Umarex Komplete air rifle.
This report covers:
- Charge the rifle
- Load the circular magazine
- Benjamin Single Die pellets
- JSB Exact Jumbo RS
- RWS Hobby
- Discharge
- Shot count
- Trigger pull
- Cocking
- Degassing
- Why no piercing the first time?
- Impressions so far
- Summary
Today we shoot the Umarex Komplete air rifle for velocity. I usually go into a test like this open-minded, but in the case of the Komplete since I did not know anything about its performance I did read some reviews before starting. They advised shooting light to medium-weight pellets, along with the Insyder video we saw in Part 1.
I also read the manual completely, just in case there were things I needed to know. Because I did that my man-card is invalidated for some time but at least I knew what to expect — I thought.
Charge the rifle
The first step was to install a 32-gram NitroAir cartridge. The manual says to put some RWS Chamber lube on the tip of the cartridge before piercing. I don’t have any so I used Super Lube o-ring lubricant. It’s silicone and safe for use in high-pressure air. The gas in the Komplete nitrogen cartridge doesn’t support combustion but if I ever attach a high-pressure air tank I want the rifle’s insides to be safe.
The cartridge did not pierce the first, second or third time. Then I really turned it so hard things started flexing then I backed the cartridge out a few turns. On that try it did pierce. I’d like to hear the experiences of Komplete owners on this. To know the cartridge was pierced I fired one blank shot which will be counted in the total shot count.
Load the circular magazine
I loaded the circular magazine with 10 pellets for the first velocity test. The mag loads easily but it is important to keep a finger under the loading hole or the pellets with drop straight through.
Benjamin Single Die pellets
First to be tested were Benjamin Single Die pellets that I call Bullseyes. Ten averaged 928 f.p.s. The low was 921 and the high was 938, a difference of 17 f.p.s. At the average velocity this pellet developed 27.35 foot-pounds at the muzzle. That’s good hunting power.
JSB Exact Jumbo RS
The second pellet tested was the 13.43-grain JSB Exact Jumbo RS dome. Ten averaged 946 f.p.s. The low was 936 and the high was 954—a difference of 18 f.p.s. At the average velocity this pellet developed 26.69 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.
RWS Hobby
The third pellet I tested was the 11.9-grain RWS Hobby wadcutter. Ten averaged 972 f.p.s. The low was 957 band the high was 984—a difference of 27 f.p.s. At the average velocity Hobbys generated 24.97 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. And this pellet did exceed the 975 f.p.s. velocity quote, so this Komplete is testing as the description says it should.
Discharge
The test rifle is pretty loud. It registered 107 dB on my sound meter.
Shot count
At this point in the test I had fired 31 shots. I went back to the Benjamin Bullseyes that averaged 928 f.p.s. before and I fired the following shots.
Shot………Vel.
32………….924
33………….893
34………….907
35………….910
36………….918
37………….917
38………….914
39………….905
40………….903
41………….881
42………….903
43………….876
44………….864
45………….857
46………….845
You decide where to stop—or even if I went far enough in the test. I guess it all depends on what you want to do. If you’re hunting squirrels in the deep woods there are perhaps 40 good shots in the Komplete. If you’re shooting pigeons in the corn crib where the distances are close perhaps there are more than 46 shots per cartridge.
Trigger pull
The test rifle trigger breaks at 2 pounds 14 ounces /1304.7 grams. I think it’s a two-stage trigger but stage two, if it is there, is extremely vague. For the sake of safety I will treat it as a single-stage trigger.
Cocking
The Komplete sidelever cocks very easily. I have read on one forum where some UK airgunners prefer bolt actions to sidelevers, but I personally like this one a lot!
Degassing
After shooting I degassed the rifle and unscrewed the cartridge to keep the face seal from taking a set. Degassing was easy enough with the 5mm Allen wrench that was provided but I must caution shooters with two observations. First the degassing took well over a minute’s time. It was closer to two minutes. And when no more gas came out I unscrewed the cartridge Then more gas did come out—a lot more! So be careful.
After removing the cartridge to ensure the piercing pin completely pierced the cartridge (and it did) I screwed the cartridge part way in again to protect the face seal from airborne dirt.
Why no piercing the first time?
After examining the pierced hole in the NitroAir cartridge and seeing a clean and perfect hole I think I know why I did not detect that the cartridge was pierced when I tried it. I think the gas was contained in the cartridge by the piercing pin mechanism and I kept screwing it down because I never heard it pierce.
I should have tried unscrewing the cartridge a few turns and checking to see if it was pierced. At least I hope that’s the case. I will test my theory for you in the next report that will be the first accuracy test.
Impressions so far
The .22-caliber Umarex Komplete seems like a precharged pneumatic (PCP) air rifle to me. It’s a bit loud but entirely tolerable. The trigger is vague but light enough to work with. The sidelever works smoothly and it’s very light and feeding was perfect!
Summary
I like the Komplete so far. Yes, it hasn’t yet been fired on high pressure air, but since nitrogen comprises almost 80 percent of the gas in air I think it’s pretty close.
If an optional air tank becomes available for the Komplete I think it might be a best buy. Sure switching to air will be costly because of the support equipment needed to fill the reservoir but the Komplete let you get your feet wet at a relatively low starting cost.
The post Examining the Umarex Komplete air rifle: Part Two first appeared on Pyramyd AIR.
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