Observations Shooting an New AP20

[B Lafferty]

It arrived today from Champion's Choice. I reversed the grip to left handed and positioned the pro-line air cylinder horizontally. I also moved the trigger pad forward slightly. The pistol needed a bit more sighting in that I expected, but it's zeroed in now with a sub-six pattern.

My impressions compared with my regulator leaking Benelli Kite:

1. Very nice to not hear leaking air and get more than 30 shots from a 130 bar filling.
2. The build of the AP20 feels much more substantial than the Benelli. This is mostly regarding the loading mechanism.
3. The Benelli trigger is a bit smoother and perhaps a tiny bit lighter. I will at some point get a measuring device and compare them. It will be interesting to see how the AP 20 trigger settles in over time.
4. The AP20 grip is reasonable for what it is, but nothing near the Benelli grip. I will be having my Benelli grip 3D scanned and duplicated for the AP20 in the next two weeks or so.
5. The AP20 seems to have a little bit more muzzle flip than the Benelli. This may change when I have a Walther slimline air cylinder attached (on order) and the Benelli grip copy is installed. But, the Benelli barrel is ported as well which the AP20 is not, so we shall see.
6. The amount of air leakage when removing the AP20 cylinder from the scuba tank is much less than with a Kite cylinder. The external pressure gauge with the AP20 is very easy to use.

All in all, I'm quite impressed with what Walther has come up with as a budget/entry level match air pistol. At $719 it is priced considerably less than the Alfa-Proj pistol from Air Arms. I had an Alfa-Proj about 8 years ago which I liked. The build quality wasn't great and I traded it in at the time for a FWB Piccolo. I later sold that to help finance the Benelli Kite. I'm frankly surprised that the Air-Arms pistol at $949 (at several online retailers) can be competitive with the likes of the AP20.

Tomorrow, I shall try 60 shots and see what happens......

[Ray Dash]

I bought the Pro version and its my first 10 meter pistol so I have nothing to compare it to but for the extra $250, besides the air cylinder the grips were worth the extra money to me alone.

[brent375hh]

Congrats on your new purchase!

When you state130 bar, is that just what you have in your scuba tank currently?

Keep us posted on your further impressions. I hope it helps you meet your shooting goal for this upcoming year.

[william]

"The Benelli trigger is a bit smoother and perhaps a tiny bit lighter. I will at some point get a measuring device and compare them. It will be interesting to see how the AP 20 trigger settles in over time."

_That's what all those little screws are for. And "measuring" a trigger is akin to sorting pellets. Set it so that it feels right to you, and weigh it once to make sure it's safely over 500g so there's no possibility of a post match equipment check getting you DQed.

[B Lafferty]

Congrats on your new purchase!

When you state130 bar, is that just what you have in your scuba tank currently?

Keep us posted on your further impressions. I hope it helps you meet your shooting goal for this upcoming year.

Yes, that's what is presently in the tank. First week in April, once my second Moderna jab is at full effect, I will be taking the tank into a Burlington VT dive shop to be recertified and and filled to 200 bar.

[B Lafferty]

I bought the Pro version and its my first 10 meter pistol so I have nothing to compare it to but for the extra $250, besides the air cylinder the grips were worth the extra money to me alone.

The lowest price I've seen here for the AP20 Pro version is $1050. There are also very few available in a Large left hand version which I need. Still, $719 for the AP20, $205 for the slimline and $185 for the Benelli reproduced grip comes to $1,109. And I will have the second (Pro-Line) cylinder as a backup. Had an AP20 Pro been available with a large left grip at $1,050.00, I may well have purchased that, but it is what it is.......

Perhaps I can sell the plastic all in one grip that came with my AP20?? ;-)

[B Lafferty]

"The Benelli trigger is a bit smoother and perhaps a tiny bit lighter. I will at some point get a measuring device and compare them. It will be interesting to see how the AP 20 trigger settles in over time."

_That's what all those little screws are for. And "measuring" a trigger is akin to sorting pellets. Set it so that it feels right to you, and weigh it once to make sure it's safely over 500g so there's no possibility of a post match equipment check getting you DQed.

True. Good advice. When the scanned grip arrives I'll remove the plastic grip which will give access to those little screws. I thought about playing with it yesterday, but after doing the main adjustments, I really just wanted to play with (fire) my new toy. It will be a few weeks before the new grip arrives, so we'll see how I'm shooting with the factory settings. I may just put the new grip on and if it feels like the original Kite grip, I'll shoot it a bit longer before thinking about playing with adjustments.

[B Lafferty]

I should add that the Hammerli case is nice, but very, very basic. No compartments and no locks. Once I have the Slimline for the AP20, I'll probably put it in the old Benelli case which is quite nice. I do like the Hammerli logo on their case.

[brent375hh]

I see that the loading lever can be moved to the right side, making it truly ambidextrous.

[B Lafferty]

I see that the loading lever can be moved to the right side, making it truly ambidextrous.

Yes, but I will leave it as it is. Not a problem for this lefty.

[B Lafferty]

It's been interesting and fun setting the pistol up. Still playing with it and waiting for delivery of a semi-custom grip based on an LP400 grip scan from Andrew Berryhill. The slimline air cylinder arrived today from Champion's Choice. Makes a big difference in stability for me compared to the pro-line cylinder. Shot three targets. Where I would usually be in the 84 to 86 range, I was able to shoot 91, 88 and 89. And.....no hissing sound from a leaking regulator. :-)