by B.B. Pelletier
Logun’s new Domin8tor is a lightweight, powerful new hunting rifle. Shown here with a Bushnell 6-18x Trophy scope.
I’ve been shooting a .22 caliber Logun Domin8tor for the past few weeks. It has some good points – and some great points – that I’ll share with you today. By the way, this was a poor choice for a model name, since the Walther Dominator has already been on the market for 4 years. Do not confuse the two rifles.
Biathlon-style “flipper” cocking
The first thing I had to get used to was the biathlon flipper that cocks the gun. On the new gun, it was stiff and sticky. After 100 rounds had been fired, it smoothed out and became easy to operate. Cocking the rifle is easy: your shooting hand pulls back on a sidelever that’s located where a conventional bolt would be. It’s called a flipper because, on a biathlon firearm, all the shooter has to do is flip his shooting hand backward to cock and reload. On the Logun Domin8tor, however, you must close the bolt positively. Don’t rely on the flipper return spring, or you’ll get misfires that lead to double feeds.
The flipper handle flips back to cock the rifle, and a spring returns it to the forward position. You must make certain the bolt is locked closed or the pellet will not fire well. Notice the circular magazine sticking up above the receiver.
One final comment on the bolt. It loads very smoothly. You probably won’t feel resistance when the pellet enters the breech.
Very light!
This rifle weighs just over 5 lbs., making it one of the lightest precharged rifles around. Only a few Falcons are lighter. The adjustable trigger is very crisp and positive, breaking at 1 lb., 4 oz., on the rifle I’ve been shooting. It’s a delight to use!
The magazine
First of all, the 8-shot circular magazine sticks up above the receiver, so you must use two-piece scope mounts. Second, it has pellet length limits that can just accommodate a Beeman Kodiak (I tested the .22 caliber rifle). When you release the mag from the receiver to load it, be ready to catch it – as a spring throws it from the gun. It fits the receiver only one way, so there will be no confusion about which side the pellet goes in – assuming you know the pellets will eventually exit the muzzle!
Power adjustment
The Logun Domin8tor has adjustable power with three settings. The lever to select which power you want is on the left side of the action. It is EXTREMELY HARD to move until it has been cycled several times. Then, it loosens up, but it becomes hard to move again as the rifle sits between sessions. My advice is to plan what you want to do beforehand and set the power then. This problem will be especially noticeable in cold weather.
A detent holds the power adjustment lever in each position. This is set on high.
The three levels are very well planned for most shooting. On high power, I got an average of 914 f.p.s. with 15.8-grain JSB Exacts, which works out to an energy of 29.32 foot-pounds. I got about 18 shots from a charge on that setting. The rifle was clearly most accurate at that setting, too. I also tried some 20.5-grain Logun Penetrators, which gave an average of 792 f.p.s., but they varied widely in velocity. The spread for 8 shots was 68 f.p.s., and they were not quite as accurate as the JSBs.
On the medium-power setting with the same JSB pellet I got an average of 769, which is a muzzle energy of 20.75 foot-pounds. Accuracy at 50 yards was not quite as good. On low power, the average was 635 f.p.s. for an energy of 14.15 foot-pounds. Accuracy was average at long range.
Tomorrow, I’ll finish this report with a look at some targets and some other features of the gun.
BB,
on high power you got 18 shots – how many did you get with medium and low power?
Is the trigger adjustable?
Markus
Did you ever had a semiautomatic FX Revolution in your hands? How does the action works; is it similar to a gas loading firearm?
Markus
Markus,
I didn’t count the medium and low shots, but figure 30 and 40.
The trigger is adjustable.
B.B.
Markus,
I have not tested the semi from FX. The action is powered by air, I assume.
B.B.
B.B.
Do you work for pyramid air, or who gives you these rifles and pistols to review? Been wondering for quite a while now.
Fred
Fred,
The airguns come from many sources. Pyramyd supplies some of them, the manufacturers supply some, I borrow some from friends and I have a fair collection of my own to dip into.
B.B.
BB,
I just wanted to say that I love your blog – its a great source of helpful info.
I hate to change the subject, but I had a question that Beeman wasn’t able to answer.
My Beeman P1 was shooting fine straight out of the box, but I’ve noticed over the past day or so that that its been shooting more erratically. I know I’m being overcautious, but I just wanted to make sure that it really is fine to dry-fire the P1. Should I try what Dan Walker suggested, and dry-fire the gun a couple of times, and, also, should I do that on the dual-power mode? Also, any recommendendations on adjusting the rear sight? I had played around with the rear sight, and I’d like to get it close to what it was out of the box, or set it up to give me the best accuracy.
