Umarex Markpoint air pistol.

Part 1

This report covers:

• The tests
• RWS Hobby
• Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
• Darts
• Discharge
• Trigger pull
• Oil the piston seal
• Beartrap?
• Summary

Today we look at the velocity of the new Umarex Markpoint breakbarrel pellet pistol. I’m very interested in how this one performs because we will also be testing it as a dart shooter. In fact, the capability to shoot darts was the main reason I was attracted to the pistol to begin with.

The tests

I’ll test the pistol with conventional lead pellets and also with lighter lead-free pellets. I’ll also test it with both feathered darts and with bolts.

RWS Hobby

I started the test with the RWS Hobby wadcutter. At 7 grains this pellet is a lightweight among lead pellets, but it also has a wider skirt that sometimes influences the outcome. I will check that in this test.

Sometimes the first shot with a spring-piston airgun will be slower than the average, so I recorded it. In the case of the Markpoint pistol it was the fastest shot in the string. Let’s look now.

Shot………..Vel
1…………….313
2…………….287
3…………….303
4…………….280
5…………….290
6…………….271
7…………….289
8…………….298
9…………….292
10…………..283

The average for this string is 291 f.p.s. The low was 271 and the high was 313 f.p.s. That’s a 42 f.p.s. difference.

Since Hobbys have larger skirts they sometimes go faster when seated deep in the breech, so I seated one deep and got 293 f.p.s. Because of that I think deep seating doesn’t matter with this Markpoint.

Sig Match Ballistic Alloy

Now we’ll see how well the pistol does with lighter pellets. I shot the Sig Match Ballistic Alloy wadcutter for this one.

The first shot went out at 392 f.p.s. I have found that when changing pellets in spring-piston airguns I sometimes need to give the gun a chance to become comfortable with the new pellet. So I disregarded that first shot after seeing the following 10 shots all going much faster. 

Shot………..Vel
1…………….425
2…………….432
3…………….444
4…………….422
5…………….428
6…………….432
7…………….427
8…………….427
9…………….428
10…………..434

The average for this string is 430 f.p.s. That means the Markpoint being tested is considerably more powerful than advertised. We were told to expect 395 f.p.s. with lightweight lead-free pellets.

The low was 422 and the high was 444 f.p.s. That’s a difference of 22 f.p.s. Do you see why I disregarded that first shot at 392 f.p.s.?

Darts

Now I tried feathered darts. The first one went out at 187 f.p.s. That’s a good speed for a dart. I hope it means we can test for accuracy at 5 meters or so. Just to see if there was any consistency I fired a second one. It went out at 191 f.p.s. Feathered darts are very consistent!

I tried bolts next. One worked but did not record through the chronograph. The other two dropped straight through the barrel, so I’m declaring bolts to be unworkable in this Markpoint pistol.

Discharge

The test pistol discharged with a sound that was 96.1 dB .

Trigger pull

The trigger pull of the test pistol is around 9 pounds. That’s too heavy for me to shoot accurately, though I’ll give it my best try. I’m thinking of disassembling the pistol and removing that spring that reader Will S. told us is behind the trigger.

Oil the piston seal

Since the Markpoint is a spring-piston airgun the question arises of how to oil the piston seal. I broke it open to show you.

The air transfer port is where you would expect it to be—behind the breech. Oil there directly or drop oil down the barrel and stand the pistol up for several hours.

Beartrap?

Reader shootski asked whether there is an anti-beartrap device in the Markpoint. Yes, there is. So the barrel has to be closed or the pistol will not fire. It cannot be manually uncocked. If it is cocked it must be fired.

He also asked whether the grip safety needed to be depressed fully or just partially. It has to be all the way in for the trigger to work.

Summary

That’s how the Markpoint test pistol performed for power. The first accuracy test will be next, but if I lighten the trigger I think it will need a retest afterward.

There is quite a lot to like with the Markpoint. I really had no idea when we started this series, but now I’m thinking this is a good one for those wanting an inexpensive spring-piston air pistol.

The post Examining the Umarex Markpoint air pistol: Part Two first appeared on Pyramyd AIR.