I just purchased a 350 magnum as my first non-chinese springer as I got a good deal. I've been getting more and more into shooting and decided to see just what the difference is between chinese and European rifles first hand. That said, I need some advice...

I have shot and own several Tech Force rifles (TF87, TF97, TF89) and really think it will be tough to beat my TF89s (.177 and .22) which I had tuned by a reputable tuner. I get about 20FPE and chrony 830fps with the .177 using 10.5gr pellets. I can punch 10 pellets .2" @ 10 yards consistently. For me, that's pretty good. Before tunes, it was more like .5 for three shots. I love that gun, so I have one that I'm using for a project where I'm customizing the whole thing...tune, custom designed stock, custom designed muzzle brake... I think these guns are worth it. I think I know these guns well enough to know what I want.

I got the Diana to compare, as I said, and initially thought that for the higher cost I wasn't going to tune it...but I'm a little swayed at this point. I'm certainly not familiar with it. But now I am leaning toward a tune and perhaps even as seems recommended in these forums dropping the FPE/FPS to steer toward accuracy and smoothness, rather than just having the punching power and missing more than I should. The guy I use for tunes makes a sleeve/tophat, replaces the spring and tunes the trigger. I'm very confident in his work, and I'm sure he will do a good job with his own recommendations.

The question: Are there other things I should be thinking about? My immediate guess is that the choice of mounts and scope will be an important consideration, especially before the tune (I want to shoot it for a bit to know what the difference is before/after). That's too open-ended a question to ask. Everyone will have an opinion. But what I'm wondering: Specifically what FPS/FPE do you think is best? Is the exisiting trigger one to stay with or is it better to add a third-party trigger? Are there other considerations that make sense to improve this rifle?

I'll be interested to see in a fair comparison if these European guns are really that much better. I look forward to peoples experiences and opinions.

All I can tell ya man, is that the more I shoot springers, the more and more I realize that a few extra FPS or FPE make absolutely no difference in the world in anything. But getting your springer to shoot smoother, quicker, more consistently and with less hold sensitivity will not only put a big ole' smile on your face every shot, but will hit the intended target with much more accuracy and precision every time and it will do it consistently. This leads to you doing your best work on paper and getting that satisfaction when you drop your quarry cleanly on hunts with almost every shot because the pellet hit where you aimed and intended for it to hit.

And another big plus is that once you get your stock screws snug and tuned in place and your scope mounts together and snug, every thing will STAY exactly the way you put it. You won't have to fiddle with your rifle every day, waste a half tin of pellets trying to re-sight the rifle in or get the mysterious POI shift back on target, etc...etc...all in all, about 80% less fiddling. Just sight in, snug things tight and your done until YOU decide to change the POI or change the scope or whatever!

And even if you had to drop your velocity and energy 25% to do this, when you recover your quarry, you'll see that most of your shots will still be complete pass-throughs.....meaning that those FPS or FPE that you dropped with the tune were totally useless to start with!

Velocity and power are so incredibly overrated that it's ridiculous. Unless you can harness all that velocity and power in a PCP, where you can still shoot smooth and recoilless and hit your target every time(but in most cases, unless your hunting foxes, coons or large jacks at 80yrds, that extra power isn't needed and just results in passthroughs and wasted extra velocity and energy), be willing to give up some of the velocity and power in a springer/gas ram and you'll find airgun zen and know exactly what I'm talking about.

My most effective killer in my arsenal is a .177 caliber 10.8 FPE springer that will shoot under 1.5" groups at 100 yrds at a bench rest and put a pellet through a cottontail's eye at 50 yrds almost every time. I'll get misses on quarry here and there with all my other, more powerful rifles in the field, but not this one.....

Thanks for the response. I hope I suggested I couldn't agree more with a little less power and a little more accuracy. I'm one to use a heavy pellet to slow down my FPS instead of worrying about advertising and 'how fast it can go'. Nothing substitutes for your own testing -- except ideas that make good sense and you know will work. I have an untuned Remington Vantage 1200 that shoots about 770 FPS with so much pull and tork that it feels like it is shooting 1200. I'd gladly have that in for a tune and slow it down even more if it paid off in accuracy. Right now it kicks like a horse for low accuracy and power -- so what's the point? Overlay that thinking on a 350 Magnum and it works out about the same...only I'm hoping the accuracy of the 350 lives up to the hype and I'll finally know the difference between a Euro-gun and a Chinese knockoff.

I hope a few other chime in!

I think the 350 properly tuned would be a very accurate and deadly hunter for sure. I could only imagine the barrel cut down a few inches to improve balance and handiness, a nice, tight choke applied and crown cut on muzzle to tighten the accuracy down 1/2" at 40 yrds, a full tune and possible drop to 19 or so FPE in .22 and a full trigger tune, topped off with a solid mount and small, lightweight, high quality scope on top. I think that would all make the 350 arguably one of the best hunters you could carry in the field.

One word VORTEK PRO GUIDE SILENT SYSTEM> Its amazing and will be released very soon. It will transform your 350 to a new level . I have a test gun now that is amazing and I can tune the snot out of them 350 too. I would recommend a trigger tune and Vortek kit and you will have GRIN RECTUS !

I just got my 350 today and been looking for the tune kit for myself. It's like a beast to me. Could you give us more detial? How can I get one?



Kin

This (VORTEK PRO GUIDE SILENT SYSTEM) sounds like you are very excited about it. Can you tell me more about it, what you heard -- sensed when shooting -- and what it is supposed to do or where I can find more information?

Thanks!

Check and see if Tim at Mac-1 makes stock screw bushings for this gun. (I'm fairly confident he does.) These are cups that you install yourself (they tighten into the stock) and then you can get a tight, consistent fit for your screws. Might want to change over to allen headed (?) screws while you are at it.

mine is in .177 and like yours, it loves the 10.5 CP's. I do know that after a thousand rounds or so mine has smoothed out trememdously, the more use it the more I like it. I hope you enjoy it as much as some of us have, good luck

shoot straight and speak the truth

As a fairly recent 350 owner (since July), my advice is to shoot it for a bit. It is far different than most guns and it takes some time to get used to shooting it. I've probably shot 5000 pellets through mine. It did have a warranty service issue that Umarex fixed, but after that it was fine.

In the end it is up to you. Having finally owned a tuned gun, there is a difference. However, the thought of dropping any more money on this thing is troublesome. Mine shoots well enough without a tune, so I've chosen for the time being not to have it done. Right now mine hits everything I aim at, and hasn't left a wounded animal yet, as the pellet hits with a lot of energy.

I'd also shoot it with open sights for awhile. The scope gives it a different feel and I found it was harder to use at first. Mostly due to the recoil.

Next, locktite the screws! That has been my biggest accuracy issue. Once I did that and let it set for 24 hours, it was almost a different gun.

Lastly, I don't use it as a target rifle or a plinking rifle. I use mine soley for hunting. While of course I have to shoot it to keep in practice, I have a different standard for it. Right now though, it is grouping every bit as well as my other main gun (a Whisper) and better than my tuned Air Hawk.