You have asked one of the more familiar questions on this forum: "What about those Chinese Air Rifles - are they any good."   I decided to take some time and provide my experience and opinion to e-mail to those who ask this question - as in general they are liable to get short replies on the forum.  Of course opinions vary - you don't have to read the forum that long to realize this -this is just my opinion.

The bottom line for me is that the Chinese Air Rifles represent a very good "value for the money." BTW(By The Way) their Air Pistols are Junk.)

That said you should realize that the value can vary because Chinese Quality Control is not yet to international standards and the money can vary depending on where you buy it - so there are no guarantee.

What is my experience and what can I tell you:

I have six of the under $100 Chinese Air Rifles: a B3-3 (AKA TF38-GD), a QB36-1(TF97), a QB4-1(TF41), and three QB88's (TF88.)  I also have two of the Supermax 1000 air rifles that are made in China by a different manufacturer and cost about $150. I also have many of the finer air rifles by Beeman, RWS and some of the British makers.

Lest there be no misunderstanding a QB88 is not the equivalent of a FWB-300 we are talking "value for the money." The Chinese air rifles represent a very good starting point in adult air rifles - you can learn to shoot and very well with some of them but, competition at any level will probably require something else or a whole lot of modifications (a hobby in itself.)

I assume that if you are interested in an under $100 Chinese air rifle you are just starting out, and you did not see anything at K-Mart etc. that interested you.  The Crosman-Benjamin-Sheridan series of multi-stroke pneumatic air rifles are quite good for what they are and are recommended if they appeal to you.  The rest of the lines tend to be plastic or tinny and don't have the feel of a "real" gun even though some are suppose to shoot quite well.  Well in this respect any of the Chinese air rifles will not disappoint you.  They are almost all metal and wood.  They have mass, and the feel of a real gun.  The QB4-1 is reputed to be a training gun for the Chinese militia and all the guns have a sort of military feel to them (it is my impression they are made in factories that were set up to make AK47's.) As a matter of fact that leads to my only complaint about the QB4-1 is that the stock is small for a 6' American.  If you are of smaller stature this rifle may fit you to a "t."

You will probably notice that there are no "break-barrel" rifles among my collection - this is a personal prejudice and means that the only air rifles that I am interested in are not of this type - so I can't comment on anybody's versions of this type of air rifle.

The next question is what do you want the air rifle for:

If you are just starting out and want to see if you like this type of shooting the B3-3 or the QB4-1 are great.  These are about the cheapest of the bunch and adequate for shooting tin cans at 20 yards.  Try it you will probably like it. I started with the QB4-1 and because I liked it worked my way up.

The next step up is the QB88 and now you get, besides a nicer and larger stock, a "choked barrel," and "an adjustable trigger**." Broken in and using the proper quality pellets (*this is very important for any air rifle see below*) a QB88  will be able to shoot about a 3/8 inch group at 10 yards.  This is definitely "good enough" to hone all your shooting skills and especially to learn how to shoot a spring powered air rifle.  This is my favorite "under $100" Chinese air rifle (you could probably tell that since I have 3.)

**The trigger is adjustable only for "sear engagement" unlike real target air rifles (they cost a lot more but, the trigger can be adjusted for every perameter.)  This means that you are adjusting how much of the metal to metal contact you have to move before the spring is released.  If you turn the adjustment too far the gun will not cock or it will go off with the slightest bump - you have go to be careful but, you can adjust for a fairly good trigger. (Gamo has an identical trigger on its "hunter" series, costing a lot more, and they do not allow (the screw is too short) an adjustment anywhere near the release point- safe but, provides a lousy trigger. The QB88 is they way it is suppose to work.)

Regardless of advertised velocity these rifles tend to shoot in the 550 to 650 feet/sec (fps) range (the factory literature will actually quote speeds that are low compared to the advertising which is ridiculous.)  They do make a nice bang (not too loud) and give you a recoil when they shoot so you know something happened.  And this speed along with about an 8 grain pellet is much more powerful that your average 'bb' gun.  I don't hunt - so someone else will have to tell you what it will kill but, you do need a good backstop behind you targets.  The 'bb' gun stuff won't work for long.

All of the Chinese air rifles can stand a good cleaning and lubrication with proper air gun oils and grease.  This is something else that you can learn. First learn about spring compressors and build yourself one.  Second for some (B3-3 & QB4-1) be careful if you take it out of the stock as many of the pivot pins are held in by the stock and may fall out when you take it off.  However, these rifles are ruggedly built and as they are they will shoot a long time if you don't do anything so there really is no rush.  As a matter of fact shooting it this way may speed up the break in.

*One of the other things that you will learn with these air rifles, that is true of all of the air rifles that I have owned, is that they improve with use for the first 1000 shots or so.  This is called "breaking in."  What is happening here is that various parts that move one over the other are wearing each other away - and rough spots are smoothed out.  A quality air rifle and one that has been "tuned" have had someone polish out most of the rough spots but, they will still benefit from 'working' the parts together.*

*Another thing that you will learn is that each air rifle "likes" a particular type of pellet.  Different brands of pellet are actually different sizes and weights (some more consistent than others.)  The actual size of your barrel (each is a little different) and vibrational characteristics (spring guns recoil and vibrate) of your particular rifle will make one pellet a whole lot more accurate than some others.  You have to experiment (and you will see) to find the right one - but a good start is the Crosman Premier 7.9 grain (CP7.9) if your rifle is a .177 (Note these are NOT the ones found in K-mart they come about 1200 to a cardboard box with a Die No. printed on it.)*

The Supermax 1000:

The Supermax 1000 is a better Chinese air rifle.  The quality is better, the trigger is more adjustable and it does shoot CP7.9's at about 1000 fps.  It is a true magnum air rifle and that may be the reason that you don't want to start out with it or any other magnum.  To get the energy out you have to put the energy in so it takes a lot more effort to cock the SM1000,  It kicks harder when it is fired and is hard on rifle scopes (and the rail that they mount on) because of this extra energy. If you are shooting indoors or in a small back yard or at a weak target trap this may not be the rifle for you.  On the other hand if you've learned how to handle a spring air rifle and you "need" the extra power this is a good air rifle.  Good value for the money.

Other Options:

The Czechoslovakian make some really good started air rifles too.  The Slavia Series (all break-barrels so I wasn't interested.)  The Spanish make some good air rifles all the way up to the Magnum Class - Norica as imported by Beeman and others is recommended.  Gamo (also Spanish) makes some good air rifles but, watch out here - they have a lifetime warrantee only if you don't take your air rifle apart or change anything.  They will fix it but, it must be sent back to them (Florida - I think) they will not supply any parts at all.  No cleaning, No longer screw in the trigger, Don't touch. So if the simplest thing goes wrong you must package and ship the rifle.  If you fix it no warrantee and no parts. And at the moment their customer service doesn't not have the highest reputation.

I hope this helps (HTH) you in your decision.  It appears to be a pretty competitive market out there in "air gun land." and so you pretty much get what you pay for but, the Chinese air rifles should not be dismissed and personally I like them.

Jim P.

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