by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

The upper range at Media Day has about 50 ranges and vendors. Because of crossbows, the ranges go in both directions.

On the lower range there are more ranges, also going both directions, with shotguns on the right.

This report covers:

• SHOT Show
• A great find!
• My interest
• My collection
• This BB gun
• Cocking
• Takedown
• Number 25?
• Sights
• Summary

Media Day at the Range is an event for gun writers and video makers, only. About 2,000 of us are taken to the Boulder City range where we are allowed to shoot and use some of the newest guns and accessories.

Umarex Hammer

We waited all last year for the Umarex Hammer to come out. From what I saw and sampled this year, I think we will see production guns by mid-2018.

The Hammer is a repeating .50-caliber big bore that gets 4 powerful shots on a fill ton 4,500 psi. The regulator drops the firing pressure to 3,000 psi, and the first 3 shots are all at the same pressure. Shot 4 drops below 3,000 slightly, but at 40 yards all the bullets should stay in a tight group.

The Umarex Hammer looks smaller than last year. It’s a 2-shot .50 caliber big bore repeater.

Some 330-grain Hammer bullets with a quarter for scale. That’s the 2-shot magazine.

The biggest news this year is the magazine went from 3 shots to 2. I like this one much better. Two shots are all a good hunter needs, and the rifle comes with 2 mags. Swapping is now very rapid. Coincidentally, there are 4 powerful shots on a fill.

I shot it several times and hit the 40-yard gong every time. Cocking is surprisingly easy, and the 2-stage trigger is extremely light for a big bore. The recoil is sharp but not that heavy — maybe like a .223 Remington in a light bolt action rifle. Can’t wait to test a Hammer!

Gauntlet

Next to the Hammer was the new Gauntlet. This one has already been released, but I haven’t shot it since last year, when it was still a prototype. They say there are 60 good shots in .22 caliber on one fill of this regulated rifle and Steve Criner told me it is so quiet you wonder if it is working. Media Day is a sustained firefight, so I couldn’t hear the discharge of either rifle that well.

BB shoots the Gauntlet.

I found the trigger light and delightful and I never missed anything I shot at. Of course I need to conduct a thorough test, but this Gauntlet looks exciting!

A cheaper alternative to buying a compressor

I will be showing you several new air compressors this year, but at the Umarex range I saw something completely different. It’s a regulator and hose that connects to a 6000 psi bulk tank, and will fill an airgun many more times than even the largest carbon fiber tank. Look at it and them I will tell you about it.

Ray Trimbel stands next to his cascade system of huge air tanks that kept the Umarex range running all day. With this configuration he can keep one of the tanks topped off all day at above 4,500 psi. An airgunner only needs a single tank and hose/regulator setup.

Ray Trimble of Pressure Specialist, Inc. in Crystal Lake, IL, offers the regulated hose that outputs either 3,000 psi or 4,500 psi from a 6,000 psi nitrogen tank (it holds air, too). And here is the beauty. You buy the regulated hose that’s ready to attach to a large nitrogen tank for $400. Then you rent the tank for $100 a pop and fill your guns hundreds or even thousands of times (depending on the guns) before the tank needs refilling. Five hundred dollars is less than you will pay for a reliable air compressor. This is for those guys who don’t yet have a compressor and may not want to invest.

Frank also showed me a quick fill setup he provided Umarex so they could top off the Hammer tank in seconds. Just press down on a button and the gun’s tank is filled!

Kyle from Umarex fills the Hammer tank quickly. He kept the Hammer and Gauntlet running all day wit this setup!

No other airgun companies!

Umarex was the only airgun company that attended Media Day this year. So I went looking at other products, because I never have enough time to do that at the SHOT Show. And — boy, did I find them!

Mission Crossbows Sub-1

When I saw this crossbow I was captivated. It has a 200 lb. draw, yet with a cocking assist I cocked it easily. Starts out at 100 lbs. but tapers to just 20 pounds at the end.

At the end of the cocking stroke the Sub-1 takes just 20 lbs.!

But that isn’t the big story. The Sub-one is the only crossbow on the market that can be uncocked! A button on the side allows for this, and it’s just as easy as cocking.

That button allows you to safely uncock the crossbow.

Even that isn’t the whole story. The reason this is called the Sub-1 is because it put 5 arrows into less than one inch at 100 yards! Yes, I didn’t believe it, either. So they let me shoot at a target 90 yards away. I nailed it both times. The 425-grain arrow goes out at over 300 f.p.s., and a 400-grainer does 350!

