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Ammo Evanix Rainstorm 3D bullpup: Part 2

Evanix Rainstorm 3D bullpup: Part 2

by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Evanix Rainstorm 3D Bullpup
Evanix Rainstorm 3D bullpup

Well, the opinions of this rifle are sharply divided. People either love it or hate it, and nothing in between. A few haven’t made up their minds yet; but when they do, it’ll be one extreme or the other. The Evanix Rainstorm 3D bullpup is as far from a Diana model 27 as an air rifle can get.

Blog reader Rob is the only owner who has commented, thus far, and he says he loves his .25-caliber bullpup. He reports getting 25 good shots per fill and wants one in .177 for the greater shot count and 9mm for the additional power.

Some things I missed last time
I forgot to mention that there’s also a Picatinny rail under the forward part of the gun. This would be for a laser, flashlight or bipod.

I also failed to mention that the trigger is adjustable for both first- and second-stage pull. The second-stage adjustment is a sear contact adjustment, so you must be careful not to go too far or the gun will either become unsafe or won’t cock at all. After I see how the trigger is out of the box, I may attempt some adjustments.

Assumptions
Many of you took my comments too seriously last time. I mentioned that bullpup designs are notorious for poor triggers, and you assumed that this rifle’s trigger is bad. I haven’t tested it yet. It may be fine. We won’t know until I have the chance to shoot the gun.

And some of you criticized the gun for not having open sights. That’s like criticizing a Dodge Viper for not having a trailer hitch! The design of a bullpup doesn’t lend itself to the use of open sights. I don’t know of any bullpup firearms that have open sights, either. Compasseco used to sell a sidelever spring rifle bullpup that had open sights; but when you saw how high they had to be to be seen by the shooter, you understood why optical sights were preferred.

The magazine
The magazine is loaded through the larger hole on the left at the back. The back is the side where you can see 2 holes, while there’s only one hole visible at the front. The pellets do not drop into their holes. The have to be pushed in with something like a ballpoint pen. Once in, rotate the magazine one click counterclockwise and load again. Keep doing it until all 11 pellets are loaded.

Evanix Rainstorm 3D bullpup magazine
Load through the larger hole on the left. The pellets will not enter the magazine without a push from a ballpoint pen.

Velocity testing
Looking at the published velocity of the .22-caliber rifle I’m testing (1,176 f.p.s.), I decided that the gun wants to shoot heavy pellets. With all that power potential, this is potentially a 50 foot-pound air rifle, according to those numbers. The first pellet I loaded was the JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellet, which weighs 18.1 grains in .22 caliber.

Evanix Rainstorm 3D bullpup pressure gauge
This is what the on-board pressure gauge reads when the gun has 2,900 psi inside.

The gun does not have a flat power curve. It drops in velocity from the first shot to the last, similar to many other Korean-made magnum PCPs I’ve seen. The shot count is simply how far down you’re willing to allow the velocity to drop. The next numbers for the JSB Exact Jumbo Heavys should explain everything.

Shot     Vel.
1……….1045
2……….1033
3……….1020
4……….1022
5……….1006
6……….1008
7…………997
8…………991
9…………981
10………..971

Average (shots 1-10) 1007 f.p.s.; energy — 40.72 foot pounds

Shot     Vel.
11……….959
12……….948
13……….939
14……….926
15……….915
16……….910
17……….898
18……….892
19……….882
20……….874

Average (shots 11-20) 914 f.p.s.; energy — 33.58 foot-pounds

Shot     Vel.
21……… —
22……….867

After seeing the first string of 10 shots, I normally wouldn’t go any farther; but I know several of you may be curious to see if the gun ever settles down and delivers several shots of similar velocity. As you can see, it never does. After this string of shots, the pressure in the reservoir was 1,400 psi, so the gun was shot out. I call that 10 shots per fill.

