NEW Benjamin Gunnar FULL REVIEW
Benjamin has launched a new PCP for 2022. This is the Gunnar. It’s the most modern and feature-rich PCP from Benjamin to date. Manufactured in Turkey, the Gunnar has some impressive specs. Let’s have a good look at the new gun. Below is a link to the full review video that accompanies this written report. I suggest taking them both in for the full story.
The Gunnar is a side-lever operated PCP repeater available in both .22 and .25 caliber. It has an (internally) adjustable regulator as well as a 5 position transfer port adjuster. A 500cc aluminum bottle reservoir that fills to 3000psi gives the gun a pretty good shot count. It comes with 2 magazines as standard. The .22 cal magazine holds 12 pellets, and the .25 cal holds 10. These are the same magazines used on the Turkish “Craftsman” series of Benjamin airguns.
After cleaning the ample shipping grease from the gun, my first testing was over the chronograph. I used a .25 caliber example for all of my testing in this review. The graph you see below is a full shot string with the gun set to max power on the transfer port adjuster. I did not adjust the regulator. It performed very well. Using the JSB King 25.39gr pellets…I got an average of 40 shots per fill, an average velocity of 876fps for 43.26ft-lbs, an extreme spread of 15fps, and a standard deviation of 3fps.
I also tested the gun on all five transfer port power settings. I didn’t do a full shot count for each power level, but did get the average velocity and energy for each setting using the same JSB King 25.39gr pellets. While there is a massive difference between max and low, some of the steps are barely steps at all.
You will find that the Gunnar is a very quiet airgun. It has a baffled shroud that does an excellent job of reducing the report of the gun. In our testing, Dani found that even in .25 caliber and on the “max” setting, the Gunnar only produced 66.6 decibels…and that’s without a pellet and indoor. That is VERY quiet. If that’s just not quiet enough for you, the gun actually comes with a replacement shroud plug that is threaded for 1/2 x 20 UNF….giving you the capability of mounting any modern airgun suppressor. This is something I really like about the Gunnar.
Another thing I really like is the buttstock and general ergonomics. It uses an AR-15 style grip and an AR-15 style buttstock with a rubber buttpad. The grip has a palm swell and is very comfortable. The buttstock is out of this world! It has an adjustable cheek-piece that adjusts up and down as well as back and forth. The entire stock also adjusts back and forth for a length of pull adjustment. There is a downward facing section of picatinny rail for adding a monopod or rear bipod. It also has very little play compared to other AR-15 stocks. I just can’t say enough good about it. The stock is just wonderful. The entire gun feels very comfortable, though it is a bit front heavy.
The trigger is another story. While it’s a very light trigger pull, averaging just a bit over 1lb of pull (1.13lb)…the character of the trigger leaves something to be desired. It seems to be a single stage trigger, though it’s long and mushy…much like a Glock trigger. It’s useable, but it’s not great. Definitely not a match trigger. The only adjustment for the trigger is an adjustable pad. It can move up and down and you can add cant…but the character of the trigger itself is not adjustable. Again, it’s not horrible…but it’s not spectacular either. I do like that it has an oversized trigger guard to accommodate a gloved finger.
So how does this thing shoot? I took the gun to the Midwest Shooting Center’s indoor 100yd range. I found the JSB King 25.39 gr pellets to be the most accurate at 50 yards. In fact, it produced sub-MOA results at 50 yards…with an average of four (5) shot groups of 0.39″! The smallest group at 50 yards was 0.20″. That is fantastic accuracy! I shot eight (5) shot groups at 100 yards…or two four shot groups per card. Unbelievably, the average of both cards was exactly the same at 1.41″…or a bit less than 1.5MOA. Again, this is fantastic accuracy. My best group at 100 yards was 0.92″….but it was the only group that was sub-MOA. I’d say you can comfortably expect 1.5MOA out of this gun.
As with anything in life, there are always pro’s and con’s. What are the pro’s of the new Benjamin Gunnar? Quite a bit. Something I haven’t mentioned yet is the silky smooth side-lever action. The ergonomics, to include the grip and stock, are just wonderful. It’s extremely quiet and comes equipped to be made even more quiet if you choose. The power is adjustable, and though the reg is not externally adjustable…it is in fact still adjustable. It’s very consistent and very accurate. It’s definitely a modern PCP, and comes with a five year warranty. That’s huge! The only real con’s would be the trigger (though it’s not THAT bad), and the front heaviness of the gun. Is the Gunnar worth it’s (current in January 2022) $999.99 price tag? I think so. We have these in stock at Baker Airguns if you’re interested.
Donnie Reed is our Sales/Product Manager and general airgun guru here at Baker Airguns. He was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, and qualified as both a Rifle Expert and Pistol Expert. Donnie is now a competitive airgun shooter, focusing primarily on field target and benchrest competitions. He has won both PCP and piston class field target matches, as well as local benchrest competitions. Donnie also runs the Youtube channel and Facebook group ALL THINGS AIRGUN. His first college degree is in Mathematics and Sciences, but he is still pursuing another in Physics and Astronomy.