I nailed the 90-yard target on both shots!

Not only is the Sub-1 accurate — it has what they call a match trigger. It isn’t as good as a 10-meter rifle match trigger, but it is about as nice as the Marauder trigger. The sad news is the Sub-1 retails for $1,795, but if you want the best you have to pay for it.

Safety glasses

I looked at safety glasses in the sales pavilion next. Edge glasses withstood a direct hit from a 12-gauge shotgun blast! They meet military specs for ruggedness, which is a projectile traveling 660 f.p.s.

These Edge safety glass lenses stood up to 12-gauge shotgun shot at 12 yards!

But I think the biggest story will be the new Gatorz Magnum Z glasses that meet ANCI Z87 specs. These have aluminum frames and are the first American-made safety glasses with metal frames to meet the spec. They can be bent and shaped to fit your face. They are used by law enforcement, U.S. elite forces, and now, by the Godfather of Airguns. Expect a report on these glasses sometime soon.

DOA Shooting Bench

I will end this report with the DOA Shooting bench that I not only saw in their booth, but also on several of the other ranges. It is a collapsable bench that is so sturdy old BB could tap dance on the tabletop — not that he’s going to!

How nice is it? Nice enough that I am buying one! I cannot let a good piece of shooting equipment like this go. Expect a report soon!

That was Media Day. There were a thousand things I didn’t report on, but I had to rush back to my hotel to write and publish this report before attending a hosted dinner party at 6:30. Tomorrow the show opens and BB will be the red and blue flash seen ripping through the aisles — trying to remember all that I was asked to cover!

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

• The big news
• Benjamin Fortitude
• Marauder Field and Target
• Akura
• Traveler
• SigASP20
• Tight breech and no droop
• The trigger
• AirForce E-Pump

I will start the third day on the SHOT Show floor with Crosman. They always have loads of new products and this year was no exception. I actually had to visit the booth two separate times to get what I am about to tell you.

The big news

So — what’s the big news at Crosman? I guess that depends on what interests you, but since I am defining this year’s show as the battle of the price-point PCPs (precharged pneumatic rifles with upscale features selling for under $300), let’s start with the Fortitude.

Benjamin Fortitude

Benjamin’s new Fortitude PCP is regulated, a repeater and has a shroud. It is positioned between the Discovery and the Marauder.

Benjamin Fortitude.

Does it have the latest Crosman barrel-rifling technology? Yes! Does it have a Marauder trigger? No, but one can be fitted. I will have to test it to say any more, but with the features it has, and with Crosman’s manufacturing experience behind it, I would say the Fortitude belongs on your short list.

Marauder Field and Target

There wasn’t a new Marauder Field and Target rifle at the show, but I was told its features are the same as the Custom Shop Marauder that was there. This is the upgraded Marauder rifle that was announced last year but never made it to market.

Benjamin Marauder Field and Target.

According to Crosman, this one has the new barrel technology and of course it is regulated. The regulator works all the time, unlike the rifle they showed last year, and I think that is the way most shooters will want it. The top of the receiver is cut in a Picatinney rail, making scope mounting easier. All other features that come with the Marauder are there, too.

Akura

Another innovation is the new Benjamin Akura breakbarrel. It features the Precision Barrel Lock, or PBL, that tightens the breech at the shot. Air from the shot pushes a pin into a hole that locks the breech tight as the pellet is moving forward. Crosman says this improves accuracy. The Akura comes in .177 and .22.

Benjamin Akura breakbarrel with the Precision Barrel Lock (PBL) is new for 2018.

Air from the shot forces a pin back into the spring tube to lock the breech.

Traveler

Another innovative product from Crosman this year is their new Traveler air compressor. It compresses air to 4,500 psi and operates on 110 volt household current or 12 volts from a car battery. It comes with an inverter to run on 110 volt AC. It includes a port for an inline oil and water separator

The Traveler from Crosman is a lightweight portable air compressor.

The Traveler is small and lightweight, so it’s convenient to carry with you. It’s meant for filling airguns — not bulk tanks, and I was told they recommend operating it for not longer than 45 minutes at a time, if you run it continuously. Some sample fill times are:

Gun…………..……Fill…………Time
Maximus……..…0 to 2000…….3 min. 25 sec.
Marauder……..…0 to 3000…….8 min.
Marauder………2000 to 3000….3 min.
Marauder pistol…0 to 3000….…2.5 minutes

The planned MSRP is $650, which puts the Traveler in a good position. I have called 2018 the year of the price-point PCP, but it’s also the year of the compressor. We have now seen two and more are coming.

