Re: sidewinder venom
Okay, so from what I can tell, I think this is pretty much exactly the same as the old Knoxx Sidewinder. I had read somewhere that on the old Sidewinders it was difficult to work the pump. Don't know if that's true, but on the Adaptive Tactical model this is not the case. Pump works smooth and easy. Seems well made. The drum itself is very easy to load, and it's ambidextrous, so you can make it work if you happen to be left handed. The foregrip has 4 mounting positions for the vertical grip, so it's ambidextrous as well. I haven't had a chance to fire it yet, so I'm not sure how it cycles yet. I'll update after I fire it, and I'll include photos. The adjustable stock is decent. Here's the thing...I'm 6'5", and my arms are barely long enough to comfortably work the pump with the buttstock shouldered. If you are under 6' I honestly think it would be very uncomfortable. And that is with the buttstock adjusted to the shortest length. Another issue is with the drum mag. When it's fully loaded (10 rounds), it's somewhat difficult to snap into the mag well. And if you choose to remove a loaded drum mag from the gun, there seems to be no way of keeping 1 or 2 shells from falling out. It's like as soon as you snap it in, the shells begin to feed into the tube, so if you remove it without firing, those shells just fall out. It's not really that big of a deal, especially if you intend on firing off the whole mag, but it is annoying. Another issue is the lack of rails or really any decent place to mount lights or lasers. Seems like it would've been pretty easy to include rails on the foregrip. All of that said, I like the gun. If I don't have any feed issues when I fire it, I'll be content. It's a cool concept, and it looks badass. I kind of wish the drum would hold more rounds. 10 isn't really that much more than a Mossberg 500 that holds 7 or 8 right? But if it were 12 rounds or 15... Anyway, I will post some pics soon, and I'll get back with a post-range review.