by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Artemis PCP air pistol.
This report covers:
- Not from Pyramyd Air
- Impressive from the start
- Description
- Finish flaws
- Fill
- Fill adaptor
- I filled it!
- Sights
- Scope rail
- Manual
- Operation
- Trigger
- Power
- Discussion
- Summary
Today we start something different. The Artemis PP700S-A (what a mouthful!) is a single-shot precharged pneumatic pistol that comes in both .177 and .22 calibers. This pcp air pistol I am testing is a .22.
Not from Pyramyd Air
This pistol is made by Shaoxing Snowpeak Air Gun Factory in China, and sold all over the world. Here in the U.S. it’s only carried by smaller dealers. I ordered mine overseas from a large European exporter and had the airgun in about two weeks. I have no idea whether it’s a good air pistol or not, but after this test we should all know.
Come on, Snowpeak! Give this pistol a real name. If you don’t there will be worldwide confusion about it and you will lose sales. It doesn’t have to be an American name. I would rather call it a Licking Cow than a PP700S-A. What is that — somebody’s password?
This pistol seems to retail for around $240 worldwide. Some overseas websites eat the shipping, so the markup must be pretty good. Artemis has a website, but it’s hosed-up and just shows a black screen on my Chrome browser. On Firefox I get the black screen and some Garage Band noodling on a piano, so they have a problem in their IT!
Impressive from the start
I will say the Artemis pistol has been impressive from the start. It arrived in a decent package and the manual, while lacking in some points, does give a lot of information.
The accessories, however, are lacking any tools for adjustments. There is a fill probe that I will discuss, a large pressed steel wrench for disassembling the reservoir for resealing (!!!) and the o-rings to do the job. The manual tells the owner that the seals will need to be replaced at some point, and there are sparse instructions of what to do.
This is what you get with the pistol, plus the manual. Notice the fill probe is a male Foster on one end!
Let’s now look at the gun.
Description
Just looking at the gun you would think that it’s heavy at the muzzle, and it is, but not to the extent that the appearance implies. It weighs 2 lbs. 4 oz. The manual cautions that the weight may vary according to the density of the wood, but there isn’t a trace of wood on this airgun. The grips are synthetic and everything else on the outside of the gun is metal, so the manual was pieced together like most airgun manuals.
The gun is just shy of 15-inches long overall with what appears to be an 11.5-inch barrel, so it’s a big ‘un. I say the barrel appears that long because the last 0.825-inches are threaded inside for a silencer. The grips are somewhat ergonomic and fit my hand very well. They are slightly rough, but not in a real grippy way.
I mentioned the threads inside the barrel. There is also a solid barrel shroud that does nothing to moderate noise.
The Artemis has a threaded shroud at the muzzle. You can bet that it’s a European silencer thread (1/2 UNF).
Finish flaws
One video blogger criticized the pistol he examined for having touchup marks, which is common with Chinese airguns. The test pistol I have does have a small nick on the barrel shroud on the left side beneath the front sight that has been touched up with black paint, but in general I would say this pistol is finished as well as most airguns at this price level. I’m not as critical of small imperfections as many people, so take that into consideration.
Fill
The manual clearly states that the maximum pressure is 250 bar (3,626 psi), but there is worldwide confusion over the fill pressure. Some sites say to fill it to 3,000 psi, or 206 bar. I will learn a lot more when I test the velocity, but there are a lot of shots between 206 bar and 250 bar and I don’t want to give any of them away. The air reservoir has a 69.7cc capacity.
Fill adaptor
The fill adaptor has a 7mm proprietary probe on one end and a male Foster quick-disconnect coupling on the other end. That means that all you need is an air tank or hand pump (or a dedicated air compressor like the Nomad II, these days) with a female Foster coupling on the end of the hose to fill the pistol. Given the pistol’s small reservoir, I would be careful when filling from an air tank.
I filled it!
I was curious about the fill pressure so I filled the pistol. I filled to 250 bar/3,626 psi. then I shot it. The gun seemed to function perfectly and the shot was loud. Until I chronograph it we won’t know for sure, but I would say the manual is correct. Perhaps they ship different guns to other market and they have lower fill levels?
Sights
The sights are a squared-off post in front and a u-notch in the rear. The rear sight is adjustable for windage by loosening a 1.5mm locking screw and sliding the notch in its dovetail slot. The manual makes no mention of this that I can find.
Loosen that screw on the left and the sight slides in its dovetail.
Scope rail
There is a 4-7/8-inch scope rail on the top rear of the receiver. In front of that the rail does not have a dovetail but there are three grooves that seem to serve no purpose beyond aesthetics.
Manual
This pistol comes with a manual that’s clearly written — as far as it goes. But it gives some instructions that I need to address.
1. The manual says to lubricate the surface of the valve pin and the seal of the loading port with mineral (petroleum) oil every 1,000 shots or three months. I would not do that because the mineral oil could get into the reservoir where it becomes explosively dangerous. Use high-temperature silicone oil to lube these areas.
