Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols

Reflections After Owning and Using an Edgun Leshiy 2 for Six Months

This is my last post about my Edgun Leshiy 2 in this series. I’ve now had it for just over six months (I bought it in February and it’s now September) and have some thoughts to share on it and the various accessories I stuck on it – some stayed on and some are now gone.

Engineering and Assembly of the Leshiy 2 Short Wolverine (REPR)

Let’s start with the core airgun itself. The design, machining and fitment of the base Leshiy 2 are superb. I’ve put hundreds of pellets through it and not one jam and it is definitely as accurate as I need in my 30-60 foot typical pest control zone. I don’t recall trying for anything further away as of yet.

The trigger is set and not adjustable but it is a very good trigger so no real complaints there.

The internal regulator is adjustable but you have to disassemble the rear buttstock to get to it. I wish it was externally adjustable so I could more readily fiddle with it. With that said, Edgun West set it to 130 bar and it works exceptionally well. It hits hard and is accurate.

I really like the trigger safety. The first airgun I had with a safety located where the trigger finger can easily get to it was a Hatsan Gladius. GIven the location of the safety on the Leshiy 2, I find it very fast and easy to turn the safety on or off or to check the status without needing to see it.

I really like the position of the safety. It’s the silver toggle switch right in front of the trigger and you can instantly turn it on, off or check the status all by touch.

At first, I viewed the folding rear stock as a space saving feature only. It’s actually a superb safety as well. If the stock is open, then there is no air supply to “fire” a pellet. As soon as I start heading to the house, I open the stock to reduce the odds of an accident.

One tip that I will stick here, the magazines come out really easy if you wiggle them ever so slightly clockwise and counter-clockwise. If you try to pull them straight out they can be really stubborn. Feeding is amazingly reliable so I wouldn’t want anything changed – this is just a tip to share with you.

You can see the rotary magazine. The .22 model holds eight pellets. You can see how many you have left right away – there are four in the magazine. Also, with the stock open, there is no air supply so the Leshiy 2 can’t fire.
The pellets are inserted from the rear and the black ring is magnetic. You put that on top of the rear of the magazine and it holds the pellets in place. So, no deformation of the pellet in the mag and they are securely held in place. It’s also easy to load or unload by removing the ring – I virtually never unload – I’m always loading them.

Comment on the Mini 2-3/4″ Picatinny Handguard

First off, this is M-Lok-ish. The slots are per M-Lok spec but you need shorter srews or you will dig into your suppressor or adapter underneath. I initially used a quality Magpul aluminum picatinny rail section and the screw dug into my Behemoth moderator and I gouged it when I went to remove the can. I wondered why the moderator wouldn’t turn and rather than stop and think I went “Mongo turn moderator” on it. Sure, it came off but I gouged the aluminum and it was bright and shiney, I used some Birchwell-Casey Aluminum Black to cover up my mistake. So, either buy their rail section or use your section but realize you will need to shorten the screws. I bought one of their sections.

This small handrail segment covers the barrel and elegantly fills the gap between the end of the Leshiy 2’s frame and where the Behemoth starts. The shiny silver you see through the slot is the trilug adapter for the Behemoth. Because the moderator is right there and the gap between the M-Lok slot and the adapter is too short, regular M-Lok screws will dig into the behemoth if it is installed so either buy their rail section or grind down your screws as needed. Also, you can’t tell it from this photo but the bottom rail was out of spec. The top wail was ok so I removed the button head hex screws and inverted the handguard to have the in-spec segment on the bottom.
This is an Edgun brand picatinny rail section. Note the really short screws.

Second, the bottom fixed rail machined in the handguard was not done according to the Picatinny spec probably in error. I could get a Holosun laser designator to mount on any rail execept for the bottom one. My solution was to remove the handguard and rotate it 180 degrees so the top rail that worked fine was in the position I needed and the out of spec section that was originally at the bottom was on the top where I didn’t need it. I mentioned what I had to do to Edgun West and they didn’t offer to replace it so oh well. Not sure why they didn’t offer unless it was a known problem. I had a workaround and that was good enough for me but I am passing it along in case you run into the issue – the handguard can be easily removed and inverted – it’s symmertical.

After I flipped the handguard I could mount the Holosun designator on the bottom an d the pressure switch went on the side rail section that is still open. We’ll come back to the Holosun a bit later.

Replaced the Behemoth With a DonnyFL Ronin

The Behemoth with extra sections installed (I think I had 4-5 modules installed towards the end) was really long and didn’t quiet the Leshiy 2 down enough for its size. Some of the noise is likely the air powered semi-auto action bleeding off air and not a moderator design issue. In watching videos of the reflex system Behemoth’s those things are amazingly quiet and I may experiment with one of those in the future but they are expensive and not something I need to do right away.

In search of a quick, I-have-no-more-money-for-this-project fix, I realized I had a spare DonnyFL Ronin moderator that I could use. The DonnyFL was threaded 1/2-28 so I had to get an adapter to convert from the Leshiy’s 14Mx1.0 thread to that. The Ronin was just as quiet and a heck of a lot shorter.

