by B.B. Pelletier
Several of you have asked for this report on the RM-2800. This is Mendoza’s largest, most powerful air rifle. It’s a repeater, but also a breakbarrel, so it has to be cocked before every shot. Many will think of it as a single-shot, but it’s a true repeater because it has a magazine. Think of it as a bolt-action repeater, and you’ll be right on track.
General description
The RM-2800 comes with a dark-gray painted wood stock. It’s a thumbhole style, as well, so the styling is pretty far out. Although it’s a long air rifle, it isn’t as big as many on the market. The stock is pleasantly thin through the forearm, and, for some reason, it’s very light. The rifle I’m testing weighs only 7 lbs., 4 oz., which is considerably lighter than the specified weight of almost 8 lbs. That puts it in the same weight class as the Beeman R9. So, this really is a lightweight, compact, powerful air rifle.
The bluing is better than that found on any Weihrauch springer and fully the equal of the British-made Webleys and BSAs. The sights, which I’ll cover in greater detail, are superior to every other open-sighted spring rifle today, by virtue of the fact that they contain Mendoza’s fabulous micro-adjustable rear sight.
If I sound like I’m in love with the gun, that isn’t the case at all. I dislike painted stocks, can’t stand thumbholes, plus I see no need for the repeating mechanism on a breakbarrel springer. But, the RM 2800 has so many superior features for such a great low price that I have to point them all out. And, I’m not done yet.
Trigger
The more I see and experience Mendoza’s two-bladed trigger, the more I like it. The blade on the right sticks out farther than the blade on the left. It constitutes the first-stage pull. When it comes back even with the other blade, you know stage two has been reached and the rifle is ready to fire. Right now, this trigger breaks crisply between 3 lbs., 2 ozs., and 3 lbs., 8 ozs., with absolutely no creep. It may break-in to a different weight, so I’ll check it again.
Recoil is substantial, but there’s very little vibration. Thankfully, Mendoza provides a proper scope stop. When the time comes, scoping it shouldn’t be a problem.
Every Mendoza pellet rifle comes with a hang tag attached to the trigger. It has a shot group fired by the rifle and this one shows a larger group than I’ve normally seen with these rifles. The trigger-pull was measured at 1.11 lbs., but I think they meant kilos. The velocity was measured at 911 f.p.s. That’s not bad for a .22, but we’ll see what our chronograph says with several different types of pellets. I’ll also check for a pellet that feeds well through the magazine.
Repeating mechanism
All Mendoza repeaters use a linear magazine that has a coiled steel follower spring. Linear magazines mean the pellets must be a certain shape and length. Pointed pellets won’t feed because they get their noses stuck in the bases of the pellets in front of them, and the length of the chamber in the pellet carrier determines their overall length.
On the other hand, nothing forces you to use the magazine. The rifle also functions fine as a regular breakbarrel. Simply leave the magazine empty and load directly into the breech
Sights
The sights are a square post with bead in front and a square notch in the rear. They both have fiberoptic inserts, but the front isn’t bright and can be seen as a square post in most light. I consider that a plus, because a square post is more precise. The rear sight is Mendoza’s super sporting sight that has crisp click detents for adjustment in both directions. There are reference scales on both windage and elevation, so you always know which way you’re adjusting.
I’ve heard a few complaints recently about breakbarrel detents that are hard to open. We all know the Webley Patriot is a toughie, but I’m talking about RWS Dianas and other breakbarrels. Well, that’s a problem this Mendoza doesn’t have! Despite having a chisel-point locking detent, the barrel breaks open quite easily. Maybe it uses the pellet-feed mechanism as an assist?
I’m looking forward to testing this big Mendoza. If it can even shoot medium-weight pellets in the low 800s with some accuracy, it will be well worth the money.
BB,
Wow that sounds like one real nice gun! Hope it is accurate and velocity is good cause I may just have to buy one!
On another subject, just got a Crossman Discovery in from Pyramid Air several days ago. Unfortunately they did not have the kit with the pump. So at present till I can get set up to fill from a scuba tank only have been testing with CO2.
Had a 5 # CO2 tank with fittings already. So used that to test the gun.
My initial impressions are very favorable. The gun is nicely blued and the walnut stock is nothing short of spectacular for a gun in this price range. It has some VERY nicely figured wood in the butt and forearm. I would rate it A to AA. Only real zing here is that it needs to be refinished to bring out the REAL beauty of this wood. It was not filled or sanded well before the finish was applied. This is a project for later and I will take both before and after pictures for you.
