Contender Series 89
The BIG gun!
by Tex Force
Compasseco's new Contender 89 is a big, handsome breakbarrel air rifle. It moves to the top of the Compasseco line!
Well, there's not much time left until Christmas; but if you've waited this long hoping to find exactly the right airgun, I believe this may be it. The Contender Series model 89 is Compasseco's newest and best spring air rifle, and I was fortunate enough to test one recently.
The rifle
This is a powerful breakbarrel rifle with many quality features. For starters, it's big: 46" long and 7.75 lbs. The cocking effort is only 34 lbs., which is light for a spring gun rated to shoot .177 pellets at 1,100 f.p.s., but the 89 actually does it! It comes with a set of fine steel open sights that many hunters will want to use instead of a scope. The rear sight adjusts with fine clicks that are repeatable and never get harder, no matter how far you turn either adjustment screw.
The stock is a dark walnut-colored hardwood with an even stain. It sports four panels of the finest machine checkering I've seen recently on any air rifle - two on the pistol grip and two on the forearm. The butt is cushioned with a solid black rubber pad with no white line spacer - the sign of real quality in a buttpad! The blued steel is deep and even with a shiny finish that challenges the best German rifles. The trigger appears to be chromeplated and is straighter, for a better feel when pulling. All things considered, the Contender 89 earns its place at the top of Compasseco's own rifles on the basis of appearance, alone. But looks don't shoot, so I was very anxious to get the gun out to the range and test it.
Through the skyscreens!
This is one of the most powerful .177 spring rifles I've tested in a long time. RWS Hobby pellets go an average of 1,087 f.p.s., with a high of 1,101 and a low of 1,081. That's a maximum spread of 20 f.p.s. for 20 shots - not too shabby when the power output is this high. That computes to 20.73 foot-pounds at the muzzle. With Beeman Kodiaks, a much heavier pellet weighing 10.6 grains, the velocity was slowed down to 881, with a spread from 872 to 885. That works out to 18.27 foot-pounds, which is more modest but still quite powerful. We expect a spring gun to be more powerful with lighter pellets, but the heavier ones are the ones we will take seriously, partly because they go slow enough to be accurate and partly because they retain their energy so well in a hunting situation.
Speaking of hunting, the 89 also comes in .22. With its respectable power, it would make the perfect hunting rifle. Although I haven't tested a .22, the .177 is a good indication that it will also meet its advertised numbers.
The maximum spreads of just 20 f.p.s. and 13 f.p.s. are indicative of a powerplant that is very well adjusted. The gun shoots with little forward recoil and absolutely no vibration, both of which also indicate a very well-tuned mechanism. Many guns would require a heavy dollop of thick grease to shoot like this; and, of course, they'd give up some of their potential power in the process. The Contender 89, on the other hand, comes to you in perfect tune right from the box. Don't take it apart; just shoot it as much as you can.
On target
I set up a target at 35 yards. The day was warm but not too breezy, so it was good for shooting groups with an airgun. Like all breakbarrels, the 89 is sensitive to how it's held. I tried shooting off a sandbag and got groups in the 1" range. For some rifles, that would be the end of it, but I discovered that with Kodiaks and a rifle held very lightly, the 89 will group about a half-inch at that range.
Five pellets ripped through a group measuring 0.502" c-t-c.
My advice
If you're considering buying a rifle like the RWS Diana 34, the Beeman R1 or R9, or any other quality air rifle that costs between $200 and $550, you'd better put the 89 on that list, too. It's as powerful and accurate as the R1, which puts it ahead of the Diana 34. The trigger isn't as nice as the R1's but it's not bad, either.
Compasseco's new Contender 89 is a big, handsome breakbarrel air rifle. It moves to the top of the Compasseco line!
Well, there's not much time left until Christmas; but if you've waited this long hoping to find exactly the right airgun, I believe this may be it. The Contender Series model 89 is Compasseco's newest and best spring air rifle, and I was fortunate enough to test one recently.
The rifle
This is a powerful breakbarrel rifle with many quality features. For starters, it's big: 46" long and 7.75 lbs. The cocking effort is only 34 lbs., which is light for a spring gun rated to shoot .177 pellets at 1,100 f.p.s., but the 89 actually does it! It comes with a set of fine steel open sights that many hunters will want to use instead of a scope. The rear sight adjusts with fine clicks that are repeatable and never get harder, no matter how far you turn either adjustment screw.
The stock is a dark walnut-colored hardwood with an even stain. It sports four panels of the finest machine checkering I've seen recently on any air rifle - two on the pistol grip and two on the forearm. The butt is cushioned with a solid black rubber pad with no white line spacer - the sign of real quality in a buttpad! The blued steel is deep and even with a shiny finish that challenges the best German rifles. The trigger appears to be chromeplated and is straighter, for a better feel when pulling. All things considered, the Contender 89 earns its place at the top of Compasseco's own rifles on the basis of appearance, alone. But looks don't shoot, so I was very anxious to get the gun out to the range and test it.
Through the skyscreens!
This is one of the most powerful .177 spring rifles I've tested in a long time. RWS Hobby pellets go an average of 1,087 f.p.s., with a high of 1,101 and a low of 1,081. That's a maximum spread of 20 f.p.s. for 20 shots - not too shabby when the power output is this high. That computes to 20.73 foot-pounds at the muzzle. With Beeman Kodiaks, a much heavier pellet weighing 10.6 grains, the velocity was slowed down to 881, with a spread from 872 to 885. That works out to 18.27 foot-pounds, which is more modest but still quite powerful. We expect a spring gun to be more powerful with lighter pellets, but the heavier ones are the ones we will take seriously, partly because they go slow enough to be accurate and partly because they retain their energy so well in a hunting situation.
Speaking of hunting, the 89 also comes in .22. With its respectable power, it would make the perfect hunting rifle. Although I haven't tested a .22, the .177 is a good indication that it will also meet its advertised numbers.
The maximum spreads of just 20 f.p.s. and 13 f.p.s. are indicative of a powerplant that is very well adjusted. The gun shoots with little forward recoil and absolutely no vibration, both of which also indicate a very well-tuned mechanism. Many guns would require a heavy dollop of thick grease to shoot like this; and, of course, they'd give up some of their potential power in the process. The Contender 89, on the other hand, comes to you in perfect tune right from the box. Don't take it apart; just shoot it as much as you can.
On target
I set up a target at 35 yards. The day was warm but not too breezy, so it was good for shooting groups with an airgun. Like all breakbarrels, the 89 is sensitive to how it's held. I tried shooting off a sandbag and got groups in the 1" range. For some rifles, that would be the end of it, but I discovered that with Kodiaks and a rifle held very lightly, the 89 will group about a half-inch at that range.
Five pellets ripped through a group measuring 0.502" c-t-c.
My advice
If you're considering buying a rifle like the RWS Diana 34, the Beeman R1 or R9, or any other quality air rifle that costs between $200 and $550, you'd better put the 89 on that list, too. It's as powerful and accurate as the R1, which puts it ahead of the Diana 34. The trigger isn't as nice as the R1's but it's not bad, either.
posted by Randy Mitchell at
5:30 AM
3 Comments:
Tex,
Looks like we have a winner in the Contender 89, but what about the warranty ??
Pete
By
Anonymous, At
11:19 AM, January 01, 2007
This post has been removed by the author.
By
Curtis, At
11:56 PM, January 05, 2007
The warranty on the 89 at this time is 90 days, but they are in talks to make it a 1 year limited warranty, which is good news for us!
By
Der Luftmeister, At
10:31 AM, February 20, 2007
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