The Evanix Windy City

Jim Chapman

Part I: An Introduction

"I recently had an opportunity to shoot this new rifle from Evanix, and think it represents a new wave of refinement for thes Korean guns"

I’ve had several guns to shoot this year that were recently introduced, and one that I’ve really like a lot is the Evanix Windy City. This is a brand new bottle reservoir style gun that is loaded with desirable features; the barrel is shrouded and the gun is very quiet, features a two stage trigger that is adjustable for let-off and position, and is a very shootable package. The rifle is cocked using a sidelever action that cycles with a very solid feel and lock up.  I like that the gun can be easily and quickly cycled while still on the shoulder. Cocking the gun indexes the 10 shot cylinder, and it does so with a high degree of reliability. My gun demonstrated a wide pellet tolerance digesting a variety of projectiles well and did particularly well with heavier pellets, I got very good results with the H&N Baracuda The nicely figured hardwood thumbhole stock configuration is ergonomic and light, and cradles the bottle so that it fits naturally into the gun rather than being an odd fitting appendage (which can happen with guns of this design). I found that the pistol grip provided a solid and comfortable hold, and formed a shelf that guided the trigger finger naturally to the trigger. The comb is configured to allow an optimal sight alignment through the scope using medium profile mounts. It is probably the most ergonomic and to my eye, most attractive, stock I’ve seen out of the box in a gun of this design. The Windy City fills to 3000 psi, using a proprietary connector that attaches to the gun without requiring that the bottle be dismounted. There is an onboard manometer that allows the fill pressure to be monitored during shooting. When I took this gun out to the range, I was quite pleased with the performance; accuracy, power, and shot count were all very good. Shooting off shooting sticks out to 50 yards, I could consistently stack pellets into a group that could easily be covered with a quarter. This Windy City is a light and compact carbine, very accurate, and my pre-release test gun generates around 30 fpe and over 60 shots per fill (Note: the release spec is over 40 fpe). This carbine handles and balances nicely in the field, and is a perfect companion for a day hunting prairie dogs or stalking other target rich environments. In the USA the Evanix guns are distributed through Pyramyd Airguns, which is based in Cleveland Ohio. In the next few installments of my review of this gun, we’ll take a detailed look at the guns performance at the range and I’ll take it out on a few hunts to show what it’ll do in the field. Stay tuned!

I think that some bottle filled gun designs can feel ungainly, but liked the fit and feel of this rifle.

The bottle is a 400 cc and fills to 200 BAR pressure.

The gun is filled through a propriatary quick fill connnector, and doesn't requiring dismounting the bottle

The action is a sidelever which can be cycled very rapidly. The ergonomics of the sidelever, trigger and safety allows for fast operation with minimal hand motion.

The magazine is easy to access and has proven very reliable.

The medium sized thumbhole, shaped pistol grip, and sharply cut checkering provided solid purchase on the gun.

The Windy City is an intrinsically accurate rifle, and in the next instalment I'll report on quantitative measurements of the gun performance

The 10 shot rotary cylinder has been very ruggedly built, indexes precisely, is easy to load, and accepts just about any pellet you feed it.

SPECIFICATION

Front Sight and Rear Sight: None Scope Mount: 11mm dovetail Trigger adj.: Two-stage adjustable Action: Sidelever Safety: Manual Power: 40 fpe

Loudness: Quiet Weight: 7.85 lbs Barrel Length:17.25" Overall Length: 41.75" Capacity: 10 round(s) Barrel: Rifled

Under the Hood

I lifted the gun out of the stock for a closer look, a single anchor point fixes the action to the stock. Once removed the filling connector, pressure gauge and trigger assembly can all be easily accessed. The valve is housed in the air bottle ....

Once the bottle has been removed the valve can be unscrewed to seperate it from the bottle. The valve is opened by unscrewing the cap of the valve chamber which holds the return spring and valve pin..

The EWC is a simple yet elegant design. I'll start working on different spring combinations to see how it can be optimized for different pellet designs

I took the Windy City out on a prairie dog hunt, and the gun was an outstanding performer. At one point I was shooting (with Eric Henderson filming) in an area surrounded by prairie dogs mounds. I had the guns resting on a pair of sticks and I was hammering every dog that popped up between 20 to 80 yards. The combination of really excellent accuracy and over 40 fpe in a shootable package was a pleasure in the field. I didn't have to carry a buddy bottle in my day paack either, due to the high shot capacity.

Part II: The Windy City Hits the Range

A summary of my range work with the Windy City

The first thing I did on the range was set up to shoot groups off the rest at 20 yards to get an idea of what pellets would work best for a more indepth workout. Using the H&N Baracuda, JSB Jumbo Exacts, Predator Polymag, RWS Superdomes, and Weirauch Magnums. The best 20 yard groups I shot were with the Baracuda, Polymags, and Superdomes.

These 40 yard ten shot groups were obtained using JSB Jumbo Exacts (left) and H&N Baracudas (right). The point of impact shifted between the two pellets, but both grouped well.

I set up a varmint target at 65 yards, and had eight of the JSB's hit right in the center with two fliers (still in the kill zone).

The highest velocities I obtained were with the Superdomes, Polymags, and exacts, the lowest with the Beeman Double Gold Extra Heavies and the Magnums. The heavy pellets delivered the greatest energy on target which was not unexpected. I decided to use the JSB Exacts as my primary hunting pellets as they yielded a good performance profile; fairly high velocity, high energy delivery, and accuracy.

I only shot the gun down from a full tank a couple of times, because, well, it was a lot of work. The string below was from a 200 BAR fill, shooting Beeman Kodiak Extra Heavy pellets, and shows the velocities and pressures as the gun is fired over 90 shots (from 905 to 592 fps and pressure from 200 - 50 Bar). In the field I could use all 90 of these shots if I had to, but would probably fill the gun every 60 or so shots.

My thoughts are that this gun meets my needs as a hunting gun very well. I am not a paper puncher by nature, and used the gun as is out of the box for my evaluation. This rifle, like most, could probably be optimized further but the performance was everything I wanted. The dedicated target shooters might look at my results and say "I've got (name your rifle) that shoots better groups than that". Fair enough, but this gun shoots better than I do. As a benchmark I took out several of my favorite guns one day and shot groups with them all, and this rifle was consistently one of the top performer in my hands. Coupled with the high shot count and high energy output, not to mention the great expereince I've had hunting with it so far, I think it's worth a look if you wan a high capacity hunting gun. Another question I've had is how this gun compares with the FX Royale? These guns have many common features and look a lot alike, Here is the thing, there is so much that goes in to an individuals preference that the only one that can answer which rifle is right for you, is you. The Windy City is a good looking rifle but the aesthetics and finish of the Royale is nicer. I've never compared the two rifles performance directly, but know that the FX is very accurate. But the FX is around $500 (about 30%) more expensive, so  a perspective buyer needs to set their own priorities; costs, performance,  finish, etc. What I will state unequivocally is that the Windy City I tested meets my requirements for a high end hunting rifle, and I'm really enjoying this gun!