Air Venturi Avenge-X classic wood.
This report covers:
- Where made?
- Tigger
- Sling attachment points
- Picatinny rails
- Loading
- Barrel change
- Tools, accessories and seals
- Summary
Today we look at the .22-caliber Air Venturi Avenge-X wood-stocked precharged pneumatic (PCP) rifle a second time, and I am still introducing the rifle. There are too many things to get everything into one report.
Where made?
Reader Hoppalong Doc asked where the rifle is made. Well, at a retail of $500-600 with all the features of a $1,200 air rifle there is only one place it could be made — China. But the Avenger, which is this rifle’s little brother, is also made in China, and we know from lots of testing that it’s a world-beater. Is the Avenge-X as good or even better? We’ll see.
Trigger
The trigger adjusts for pull weight and travel. A third adjustment (marked A in the drawing below) corrects sear engagement and is not meant to be used except by maintenance personnel.
Trigger adjustment screws on the Avenge-X.
From the manual, the adjustment screws and what they do.
I tried adjusting the trigger to see if these are real adjustments or just placebo screws. The trigger travel screw adjusts the FIRST stage travel only. I say that because there is movement in stage two as well, but that movement remains where it is. And, yes, the adjustment screw did change the amount of first stage travel.
I also tried changing the pull weight and am pleased to report that both trigger adjustment screws are the same size. So the same Allen wrench fits in both adjustment screws. And, yes again, the adjustments do change things in the pull weight. I set the trigger to pull at 14 ounces for stage one and 2 pounds 4 ounces for stage two.
Sling attachment points
Many owners will use this rifle for hunting, so a sling is a serious consideration. The stock has two attachment points for rifle slings. Two inches in front of the butt is a quick-detach sling swivel anchor post and at the rear of the Picatinny rail on the bottom of the forearm is another attachment point.
The sling swivel anchor at the bottom rear of the butt.
Picatinny rails
The aluminum receiver is topped with a Picatinny rail that makes mounting a scope quite easy. The rail is divided to allow the magazine(s) to stick up above. Since there are both standard-capacity and high capacity magazines, the heights they stick up will differ. I’m testing the .22-caliber Avenge-X at present, so the standard magazine holds 10 pellets. The hi-cap mag holds 16 pellets. On the Description page Pyramyd AIR advises that with the hi cap mag, high scope rings may be necessary.
A Picatinny rail at the bottom front of the forearm is for mounting a bipod and the front sling swivel anchor is also a part of the rail.
The front Picatinny rail has an anchor point for a forward sling swivel.
Loading
I’ve already mentioned the standard and high-capacity rotary magazines. No doubt most folks will use them with the Avenge-X, but there is more. A single-shot tray also comes in the box, so you have three different ways to go when it comes to loading.
Barrel change
You can also change calibers from .177 to .25 calibers. My test rifle is in .22 caliber, but I have a .177-caliber barrel that I will install and test for you. Reader Ian McKee has a .22-caliber Avenge-X Tactical that he will review, then he’ll install a .25-caliber barrel for another full test. So you are going to see many sides of the Avenge-X rifle platform, and yet even with all that we aren’t testing half of what is available.
Rather than me writing about the barrel swap I’ll ask you to watch the video that’s linked on the lower left of the Description page.
Tools, accessories and seals
The rifle comes with five Allen wrenches for maintenance and adjustments. It also comes with two magazines (one standard and one hi-cap) and a single shot tray in the caliber of the rifle. There is also a large package of o-rings and seals for the rifle that I hope to never use but am glad they are there.
Allen wrenches for adjustments and maintenance.
The Avenge-X comes with one standard magazine, a high-capacity mag and a single shot tray in the caliber of the rifle purchased. This picture shows the relative sizes.
Each Avenge-X also comes with a large package of seals.
Summary
Today’s report shows that the buyer gets a lot when he or she buys an Avenge-X PCP. And, if you watched the short video about changing the barrel, you see that for just a little more money the rifle can be changed into a different caliber in a matter of minutes. That’s another air rifle for pennies.
As significant as the Benjamin Discovery and the price point PCP’s were to the world of airgunning, the Air Venturi Avenge-X takes it to the next level. Any airgun company that wants to compete with this has to acknowledge a high level of product development and customer satisfaction.
Be interesting to see what effect the forthcoming 3662 has on PCP airguns. Between that and this, a lot of folks will become DarkSiders….
OP,
I still cannot find anything about that air rifle. Do you have anything to point the way?
RidgeRunner,
Hope you realize it will probably not be a rifle you want from THAT company ;^)
HAM in says: https://hardairmagazine.com/reviews/crosman-362-limited-edition-secrets/
Last sentence of that blog:
“Then there’s that forthcoming 3677/3622 PCP air rifle that is shown on page 16 of the Crosman 2023 product catalog.”
shootski
shootski,
Thanks for the link up. No, I most definitely do not want that thing. They should have stuck with the Discovery/Maximus. I guess the Fortitude will be going away also.