Sig ASP20

There is more to see at Crosman, but let’s move on now to Sig, where I got to see and handle their new breakbarrel. The ASP20 is a ground-up design. Sig now has Ed Schultz, who should be well-known to my readers as the creator of the Benjamin Discovery and the Marauder. He showed me the design details of this new springer (gas spring) and I was amazed!

Sig’s ASP20 is new from the ground up.

Tight breech and no droop!

These two features should get your springer geek juices flowing! Ed told me that the team of Sig engineers took an entirely new approach with this air rifle. Sig has completely redesigned the breech lockup to give bank-vault security. The top of the breech flares out as a wedge and the detent pulls the breech down when the barrel is closed. That makes this breech like a keystone in an arch.

When this keystone breech closes, the detent pulls the breech down and the two wedges pull it tight against the action forks.

Just by itself the keystone breech is a wonder, BUT — Sig found a way to eliminate barrel droop. They bore the holes for the pivot pin through both the breech and the action forks with them assembled. That ensures perfect barrel/spring tube alignment! If there were awards for airgun design, this breech would get one.

The trigger

Then I cocked the rifle and discovered how easy it is! Sig rep. Dani Navickas told me she cocked the rifle for shooters at least 100 times at the Sig Range Day and had no pain afterwards.

Then I squeezed the trigger. It’s too soon to tell Rekord to move over, but there is a new kid in town!

I liked the trigger a lot!

Airforce E-Pump

Okay — last item. Remember I told you there are a lot of compressors this year? AirForce Airguns has a new one called the E-Pump. It’s also small and portable, though a little heavier than the Crosman Traveler. The AirForce model can run all the time and fill tanks as well as guns, but it runs slower and cooler than any other compressor on the market. As a result, when it fills a tank to 4,500 psi, there is no shrinkage from the heat buildup. You end up with 4500 psi, no less.

The AirForce E-Pump.

The E-Pump is extremely quiet. I can’t hear it operate when they run it at the show. It also operates slow and steady. Ton Jones tells me he hooks it up to his carbon fiber tank at night and just lets it run. It shuts off automatically when the set pressure is reached, and the line will hold air until you release it. Then he loads his truck to go to the range and in that time the pump fills his rifle tank.

This compressor runs on 12 volt, 110 and 220, so it is ready to go anywhere in the world. It’s priced at $850, retail..

That’s it for this week. Old BB is tired and wants to get back home to sleep in his own bed. Monday I’ll give you a break from the show and do something historical.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

This report covers:

• Meopta
• Leapers
• P.O.I. Airgun Rings
• Vanquish 700
• Air Venturi Hellboy
• ASG
• AirForce
• Are we done?

Before I start I want to say a word about who I cover at SHOT. There are plenty of airguns I never look at, for reasons I think are good. These are the fringe companies that have no representation in the U.S., or they have a couple of shyster dealers with bad reputations. I don’t want to give them any attention. The other people covering the show can “scoop” me on these. Yes, I miss a few things, but I also avoid giving credibility to guns that will only break your hearts.

That said, why do I cover Leapers and not other scope companies? Am I getting a kickback? Well, there is a story here. I used to go to Burris, Leupold and many other scope manufacturers, and they all received me the same way. “Airguns? You write about airguns? Sure, we have a couple scopes that could be used on an airgun, I guess.”

Only at Leapers was I met with enthusiasm and interest. When I told them that airguns break scopes with their snappy two-way recoil, they decided to brace all their scopes for that! When I told them about parallax adjustments down to 10 meters, they went down to 3 meters and the Bug Buster line was born. Leapers is a company that cares and wants to play the game. I have only limited time at SHOT and I spend it on the companies that count.

Meopta

This year I will say that I found one scope at Meopta that adjusts down to 10 meters. It retails for $1,700, but is the optical equivalent of a Swarovski costing almost twice as much. We pay a lot more than that for Nightforce scopes for field target use. Unfortunately this one was only a 4-16, so I doubt many airgunners will go for it, certainly not those in field target. However I was asked by Meopta if I would like to test one. They are curious whether their scopes can take the airgun recoil, which I thought was a brave thing to say! I am tempted to give it a try, because, if we can get Meopta on board, we will have two great optics companies making airgun scopes, and at different price points!

If you are a long time reader you know that I think the world of Meopta optics! If they can come on board, we will have a powerful new source for optics.