Shooting from a bench with sandbags and over a Chrony Alpha meter I am getting excellent accuracy with pointed pellets of all types. It does not seem to like the wad cutters as well but accuracy is still good with about 1″ at 20 yards for the RWS hobby pellet. This pellet is traveling average of 700 fps for 10 shot strings which I think is phenominal for a CO2 gun considering all my other .22 CO2 are pushed to break the 600 fps mark!
Accuracy for all pointed pellets is very good with .25 to .45 inch best groups with gamo magnums and beeman kodiaks at 20 yards. These are 5 shot groups on a dead calm day from a solid rest at 20 yards. Even worst groups with these pellets never went more than .67″.
Velocity for the gamo magnums was 643 fps and for the kodiaks was 591fps for 10 shot strings. Never have gotten better than 450 fps with .22 kodiaks in any other CO2 power plant!
Trigger was 4# 6 oz on my gauge. It broke very smooth and sharp with no noticable creep. All in all a very good and usable trigger for a low priced entry level dual fuel gun!
I then disassembled the gun and polished the trigger parts and put a lighter wolf pack return spring in. It now breaks clean at 3# 5 oz with no creep. Not much change but not much can be done with this trigger as parts are stamped metal! Only the trigger and housing are plastic. The transfer bar, sear, springs and screws are all metal.
The housing attaches to the gun with two screws, so some enterprising individual could make an adjustable all metal unit which is much better engineered.
I don’t have the needed machine tools or I would do it myself!
Pros…great gun. Good accuracy and weighs only 7# 6 oz with a leapers 4 X 16 X 50 AO scope and full fill of CO2. Nice stock and bluing and fit and finish. Good trigger as is from factory and can be improved some with just a little work. I got 60 – 80 good shots with a fill of 60 – 80 grams of CO2 in gun. The actual amount of fill depends on temperature of your CO2 tank when filling the gun. Note that I filled this gun with a 5# tank held upside down. If you use the paintball tanks I suspect it may be harder to get 60 – 80 gms of CO2 into the gun.
Cons…..THIS GUN IS LOUD!!
Other than that you simply could not ask more of an inexpensive entry level dual fuel gun!
I expect the gun to do even better with air and will report back when I can test with air and have access to a 35 or 50 yard range.
pcp4me,
Thanks for your report on the Discovery. That will help others who are considering the rifle.
B.B.
BB,
This gun has my interest also, a multi-shot break barrel would be very handy. But like you, I dislike painted stocks and most thumb hole do not fit my big mitts. Any possibility that this rifle could be retrofitted with a wood stock from a different Mendoza? Maybe if this gun becomes popular the factory might offer a finished wood stock which would make this gun more desireable. I look forward to reading your take on how this gun shoots.
Rich
Rich,
I don’t know about another Mendoza stock, but what about a custom stock?
B.B.
BB, well Crosman should be recieving my Sierra Pro today,….wonder how long it will be before I get a call from one of their technicians asking “the hell did you do to this thing!?!?!”. I’ve put a lot of lead through it since I got it. Last night I counted up my empty tins and came up to about 3500 pellets used. Save to say that 2000 whent through the Sierra. Any suggestions for empty tins?!? Thought about using them as targets!!!! I read yesterdays blogs this morning and Matt61 had an interesting topic that’s given me problems too. I never have any problems with a “ghost” blur with me scopes except with the Crosman scope I recieved with the Sierra. The front objective lens is 52mm and really brings in the light causing the blurriness. Are there any aftermarket scope shades available to accomadate a range of scope sizes?!? Thomas
Thomas,
Scope tubes come in all different sizes, so there isn’t a market for accessory sunshades. However, if you can discover who actually made that scope for Crosman, a sunshade may be purchased, if there is one for it.
Does it have threads inside the objective bell?
It’s a cheap scope. Why not make a sunshade yourself? Many field target competitors do that.
B.B.