Thanks,
Mike
Mike,
Don Walker told me to dry-fire my pistol a couple of times and that would clear up the erratic behavior. I did and he was right.
The erratic behavior started when I was shooting on low power. Apparently until, the gun is fully broken in, low power should not be used.
I only use high power now, so I’m not sure whether the problem will come back on low power or not.
Dry-firing on high power is how Weihrauch fits the PTFE piston seal to the chamber. All you are doing is adjusting the fit.
Try it.
As for adjusting the rear sight, the only way to do that is to adjust it while shooting at a bull. Use a 6 O’Clock hold and shoot three pellets. Note where the center of the group is located and adjust from that. Move the rear sight in the direction you want the strike of the round to go.
It works. Trust me.
B.B.
BB,
Thanks for the quick response. I’ll try doing that tonight (dry-firing a couple of times) and readjusting the rear sight. Other than the recent erratic behavior, I love the feel of the P1 – its a great gun, and has made up for the fact that I couldn’t find a Tempest (or Hurricane) anywhere.
I also have one more quick question. Along with some of the more high-end airguns I’ve purchased lately (Webley Patriot, R1 .20, P1, HW70, EB22, and a Benjamin 392), I also bought a used Benjamin Legacy in .22 caliber for $100. Its a nice gun for the price, or I think it would be brand new. The used one I purchased, though, seems to have been somewhat abused or used constantly, because the barrel seems kind of loose, and doesn’t catch all that well when cocking. It seems like a problem that’s easy enough to take care of, but I’m somewhat of a novice to airgunning, and I don’t really want to mess it up further by working on it myself. The problem seems to lie with the hinge, where the barrel meets the mainspring/piston tube. I don’t live too far from John Groenwold, so do you think its worth it to have him work on such a cheap gun (the repair costs might be more than what I paid for the gun itself), or should I just ignore the problem, or would it be relatively easy for me to tighten that up at home. I looked at your steps for a springer tune-up, but I’m not sure I’m set up, or ready, for that kind of reassembly. I’d appreciate your thoughts on this.
Again, I really dig the sight and am thankful for all of your posts -they’re extremely helpful for someone just getting into airgunning.
Mike
Mike,
It seems like I’m talking to an awful lot of Legacy owners these days. The loose barrel joint seems to be related to the pivot bolt backing out.
John Groenewold is an honorable man. I would ask him whether he thinks he can make a difference that’s worth the price.
I still have a couple of things to try on my Legacy before pulling the plug, so please bear with me.
B.B.
Well, Gabe was telling me that the Legacy’s had inconsistent quality problems, but I’d beg to differ. They all seem to stink! 🙂
FWIW, I’m thinking about going with a 392 with a peep sight to fill in till I figure out what PCP is best for what me and my dad want to do. He’s had a 342 for 25 years and it just went 6 pellets for 6 squirrels with open sights in his mom’s bird feeder infested yard. 🙂
-David
BB,
Hi. I just got my FAC and im going to buy a weihrauch hw97k from pyramidair.com(because its cheaper there)Here the new hw97k has chequering in the fore end were you place you left hand(if you right handed)..I wanted to know if the one pyramid air has had the new chquering on th stock.
Thanks
Paul.
BB,
Hi.Here in uk the new hw97k has chequering in the fore end were you place you left hand(if you right handed)..I wanted to know if the one pyramid air has had the new chequering on the stock.
Thanks
Paul.
Paul,
The picture doesn’t show the checkering, but I will ask them. Or you can ask directly, by emailing
sales@pyramydair.com
You or me?
B.B.
I have a Model 78G Smith & Wesson Pellet Pistol. The O-ring in the CO@ chamber is sadly deceased. I have tried similar rings, only to be greeted with a blast of CO2 out of the butt. Any thoughts on finding a replacement.
mart,
Try this gentleman:
B.B.
how do you lower the power to setting of 6 ft for low med at 8ft and max of 12ft?
This rifle is set where it is. If you want to change the power settings, you need the services of an airgunsmith. The hammer spring tension and valve return spring tension will have to be adjusted, at a minimum, and there may need to be some work done to the air port, as well.
It may be impossible to get all three power settings where you want them. You may have to settle for one of them being what you want and the others being whatever they turn out to be.
B.B.
The shotgun in the top picture should be equipped with the gun light, can I use the Olight gun light?
https://www.olightstore.ca/pl-lights.html