If the valve were tuned to deliver about 30 foot-pounds, there would probably be a group of 20 shots or so that were similar in velocity. As the rifle is now, it is running flat out, as fast as it can from start to finish.

Beeman Ram Jets
Next, I tried the obsolete Beeman Ram Jet pellets. They weigh 16.5 grains and combine the dome and wadcutter shapes. After a fresh fill, they averaged 1026 f.p.s. for the first 10 and they ranged from a low of 997 f.p.s. to a high of 1051 f.p.s. As with the first pellets, the velocity fell straight from the first shot. At the average velocity, this pellet averaged 38.58 foot-pounds.

Eun Jin domes
The last pellet I tried was the 28.4-grain Eun Jin dome. I tried it for two reasons. First, I wanted to see if they would feed in the magazine. They fed perfectly, so this is a pellet you can shoot in this rifle — at least in .22 caliber. Second, since this was the heaviest pellet I could get through the magazine, I wanted to see what kind of energy it might develop.

Eun Jins averaged 877 f.p.s. for 10 shots on a fresh fill. The low was 844 f.p.s. and the high was 907 f.p.s. At the average velocity, this pellet generates 48.51 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle.

Trigger
The trigger changed behavior, once the rifle was cocked. It became as stiff and creepy as the bullpup reputation has caused us to expect. However — and this is very significant — I adjusted stage two by the owner’s manual, and the pull became crisp and the letoff dropped to 6 lbs., 10 oz. This was as low as it would go and stay cocked because of the direct sear adjustment. There just wasn’t anymore contact area to play with after I finished adjusting it.

So far, so good. It’s obvious from these figures that this rifle is meant to be a hunting air rifle — pure and simple. Oh, and the discharge sound is a very loud number 5 on the Pyramyd AIR sound scale.

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

39 thoughts on “Evanix Rainstorm 3D bullpup: Part 2”

  1. It just looks too bulky to me. I would have to cut away some of that girder system and shorten it down some to suit me. I know, I know, if you shorten the barrel and reservoir you lose power and shot count. I guess I would need to see one up close and personal to render a fair judgement, but until such time, I would take the rifle version over the bullpup.

  2. I have not used the chrony yet on it as I have only had it a little over a week. I have just used it for target shooting and I don’t get poi shift until shot 25 or 26 at 35 yards. I still love the gun but for hunting I can see getting a much lower usable shot count. likely just the 10 in the gun and no more. The thing I love about this gun is the off hand performance. I have a s510 carbine that with scope is around 7lbs. This gun is less tiring to shoot off hand because the weight is so close to the body. That tends to make it more accurate after shooting a while at least at 35 yards.

  3. I think the look is growing on me. It can’t be called “pretty” but it has a certain appeal…

    I’m not getting that 11 shot mag/10 useable shot thing? Kinda like the Hatsan P1 PCP pistol.
    How can you come out with a gun that has less shots than the content of your mag?

    J-F

  4. There was one side lever bullpup that did have iron sights in the past. It was the tech force model 67. The gun was made in China and the sights proved it beyond a doubt. The things were totally unuseable. The notch in the rear sight was only about a 1/16 inch wide while the front blade was almost 1.8th inch wide. You couldn’t use them I spent quite a bit of tine with a needle file on my rear sight on that gun and never could get them to be useful. I finally had to say to hell with the iron sights and put the cheap included scope on the gun. It never grouped well. I still have it’s brother the tech force 66 which is a steel and plastic tactical version. That one came with a cheesy chinese crossbow scope. It never grouped well either. Only reason I keep the thing is because you simply cannot get these guns or parts for them any more. So it might be worth something some day. But made in china, I’m not holding my breath.

  5. I am aware that the blog (and all of Airgun Academy) went down a few minutes ago. I reported it to Pyramyd Air’s IT team within seconds of that occurrence. They are monitoring this site and will hopefully find the glitch soon.

    I apologize for any inconvenience.

