Benjamin Armada BP22SAC .22-Caliber Pellet Semi-Auto PCP Hunting Air Rifle

2024-12-09 UpdateWe'll I ordered another one after returning min almost 1 year ago. Hoping Benjamin made some improvements. Took one shot without pellet. Guess what, breech o-ring popped out. Crosman/Benjamin couldn't/wouldn't explain how to remove barrel to fix it, due to the fact that the "bolt/probe" cannot lock open. I asked for yet another replacement.If you buy this PCP, be prepared to have to monkey with it, fix it or return it. Also YOU WILL NEED SOME SAE NOT METRIC HEX WRENCHES.-------------------------------------Benjamin makes a great product but there are a few things I want to call your attention to on this product. First of all the bolt does not stay open when the charging handle is fully retracted and cocked. That becomes a problem when you need to clean the bore. Can you believe that Benjamin Support told me specifically that you don't need to clean the barrel ever! Really!? I solved this problem by purchasing extra heavy duty, tactical rubber bands, which I attach to the charging handle, pull it back and wrap the other end of the rubber band around the butt stock to keep the breach open. But nowhere have I seen any kind of mention of this not so good requirement. But the rubber bands do a great job as long as you know in advance that you’re going to need them. The other thing I want to call to everyone’s attention is that the top forward corner of the hand guard has an extremely sharp pointy tip. I’ve cut myself a few times on this already in the first day. Benjamin should certainly have done something about this and I have sent them an email to put them on notice. Aside from that you’ll need to know that you just can’t use the ordinary 22 caliber Armada or Marauda magazines. These take a special magazine, probably with a stronger spring.I tried every possible attempt to fix to solve the jamming problem. None worked. How do usually have several jams in each magazine even though I was using the recommended pellets and did not use slugs.And on several occasions, the gun would misfire meaning that nothing but air would come out of the barrel and no pellet was lodged in the barrel. No explanation for that and I always kept the air pressure above the regulator setting.A gun that is not reliable its simply not usable. There's no such thing as "usually reliable" because that's an oxymoron. It either is reliable or it is not.Then there's the problem with the charging handle locking forward and not being able to be retracted without extreme force pulling the charging handle rearward. Obviously you need to do this to initially to cock the gun and to insert or remove the magazine.At that point the Armada semi auto became not only unreliable but completely unusable. I returned it to Amazon and about 10 days later I received my refund. I really don't know how Benjamin could put out such a disaster! And just in case you're thinking of getting a Marauder semi auto, don't do it because it's essentially the same action and the same problems. Do you want a problem gun? Regardless of the price? Then this will be an easy decision for you.

So, this gun is fussy about its ammo. JTS ammo I think is too soft for the gun, had many gun jams with that ammo. Best ammo for the gun seems to be Crossman Premier Hollow Point and second place would be Stoger X-Hunt Pellets. I had a few malfunctions with Stoger but not sure if it is an ammo or Magazine malfunction. When it is working right it a great gun.With a 3000lb tank I can shoot 4 mags and still have 1500lb. FYI the performance does go down under 1000lb.

Acurate, fun,easy to use. Not sure why there are such bad reviews. Never had a problem with it. I've used an electric pump as well as manual. Works just fine. Cheap to shoot and it being semi auto is a plus.

TL: DR The Benjamin Armada Semi-automatic is an air rifle to avoid at all cost due to the issue's that it shares with the Benjamin marauder Semi-automatic version, where the bolt catch gets stuck.So on to the review, first things first, the package arrived packed in a bigger box, the box the air rifle comes packaged in is undamaged. The air rifle comes well packed and de-gassed. After following the manufacturer's check list prior to airing up the air rifle, I proceeded to fill the rifle up to 3k psi, loaded the factory supplied magazine and proceeded to fire the first sighting in shots, first 10 shots had 3 jams. So I tried a brand new spare magazine that I had purchased in advance, same problem with jams. By the 3rd magazine, the bolt catch has gotten stuck, leaving the empty magazine unable to be removed. After putting much effort on pulling the bolt catch I was finally able to get it to release, disappointed that my new air rifle is having issues, I decided to do a bit of reading online and on forums, in which I have found that people suggested putting a dub of silicone oil on the plastic piece in bedded in the bolt catch to help alleviate the problem, some people even resorted to opening the breech and using a dremel tool to smooth out the marred surfaces of the inner contact points of the bolt catch and breech. I am not new to tinker on airguns and firearms, having built multiple PCP air rilfes from the ground up, I have quite a good idea on how to fix the problem. But I am not about to do that to a brand new airgun that I have paid full price for, as I believe that for the price these should work out of the box, just like most of my Benjamin PCP air rifles have. It's unfortunate that this had to be plagued by the same problems as the semi auto marauder. Until Crosman has finally fixed these issues, I suggest you consider other alternatives, for the price point where these are selling for there's a lot of competitive options to choose from.

I'm sold on benjamine pcp guns. This thing gets it! Only issue was with a leak from the pressure gauge upon initial fill. Had to remove gauge and install a Teflon washer beneath the threads. The pipe thread in the reciever was over sized and would not seal with thread sealant after 4 attempts. I didn't feel like returning the gun for this issue although it did irritate me. Obviously they didn't pressure test it. QC needs a little talking to. Otherwise great product