Leapers

I already started testing the new Bug Buster 3-12 late last year. But this year they will be adding an optional feature that all Bug Buster owners will like, I think. It’s a special sidewheel, just for the Big Buster! I am getting one to test for you!

The new Bug Buster sidewheel fits all current Bug Buster scopes. Call for info on older scopes.

Leapers has made several changes to their Accushot scopes. They all now have thinner reticles, many of which are illuminated. They are etched onto glass for reflection reduction. I looked through several different of them in the Leapers booth and, although the types of reticles were different, they were all quite thin! In one case I could only see the floating center dot because it was illuminated. These are features found on other manufacturers’ scopes that cost a lot more.

They are also putting new turrets on this line of scopes. They are wider, so there are fewer turns to go up and down (because of a larger circumference/more clicks on the knobs).

The turret adjustment knobs on the Accushot line will be larger from now on.

P.O.I. Airgun Rings

I saw the P.O.I. scope rings last year, but they were made for Weaver scope bases. This year Leapers will make P.O.I. rings for 11mm airgun dovetails, as well. They will be in all heights and both tube sizes — one inch and 30mm.

These are made in the U.S. What makes them special is the movable jaws are guided by two pins. They cannot get cocked or out of alignment.

P.O.I. rings are now made for 11mm dovetails.

Vanquish 700

Leapers also showed me their new Vanquish 700 tactical flashlight. You guys know what a sap I am for flashlights! This one has two buttons, one to turn on/off and the other to manage brightness and the strobe. It does run on 2 CR123A batteries, but those can be rechargables, which is about all I use anymore.

There are other 700 lumen tactical lights on the market. I focus on this one because it’s from Leapers and will therefore be affordable. Also there is good chance Pyramyd Air will carry it.

The UTG Vanquish 700 will be an affordable defense light.

Air Venturi Hellboy

The Hellboy is a CO2-powered AR lookalike that shots BBs. Tyler Patner told me it is remarkably accurate out to long distances with the new Dust Devil BBs!

Air Venturi Hellboy is a new CO2-powered BB repeater.

But, from what I observed, the biggest news in the Air Venturi booth was the fact that Air Arms has finally made the S510 Xtra FAC in .25 caliber. They say it gets 44 foot-pounds, so you hunters should be interested.

Val Gamerman of Air Venturi holds the S510 Xtra FAC from Air Arms. It now comes in .25 caliber!

ASG

Action Sport Games showed me a couple nice new air pistols. They license the 1911 from Dan Wesson and build a nice budget-priced pellet repeater. It’s not blowback, and the grip safety doesn’t function but the price is low enough that those things don’t matter. The gun is heavy and has a double action trigger that’s amazingly light. I hope to review this one soon.

Dan Wesson 1911.

Bob Li of ASG is one fantastic salesman! He talked up the CZ75 SP-01 Shadow so much at dinner the night before that he has me wanting one in 9mm! But at his booth he showed me the BB version that’s coming this year.

CZ 75 SP-01 Shadow.

All controls function and this one comes apart! The sights adjust, too, so there is a lot to look forward to.

AirForce

I’ll finish this report with the new Texan Carbine from AirForce. Some people wanted a shorter-barreled big bore, and with the Texan they don’t give up enough energy to be concerned. The carbines are still more powerful than most other big bores.

The Texan Carbine is under the Texan, for comparison. Same calibers. Just give up 100 foot-pounds in .45, which the Texan can afford to do.

Are we done?

Not yet. There are still new things to show you and I will do that later this week. This year bodes well for the airgun industry, I think. It is the year of the price-point PCP and of the budget air compressor, but there are a couple other new things you haven’t yet seen that are quite nice.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

• Spring-piston guns
• The price-point PCP
• High-pressure air compressors
• Action air pistols
• It’s been done before
• Airgun shows
• Hunting
• They’re listening now!
• Summary

After writing 6 reports on the SHOT Show I thought it was time to look at all that has happened in airgunning in recent years. We are in a golden age of experimentation and refinement, and it’s good to stop and reflect on that for a moment.

Spring-piston guns

If you had asked me what the future of the spring gun was before I attended this SHOT Show I would have told you that everything that could be done had been done. Then, at the show, I saw not one but two novel new breakbarrels.

Crosman has their new Akura breakbarrel with the Precision Barrel Lock or PBL. It is a novel new way of locking the breech at the shot by using some of the compressed air to push a pin back into the spring tube. The rest of the rifle is a straightforward gas spring breachbarrel, but the question we have to ask is why they felt it necessary to lock the breech this way. A few other airguns use mechanical locks that are operated by the user, so there must be an advantage to locking the breech, but will we see it when I test the Akura?