I did pick up a .25 Armada at the airgun show the other day, so I finally own a Marauder and a .25. I have never played with that caliber much before. The last time I had anything to do with a .25 was shooting a FX Dreamlite. What a disappointment that was. I have high hopes for this Armada. If it does not come through, I may convert it to .22. We shall see.
RidgeRunner,
Best with your Armada.
My experience with .25 caliber PCP began decades ago (time sure flys when your having fun!) and the biggest thing i found was that the CP (Center of Pressure and CM (Center of Mass) was to close together on most of the pellets back then. That works in the springers that most folks limit to short distances but is BAD for shooting longer distances. The current design of pellets in all calibers has gotten much better for shooting beyond 40-50 yards.
Back in the day i went to shooting Pellet Man’s 40 grain bullets (slugs) in .250 size because they were stable out to 150 yards and beyond even with 80 or so FPE at the muzzle. Nutria and similar sized prey don’t stand a chance at 100 yards.
Hope you find the projectile for it early in the search.
shootski
shootski,
We shall see. I have yet to shoot it. I have a tin of FX/JSB pellets I just got in for it. We will see how they do. I could see me trying some Nielson “slugs” at some point.
Hi RR, there have been discussions over at HAM. The first was scrubbed. A couple weeks ago, an engineer at Benjamin told us that they’re doing final testing and started setting up tooling. So hopefully we get more than drawings in the Crosman catalog soon!
OP,
That is OK. After seeing what shootski had posted, I found what they are hoping to put out and to say the least, I am certain I would be underwhelmed. Like I told shootski, they should have stuck with the Discovery/Maximus. I guess the profit margin is larger on this.
Well, in the scrubbed conversation, the guy in charge of hunting at Velocity said $130 MSRP was the goal. They want us pumper/springer types to buy one, become addicted, then buy higher margin stuff.
OP,
THAT was the whole idea with the Discovery, but at the time Crosman didn’t fully appreciate it.
BB
LOL! I ended up with a Maximus after they stopped making them.
Tom,
Now those external adjustments are making sense with the fact that the barrel can be swapped out by the owner. What’s next? A semi automatic conversion kit?
Siraniko
Hi everybody,
good news again… My Diana 27 review is coming along nicely.
There is one thing I’m trying to find out: Does everybody agree that the ball bearing trigger was introduced after WW II?
https://airgunwarriors.com/community/airgun-talk/the-diana-ball-sear-trigger/
This post says so.
https://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread.php?879546-Diana-Mod-27-%28Pre-war%29-problem
This post seems to show an original model 27 and it looks like a direct sear trigger.
This isn’t even terribly easy to google and half the results are some gossip about the British royal family…
Stephan
Stephan,
I myself am clueless when it comes to the Diana 27, but I am sure the “Godfather” will know.
Stephan,
Yes, I believe the ball bearing trigger was a post-war design.
BB
BB,
thanks.
I was just ready to consider this case closed when I looked closely at the third catalog snippet on muzzle.de.
http://www.muzzle.de/N7/Druckluft/Diana_27/diana_27.html
That states the gun has a “newly designed” trigger unit. The resolution is pretty poor, but it looks like it might be the ball bearing trigger.
The prices are in RM (Reichsmark) so this is probably pre-WW II and would align with the “27A” model that was made between 1936 and 1940.
It does look similar enough to the later models.
Stephan
Stephan,
I looked as carefully as I could and this trigger does not look to me like it has a ball bearing sear.
BB
The trigger you are looking at has no ball bearings. The outer sleeve acts as a sear, and the spring loaded inner sleeve goes forward after firing, and pushes itself between the outer sleeve and the piston, thus disengaging the sear.
The trigger bears some similarities to Diana’s ball bearing trigger, but has no ball bearings inside.
It appears from the diagram that there is a lever just in front of the trigger that is holding the piston arm back. That must be a sear.
Plus, the ball bearing trigger has 2 screws in front of the trigger through what appears as a flat loop of metal. One screw adjusts the trigger and the other screw puts tension on the loop of metal and acts as a lock for the trigger adjustment screw. This diagram does not show any of that.
Why don’t you just email or call Diana in Germany and ask? Who knows? They might tell you.
Roamin Greco:
I thought about asking Diana as well… But decades later and after the GSG takeover… who is going to know?
What does a question cost? They may have a company historian. Also there is a Dianawerk forum. I can post your question there.
I posted your question here.
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic?url=https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thedianawerkcollective/ball-bearing-sear-t14831.html&share_tid=14831&share_fid=2042526&share_type=t&link_source=app
You might also want to poke around here:
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic?url=https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thedianawerkcollective/diana-factory-history-t14819.html&share_tid=14819&share_fid=2042526&share_type=t&link_source=app
And in the links therein.
CptKlotz,
I wonder if the shape of the endcap may give a clue, ie yours is not the depicted earlier flat type, is it?
Hi guys,
thanks for the help.
Alright, alright… I’ll ask Diana. Maybe I can use the opportunity to drop a hint that a new 27 might be a good thing to have in their portfolio 🙂
Stephan
Where would a “new 27” fall in their two forty, 250, 260 lineup? I think the two-forty might be their “new 27.”
I think those are all Chinese-made guns with the same no-so-great direct sear trigger that the Twenty-One has.
