Mike Melick Tuned XISICO XS28

[Paul68]

I received a XISICO XS28 today from Mike Melick. I’ll start out by saying he gave this one his OEM tune, including his added trigger screw mod and barrel recrowning.

Mike sent it double boxed and it arrived in 5 days in excellent condition. At first glance, with the rifle still in the box, I was somewhat worried. The rifle just didn’t look so sharp. However, once I got it out of the box and wiped down and detailed with some cleaning and oiling, I am thoroughly impressed. This is what folks like to call a cheap Chinese clone, and a Mike Melick tuned XS28 does its best to turn the term into a badge of pride.

The 28 is long, and heavy, and just feels like a nice solid air gun. The Chinese may not be using the finest wood, but they certainly seem to know how to find an attractive grain even if they usually bury it in stain. This one is finished very nicely, and a quick oiling and rubdown really made it impressive. The checkering appears to be cut rather than pressed, and I will be honest and say it’s not a fine precision job like an RWS. However, it is decent, and a little attention to detail later should really smooth things out nicely. Other than that, the lines are straight, no obvious filler, and the stock gives a comfortable grip.

I’m not a fan of the sights. I am stuck with em for a bit as I’ll talk about later. They work well, but those of us in need of glasses won’t get much use out of em. They work well though as far as my eyes will allow, and in truth, I managed some 50 yard shots on my 2”x2” spinners and connected. A spray paint can at 50 yrds was no problem at all.

Mikes tune probably saved me a lot of hassle. This gun literally came out of the box ready to shoot. Everything tight, screws treated with locktite, and a sweet trigger. Mikes trigger work is A+. Not having really modified any of my triggers beyond some minor reworking, I was unprepared for a truly good trigger. This thing can’t have more than a pound of pull, and it breaks precisely and consistently.

The firing cycle is fast and clean. There is plenty of recoil, but Mike took care of any spring noise quite well, and it shoots with a solid and authoritive thump. This one will take me awhile to master due to the recoil, but I am liking it a great deal regardless. I detected no dieseling or smoke to suggest it.

This thing hits every bit as hard as the Hatsan 125 I had for a short while, if not harder. I use the same targets pretty much every day, and I am familiar with how quickly every rifle I have sends a pellet to them. This XS28 has em all beat hands down. 25 yards, and it is thump-bang!. That fast.

I am buying a chrony this weekend, and am anxious to run it through. Mike noted 800+fps with 14.3 grains, and I am certain it is doing it.

I took the scope of my Ruger and put it on the 28 for accuracy testing. Two things here.

1. The Ruger scope and mounts are woefully inadequate. After 20 shots, the 28 dang near threw the scope at me. After a hasty re-attachment, I made sure to retighten every ten shots. Despite this, accuracy with the scope was barely adequate.
 
2. The rifle is clearly still needing a break in period. Although it felt very good out of the box, there is still some stiffness and violence that won’t subside until things get a chance to mesh together. After 50 shots, it was clearly smoothing out nicely, and seemed to get faster. Again, time for a chrony.

I shot with the scope, and with open sights even though anything past 15 yards for me is blurry. As you can see in the pics, I put a spot of dark paint on the target for open sights, just so I have would have something I could aim into the center of.
All in all, I am more than happy with this Chinese clone and look forward to putting some good glass on it.

Awesome job Mike. Outstanding. Definitely one to go in the regular shooter rack.

[Donny]

nice write up about the xs28, im in complete love with mine, mike knows what hes doing with these, glad i went with him when i decided to get my first .22 magnum gun, thanks for the review

[Paul68]

Thanks. Yeah, Mike has got these down quite well. I look forward to putting up some accuracy and chrony results in the coming week.

[Tactical Tom]

Nice Review ! I'm looking into getting my first .22 Mag, been looking around & as of now I like this model & the Ruger Air Mag...which ever one I decide to get will go to Mike for a "Tune" !

[tobar832]

Great review, my XS26 is the exact copy of your's.  When I first got it I thought I'm never going to hit anything.  There is something wrong with me or the gun, but it really straighten out with 200+ rounds.  Now it's my go to gun.
    Mike's tuning all the AG I own.  He makes a Porsche out of Hyundai.

[Paul68]

Yeah, these things are impressive. I got a decent Centerpoint AR22 and mounted it. The gun has less than 200 shots and it's still settling in. The more I shoot, the tighter the groups are getting. I haven't had a chance to try my other pellets yet, and the current tin of CPHP's I used seem to have a lot more problem pellets than usual. I tried em in my Beeman which normally loves em and it spit some flyers, which it rarely if ever does.  If I have time I'll run some Crow Mags and JSB's through it. If it keeps performing this well it should be doing some pretty nice groups around 300 shots or so. The target is at 25 yards.

[Donny]

ive been putting jsb 15.9's through mine and holy balls, i accidently shot my  fire pit and it blew right through the 1/16 steel and kept moving

[Paul68]

Finally got my Chrony today. Some numbers for the 28 with less than 400 shots through it.

MM Tuned XS28M, JSB Exact Jumbo Diablo 18.14 gr
1.   773.4
2.   755.8
3.   758.1
4.   772.1
5.   763.6
6.   755.9
7.   773.5
8.   753.5
9.   751.8
10.   772.9

High 773 Low 751
 ES 21 Fps
Avg 763 FPS
 23.4 FPE


It's hitting up to 24 FPE so I can't complain at all. This is a very nice shooting gun that gets smoother and more accurate the more it is shot. The FPS spread will probably shrink once it gets to the 500-1k shots mark.

[Paul68]

Just a little update. I believe I've found the pellets for this gun. Air Arms Diablo Field, 16 gr. 20 Shots with two pulled by my own fault and not the guns.

[supertech77]

sweet looking gun,and  being a mike melick tuned gun you will be very pleased to its performance as it breaks in and gets better and better,that being said,i wish the B-28 had a weaver rail as the r.a.m does,and imo the r.a.m may be a we bit more powerful in 22cal than i thought, and it is  close to the power of my walther talon 180 bar np,both will sling a 28.3 gr eunjin out to 40 yards fast and hard,got no crony yet to know which one is more powerful but i also have shot the r.a.m with the 25cal barrel and that really impressed me too.any ways nice gun and congrats.

[shadow]

Sounds like a keeper and Mike is top notch when it comes to shooters. Ed

[Paul68]

Thanks. Yeah ST, it needs a much better rail. I have a rail for a Remington I'll be redrilling to mount in place of the stock piece.

[huklbery]

Just a little update. I believe I've found the pellets for this gun. Air Arms Diablo Field, 16 gr. 20 Shots with two pulled by my own fault and not the guns.

I'm callin BS Paul, there is no way you shot that target like that with a B28.  The barrel is too long to have your thumb right there while you shoot.

If yer missing get closer....

Mark

[Paul68]

Actually, my thumb is really 3" across at the nail, which makes groups look great

[demarisl]

The UTG  Scope Mount Base https://www.pyramydair.com/product/utg-sub-compact-ita-red-green-dot-sight-30mm-tube-weaver-picatinny?a=3897 fits over the dove tail rail on the B-28 and provides a solid mount for Weaver rings.  My B-28 has no droop and this has worked out quite well with a Centerpoint 4x16x40 on it.  UTG also has another to compensate for barrel droop.  You absolutely must make sure that the dovetail mount is securely screwed down with blue lock-tite before attaching this.

Larry

[Paul68]

Thought about that, but for $12.00 I got a Weaver rail that I just have to drill and countersink a hole in.