Sig also gave us a new locking breech on their new ASP20, but they used a mechanical design they call the keystone breech. The breech flares out at the top and presses against the walls of the action forks when the barrel is closed, as the detent pulls the breech down to make it rigid. That’s a second company that feels it necessary to lock a breakbarrel’s breech tight.

Sig also gives us a new American-designed trigger that I feel certain will give their legal department sleepless nights! And guys — there is no adjustment screw in this one — at least not in the conventional sense! Shooters may have to trust Sig this time, because it doesn’t look like fiddling with the trigger will get you anywhere.

So, I was a little hasty when I dismissed spring-piston airguns. Apparently there is still room for innovation.

The price-point PCP

In 2006 when we developed the Benjamin Discovery we were breaking ground that had never before been plowed. That started the PCP revolution that we have today. This year we have a handful of new PCPs with features like good triggers, accuracy, shrouds and regulators — features that used to be found only on PCPs costing considerably more than the sub-$300 asking price the market has decided is right.

Gamo Urban
Umarex Gauntlet
Benjamin Fortitude
Hatsan Flash

This is a greater impact than just 4 new PCPs. This establishes the price at which new precharged guns with a lot of features have to cost. What happens next will be a race to offer the best and most features at this price. If a flood of sales result from this first push, we can expect to see wonderful things, and a small but necessary price increase as even more features are added.

High-pressure air compressors

Twenty years ago no affordable high-pressure air compressor existed. Today there is an entire field of budget-priced high-pressure air compressors. I remember discussing this possibility years ago with Dennis Quackenbush. I thought it was an area in which little would ever be done. Dennis thought differently. He actually described to me the possibility of what has now become the AirForce E-Pump.

Not all the new compressor offerings are as reliable as they might be. What I think will happen next is some of the weak sisters will have to go away and reliability will become the most important thing. I think the price has dropped as low as it can and still offer reasonable reliability, but I have been wrong before. So, let’s see.

Action air pistols

In my opinion we are on the cusp of an explosion of interest in action air pistols. The reason for this — again my opinion — is the introduction of the Air Venturi Dust Devil frangible BB. There are already a great many action air pistols already in the market, so let me explain that I’m not suggesting a flood of new models is coming. But the Dust Devil gives us the ability to use the action pistols with action targets that also exist in great numbers.

Now there is good cause for new hard targets to come to market for BB guns. I think we should start seeing some even this year. Codeuce — are you listening?

It’s been done before

This isn’t the first time ammunition made a big impact on airguns. When the Crosman Premier pellet first came to market in the mid-1990s it was tried in the then-obsolete Crosman 160 pellet rifle. That rifle had languished since being terminated back in 1971. Collectors liked it, but the accuracy was nothing to shout about. Then came the .22 caliber Crosman Premier pellet and suddenly the 160 awoke! Think I’m just talking about vintage airguns that you can’t buy? Think again.

The 160 was the starting point for the QB77, which, in turn, spawned the QB 78 that exists in several iterations and the QB 79. Those rifles, which have been produced in many times the numbers as the original Crosman 160, served as the starting point for the Beeman QB Chief PCP. See how it works?

Airgun shows

The growing popularity of airguns means a larger market for airgun shows. Later I will publish a schedule of the shows I know about this year.

Hunting

Here’s what I see on the hunting front. The recent launch of several high-powered airguns that launch arrows is having an affect on hunting. State fish and game departments are aware of the advances that have been made. I see increasing interest from all around the nation from fish and game departments looking into airguns as hunting weapons. It’s hard to sell them on a .45 caliber bullet that develops 500 foot-pounds because they match it on paper against a .223 Remington cartridge that gets more than twice the power with a bullet that weighs 1/10 as much. They just don’t understand. If they thought about airguns in the same context as black powder arms, things would come into focus.

But, when you tell them an airbow can launch a 450-grain arrow at 500+ f.p.s. — that they understand! Because they know that the most powerful crossbows cannot match it, and the longbows are even farther behind. They know crossbows do belong in the field — even if their state does not allow them yet. The crossbow manufacturers are acutely aware of the airgun threat, because they are pulling out all the stops in an effort to match them!

They’re listening now!

