I always love it when something new arrives for me to look at and review. And I really like it when I’m handed something with the Artemis label on from SMK, because they are not high priced and are usually something different and often surprising, this time it’s the turn of the CP400.
I can’t help having a bit of a deja-vu moment, because this has a bit of a CP2 feel to it, and I really liked the CP2... a lot. So what do they claim first off. Well, it’s .177, it has a claimed 300 fps, which doesn’t seem particularly high, adjustable rear sight, for.... they claim, “precision shooting”, well that will definitely be checked out later. They also state “exquisite workmanship”....humm, Exquisite?, I suppose that’s a relative term, but, we will bare that in mind, this is only £189 U.K. retail, so I wasn’t expecting exquisite, more pretty good value and able to stand a few knocks when having a load of fun with it!, that was more my idea.
Let’s take the walk around first shall we.
It is all black, 290mm or just under 12 inch long, weighs in at approx 700 grams.it is predominantly metal, with a plastic grip and 8 round rotary magazine. The barrel is 165mm long and as we’ve said uses .177 pellets. The fact that we are on pellets here, rather than BBs should hopefully help with the precision claim. But that can also be helped by the fact there are rails, a picatinny rail on the underside of the barrel and what initially looks like a rail on the top, maybe for a red dot or the like? The front has a fixed iron sight, with an adjustable for windage only rear. There isn’t a lock on this, it is a simple slide into place and leave item, which I suppose could be susceptible to knocks.
Above the barrel is a magnum style vent to add to the overall look. Behind this is the slide to release the magazine, which then slots in quite nicely behind, release the catch and it’s locked into place. Simple!
Loading the magazine is also very simple, but a word to the wise, if you are simply dropping in the pellets, then hold the gun pointing down when you introduce the magazine into the gun, or the pellets are likely to fall out. My advice? Use a dibber of some sort to just seat the pellets in, and then you won’t have that issue. Below this is the trigger, which is a plastic item and has a really nice safety built in, it is a slide and lock item, which has a sure click and can be operated using finger and thumb. There is also a clear red indicator on the button to show you when you’re in fire mode. It is a 2 stage trigger with a real click to the first stage then a pull that is not overly heavy at all, and for a low priced gun, quite acceptable.
An interesting thing is the trigger is over to the right hand side, not something you notice when shooting, but just a little odd. There is a hammer at the back, but it serves no real purpose.
The grip is very CP2 like, it is so like the CP2 that I immediately thought of fitting the stock from a CP2 because it looked interchangeable. I can tell you that it isn’t a straight drop in item sadly, but it will fit with a little bit of sanding down of the stock pin, no problem. Loading the co2 is pretty simple, unscrew the key at the bottom, remove it and the base plate, at this point you can see what I mean about fitting the stock from a CP2. Then once you’ve done that, pull the grip off and reveal the co2. Now at this point you are supposed to bring the key screw back into play, because it is also intended as a simple screw driver to fit the co2....but....firstly it is plastic which on a metal co2 retaining screw isn’t going to end well over time, perhaps that’s why there are 2 spares in the box...but it’s ok, because it is too broad to fit in the screw anyway? So, nice idea, just lacking a bit on the follow through. So thin coin or real screwdriver required, unless you want to shave it bit off the supplied tool. But , drop in the co2, tighten, return the grip and base then reinsert the key tool and tighten.
With that done, let’s get this on the range shall we.
The first thing to tell you is that I have recently got hold of a bunch of the new red dots from Hawke, so I was shooting with the smallest one of those.
Ok so I would say that has completely put the precision shooting claim to the test. And has out performed some of the far more expensive and fancy named guns. And it is quite a pleasure to you on target work.
what about that 300 fps? Out with the chrono then.
Using lighter 7.33 grain JSB’s I saw a maximum of 342 fps, which is 1.96 ft/lb or 2.66 joules.
With the heavier 8.44 grains I saw a maximum of 329 fps which is 2.03 ft/lb or 2.75 joules.
So with either pellet it is able to beat the claimed 300 fps. At this power level it is excellent for target work and plinking, but I wouldn’t really want to be using it for any pest control. It would have been pretty much perfect if this was shooting close to the 6 ft/lb U.K. legal limit.
Conclusion.
I would say this is a budget gun, that is at the higher end of the budget gun price range at £ 190 U.K. retail. and at first I admit i was a little sceptical because this isn’t made like a Weihrauch or the like, but then again it is a multi shot co2 and not a single shot spring gun.
I found that excluding extremes in temperature, it was very consistent on its power figures, and I even tried heating it up to see if I could fool it into giving higher power outputs, but it actually didn’t like the co2 too hot. It is an easy and pleasurable gun to use, and I had more than the happy feeling using it as I did when using the CP2.
The accuracy from this really did surprise me and whilst it may be partly accountable to the fabulous Hawke red dot, the gun has the consistency in it to perform well. I really enjoyed my time with this little black number and I loved punching holes in paper targets with this, it was so rewarding to find a budget gun with such accuracy.
I get the feeling they may be producing two versions of this gun, because when you look through the instruction booklet there is a photograph of a max 7.5 joules gun....now that is one I would like to get my hands on if it was the case...
Watch the review here: