Beeman R1 Supermagnum Carbine, No Sights

I bought this R1 .20 carbine about 1 month ago. The appearance is first class. The fit of all metal parts is perfect as far as I can tell. Cocking is smooth and positive. There is no spring noise. The recoil is just what you'd expect from a high fpe airgun. With a base weight of 8.3 pounds and a well balanced feel, it's very comfortable to shoot. I mounted a Hawke 30mm 6.5 X 20 - 42mm sidewinder on a set of Beeman 2 piece high rings. The "bell" is 3/8" above the receiver. There is 3/4" under the tube, which I like because my thumb can slip in between the scope body and receiver top so I can wrap my hand around that section when I cock the gun. The scope is amazing, I'll review that by itself. After 2 tins (1000 rds.) of JSB's 13.73 gr. diabolo pellets I can "bench" .35" at 20 yards with 5 rounds. From standing at 20 yards I use a modified "artillery hold", then lean back a few inches. I can put 5 rds. in an inch. The gun is very accurate.

Maybe a higher comb. Most powder burners do best with a firm cheek weld. You can just let this gun move under the recoil, but a higher comb would give you a better "connection" allowing you to be more "one with the gun". Other than that my hats off, I would not change anything.

Clean the barrel before you shoot it. I would recommend you get a quality, nylon coated .177 caliber cleaning rod and for this .20 cal. I used a .177 "jag" with .22 caliber patches. Push them through from the breach only. The first one can have a little CLP or Ballistol on it, then follow with a few dry ones.
Before I shot it I checked the screws. There are four of them, and they kept loosening up . (Be sure to use actual "Gunsmith Screwdrivers"). I checked them every 50 shots. After 1000 rds. the screws now stay tight and I don't need to use Loctite. Note: do not over tighten!
JSB 13.73's work the best in my gun. Groups well at 50 yards, but I am still waiting on some better weather to really check that out. (The high will be 19 degrees today in Wisconsin). The JSB seat with just a little pressure. I tried the H&N FTT at 11.42gr. but they seem very loose in the breach. I'm sure they're good pellets, just maybe not for my R1.

With the Beeman R1 you know what you are getting. HW products are well engineered and use quality components. It will shoot 17-20 FPE which is a great number for a magnum allowing good accuracy while still having good power. This gun will work well at longer ranges. It has a long history so any issues have been corrected. I did like the fact that unlike most 20FPE rifles it did shoot well with mid weight pellets of 15gr. Your getting the best trigger, no barrel droop and the stock lines up with a scope. Cocking is not bad for a magnum the barrel gives adequate leverage. I feel if you were buying only one break barrel air rifle I would get a R9, a R1 or a HW30 because you know what you will get a quality product. I own fifteen European springers and typically HW are the most dependable. I do not give five stars very easily but this is one of the rifles that qualify for that rating.

There isn't much you could change on an excellent break barrel. HW products are not really hold sensitive in terms of where you place your hands but do require that you hang with the shot to prevent a flyer. Squeeze the trigger and count to three before moving your position. Create good shooting habits.

HW products respond well to tuning eliminating any buzz from the spring. They typically shoot well out of the box and don't require a lot of warmup shots. Understand magnums they are not tack drivers at short ranges. 10-30 yards you'll get good dime size groups but where they shine is at longer ranges they are still flat shooting and can hold nickel to quarter size groups. This is where the low foot pound rifles tend to lob the pellet at the target and have more problems.

This rifle is very well built. The fit of metal parts and the wood is all first rate.

Quality walnut stock

My carbine is a .20 caliber. I have had it about a year now and shoot it almost every day in the basement. At first, I was a little disappointed in its accuracy. Mine is built nice and tight and just needed to get broken in. After about 1500 pellets now it is just now settling in. I've tried all the different pellets available for the .20, the gun has decided that it wants the JSB. They are a snug fit, whereas the Beeman fit perfectly and the H&N pretty much fall in. My favorite in .20 has always been Crow magnums, but the gun says no thanks. I have a Vortex Diamondback 4-12 on the rifle and have had no problems with it either. I highly recommend the carbine model, it handles better and if there's a small difference in power, the squirrels will never say so. If you get one of these rifles, please be patient and let it break in before you judge it, you'll be glad you did. Nice gun!

Very well made air rifle. Excellent trigger.. Capable of very, very fine accuracy if you do your part..

It would be nice to have a walnut stock, especially in this higher end rifle.

I had mine tuned by Rob at Spring Gun Tunes... He can get the most out of this rifle.. Fantastic guy to work with.