PA_AirHead
HAM Sniper
Last edited:
At 75 degrees and near 90% humidity, it was less than a comfy shooting session today. However, the rifle set in front of me made it quite bearable. I’ve had the AEA Element R .25 for I think nearly 5 years, and have had so much fun pesting with it on farms and out back of the house, as well as plinking.
But where this platform has really shined is in the field. It’s lightweight makes it quite easy to carry around for several hours without making your arms numb or you neck sore. The ability to de-cock it without removing the magazine or even shooting off the pellet is superb.
The bolt being seperate from the charging handle allows you to carry with a pellet or slug (I don’t shoot slugs), without the hammer spring being compressed. It’s a feature I seriously have grown to love about this gun. That’s real carbon fiber you see there as well. It along with magnesium and aluminum is what makes up the majority of this shooter. The regulated version here did weigh a little more than the non regulated version. They are the same gun until the regulator, plenum and larger air tube is added. Weighing in at 7.79 lbs scoped with bipod, FX moderator, after market stock and a magazine (unloaded) it’s lighter still than most airguns in its caliber and lighter than many others regardless of caliber before you add your optic and moderator. The magpul bifold supports the gun just fine, while the UTG accushot 4-16X44 handles my shooting range out to 50 yards (zero) quite well. I used to have the UTG 3-9X44 on there but I felt that the gun deserved a step up in optics. I’ve zeroed it on 6X and I never change it. It’s a purpose built tool.
At my 50 yard zero and closer, there is nothing from a starling to even a coyote that is safe. Head shots are not even a question, which is why I am most likely going to mount a thermal day/night optic on it. That’s an entirely different story for the future. If I ever need to replace this gun, I believe I’ve already handled its successor, the AGT Vixen 2 in .25 cal. I was very impressed with that gun.
My chrony results are not up to many modern rifles I know. But when it’s POI is plenty tight for its purpose, I’m less concerned with a super low spread or STD Dev. If that pest wanders out into range, there’s no doubt it will die quickly. That’s what this gun is about in my collection. It’s not my N50 shooter, PRS and most certainly not a speed challenge contender lol. It’s a pest hammer, shooting the Hades.
What would I love to see? I’d love to have one of these with a Karma SLS air tube and regulator set up. Also an adjustable hammer spring, even if I had to remove the stock. Once tuned, it wouldn’t be an issue.
In the end, I don’t even know if new Elements are being built (if not, it’s a shame in my opinion). But the gun has a really nice light hunting trigger that is crisp and breaks well. The cocking is smooth albeit slow compared to any side lever. The charging handle has a good leverage point but it is heavy. But the charging handle system just works well. You can cock the gun with the bolt, but I never have. I always do the two step process.If you find one of these, I’d recommend it. If you’re a shot string snob, it’s probably not gonna make you happy. It’s never given me an once of trouble, never leaked and never failed me (til now, since I make that statement lol). I still love this gun.
But where this platform has really shined is in the field. It’s lightweight makes it quite easy to carry around for several hours without making your arms numb or you neck sore. The ability to de-cock it without removing the magazine or even shooting off the pellet is superb.
The bolt being seperate from the charging handle allows you to carry with a pellet or slug (I don’t shoot slugs), without the hammer spring being compressed. It’s a feature I seriously have grown to love about this gun. That’s real carbon fiber you see there as well. It along with magnesium and aluminum is what makes up the majority of this shooter. The regulated version here did weigh a little more than the non regulated version. They are the same gun until the regulator, plenum and larger air tube is added. Weighing in at 7.79 lbs scoped with bipod, FX moderator, after market stock and a magazine (unloaded) it’s lighter still than most airguns in its caliber and lighter than many others regardless of caliber before you add your optic and moderator. The magpul bifold supports the gun just fine, while the UTG accushot 4-16X44 handles my shooting range out to 50 yards (zero) quite well. I used to have the UTG 3-9X44 on there but I felt that the gun deserved a step up in optics. I’ve zeroed it on 6X and I never change it. It’s a purpose built tool.
At my 50 yard zero and closer, there is nothing from a starling to even a coyote that is safe. Head shots are not even a question, which is why I am most likely going to mount a thermal day/night optic on it. That’s an entirely different story for the future. If I ever need to replace this gun, I believe I’ve already handled its successor, the AGT Vixen 2 in .25 cal. I was very impressed with that gun.
My chrony results are not up to many modern rifles I know. But when it’s POI is plenty tight for its purpose, I’m less concerned with a super low spread or STD Dev. If that pest wanders out into range, there’s no doubt it will die quickly. That’s what this gun is about in my collection. It’s not my N50 shooter, PRS and most certainly not a speed challenge contender lol. It’s a pest hammer, shooting the Hades.
What would I love to see? I’d love to have one of these with a Karma SLS air tube and regulator set up. Also an adjustable hammer spring, even if I had to remove the stock. Once tuned, it wouldn’t be an issue.
In the end, I don’t even know if new Elements are being built (if not, it’s a shame in my opinion). But the gun has a really nice light hunting trigger that is crisp and breaks well. The cocking is smooth albeit slow compared to any side lever. The charging handle has a good leverage point but it is heavy. But the charging handle system just works well. You can cock the gun with the bolt, but I never have. I always do the two step process.If you find one of these, I’d recommend it. If you’re a shot string snob, it’s probably not gonna make you happy. It’s never given me an once of trouble, never leaked and never failed me (til now, since I make that statement lol). I still love this gun.