    Edith

  6. I think Rob said his gun is getting 25 to 26 shots at 35 yrds. before he notices the pellet starting to go (lower I’m guessing).

    If so that would be a reasonable amount of shots to me. If I’m understanding correctly what Rob said. But can you adjust the fps of the gun any kind of way?

    And so the gun does feel pretty good when you hold it?

  7. Airguns aside, bullpups are meant for combat, not really for sniping or target work (although my ps90 groups about 3″ @ 100 yds with factory ammo) They are compact, quick handling, close quarters weapons that are easier to instinctively point or aim and fire accurately than a pistol. Kind of a compromise for those who might need that kind of thing. The trigger also reflects this partly due to design for its intended purpose. A heavier trigger is also more suited to an “adrenalin desensitized” trigger finger in combat.

    Airgunners, on the other hand, want that accuracy and nice trigger in their bullpups. And we get it in some of the higher end bullpups like the Edgun. We just have to be different… If you don’t polish it first, I think after a few thousand shots the trigger on this one should lighten up a bit more.

    /Dave

    • If I were in a combat situation, which thankfully I am now too old for, I’d be grabbing my AMD65 which is a more compact version of an AK47 with a folding wire stock. I just really do not like bullpups. The balance feels all wrong to me and totally throws me when I’m lining up a shot. /i like the eight of the gun to be more forward in my hands instead of back at my shoulder.

  8. B.B.,

    You wrote above, “There’s also a Picatinny rail under the forward part of the gun. This would be for a laser, flashlight or bipod.”

    Hey, this monster SCREAMS for a foregrip. Robo Cop would definitely install a foregrip on that lower rail LOL.

    I not only still like this guin’s looks, but I like it more and more as I keep looking at it.

    The issue has come up before, but the slot on the left side really makes it look as though the cocking arm can be moved to the left side. Is that the case or definitely no?

    Michael

      • B.B.,

        After reading your response, I again looked at the first two photos on the Pyramyd AIR page for the 3D and see what you are referring to. I mistook the long slot that extends to the butt as the channel for the bolt travel. The bolt is, I now see, up higher one the buttstock and terminates on the right side of the magazine slot.

        Man, I do like the looks of this rifle a lot and can say right now if it proves to be accurate, I’ would certainly buy one, EXCEPT . . .

        I shoot springer and single-stoke PCP 10 meter rifles that are right-side side-cockers, and I’m OK with them because the are single shot (and lefty-stocked). But I have learned from experience in owning four different repeater side-cockers (IZH 61, Tech Force 66 and 89 models and an eastern European one whose maker I cannot recall) that for this southpaw, at least, a right-side cocking repeater is virtually unusable, or at least so user-unfriendly for a lefty that it derives no benefit for being a repeater and might as well be a single shot.

        Someday I’ll compile a list of brand new airguns I would certainly have purchased but did not because they were not ambidextrous. It must be at LEAST 50 or 60 airguns, not even counting vintage ones. If 10 – 15 percent of airgun enthusiasts are left-handed, this short-sightedness might be costing the industry as a whole millions of dollars a year.

        Michael

    • The gun does come with a fire grip. Its an angled fore grip not shown here. Apparently this is a new addition as even pyramid was unaware of this until I called and asked about it.

  9. Talking about making Assumptions I made a comment that a lot of new guns are comming out without open sights, what I was talking about was break barrels and pcp rifles not just bullpups!

  10. If you only get 10 shots per fill this is a gun I’d avoid if you were going to be target shooting or doing some chipmunk population control. You’ll spend more time on the pump tiring yourself out than you’ll get shooting time. Couple that with a gun that is just plain butt ugly to my eyes and it’s definitely not worth the price to me. I’d much rather spend less money on an airforce gun, get the power, accuracy and adaptability than to spend more money on one gun with limited shots and no real adaptability and what I see as somewhat of a poor performing ugly gun. But that’s just my opinion.