Here’s the Behemoth and I think I added one more section after this was taken. Note, that was the Midas Tac scope that was subsequently returned when it failed during early testing of the Leshiy
With the Ronin, the Leshiy 2 is 17-1/2″ folded and only 29″ overall. The body of the Ronin is 6-1/4″ and you can’t see the thread adapter. By luck it fit really nice relative to the handguard.

There was a second benefit to the move to the Ronin moderator – it stays put. The trilug system the Behemoth uses does not secure the moderator in a very firm “it’s not going to move easily” manner. The trilug system was meant for easy and fast installation and removal of the moderator.

My use case is different – I store the Leshiy 2 folded in a Savior gun case with the moderator attached and pull it out to use as needed for rapid pest control use. I found out the Behemoth could come loose from repeated insertion and removal from the case. I don’t want to take the time to install the moderator every time.

For me and my use, the use of a standard threaded mounting method worked out better. When I need the Leshiy 2 for pest control, I can grab it out of the case and not worry whether the Behemoth is coming loose or not.

If you need an airgun with a rapid takedown moderator, I don’t think you’ll find a competitor to the Behemoth. If you want compact, you might want to do some experimenting. If you need it to be as quiet as possible, do some digging before you buy. I watched a video of a .30 Leshiy 2 with the reflex version of the Behemoth and it was amazingly quiet.

Last comment – when I need the shot to be really quiet, I use my .25 FX Impact Compact Mk II with a Behemoth moderator. That combination is amazing.

The 300cc @ 300 bar carbon fiber air cylinder was worth it

I am very happy with the bigger carbon fiber bottle on the rifle. It still balances and handles nicely – but it has 123% more air than the original resevoir. I fill it direct from the GX CS4 compressor so I can top it off at 300 bar.

The original reservoir is at the top and the new larger carbon fiber bottle as at the bottom.

American Defense AD-Recon-30-Std mount worked great as usual

As usual the American Defense mount has been superb. It returns to zero when you remove and then attach the mount to the Leshiy 2 plus it holds the scope securely – two thumbs up. Definitely my favorite quick detach single piece scope mount.

Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2 4-20×50 Scope has been great

After a bumpy start with the Athlon Midas Tac, the Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2 4-20×50 Mil-Dot scope has been great. It has reliably held zero despite many magnification changes. I’m pretty happy with it and have no plans to change at this point.

The Holosun Green Laser Designator was removed

I’ve seen so many gun magazine photos with laser designators that I figuredit was time to try one. I did some research and ordered in a Holosun LE117G green laser designator. The LE is the better made law enforcement model.

So, I mounted it on the bottom with the pressure pad switch on the right side rail where the finger tips of my supporting hand could actuate it and sighted it in at 12 yards.

It looks great right? Oh wow – look he has a laser designator on a high-end air gun… well, I tried to find a use for it other than tricking out the gun for photos and I couldn’t – not really. I am so used to scopes at this point for precision work that I am bringing the rifle up and lining up the reticle. If I turn on the laser, it sits at a different height and shows a different point of impact than the scope as I move away from the point of impact I zeroed them both in at – 12 yards.

It looked slick but didn’t help me with precision shots plus it was adding weight and taking off space so off it came.

The LE117G is now sitting on shelf for potential use in the future. I’m not saying it’s bad – I’m just saying it didn’t fit my planned use for the Leishey 2.

Switched from JSB dome to hollow point pellets

I was talking to another Leshiy 2 owner and he recommended that I try the JSB 15.89gr Hades hollow point pellet. He was having great success with it at close ranges – I think he said he was using them up to 25 yards – but the Diabolo domed pellets were better at a distance.

Well, I ordered in a couple of tins and sighted the Leshiy 2 in using that ammo at 12 yards. It’s definitely accurate enough for me at my close range pests and it does appear to do the job faster. There is a different impact sound when a Hades pellet hits a squirrel though I can’t quite figure out how to describe it.

JSB is my favorite pellet company. Normally I swear by the 18.13gr Exact Jumbo Heavy Diabolos but the Hades have impressed me so far. The Leshiy 2 has no problem feeding them and accuracy has been just fine.
Here’s a close up of the Hades (left) vs. Exacts (right). The Hades pellets have an interesting head design – slightly domed but with the reliefs in the top to aid with mushrooming.
Eight rounds (one magazine) of Hades pellets at 12 yards easily fit in a one inch diameter circle. I was using a Bog carbon fiber Death Grip tripod to hold the Leshey so there was a bit of movement due to my tremor.

Last Batch of Photos

Here are some more photos of the Leshiy 2 as currently configured:

Summary

I use this airgun a few tmes every week – literally. It’s gone through hundreds of pellets and a lot air. Along the way, it has dispatched quite a few squirrels.

If you are looking for a semi-auto airgun that is very well engineered and made plus modular and can change as your needs change – I don’t think you are going to find anything equal too or better than a Leshiy 2.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

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