BB, Like wrapping the end with a piece of folded paper and tape?!? Yes there are threads inside the objective bell. Perhaps thread a piece of pvc and screw it into the end? It’s a crosman scope, but I’ll look over it again to see if there are any manufacturing “clues” on it. Thomas
BB,
This Mendoza sounds like it may make a great inexpensive hunter. Question– what happened to the “Guest blogger” who was going to post about making a shim for a breech seal? I’m hoping this info will help cure the problems I’m having with my Beeman RS-2 Dual caliber. As always, thanks for the great blog, JR.
JR,
Vince did the blog, but we haven’t edited it yet. Next week, I hope.
B.B.
B.B.
I’ve wondered how the Mendoza breakbarrel could work as a repeater. I’ll be interested to hear how reliable the magazine is.
I’ve also been wondering where the Beeman competition team shoots. Is there some kind of pro airgunning circuit?
pcp4me. Thanks for your knowledgeable review of the Discovery. This gun sounds like it is everything it was claimed to be. Too bad about the loud noise.
Matt61
Matt61,
The professional airgun circuit is just slightly smaller than the pro Boy Scout fire-building circuit.
Airguns are still a small sport and what money there is, is spent on guns. Notice that there is not one newsstand magazine about airguns in the U.S. There are about seven for paintball and several for quilting.
The quotes I put around the word “team” were to connote a euphemistic use of the term. In other words, Beeman doesn’t really have a team. Don Walker, their service manager, does shoot field target, but I don’t think he officially represents Beeman in a team sense. If he does, I apologize to both him and to Beeman.
B.B.
B.B.
Ha ha. That’s pretty small.
Matt
BB,
i was modifying a daisy 1000x and i accidentally stripped the bolt that secures the barrel in the breech, do you know how i could track down a replacement. Through pyramid perhaps? Thanks BB.
Is the Mendoza rear sight as good as a Williams?
Henry,
Give Pyramyd a call if you like, but Daisy customer service is the place to call.
B.B.
Mendoza sight,
Every bit.
B.B.
BB,
More on the Talon SS (and similar guns) issue I was talking to you about on yesterdays blog.This is the exact E-mail I got when I asked my local sheriffs office about owning a airgun with a PERMINTLY installed shroud/scilencer…
“In xxxx County, weapons are considered firearms if they are capable of discharging projectiles such as shot, bullets, pellets, or other missiles at a muzzle velocity of at least 600 feet per second. Suppressors fall under weapons of Mass Destruction and do require the Sheriff’s NFA Class III Permit.”
Maby I interpereted it wrong what do you think? Should I not worry about owning a Gamo CFX,SS ext.?
Also do you know of any government website that says airguns cant be considered firearms?
THANKS a million
BB,
Boy I’ll say you got me! Thanks! I liked most of my experience with the RM-2000 so I’ve been keeping my eye on your Mendoza reports.
If your report turns out good, I may have to put the RM-2800 on my list after the Benjamin Discovery (unless that semi-auto you mentioned is in a reachable price bracket)!
.22 multi-shot
BB – I’m betting tht this gun is an RM2000 with a different stock… any comment?
Vince
Vince,
I don’t think so, the RM-2000 isn’t as powerful. They do look like they have a lot in common though.
.22 multi-shot
Your county appears to be in direct violation of Federal statute. It’s the 5100-series, but I don’t have the U.S. Code in front of me.
Of course, if you do violate what the Sheriff’s department considers the law to be, you would have to provide your defense.
The NFA cannot be applied to airguns because BATF&E, who are charged with enforcing that act, are specifically prohibited from dealing with airguns.
However, I’d bet that your Sheriff’s department would use that to bully you into submission. What they have said is that you must apply to them on ATF Form 4, which gives them a place to deny you the right to own a prohibited item. However, since a Talon SS is an airgun (and is therefore incapable of being classified as a prohibited item in the first place), the ATF would return the incomplete form to you without action because they don’t have jurisdiction over airguns. However, since the Sheriff’s Department doesn’t even have to process the form, you’ll never get past them.
The Sheriff is operating a little pocket veto scam in your county. Illegal local law bars processing paperwork that isn’t required in the first place.
B.B.
Vince,
Ditto from me. I did look closely, though, and it does look suspicious.
Velocity testing should reveal the truth.
B.B.
thnxa million bb.
A source for sun shades might be a camera store. My Leapers 3-9×40 will accept any 49mm screw in filter or sun shade. I recomend a skylite filter to protect your front lense. Haven’t tried it, but a polorizing filter might be just the thing for killing glare.