  11. At 6 lbsl, 10 oz, the trigger is heavy. However, because it is a PCP it shouldn’t be hold sensitive. Therefore, you should be able to hold it as tight as necessary for control.

    What is the length of pull?

    Victor

      • B.B.,

        That’s a little on the long side. That will force most to shoulder it tightly, which can help with trigger control.

        Being as powerful as it is, I can see owners wanting to add a powerful scope for longer distance shooting. On the other hand, looking at the height of the rail, and considering that this rifle might be great for pest control at closer ranges (under 25 yards), I can see adding a dot sight, or an open reflex sight (probably the best choice).

        Victor

          • rob,

            There you go! You’re all set! This rifle looks cool (with a real Wow factor), and based on B.B.’s earlier description the construction is solid. It not only looks like it’s made for serious business, it IS made for serious business.

            Victor

  12. B.B.

    Just curious to know how the Evanix performs accuracy wise.When can we expect data on this? Also, just to remind you about the promised article on overpowerful mainsprings.

    Errol

  13. Long time airgunner, but first-time poster here. Tom / B.B., I’ve enjoyed reading your stuff in various places over the years — thanks for such an incredible body of work on a subject that never seems to get the attention it deserves.

    I’m bummed. I actually *love* the look of the Rainstorm 3D Bullpup — I happen to like edgy and more modern-looking firearms, though I still appreciate airguns with a more traditional appearance. (I think this carbine looks a heck of a lot cooler than the Airforce stuff, I’ll say that… though I know those guns are practically revered for reasons other than looks.)

    What’s bumming me is that I was thinking this was *the* gun to finally get me into PCPs… but that inconsistent velocity is a killer. It’ll be interesting to see the results of the accuracy testing, but it’s hard to imagine it’ll produce good groups with velocities that drop with every shot. 🙁

  14. I loaded up my .177 Rainstorm Bullpup, CROSSMAN Premier 10.5s and support gear and went to the smallbore range today to check some before/after LDC specifics. My Air Gun Range has a 20FLB limit.
    The new custom built moderator (LDC) made a difference to the sound and now all I hear are the mechanisms operating within the gun. At the muzzle the Decibels dropped from 107.5 to 100.9 and registered only 91.7 @ 8 feet in front of the rifle. Still loud but bearable.
    I couldn’t get Chrono readings today so I’ll have to do that another day. Every since I shot through both packs on my other Chrono I am very apprehensive to get too close to the sensors. I’ll wait until I have someone to double check the alignments before each shot.
    I didn’t compare before and after accuracy since I had already had it Zeroed at 50 yards and had also established a 10 Shot 1 1/8″ 50 yard cTc grouping before WITHOUT LDC.
    I just went straight to the “WITH LDC”!
    I’m very happy, but do feel my results would have been better if I had used my Bench Rest front and rear rests instead of a Bi-Pod and Hand support on the rear.
    I shot a 15/16″ cTc 5 shot group, clicked up 2 clicks and did the same again at 50 yards and then finished with a 1 5/16″ cTc 10 shot Rapid Fire” Group showed me that the LDC was in “PERFECT” allignment. Contact me and I will check with the individual, if you need a more quiet pellet gun. I only had one shot that broke out of the 10 ring out of 20 shots!
    As to the 100 yard distance………..I had to bring some MilDot Holdover into play.
    End result was a 5 MilDot Holdover and a 1 15/16″ cTc 5 shot group with a consistent breeze from the left causing a 2″ impact shift to the right of POA! Of course I was not trying to read the wind…..I was shooting groups and accepted them where ever they hit!
    Ultimately I might adjust my sights to move my trajectory arc to be higher at 50 yards in order to raise the point of impact at 100 yards.
    I am hoping for a Match that I can shoot Bench Rest Unlimited Class!!!!!!!!
    BUT , for sure, I feel that PANSAL Live Field Target, next year, will be VERY, VERY productive………..
    Next time out I will identify shot count.

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