While explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are credited with the opening of the American West, one piece of equipment that kept them alive is often overlooked. No, it’s not a knife or a musket; it’s the Girandoni air rifle—the granddaddy of all precharged pneumatic arms.

Umarex Origin .22 Precharged Pneumatic

In a time when gunpowder wasn’t widely available (no, not 2021), air power had far more utility than just dispatching squirrels in the yard without the neighbors hearing. This primitive precharged pneumatic (PCP) airgun contained enough energy to propel a .46-caliber ball at speeds fast enough to take big game and, if needed, protect the travelers against hostile natives. What was most unique about this gun wasn’t its independence from gunpowder but the fact that it was an “assault weapon” by the standards of the day. On a single fill, it would be good for between 30 and 40 shots, and the “magazine” held 22 projectiles. The downside? It requires close to 1,500 strokes with a hand pump to charge it up.

To this day, laborious charging techniques are what keep shooters away from PCP airguns, and who can blame them? A workout with a hand pump isn’t fun, and the only other alternatives are expensive compressors and scuba tank systems. Nothing interests me more than when something shooting-related remains true for centuries, except of course when it changes. Enter the Umarex Origin .22.

Unboxing

The Umarex Origin, a sleek new multi-shot, precharged pneumatic air rifle, includes a high-pressure hand pump. The name of the rifle makes two distinct references, if you think about it. It alludes to the way the first airguns operated and at the same time suggests it’s everything that you need to jump into the world of PCP. I laid hands on one of these at the 2020 Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous and was impressed by its consistent performance on our 30-degree range day. Furthermore, I saw that it was my personal opportunity to jump into this vastly refined arena of airgunning. So, with that, I followed up after the event and, in just a few short weeks, had a package on my doorstep.

Full Kit Included

While the rifle itself is called the Origin .22, it’s really the entire kit that is the big news. In the box, next to the newest Umarex air rifle, sat a complete 4,500-pounds-per-square-inch hand pump, which generates enough pressure to fully charge the Origin as well as many other PCP airguns. Aside from that, there were two 10-round magazines, a repair kit and instructions, meaning that all I had to add was a scope and some pellets.

I liked that Umarex didn’t include some junk piece of glass in the box just to catch the eye of the uninformed consumer. To this day, I can count on one hand how many “package” gun/optic deals I’ve picked up where the glass was actually worth a damn. Besides, each end-user has their own purposes, and their optic needs to be matched to it. For me, that was going to be 90-percent target shooting and about 10-percent small-game hunting, so the Axeon 4-16X made a good fit. The optic contains evenly spaced 2-MOA dots for compensation as pressure drops, and the 4X setting is perfect for following a tree rat as it bounces limb to limb. For precision, the 16x setting lets me dial in on even the smallest of paper critters, so this was a no-brainer.

A full kit comes with the Umarex Origin.

About the Umarex Origin

So pumps are cool, but I don’t wake up every morning thinking about them. Let’s talk about the gun. The first time I picked up the Origin, it had that “real gun” feel to it because, weighing in at 6.5 pounds, it’s got the heft and balance that you want to feel in a quality product. The detachable 10-round magazines feed a slick side-lever cocking mechanism, and the entire package is complete with a shrouded barrel and rubber buttpad to ensure that it doesn’t slip out of your shoulder.

The gun also features a two-stage adjustable trigger and adjustable hammer tension to increase or decrease the power to your liking. That stands out to me on an air rifle. Having this flexibility means that this gun can be dialed down to maximize your shots on a single charge for target shooting or cranked up to ensure an ethical harvest. So, not only can it be your first PCP rifle, but there’s a good chance that it’ll also be your last. With that said, it was time to gather my things and head to a fancy, private test facility: my backyard.

Charging pump included with kit from Umarex.

Pump It Up!

Once I got my target and myself situated, I connected the quick-fill probe to the fill port and noted how many pumps it took to get into the green. The Origin touts a single full-power shot in as little as 13 pumps. This is due to a combination of the pump’s efficiency and the Ever Pressure tank system. This system consists of an encapsulated, precharged volume of pressure inside the reservoir. As you pump air into the cylinder, that precharged pressure is pressing against it, causing it to compress and build pressure faster.

Before getting into any serious testing, I first wanted to check the claim of 13 pumps to get to full power. I tested it several times, and each time, 13 pumps got me into the green plus at least one graduation on my 43-degree range day. They did sell themselves short though, because on average, I got three shots within the 820- to 840-feet-per-second range using 13.4-grain Falcon Accuracy Plus pellets. It was here that I observed how well the regulation system worked, because under-pressured shots were vastly slower and very obviously so. Basically, it’s full power or no power, sort of cutting things clean.

Practical Application

I liked what I was seeing so far, but I was really interested in finding out how it performed during typical use. With that in mind, I wanted to determine a realistic pressure and then conduct an accuracy test. I found that it took an average of 60 pumps, or about two minutes’ worth of pumping, to hit the halfway mark. To get it all the way up, I found it took about 140 pumps, but those last few had to be earned with sweat. Slightly after the halfway mark is where I figured it to be the point of diminishing returns and would rather just pump it up again when it was time.

At such pressure, I was able to get a good, tight string of 20 shots that averaged 923 feet per second with a standard deviation of only 14. That’s pretty amazing when you consider that most of my handloaded cartridges don’t hit that consistency mark. Furthermore, the Origin is a “starter kit,” if you will, meaning that you can also use a scuba tank or electric compressor to fill it should you pick either one up down the road.

Accuracy Report

For my formal testing, I deployed a Bog DeathGrip tripod to ensure that there wouldn’t be any wobble. This setup has tamed some monster rifles in its day and under the negligible recoil of the Origin shined even brighter. The DeathGrip held the rifle in place after each shot and didn’t need any adjustment during any single five-shot group.

I set my target out at the industry standard of 15 yards, which was ultimately a mistake. Why, you ask? Because the groups were too tight to measure. The first group sailed each pellet through the same hole so perfectly it was only slightly larger than .22 caliber. So, instead of a well-constructed chart, all I can say is this: “The solemn hole that made up each five-shot group got slightly larger from shot one to shot 20.”

During the test, I found the cocking mechanism to be exceptionally smooth and fast, sort of like running a bolt action but with fewer motions. The trigger was light and crisp, later measuring just 2 pounds, 3 ounces with a Lyman digital trigger gauge. Aside from basic functioning, I liked that mag swaps didn’t require the press of a button. When cocked, the bolt keeps it from falling out, and it also won’t go forward on an empty mag, letting you know when you are out. I found these magazines to be very reliable, but there was a bit of a learning curve involved when trying to figure out how to top them off.

Packing Up

Umarex got me hook, line and sinker. As I brought all of the gear inside, I thought, “Hey, I don’t have a PCP yet. I also don’t have a means of filling other PCPs if I’m assigned another one somewhere down the road.” Needless to say, the marketing worked, and shortly after taking my coat off, I was on the phone asking for an invoice to keep it. I will say this: Nothing gets me excited like an accurate rifle, and the Origin was more accurate than most of my rimfires while still having enough energy to take care of small game.

Being that half a charge gets you right around 20 usable shots on a cool day, that is enough for a good squirrel hunt without having to think about refilling. However, at just 6 pounds, it’s not unrealistic to toss it into your pack and take it with you, just in case you are ambushed by a pack of tin cans.