Hi, I have a stopping power issue. My remington airmaster77(800fps 177) can cleanly kill squirls at 50yards, but cant kill a pigeon at 30yards. Sould I up the power(Gamo Big Cat 95o fps .177)or the caliber(Shadow express .22cal 700 fps)
Hey B.B.,
thanks for replying about the Beeman R9 yeaterday. I have read your Over veiw on the blog, but i was wondering, if you have done, or could do a full fledged review. I know its a great gun, but i would like to see how this gun ticks, before i spend $400 on it. Thanks,
Brody
Hi BB,
I have a question about a problem I had today. I was taking the mount off of my Gamo Viper (not the shotgun) when I saw a big heap of bent metal behind the stop pin hole. I looked at the scope stop pin on the mount which came with the gun, and it seemed on the short side. So here is the question: If I installed a mount that had a longer stop pin, (or an adjustable one) would it solve the problem? Or is this all in vain, and I need to purchase a new rail? I don’t mind that fact that it looks bad, but it has started to affect my accuracy. So I’m just curious if I need to replace the rail, or it can still be used.
Thank you.
hey bb, I goofed pretty big today. I recently bought a gamo cgx and somehow forgot I cocked it. Anyways I left it cocked for 48 hours before realizing…WOW I know!! What type of effect will this have on my gun? Is it ruined?
Henry,
If you don’t have any luck with finding the bolt elsewhere, take it to Ace or similar — they have surprised me several times with their selection, and they have gauges for metric and SAE. If you stripped it as bad as it sounds, you might also need to chase the pivot hole threads with a tap or drill out to next size and re-tap (and obviously new bolt).
BB,
If your review prove the rifle to be worthwhile, it does seem like an excellent candidate for a DIY custom stock, given the good bluing and nice sights. From the fact that the stock is painted, I’m guessing you’d need a new piece of wood, though. 950fps with .22 is pretty impressive (unless its dieseling) — I don’t usually care about velocity but I can see how it would be useful for squirrel and rabbit hunters. Actually, is this raccoon power class? 12G is pretty loud at 2AM even in the boonies, and here it might prompt return fire:).
bg_farmer,
Thanks for the advice, i will be sure to check, I’m there all the time anyway. Im not going through any more trouble than that! I can replace the gun for less! I would use the mods that work still in the replacement.
thanks
Stoping power,
A .22 will always be a better hunting caliber than a .177, so I vote for that choice.
B.B.
Brody,
Here you go:
/blog/2006/9/beeman-r9-breakbarrel-spring-rifle/
B.B.
Michael,
I complained about that same thing when I tested the Gamo CF-X with a gas spring recently. Look at the photo in this post:
/blog/2008/1/gamo-cf-x-gas-spring-part-1/
The scope rail is aluminum and nothing can be done to stop the peening. But some people have removed the rail and dropped the stop pin into the spring tube hole with success.
B.B.
Left cocked,
Read this report:
/blog/2006/5/how-long-does-a-mainspring-last-part-2/
Now I was testing an R1, which is a Weihrauch gun. They have better springs than Gamos, but I still don’t think you are in trouble for a few more years.
If your rifle starts buzzing more than it did, your spring has canted and should be replaced. But don’t obsess over it.
B.B.
I got a good deal last Saturday, but missed out on a bigger deal! I went to the pawn shop and bought a Diana Modell 5 (the early one “V”, prewar, not the later one) and a Crosman Phantom with a broken sight for $125.00 total. As I was leaving I noticed a guy looking at a “bicycle pump”, turned out to be a high pressure pump, just as Pyramyd sells. He bought it, for $19.00!
Because It didn’t occur to me to keep an eye out for a high pressure pump, I didn’t see it, and missed out. So don’t get to focused on one thing when looking at pawn shops, flea markets, etc.
Now of course I’ll be on the lookout for pumps as well as airguns, but I’m sure there are other things flying under my radar…
Hi again BB,
I have another question about the defective rail. This is it: Where is the spring tube hole that you mentioned? Do I have to take the rail off to see it? I’m sorry for these rather silly questions, but I just don’t want to tamper with the gun any more than needed.
Yes you have to take the rail off the see the hole. But I recommend you continue to use the rail. After the aluminum compresses enough, it will stop.
B.B.
Daisy Customer service….Top Notch.
AS for Mendoza…RM-600….Wood… still rules in my book.