Notos Testing My New Notos

[fderry]

Just got my Notos yesterday and ran some initial tests. Overall I am very impressed with the performance of a $230 PCP! I have pasted my log book details below:

Received my Notos on July 8, 2023 from Natchez. Total cost, delivered was $230.58.
Unboxed, cleaned barrel and mounted UTG 2-7X44 30mm Long Eye Relief Scout Scope in Eagle Vision rings from one of my pistols.
Trigger pull average was 3lb 8oz as measured with Lyman Trigger Pull Gauge.
Put ~210 bar of air in it and shot 30 rounds of H&N Field Target Trophy 14.66gr pellets.
Ending pressure was ~100 bar
Shot count: 30
Low: 615
Hi: 777
Avg: 723
Spread: 162
STD Dev: 47.7
777
763
761
759
761
761
759
763
756
761
756
756
756
756
754
747
740
733
724
717
707
698
691
680
670
659
645
640
629
615



More testing to come. Need to determine where the regulator is set at. The gauge is green from 250 bar to 100bar. My guess is the regulator is set around 110 to 120bar. Also need to work on trigger.

 

[hameditor]

Agreed! The HAM testers were also very impressed with the performance of the Notos in our review- especially for a PCP of this price. I look forward to seeing more results...

 

[Beanflip]

Wow ! That’s a good deal!

 

[fderry]

Today shot 30+ pellets without chrony at 30 yards with UTG scout scope. About a 1 ½ inch group. I need a little more than x7 magnification with my old eyes. I replaced the UTG scope with a Hawke Airmax 30 SF Compact 4-16x44. This helped with target recognition and seeing pellet impact.

The trigger is impacting my accuracy. Need to work on the trigger to lighten and smooth out trigger to improve my accuracy.

Ran one more 30 pellet series with chrony. First 22 shots looked reasonable (about 1 inch) but then group started to open up (vertical stringing) and velocity started to decrease. The on-board gauge was at about 190 bar at shot 22. The regulator may need a little break-in time. Also, will try adjusting hammer to see if I can find a better tune than the out of box tune.

I have other weights and brands of pellets but will continue with the H&Ns so I can see if my accuracy gets better as I play with the trigger and hammer tune. Once I get a baseline I will see what pellet this carbine likes best.

Overall, still like performance of my $230 PCP. It has potential.

Shot count: 30
Low: 698
Hi: 775
Avg: 755
Spread: 77
STD Dev: 20.8
775
768
772
770
765
763
768
768
763
761
768
765
765
768
763
768
763
765
763
765
763
761
754
747
738
728
721
714
705
698

 

[CTAirgunner]

Really, how can you beat that, it seems uber consistent until you get past the reg and even then it does not drop as significantly as I thought it would. Nice shootin!

 

[hameditor]

Agreed! We also found excellent consistency in our testing Umarex Notos CRK Air Rifle Review .22 Caliber

 

[fderry]

Really, how can you beat that, it seems uber consistent until you get past the reg and even then it does not drop as significantly as I thought it would. Nice shootin!

Yes, I am impressed with the Notos as an inexpensive short to mid-range carbine. As you know I have had the best carbine out there but this meets my current needs at a real good price! I enjoy your continued posts on your EVOL.

 

[fderry]

Took barrel assembly off the Notos because I was curious about all the talk about the moderator not being removable. Also, based on my bad experience with Snowpeak/Artemis barrels over the last few years, I wanted to look at the barrel machining.

Upon visual inspection it looks like the moderator is not removable without damaging it beyond repair (I did not actually try to remove the moderator on my Notos).

I put a bore light in the moderator and looked at the barrel from the leade end. The bore and leade looked good. No obvious machining mistakes and a smooth rifled bore. Wish I could have seen the crown but not an option without destroying the moderator.

I have included pictures of the barrel assembly dis-assembled. Also, a picture of the top of the receiver where the barrel grub screw and picatinny rail screw go. Interestingly you have to remove the picatinny rail screw to get at the barrel grub screw (they use the same hole) to remove barrel. When you look down on the receiver you see two holes. The right most in the picture is where the barrel grub screw and picatinny rail screw go. The left most had nothing in it but has the same threading as the barrel grub/picatinny rail screw. Looks like you can add an additional barrel grub screw if you wanted to. The barrel only has one divot for the original barrel grub screw.



I feel good about my Notos barrel now. I put the Notos back together and will now look at the trigger assembly to see what I can do to smooth it out.

 

[jB1Dad]

@fderry thank you for sharing your positive findings. Looking forward to seeing your future experiments.

