ot- Anyone have one of the new Cricket pistols?

[2ndovc]

I saw a couple of these neat Keystone pistols at a gun show last weekend and thought one would be the cat's behind for siting on the back deck with a box of .22 shorts whackin' black birds and any other pests.

I seem to remeber a few of you have Cricket rifles for your kids and wondered how well they were put together.

Wouldn't mind having one if I could get these bills under control

jb

[Rusty]

I think you'd do better with a Benjamin air pistol in .177. Not as much noise in your back yard.

[JReed]

I like the cricket. I have one for the boys and they love it. Function wise it is a smooth single shot. My only problem is it can be hard at times to load with adult sized fingers when in a hurry. But it is very accurate and the main + it is made in the U.S.

[David]

They actually made 2 experimental xp-100's in 22lr actually they advertised their availability, I tried hard to get one of them when the project was shelved but no luck. I'm not sure who ended up with them.

[2ndovc]

I think you'd do better with a Benjamin air pistol in .177. Not as much noise in your back yard.

I've had quite enough of air pistols and blown out seals. Thank you very much.
Plus there's nothing like the smell of gun smoke in the morning!

I'm on the edge of town where the occasional gun shot is no big deal but i don't like to disturb the neighbors if I don't have to.


Jeremy,

Thanks for the info. I thought I remembered your boys having one at the Indy shoot.

jb

[Haycock]

I really like the Crickett I got my daughter... it is well made and accurate... the only problem we've had is sticky extraction when using hotter loads like the CCI Velocitor, etc. Shouldn't be any kind of problem with shorts.

Haycock

[awp101]

I don't have one (yet ) but I have looked them over at a couple of shows and shops. For the price I was seeing (under $200 IIRC), they don't look bad. I did some google searching and I think there was a group buy at Specialty Pistols or some such that had some built with match chambers.

I don't recall them being d&t, only the fiber optic sights but I may very well be mis-remembering. I think one would be a dandy match with my Savage 501F.

And if you figure out the secret to getting bills under control, would you PM me? Please?

[piller]

I like the Crickett rifles. They are simple and well made. As 86er can verify, they are good for teaching youngsters to shoot. Accuracy is very good. The stock is sort of cheap, but on a .22lr, what do you really need for a cheap gun? I had a problem with the chamber being sticky at first, but I took a Hoppes Tornado brush and put it onto the first section of cleaning rod, chucked it into a drill, added a little bit of Smith's honing oil from my Arkansas Oilstone kit, and ran the brush in the chamber for a couple of minutes. I think it burnished the chamber and made it smoother. From then on, I didn't have any extraction problems. I kept an eye on the brass for the next couple hundred rounds, but there was never any sign of split or bulging cases, so I don't see any problem.

[2ndovc]

I like the Crickett rifles. They are simple and well made. As 86er can verify, they are good for teaching youngsters to shoot. Accuracy is very good. The stock is sort of cheap, but on a .22lr, what do you really need for a cheap gun? I had a problem with the chamber being sticky at first, but I took a Hoppes Tornado brush and put it onto the first section of cleaning rod, chucked it into a drill, added a little bit of Smith's honing oil from my Arkansas Oilstone kit, and ran the brush in the chamber for a couple of minutes. I think it burnished the chamber and made it smoother. From then on, I didn't have any extraction problems. I kept an eye on the brass for the next couple hundred rounds, but there was never any sign of split or bulging cases, so I don't see any problem.

Thanks Brian!!

jb

[vancelw]

Jason,

I had a Crickett rifle for my girls. It was great for them with the peep sight. They were dead-eye's with it. I did have a problem with the extractor falling out. Crickett sent a box via UPS, fixed it, and sent it back. So, pretty good customer service.

I eventually sold it and bought them a clip-fed Marlin bolt action .22 so I could scope it and let them shoot p-dawgs at longer ranges.

[JohnM]

For very quiet pest elimination from a rimfire rifle try the Super Colibri's. They have a bit more pfftt than the regular Colibri. And unlike the regular Colibri, the little slugs don't seem to have a tendancy to get stuck in y'r bbl, either. The report is considerably less than either spring or compression airguns.

Power is nowhere near a regular .22 short, but they do quite well up thru squirrels and pigeons. Feral and nuisance cats, as we all know, are tougher critters. So you need to be able to make a clean CNS brainpan shot in order to turn off their juice pronto. Flopping,squalling cats tend to attract attention in a town. To avoid those neighborly embarrassments Havahart traps work, and then you can practice those brainpan shots in a more dignified privacy.

Anyway, like those Colibri supers or whatever they're named,for basement offhand practice and pruning the local fauna.

[JohnM]

For very quiet pest elimination from a rimfire rifle try the Super Colibri's. They have a bit more pfftt than the regular Colibri. And unlike the regular Colibri, the little slugs don't seem to have a tendancy to get stuck in y'r bbl, either. The report is considerably less than either spring or compression airguns.

Power is nowhere near a regular .22 short, but they do quite well up thru squirrels and pigeons. Feral and nuisance cats, as we all know, are tougher critters. So you need to be able to make a clean CNS brainpan shot in order to turn off their juice pronto. Flopping,squalling cats tend to attract attention in a town. To avoid those neighborly embarrassments Havahart traps work, and then you can practice those brainpan shots in a more dignified privacy.

Anyway, like those Colibri supers or whatever they're named,for basement offhand practice and pruning the local fauna.

[Old Ironsights]

The Crickets are nice guns... BUT... I really dislike the "safety" mechanisim.

As (JReed?) can attest, a slight bump along with a forgotten key can ruin a day's shooting.

I bought the Henry MiniBolt for my Nephews. All of the benefits of the Cricket with none of the disadvantages...

Plus, it makes a dandy in-town varment gun in it's own rights with .22 Super Colibris..

[JReed]

The Crickets are nice guns... BUT... I really dislike the "safety" mechanisim.

As (JReed?) can attest, a slight bump along with a forgotten key can ruin a day's shooting.
:

True enough. Leaving that key at home is a guaranteed way to have a bad day. Do they have the same lock on the pistols?