2. The manual says to clean the barrel every 1,000 shots of three months. I recommend waiting until accuracy drops off. Over-cleaning can ruin an airgun barrel from damage to the shallow rifling.
3. The manual says to take the gun to a gunsmith every year for examination, even if it is working properly. Maybe that works outside the U.S., but in this country most gunsmiths know little or nothing about airguns and represent a real danger to their sensitive mechanisms. An airgun that’s working properly is best left alone.
Operation
Once the pistol is filled, you can load the gun by first cocking the hammer. It comes back farther than you think and it takes some force to cock the gun. Once it’s cocked the breech block, which the manual calls the loading door, is rotated to the right, giving access to the breech.
With the hammer cocked the loading door can be swung to the right for access to the breech.
There is no safety. The hammer will fall if the trigger is pulled with the loading door open, but no air can get behind the pellet because the air transfer port is inside the loading door. So, by swinging the door open, the pistol is as safe as it can be.
Trigger
The trigger has one adjustment for the length of the stage-one pull. The pistol comes from the factory set for a two-stage pull that seems crisp enough, though I will have more to say about it in Part 2. I adjusted the one 1.5mm screw in to the point that stage one disappeared altogether, giving you a single stage pull, if you like.
The one screw in the trigger determines the length of stage one — all the way to no stage one!
Power
The manual say we can expect the pistol to shoot a one-gram.15.4-grain .22 caliber pellet at around 600 f.p.s. That would produce 12.31 foot-pounds at the muzzle. Of course I will test that for you in much greater detail.
Discussion
The rest of the performance remains to be tested. What I can tell you right now it the pistol accepted a fill and is holding a charge. And the discharge is a loud pop!
Summary
I expect several of you know more about this pistol than I do. I think it’s been on your radar for a while. So BB will be the one learning on this one!
It seems that I will start the conversation on this one.
Regarding the presentation I should add that power is adjustable by hammer spring tension, inside the grips, by air flow, screw on loading gate, and by regulator or valve, inside the air tank. Power can reach higher level. A, not to forget that o rings must be replaced with quality ones ASAP.
As far as it concerns the name please note that the Diana Bandit is the Artemis PP800…
Good day to all
Bill
Bill,
Thank you for all that. I felt the Bandit was closely related.
B.B.
BB,
Mine came from a dealer in Madrid, Spain and is called an ONIX.
Half
B.B.
The only thing I am interested in, “is it more accurate than my LP-8 magnum”?
Looks good for a cheapie.
-Y
Mine proved very accurate, scoped, and most importantly, very easy to master. About 20 plus consistent shots in the 12 fpe area.
Bill
Bill, 20 shots seems like a pretty good number for a single-shot pistol before it needs to be re-charged. However, just out of curiosity, did you ever try increasing the power just to see what it could do? Thanks. =>
Well, only because you asked, now it is a ~20 fpe, with the folding stock and a 1/2 unf adapter… With the red dot sight it can be used as a carbine or a pistol.
Bill
Wow! So it has serious hunting-level power…cool. =D
Yogi,
We shall see.
B.B.
Yogi,
These are some groups, at 13 yards, from my ONIX, which was clamped in a vice for these groups.
Half
Here are a few groups of as many as 74 shots at 13 yards
This is with the shoulder stock from sand bag at 13 yards.
And this is a couple of 5 shot groups at 28 yards that broke my heart.( vised, I can’t shoot this good!)
Yogi,
Considering PCP,…. are we? 😉
Chris
BB,
From what I understand, this pistol should be interesting. A wild guess on my part, but the reasons PA does not carry it is that it is not silenced and it is a single shot. Many will immediately be trying to figure out how to convert it to whisper quiet full auto.
The real likely reason is it may not be carried by a distributor that PA deals with.
By the by, in the UK this is the Zazdar (gotta love that name). One company on this side of the pond calls it the Airmax Precision MKII.
Whatever, on with the review!
I have the earlier version of the Airmax Precision, thus with no “MK” designation. It’s actual model number is the PP700-W. The barrel is a bit shorter than the one in the S-A, and it has a larger diameter round shroud tube. While quieter than the S-A, it is still a loud pistol. The “W” did not come with any sights.
The pistol is amazingly accurate – it is clearly limited by the shooter and whatever optic I put on it. I have tested it with a scope and shooting it rested, I can easily shoot dime sized groups at 20 yards – and it would do better if it had a shoulder stock to stabilize it even more. My normal optic on it is a compact holographic red dot sight.
I did have to tune mine a bit, as it had way too much hammer energy on it when I got it – I think it was just assembled with no regard to performance and shipped. I have had it for about three years, and it is still doing great on the factory o-rings. The general consensus on these is that it takes a lot of shots to break in the regulator to get any kind of stable performance out of it, and even then you probably have to back off the hammer strike.
