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PLEASE NOTE: We have just received this important update from Air Venturi.
Air Venturi has discovered an issue with the OmniPiston that is inside of your rifle (and the initial shipment of rifles) that is causing the super high cocking effort and the high trigger pull weight. Not a safety issue, but a tolerance issue internally that is resulting in those increases.
We have a solution and are working on getting the corrected parts sent to us now. We are going to be reaching out to customers to get their guns back if they want them.
That's great news! HAM will be re-testing new sample in the near future...
The Air Venturi OmniStorm variable power breakbarrel air rifle was first announced at the 2025 SHOT Show. For reasons not of Air Venturi’s making, it has taken many months to reach the USA.
But now it’s here and HAM is taking a first look at the new product. Effectively, you can regard this post as being “Part One” of a comprehensive Hard Air Magazine review of the OmniStorm.
Our aim today is to take a high level overview of the OmniStorm. We’ll be looking at Air Venturi’s goals for the gun and assessing how well they have delivered against those goals.
OmniStorm Variable Power Breakbarrel Air Rifle – Price
The OmniStorm is – in many ways an unique product. It aims to be an air rifle that offers a complete, multi-capability, shooting experience “out of the box” using the popular break barrel format. Oh, and at a very attractive price…
Here Air Venturi has delivered. No question!
Now, it’s important to note that the variable power break barrel air rifle concept using a gas ram is not new. It’s been around for at least 30 years. But what is different about the OmniStorm is the price point.
All previous iterations of this concept have had prices far exceeding $1,000 for a comparable bundle of features. That means the gun, power-setting pump, pressure gauge, riflescope and rings.
At a Street Price of under $200, specifically $199.99, the OmniStorm certainly delivers on price. In fact, you can consider it to be an order of magnitude less expensive than any previous variable-power gas ram-powered air rifle. That in itself is a remarkable achievement!
All that remains to be purchased is a tin of pellets.
OmniStorm Variable Power Breakbarrel Air Rifle – Comprehensive Package
It also delivers the promised comprehensive shooting package. The OmniStorm provides variable power capability. The power level can be set for widely-different values.
As you can see from the chart, the HAM testers achieved Muzzle Energies of between 6 and over 20 Ft/Lbs using 9.57 Grain H&N Barracuda FT pellets. That’s a power range of greater than 3 times, all while using the same pellets.
By using different pellets, the achievable power range could be even greater.
Note that the HAM Team used the metric measurement unit “Bar” for pressure settings. This was because Bar was easier and more obvious to measure than PSI on the pump’s gauge. For reference, 16 Bar is about 232 PSI, 35 Bar is 507 PSI and 40 Bar is 580 Bar. Air Venturi specs give a maximum ram pressure of about 38 Bar (550 PSI).
The OmniStorm includes a small, simple and effective air pump that enables the pressure inside the gas ram to be varied easily. The pump includes a pressure gauge so that you can understand the internal pressure.
Air Venturi says that this provides a “set and forget” power level. In the relatively short time that Hard Air Magazine has had with this air rifle so far, that also looks to have been achieved.
In addition the pump incorporates a bleed capability. This allows the same device to reduce the gas ram pressure, as well as to increase it. Air Venturi is calling this OmniPiston technology. It’s used only when required and is attached and removed using a conventional Schrader valve system, similar to that used on bicycle tires.
As for sights, the OmniStorm is equipped with conventional open sights. It’s also bundled with a 4 x 32 scope and rings, should the new owner prefer that method of sighting.
OmniStorm Variable Power Breakbarrel Air Rifle – Versatility
The point of this built-in versatility is that the OmniStorm can appeal to a variety of shooters – and shooting disciplines. Again, Air Venturi has delivered.
Low powers can be used for some happy plinking or shooting at paper targets. High powers can be used for a variety of hunting uses. The packaging design highlights this well.
Some shooters insist on using open sights. Others prefer – or, like me, need – a scope. Trifocal glasses can have that effect :-(
So the OmniStorm includes elevation- and windage-adjustable rear sights, complete with the obligatory fiber-optic inserts.
Up-front, there’s a fixed front sight that also acts as a stop of the shooter’s hand while cocking the gun.
Sighting versatility also facilitated by the built-in dovetail scope mounting rails. These provide the capability to mount just about any riflescope, if preferred to the bundled 4 x 32 job.
For HAM testing, we mounted an Air Venturi Mantis 3-9 x 40 AO scope using a solid Leapers UTG one-piece mount. This gave improved optical quality, zoom capability, a mili-dot reticle, plus adjustable objective, allowing focusing down to 5 Yards.
Sure, it’s additional cost, but for many people this will be a worth while upgrade. The HAM Team definitely recommends it…
OmniStorm Variable Power Breakbarrel Air Rifle – Usability
So Air Venturi has delivered – in spades – on the overall Value Proposition for the OmniStorm. The gun works as intended, there’s no doubt of that.
However knowledgeable airgun enthusiasts will have three other questions to ask. “What is the cocking effort?”, “What is the trigger pull weight?” and “How do these both vary as the gas ram pressure is increased?”
That’s what we’ll consider here. In short, both cocking effort and trigger pull weight do vary with the gas ram pressure and both are high.
First, let’s look at the all-important cocking effort.
As you can see from the following chart, the cocking effort of the gun tested by HAM started-out at around 39 Lbs. As anticipated, it increased steadily with the gas ram pressure until reaching about 85 Lbs at 35 Bar pressure.
Although Air Venturi gives a maximum gas ram pressure of 38 Bar, the HAM Team decided that 85 Lbs of cocking effort was quite enough for all but the body-builders among us to manage. So that’s how far we went.
Increases in the gas ram pressure make it “stronger”. This provides the increased power, but also means that pressure on the sear increases too.
The result is that the trigger pull weight increases with increasing gas ram pressure. Again the following chart illustrates how this plays-out.
HAM testing recorded 5-shot averages of 6 Lbs 7 Oz at 16 Bar gas ram pressure. That increased to an average of 10 Lbs 12 Oz at 35 Bar.
However, these numbers should be considered in the light of “our” OmniStorm being a very strong sample. Pyramyd gives a maximum Muzzle Energy specification of 18.8 Ft/Lbs in .177 caliber (with light, 7.0 Grain pellets).
The maximum Muzzle Energy achieved in these HAM tests was 20.25 Ft/Lbs. That’s around 8% greater than the spec.
That makes it important to note that the HAM tests were undertaken with heavy 9.57 Grain pellets. As breakbarrel air rifles usually develop their maximum Muzzle Energy with the lightest pellets, the power level of our specific gun is likely much more than 8% greater than spec. That higher power would be paid-for with higher cocking and trigger pull forces.
Obviously we test the gun we have, but production guns more to the center of the “performance envelope” of production may well deliver lower cocking and trigger pull weights.
OmniStorm Variable Power Breakbarrel Air Rifle – Initial Summary
Without doubt Air Venturi has delivered on its overall goals for the OmniStorm. Price, versatility, performance and “single box” packaging (a benefit not to be underestimated in big box retail stores) are clear wins.
This has the potential to be a revolutionary air rifle. The OmniStorm is already selling fast!
But nothing comes for free and the payback is the high cocking and trigger pull weight efforts indicated here. How important these figures are in an ownership decision will be a matter of personal preference.
HAM plans to move forward with our standard, comprehensive review in the near future. Watch this space!
BUY FROM PYRAMYD
Air Venturi OmniStorm Air Rifle 0.177
The post Air Venturi OmniStorm Variable Power Breakbarrel Air Rifle appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.