 

[fderry]

Took Notos apart today to look at the trigger. The tip of the grub screw that is adjustable externally needed to be ground down, rounded and polished where it meets the sear bar. It had sharp edges where it rubs against the sear bar and the sear bar had some scratches in it. I sanded and lightly polished the sear bar along its length where the trigger grub screw interfaces. Then I put the sear bar in a vibrating polisher that I use for polishing brass for reloading for PBs. After about 3 hours I removed the sear bar and cleaned it. There is an additional grub screw in the rear of the trigger but it was adjusted flush with the area that meets the sear bar, so I removed it and polished the flat surface of the trigger that interfaces with the sear bar.

I then put the trigger/receiver back together, lubed and adjusted. It now has a nice first stage with a definite second stage which is smoothly breaking at 1lb 12oz.

Stock, the trigger was breaking at 3lb 8oz. It had a smooth first stage, but the second stage had creep and hesitation. This has been rectified.

The next step would be to polish the hammer. This would improve the hammer/sear release and most likely reduce trigger pull even more. At this time, I want to shoot more than I want to do more polishing. So, I am going to put that off to a later date.

I put the Notos back together and plan to shoot tomorrow.

 

[AddictedtoPCP]

Took Notos apart today to look at the trigger. The tip of the grub screw that is adjustable externally needed to be ground down, rounded and polished where it meets the sear bar. It had sharp edges where it rubs against the sear bar and the sear bar had some scratches in it. I sanded and lightly polished the sear bar along its length where the trigger grub screw interfaces. Then I put the sear bar in a vibrating polisher that I use for polishing brass for reloading for PBs. After about 3 hours I removed the sear bar and cleaned it. There is an additional grub screw in the rear of the trigger but it was adjusted flush with the area that meets the sear bar, so I removed it and polished the flat surface of the trigger that interfaces with the sear bar.

I then put the trigger/receiver back together, lubed and adjusted. It now has a nice first stage with a definite second stage which is smoothly breaking at 1lb 12oz.

Stock, the trigger was breaking at 3lb 8oz. It had a smooth first stage, but the second stage had creep and hesitation. This has been rectified.

The next step would be to polish the hammer. This would improve the hammer/sear release and most likely reduce trigger pull even more. At this time, I want to shoot more than I want to do more polishing. So, I am going to put that off to a later date.

I put the Notos back together and plan to shoot tomorrow.

View attachment 799

Thanks for the write up. I just received my Notos and find it to be a pleasure to shoot. Your info will help make it much better. New to air rifles, finding it more fun than I thought it might be. My Dillon's might be lonely for a bit.

 

[fderry]

AddictedtoPCP - I think you will enjoy your Notos!

Yesterday I shot 3 ten shot string on a 250bar fill, to get a better idea where the Notos was falling off the regulator (see strings below). Looks like 22 shots are my sweet spot with H&N 14.66gr pellets. I haven’t tried adjusting the hammer spring based on the ES and SD of the first 20 shots.

Shot ~50 more pellets to re-sight in the scope and play with some steel targets at 30 to 45 yards .

Then shot 2 - ten shot groups (after refill to 250bar) at 30 yards - one was 0.49” outer edge to outer edge and the other was 0.63” outer edge to outer edge. Looks like my trigger work has paid off. Will try some JSB 14.35gr pellets tomorrow.

First string
Shot count: 10
Low: 768
Hi: 775
Avg: 772
Spread: 7
STD Dev: 2.3

Second string
Shot count: 10
Low: 768
Hi: 772
Avg: 770
Spread: 4
STD Dev: 1.5

Third string
Shot count: 10
Low: 698
Hi: 770
Avg: 739
Spread: 72
STD Dev: 24.3
770
768
759
752
745
735
731
719
712
698

 

[fderry]

Tried JSB 14.35gr pellets today:

Shot count: 20
Low: 768
Hi: 777
Avg: 774
Spread: 9
STD Dev: 3.2

They are as accurate as the H&Ns (didn’t adjust scope in horizontal axis). Three - 5 shot groups at 30 yards.


Overall I’m happy with accuracy of the Notos (not so happy with my shooting ability). The only part that I have added (other than scope and rings) is a FAB Defense AR butt stock and a lower picatinny tube mount that I had on hand from a previous airgun build. I like this butt stock because it has a hex head screw that tightens the butt stock to the buffer tube eliminating butt stock movement.
The only modification that I have done is to smooth out the trigger pull and that was very easy to do. This is an easy PCP to recommend to any airgunner (no matter what level of expertise).