I can tell you that the barrel on the S-A does not go up to the end of the shroud, where those threads are in the photo – the threads shown are part of a front shroud mount that threads onto the barrel, and the mount does vent into a very small volume shroud.
Alan,
Thanks for your observations. I don’t plan to replace the factory o-rings. I filled it yesterday and it’s holding right where I left it.
B.B.
Glory be. A loud pcp. What a shame.
Heck with those screw on sound moderators. Put a working shroud on it. That’s the way it should be done if you want quiet. Probably would sell more that way too.
And if multiple guns end up shooting dime size groups at 20 yards I could like this pistol. And definitely like the idea of a folding shoulder stock. Would like to hear more about that.
And to me the price is a little steep especially with it being loud. And it’s China gun at that. But then again if it’s dependable and accurate I guess it’s worth the price. Sort of.
And yes I have some China products and they have been working.
On with the tests BB. I’ll be waiting to hear how it does. But don’t think I see one in the future for me.
The folding skeleton stock is quite low priced and it folds to the right, unfortunately for us right handed. But I can still put my hand in between the grip and the stock for a quick shot as a pistol. That’s why I use a red dot and not a scope. Regarding the shroud I fully agree, but maybe an aftermarket add on exists already.
Bill
Bill
Would like to see some pictures of the gun with the folding stock. Is it a easy bolt on? Who sales the stock?
GF1,
Super easy to install. Real easy to shoot with one hand if you are a lefty and not big prob to shoot as a righty as you can see by these pics.
Halfstep
Thanks. And looks good with the folding stock. Looks to be built solid.
It is very easy to put it on. You see the small screw on the upper part of the grip? There is another one on the other side. You take them out along with the two spacers they support, which are just filling the space right and left of the hammer. Then you just bolt on the stock, which is made to fit inside those gaps, next to the hammer. Please make a search on the internet for prices and places to buy, since this blog is hosted by Pyramyd. In any case you will find sellers in the Old World… By the way the grip is supported by a single screw on the bottom.
Arcadian
Thanks for the description of how the stock attaches.
It is very easy to put it on. You see the small screw on the upper part of the grip? There is another one on the other side. You take them out along with the two spacers they support, which are just filling the space right and left of the hammer. Then you just bolt on the stock, which is made to fit inside those gaps, next to the hammer. Please make a search on the internet for prices and places to buy, since this blog is hosted by Pyramyd. In any case you will find sellers in the Old World…
GF1,
I posted some pics about six months ago of my stocked gun. Mine is .177 and I got 10 shot groups the size of an aspirin at over 12 yards from several pellets.
I’m at the doctors with my wife right now but when I get home I’ll try to repost the stuff from earlier.
Halfstep
I like the way the stock is mounted high enough to clear the high inline grip and folds behind your hand. probably helps balance it when folded and shooting it in pistol mode.
Bob M
BobM
It’s pretty easy to shoot is all I can say.
Half
Halfstep
I see above.
Have you tryed out at 50 yards just for the heck of it?
GF1,
I tacked some aluminum diamond shaped wafers(2″X 3/16″ squares hung by one corner so they dangle and move when hit) to the ends of some cross ties on the track that runs behind my house. That gives me a set of targets that I can shoot at out to 68 yards. One winter day I did shoot at them with the ONIX SPORT from the 50 yard mark with the stock and sand bags. I was hitting about 50% of the time but there was a fair cross wind at the time. I also need a better scope. Set up right I think the gun is more than capable. I’ve been blown away by the level of accuracy that I’m getting from this gun. I’m hoping that the .22 that BB is testing is a good shooter as well.
Half
Halfstep
At least my .177 Gauntlet ain’t the only China gun that can shoot.
What pellets was you using out at 50 yards and what velocity?
BB
Took advantage of P/A’s birthday sale and ordered the Legends Cowboy Lever Action rifle. Huge discount ! In all, I will have 10 different 1894 air rifle variations. Hopefully the Crosman Bushmaster will accompany it on Friday. 🙂
Bob M
Bob
Nice you will have to give a update on them when you get them.
Looks a bit like the ataman AP16.
I wonder how comparable they are to one another?
I rather like my AP16 the trigger is nice, it’s accurate, and it’s surprisingly light and well balanced. The biggest difference I see is the AP16 takes rotary magazines and the side lever is really smooth and light to operate. Also the AP16 doesn’t have a threaded muzzle but it is ported and has a pretty loud snap to it. there’s also no way to attach a shoulder stock to the AP16.
I guess the main thing is the pp700S-A is what like 700 dollars cheaper, it might be preform well enough that it makes a better choice. Although the AP16 has cool cyrillic writing on the reservoir which was totally a selling point for me.
Besides the hundreds of $, the PP700 is single shot and very accurate.
Arcadian,
What caliber is your gun? Mines .177 and I posted some of my results above here.
Half
Normally .22 but for the moment it has a .25 cal barrel on. No big difference in power so I would not recommend it, at least for the certain length.