Monthly Archives: September 2020

Barra 009 Part 005

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Barra 009 Part 005

Full Auto Operation

By Dennis Adler

Right now, if you are into blowback action CO2 BB pistols, this is the hot ticket for 2020. The Barra 009 is everything you found desirable about the Gen4 Glock 17 plus the option to fire on full auto at the flip of a switch. This is what makes CO2 airguns exciting to shoot.

This is the part of every select-fire CO2 air pistol test that we wait for because this is an experience you can generally only get with an airgun. I have fired full auto centerfire rifles and they can be a handful, same for pistols, but most reports on the Glock 18 say that recoil is not that hard to manage on full auto compared to other select-fire pistols. Certainly with the Barra 009 recoil will not be an issue no matter how nice the rapid action of the slide feels and the low dB report sounds. It is a mere fraction of what the real gun would be like. And that is actually a good thing, as very few of us will ever need to train for full auto firing with a handgun or rifle. It is an occasional privilege for those of us who write about firearms so our opinions are grounded in fact. The fact is, at the moment, the Barra 009 is in a class by itself as the most compact (compared to the Beretta 92A1/M9A3 or Mauser M712) CO2 full auto handgun on the market. And a gun in a class of its own deserves a good explanation. read more

Barra 009 Part 004

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Barra 009 Part 004

Semi-auto accuracy at 21 feet

By Dennis Adler

Today we further explore the comparisons between the Umarex Glock 17 Gen4 and Barra 009 by shooting the 009 as a semiautomatic pistol. In part 003 were found that the velocity of the Barra is almost identical with the Gen4, the 009 delivering a littler more velocity on the high end and closer to the 325 fps figures quoted by the manufacturer but only by a few fps. Average velocity between the Gen4 and 009 is the same, 317 fps, and both guns have a modest 2 fps standard deviation for an entire magazine; overall, very comparable guns with the same parts. No corners cut by Barra. read more

Barra 009 Part 003

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Barra 009 Part 003

A Glock is a Glock…

By Dennis Adler

There’s an old joke about Glocks that has been repeated far too many times (and now applies to far more guns than the original G17), that a Glock looks like the box it came in. Well, at least the Barra 009 comes in a box.

Whether the name on the slide is Glock, or another manufacturer (there are at least two U.S. companies that produce handguns that look like a Glock), the shape is pretty much the same. And there are guns that resemble Glocks; the point being that building a gun that looks like a Glock is not uncommon, however, building a gun that performs as well as a Glock, well that is a different story. In our particular case it is more than likely that the Barra 009 will perform (in single action mode) exactly the same as the Umarex Glock 17 Gen4 because they share essentially the same internal components. read more

Barra 009 Part 002

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Barra 009 Part 002

What’s in a name?

By Dennis Adler

Samuel Colt established a name, a brand, and legacy in the 19th century; Gaston Glock has done much the same in the 20th and 21st centuries,but like Colt or any other gunmaker, a design can only be protected by patents for so long. A name, well, that’s another thing altogether. Today you will see endless copies of Colt designs, but none can ever be called a Colt or wear the Colt emblem. They can look like a Colt but they can’t be a Colt. They can, however, occasionally be better. I’m picking on the Model 1911 both literally and as a case study. Many of the improvements we see today on 1911s, even Colt 1911s, were not developed by Colt. The ambidextrous safety, for example, the dustcover rail, and thus the Colt 1911 Rail Gun, were not developed by Colt; other guns that looked like a Colt 1911 had them first, although Armand Swensen’s ambidextrous extended thumb safeties and high visibility rear sights were actually developed in the mid 1960s for the Model 1911. Today, Colt offers ambidextrous safeties as do almost every maker of 1911-style pistols, same for high visibility sights, and even the squared triggerguard, also invented for the 1911 by Swensen. read more

Barra 009 Part 001

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Barra 009 Part 001

A big surprise from out of left field

By Dennis Adler

More Glock than not, the new Barra 009 blowback action CO2 pistol is based on the Glock 18 design, and like its 9x19mm centerfire counterpart, is a select-fire pistol.