Here is a picture of my Notos:

 

[Farmplinker2]

AddictedtoPCP - I think you will enjoy your Notos!

Yesterday I shot 3 ten shot string on a 250bar fill, to get a better idea where the Notos was falling off the regulator (see strings below). Looks like 22 shots are my sweet spot with H&N 14.66gr pellets. I haven’t tried adjusting the hammer spring based on the ES and SD of the first 20 shots.

Shot ~50 more pellets to re-sight in the scope and play with some steel targets at 30 to 45 yards .

Then shot 2 - ten shot groups (after refill to 250bar) at 30 yards - one was 0.49” outer edge to outer edge and the other was 0.63” outer edge to outer edge. Looks like my trigger work has paid off. Will try some JSB 14.35gr pellets tomorrow.

First string
Shot count: 10
Low: 768
Hi: 775
Avg: 772
Spread: 7
STD Dev: 2.3

Second string
Shot count: 10
Low: 768
Hi: 772
Avg: 770
Spread: 4
STD Dev: 1.5

Third string
Shot count: 10
Low: 698
Hi: 770
Avg: 739
Spread: 72
STD Dev: 24.3
770
768
759
752
745
735
731
719
712
698

So like one review said, 3 magazines and then top off?

 

[fderry]

So like one review said, 3 magazines and then top off?

The short answer is YES. Will it compete AAA EVOL Mini 22 - absolutely NO.

It is a light carbine that is fun and fairly accurate at 10 to 50 yards with minimal investment. If that is in a person's wheel house then I can recommend it without hesitation.

 

[mandn]

Well, I get mine in tomorrow. Then I will play with it then. I already have medium and high rings. I also have a 3x9 Busnell scope to put on it. It will be fun.

 

[Dogowski]

Thanks for the write up. I just received my Notos and find it to be a pleasure to shoot. Your info will help make it much better. New to air rifles, finding it more fun than I thought it might be. My Dillon's might be lonely for a bit.

Had to send my new Notos back to Pyramid for replacement due to hammer spring locked in place and wouldn't turn either direction. The trigger adjusted down to 12 ounces and shot amazing. On the replacement new Notos the trigger is awful. The trigger adjustment screw is sharp like a pencil and no matter how I adjust it it still is not right. When you modified your trigger screw, did you make it round, or more of a flat grind? I have a Dremel tool to grind it down with but don't want to mess it up as I don't have an extra, lol. Do you know the metric screw size that the screw is and length? This replacement rifle shoots hole in hole at 25 yards and the trigger screw is the only flaw I have found so far. Take care brother and thanks!

 

[Pnwairgunner]

I just rounded mine with a dremel and polished it smooth, also polished my hammer to a mirror finish. After some minimal screw adjustments it is much improved over its original state.
For me, the thing to keep in mind with the Notos trigger is to know it’s never going to be great, but it can be good enough.

 

[fderry]

Had to send my new Notos back to Pyramid for replacement due to hammer spring locked in place and wouldn't turn either direction. The trigger adjusted down to 12 ounces and shot amazing. On the replacement new Notos the trigger is awful. The trigger adjustment screw is sharp like a pencil and no matter how I adjust it it still is not right. When you modified your trigger screw, did you make it round, or more of a flat grind? I have a Dremel tool to grind it down with but don't want to mess it up as I don't have an extra, lol. Do you know the metric screw size that the screw is and length? This replacement rifle shoots hole in hole at 25 yards and the trigger screw is the only flaw I have found so far. Take care brother and thanks!

I just rounded mine with a dremel and polished it smooth, also polished my hammer to a mirror finish. After some minimal screw adjustments it is much improved over its original state.
For me, the thing to keep in mind with the Notos trigger is to know it’s never going to be great, but it can be good enough.

Dogowski - I concur with what Pnwairgunner said. I haven't got around to polishing the hammer yet, but it should help smooth the hammer release if you polish the contact area of the hammer/sear interface.

 

[Dogowski]

Dogowski - I concur with what Pnwairgunner said. I haven't got around to polishing the hammer yet, but it should help smooth the hammer release if you polish the contact area of the hammer/sear interface.

I got brave and used a Dremel tool on the trigger screw then ground it to a round shape on the tip. Polished the screw with 2000 grit sandpaper and the hammer and the grittiness and slippage is now gone. Lyman gauge has has it at 16 ounces and I'm perfectly fine with that. Now I can shoot targets and get awesome groups. Thanks for the tips all. Best forum ever!