings as your objective lens will allow.
Then you will be happy.
 

[Rat Sniper (AKA: PaulT58)]

That gun just disappeared to me, as well as any others that use the same mag.

The mag is too high and eliminates all but high scope mounting options. I'll never own a gun that I can't mount a scope however I want, which for me is always as low as possible.

Nope. Never.

I have medium rings on my Cayden and they clear the magazine with no issues!

[B.Guns.]

That gun just disappeared to me, as well as any others that use the same mag.

The mag is too high and eliminates all but high scope mounting options. I'll never own a gun that I can't mount a scope however I want, which for me is always as low as possible.

Nope. Never.

I don't understand. The mag sits below the picatinny rail on the Akela.

[Fate]

That gun just disappeared to me, as well as any others that use the same mag.

The mag is too high and eliminates all but high scope mounting options. I'll never own a gun that I can't mount a scope however I want, which for me is always as low as possible.

Nope. Never.

Jeff, if you don't mind a bullpup, then the Akela version of these guns actually has its magazine lower than the scope rail...

Thank you for your suggestion and consideration, Charlie.

I don't mind a bullpup, in fact the size and features are attractive... but.

But, when I say "low" I'm referencing the bore... not the rail. The Akela is as bad if not worse for me.

Ideally a gun would be like a SLR camera, where I could aim through the bore... like I sometimes adjust PB scopes. Same reasons relative to a range finder camera, parallax. At long range it doesn't matter much, but at the variety of ranges I shoot the higher the sighting device the more thinking involved and the more time it takes. Bad combination on quick shots. That's why my Streak with its peep is my most versatile gun, with the peeped 853 next. The higher the sighting device the more specialized the gun.

[KnifeMaker]

There is no need for the scope to sit so high. It clears by a mile. And there is no reason to have the mag under the scope saddle. None. It is simply improperly mounted.


Knife