Yes, this is exactly what you think it is, a Glock 18, or rather the blowback action CO2 version of the select-fire 9mm made by Glock for law enforcement and military use, and the assassin in the opening scenes of the James Bond film Skyfall. In terms of modern centerfire handguns, the G18/G18C machine pistols are the Holy Grail of Glocks that you generally cannot own, let alone shoot, unless you’re part of a police SWAT team, member of an elite military unit, or government agency. Even if you are a Class III firearms dealer it’s pretty hard to get a G18/G18C, and you won’t find that many opportunities to shoot one. That is what makes the new Barra 009 (a very subtle reference to MI6 and the 00 section) about as desirable as blowback action CO2 pistols can get; this is simply as close as most of us will ever come to a G18, even though this new select-fire model bears no Glock markings! read more

Umarex 850 M2 part 9

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Umarex 850 M2 part 9

Into the field – paper, tin cans and varmints beware

By Dennis Adler

And one last trip to the shooting range to test the 850 M2 and Axeon scope at 25 yards, this time with the Sig Sauer 16.6 gr. Zero Pb hollow points. The crux of this test is to first compare the Sig pellet’s accuracy with the outstanding H&N Sport 18.62 gr. Baracuda Hunter Extreme .22 hollow points from the previous range test, and secondly, to see how well the gun performs in the field firing from a kneeling position shooting at tin cans roughly the size of small game. The 850 M2 with cheek piece extension and the Axeon scope weighs 8 pounds, 4 ounces (empty; no CO2 or pellets loaded). Most .22 rimfire small game rifles are about a pound lighter, averaging 7 pounds, 8 ounces; a Ruger 10/22 weighs 5 pounds, the Hatsan Escort .22 LR (yes they make rimfire guns, too), is a bolt action with a synthetic stock and weighs 5 pounds, 9 ounces. So, like I said, the 850 M2 is a little heavier than most .22 LRs.

The Umarex 850 M2 has shown potential as a small game or pest gun that is quiet, fast handling and with theright pellet, can deliver 10 foot pounds of energy (FPE), which is effective on small game. Of course, you have to be working in fairly close for an very accurate shot, and 25 yards (75 feet) seems to be where the 850 M2 lives for consistent sub-1-inch groups. A pellet will travel much further, of course, but as distance increases accuracy decreases. I can definitely put a .22 caliber pellet from the 850 M2 on the target from 50 yards, but I can’t necessarily say where it will hit with the same accuracy. The trajectory of .22 pellets fired from the 850 M2 can actually be witnessed through the scope and the bowed trajectory can become predictable if you have the opportunity for consecutive shots as I did at 25 yards with the H&N Sport hollow points, and they gave me consistent 1-inch or smaller groups from a rested position with the Axeon scope. read more

Umarex 850 M2 part 8

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Umarex 850 M2 part 8

Into the field – paper, tin cans and varmints beware

By Dennis Adler

Today it is time to begin wrapping up my series on the Umarex 850 M2 with a test of different pellets at maximumeffective range. With the .22 caliber model you have the option to send some pretty heavy lead pellets downrange and fitted with the Axeon 4-16×44 scope keep your shots sufficiently accurate to take small game and certainly kick tin cans and print tight groups on paper.

I have found the Umarex 850 M2 can be a little difficult sometimes. The forestock is hard to remove (at least for me) whenever you need to load CO2, and there is an occasional loss of CO2 pressure from the 2×12 gr. adapter while shooting, but it doesn’t happen with any regularity. It could be the adapter but it also happened once with an 88 gr. CO2 cartridge, velocity just drops off like you are out of CO2, which, in fact, you are. The seating of the CO2 in the receiver is very precise; there is even a special warning sheet with the gun pertaining to this. In general though, when everything works, the 850 M2 is a surprisingly well balanced, fast handling, and accurate .22 caliber CO2 bolt action rifle suitable for both target shooting and small game hunting. For this latest series of tests I am shooting five different types of pellets from two different manufacturers looking for the perfect combination of accuracy and performance.

Recap from previous tests

My earlier tests used H&N Sport .22 caliber lead pellets; the 13.73 gr. Sport wadcutters, 21.14 gr. Baracuda Match round nose pellets, and 18.62 gr. Baracuda Hunter Extreme hollow points recommended for small game hunting. My original comparisons were rated for both velocity and muzzle energy at 72 degrees. Here is the recap: The Sport clocked an average velocity of 555 fps which generates 9 ft. lbs. of energy (13 joules for those in Europe). The highest velocity with the Sport pellets was 566 fps, which increases energy to 10 ft. lbs. and 13 joules. Standard deviation for eight shots was 7 fps. read more