Beeman Chief II Plus Synthetic Sidelever PCP Air Rifle

The accuracy is very good, however I needed to experiment with the hammer spring adjustment and pellet weight before I got to a point where I had the desirable balance of good accuracy and shot count. Sub one inch groups at 50yds are possible but that was not "out of the box" it took a while to learn the gun and find a good tune. I've had good success with JTS pellets in 16 and 18gns and JSB in similar weights. The side lever is a great upgrade over previous Chiefs as it is fast and fairly smooth to use, and doesn't suffer from the bolt bounce of previous bolt actions.

The breach seal is in the barrel, not on the probe like previous Chief models. This is mostly fine, but certain pellets will push the seal out of place and eventually wear it down or dislodge it. Finding appropriate replacement rings was a pain, and properly inserting them in the breach is a chore. Fortunately I only had this problem with trying to shooting H&N's which had a more pointed profile. Domed shaped pellets from brands like JTS, JSB, Crossman, etc. worked fine without issue. I also wish the moderator was removable. It's not that effective and looks stupid. If it was super quiet I could forgive the looks. I would have also preferred a picatinny rail for the scope mount, but the reality is that once the scope is mounted it no longer matters.

This is a potential great value if the buyer is prepared to make adjustments. I needed to tinker with the hammer spring and shoot a lot of pellets to find what works best. In the end, I settled on a tune where my shot curve starts around 2700psi and ends at around 1800psi. The 3500psi max fill is nice as it allows plenty room for experimenting, but is ultimately unneeded. Shooters who are new to PCP guns will be tempted to fill to max and wonder why they are getting terrible groups, potentially never shooting until they hit their sweet spot where the shot curve actually starts.

This rifle handles well and seems to be balanced ok. I like the sidelever cocking. It works smoothly and has gotten easier with use. It has a foster fitting for filling the air. Every PCP gun should have a foster fitting and I can't understand why any manufacturer would use a fill probe. Mine is a .22 and it shoots JSB Jumbo Exact heavy pellets very well and many others too. The ones it doesn't shoot well seem to be really terrible. It either really likes them or really hates them it seems. The trigger is good enough that I haven't tried to adjust it. The magazines are ok but a bit fiddly, but most mags are. It's a bit loud and the included moderator is useless. Will look into a silencer for it. I have 2 inch round spinner targets set at 50 yds and usually hit 8 out of ten times. Several times I've hit 10 of 10. Hit a red squirrel at 52 yards lights out.

I don't understand why Beeman put a moderator on it that doesn't do a thing. It needs one that is effective. I've seen several videos and other comments from guys trying to get the moderator off. First thing you need to know is if you look at the end of the barrel/moderator you'll see the hole is hexagonal. Yup, put a suitable sized allen wrench in there and unscrew the cap. Then remove the baffles and you'll see a 2 sided nut down inside (there are 2 of them locked together) that you have to probably invent a wrench to loosen. Once you get those nuts off the moderator should come right off. I've seen guys say you have to heat it to remove it or cut it up to get at the nuts. Most guys never figure out the end cap unscrews. One fellow modified a 5/8ths socket to fit the nuts once he unscrewed the end cap and that's what I'll do eventually. Second thing it needs is a regulator. That would be icing on the cake. It's a nice rifle already and a regulator would make it even better.

I haven't shot it a lot yet but so far I like it very much. My eyes a just too old for iron sights so I have a Leapers/UTG Illuminated 3x9x40 AO scope on it and it works good. It has held air pressure just fine and with spring here I'll be shooting it more. I'll update here with any pertinent info. I just got a Barra 250z in .25 cal so I'll be wringing them both out at the same time.

actually looks and feels nice in the hand and shoulders with good sight picture.

hate the rear sight, consider it junk and threw it away, I replaced it with an inexpensive scope, put in some air and loaded a magazine. in my opinion the trigger is horrible, and i would have returned the rifle except that the end user (a nephew) was really upset that I wanted to send it back, he said he was happy with it so it is now in his bed room. accuracy wise I fired only 3 magazines through it, the first was with the iron sight at 10 meters offhand I got a group just over an inch in size but not really near my point of aim. the second group again about an inch in size was fairly close to the point of aim (about an inch and a half away). got a scope mounted and used three shots to get about a 1/4 inch from point of aim and the last seven were touching the third shot (1 hole about 3/4 inch in diameter )so accuracy at 10 meters is good enough for hunting small game. my nephew shot a magazine and is really happy with it so everything is working out so far as he is concerned.

really wanted to adjust the trigger, it come with about a 3-1/2 to 4 pound (estimated) pull but there was excessive travel in the first stage, and while not much movement to fire after that, however it has definite feel of travel after discharge. I checked the manual that came with the weapon and was really unhappy. it has a warning about voiding the guarantee if changes are made to the trigger, and nothing about how to access the trigger adjustment screws.... according to the internet you have to remove it from the stock before you can access them. I purchased a couple of gongs for him to put in his back yard so that he can practice without have to go to a range and he is content with what I consider a weapon that while usable is not really worth what was paid for it.