A new 27 should be “Made in Germany” and have a T06 trigger. That would be a real alternative to the HW30S.
I agree, and since it will serve double duty as an indoor and outdoor gun, it should have good target sights.
That makes me wonder, has Diana made accessories for the “modular” Model 34 EMS available yet? I’m thinking the “new 27” could also benefit from user-chosen sights or barrels.
hihihi,
you’re right. My 27 has the domed endcap. But I’m not sure if that has technical reasons. There doesn’t seem to be anything “sticking” out of the system tube (maybe it does when the rifle is cocked?).
Stephan
I have to admit that the Avenge-X is most tempting. If I did not have a Talon SS in .22, an Armada in .25 and a Texan LSS in .457 I would likely get one of these things. Yes, it is made by Wang Po Industries and it helps out Uncle Xi, but it is still tempting. Sorry, my Americanism is showing.
For those thinking of going over to the “Darkside”, this is a most tempting offering. The high fill pressure can be a deterrent, but you do not have to fill it that high. You just have fewer shots.
Ridgerunner,
What happened to your Maximus 22? What mods did you end up doing to that?
Brent
Brent,
It found a new home with FawltyManuel. It will likely be out iguana hunting soon.
I had not had much chance to do much in the way of modifications to it. I had removed the glowy thingy sights, installed an adjustable hammer spring, fiddled with the trigger a little bit and stuck a silencer on it.
I had planned on honing out the breech some and taking a closer look at the transfer port to see if it had a burr or not.
That is the idea – have to scope/zero it, may do it using one of the optics already in residence. Right now FM is besieged by honeydoos and other fun-time interrupters but, in time, in time. Also have to zero-in that HW90 which so far has seen all of five .25 pellets shot thru it just to make sure everything was working as it should.
I understand that honeydo thing. I have a few of my own.
It is tempting, though FM also thinks it is quite sad this airgun is not likely legally available to the citizens of the country that produces them, which is disgraceful. That’s Uncle Xi and the Party hacks for you. He’s not alone. We should be grateful for and appreciative of the freedoms we still have.
I don’t know if it’s sad because then perhaps the country may have turned out differently, or comforting in that instead of there being several million Chinese soldiers who can shoot, there is a billion of them. I’ve got to ponder that.
I am also pondering if there had been a couple ccw’s at a certain bowling alley, things may have also turned out differently. Lotta ifs to ponder these days.
Unfortunately they already have millions trained to shoot.
FM, for the fighting in the Pacific, e-sports are important. They’ll have lots of guys good at those, of course so will we.
FM,
Don’t you fret none. They are doing everything they can to take away are freedoms also.
B.B.
Is the extra barrel/s included or do they have to be ordered separately?
-Y
Yogi,
All barrels are options, so the shooter only buys the caliber(s) he/she wants. The rifle comes in a single caliber.
BB
“Tiggers” are wonderful things! Their tails are made out of springs! TTFN!
B.B. your heading, “Tigger” [Trigger].
Siraniko, is everything OK with you? I’m surprised you missed that.
RG,
You had best watch out for those hephalumps and woozules.
(Smile).
Can’t correct an entry?
Roamin,
IT has been notified.
BB
Thanks, B.B.
Well, the Avenge X looks interesting… TOO interesting – it has a impressive list of features and accessories.
I don’t need another airgun and already have four 30 fpe, .22 caliber PCPs but I’m very curious how the Avenge X would compare to the Air Arms, Daystate, FX and Weihrauch ones in the gun safe.
Can’t justify a high-end purchase but my “accountant” didn’t have any issues with an Avenge X so I’m going to check price and availability in Canada with my supplier (pusher?) when they open.
I’ll be following this blog series closely.
(Snowing here with about an inch on the ground 🙁 )
Happy Monday all!
V2, I own a Daystate Wolverine in .22, the Avenge-X will get a head to head shootout with my Wolverine.
It will also get to challenge a friends bench queen FX Crown MKII.
If I eventually decide to try a .177 barrel conversion, I will try it against my Air Arms. Caliber kits are only $69.
I am a little ahead of BB with my rifle, I have a few hundred rounds through mine.
I had been sick last week, so no range time, but the first stage of my review has been written, and should be up soon.
My opinion has not changed since I shot one in Ohio, GET ONE!!!
Ian
“But the Avenger, which is this rifle’s little brother, is also made in China, and we know from lots of testing that it’s a world-beater. Is the Avenge-X as good or even better? We’ll see.”
Oh boy! I get to see how this one compares to my Avenger, which is every bit as good as advertised. I have it dialed in at lowest hammer spring tension and a low regulator setting for optimum shots per fill. I’m still getting 35 fpe from this .25 caliber rifle. The user friendly design is obviously the work of someone who is an airgun shooter. The bolt and safety are good examples. As BB has stated the Chinese can make high quality airguns when they want to.
Deck
BB,
In the very last paragraph, when you refer to the Discovery and then say “the Avenger takes it to the next level” were you talking about the Avenge-X, rather than the Avenger?
Bill
Bill,
Good catch! Thanks,
BB