When I started writing The Airgun Letter in 1994, the airgun community was small and content to remain so. You had large manufacturers like Crosman and Daisy who thought of their products as almost adult toys. And you had the small boutique operations like Theoben and Daystate who knew that airguns were a lot more, but were not interested in promoting them. They had a solid customer base that they were equipped to serve, so growth wasn’t on their radar.

Today everything has turned around. Crosman, Gamo, Umarex and Sig know that their future depends on adults who want to use their products for serious endeavors like competition and hunting. They still build for the youth market, but their focus has shifted to the adult airgun market. Anyone attending this year’s SHOT Show can see that.

AirForce just acquired Theoben! Theoben built guns to a high quality standard, but they made them slowly. AirForce knows better than anyone how to do the same thing at a high rate of production. If I were in a boutique operation today, I would start scrambling, because the competition just got fierce! Business as usual isn’t going to last much longer.

Summary

If you have been with airguns for even just a year you know I’m telling the truth about all of this. It might seem like this is the way it has always been, but it hasn’t. The last few years have seen the airgun marketplace come alive and 2018 is looking like the liveliest year of them all!

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

TexanSS big bore air rifle from AirForce.

Part 1
Part 2

• Different
• The challenge
• Start — 210-grain SWC
• 250-grain hollowpoint
• Heavier bullets
• Predator “pellet”
• What I have learned
• Noice

I finally got out to the range to test the velocity of the AirForce TexanSS. I told reader Aaron that I would report on that as soon as possible and today is the day.

It takes a chronograph to test like I did.

Different

Aaron, I discovered that the TexanSS powerplant behaves differently than the .45 Texan I told you about. Today I will reveal what I have discovered thus far.

The challenge

The TexanSS is a .45 caliber big bore air rifle that has a bullet tuner on the left side of the gun. Some folks might be tempted to call it a power adjuster, because that is what it does, but it’s not there for power. It’s there to tune the rifle for each different bullet you shoot. That gets you the best velocity and accuracy, plus you don’t waste any air. You may see that in today’s report.

As I have said many times — you don’t adjust a rifle like this for many different bullets. You try to find one or possibly two bullets that are the most accurate and tune for them. I hope to show you a way of keeping track of that today. If I were tuning it for two different bullets I would want a heavy one for bigger game like bison and elk and a lighter one for smaller critters like deer and coyotes.

Because the power adjusts, and also because you can shoot bullets that vary in weight by hundreds of grains, there are an infinite number of possibilities to test. Watch what I do and you will be able to cut the testing time dramatically. You will need a chronograph for this.

Start — 210-grain SWC

I started out testing a 210-grain semi-wadcutter that had been accurate in the Texan. At first I started with the tuner on this rifle set on Texan settings, but on the SS the velocity was way too slow. Even with the power set on the halfway mark the velocity with this bullet was just 438 f.p.s. So I dialed the power up to the 3/4 mark and the next bullet went out at 825 f.p.s. Obviously this rifle doesn’t come up to power at the halfway point on the power scale.

The bullet tuner with the gross adjustments identified. Line up the line on the adjustment wheel with the lines indicated. The rifle is set at 3/4 power in this picture.

Three-quarters power was evidently a good place to be. I refilled the rifle to 3000 psi and shot 5 shots with the 210-grain bullet and 3/4 power.

Shot……..Velocity………….Pressure after the shot
1…………..818 f.p.s…………………..2700
2…………..815 f.p.s…………………..2500
3…………..794 f.p.s…………………..2350
4…………..790 f.p.s…………………..2200
5…………..767 f.p.s…………………..2000

That’s 4 good shots on a fill. I’m saying that shot 5 is too slow, when compared to the others. The pressure after each shot comes from the rifle’s gauge, and I use it just as a reference. You will see why as the test continues.

250-grain hollowpoint

Next up was a 250-grain hollowpoint bullet from Hunter’s Supply. Since these weren’t much heavier than the previous bullets, I decided to see what they did at different settings on the adjustor. At 1/4 power they went out at 280 f.p.s. At 1/2 power they went 535 f.p.s. At 3/4 power they went 782 f.p.s., so I refilled to 3000 and dialed the power to 7/8. Then this same bullet went out at 781 f.p.s. That tells me 3/4 power is where this bullet wants the tuner to be.

Heavier bullets

The next bullet I tested was a 315 flat point from Tin Starr Bullets. The first test was at full power and a fresh fill to 3,000 psi.

Shot……..Velocity………….Pressure after the shot
1…………..737 f.p.s…………………..2750
2…………..724 f.p.s…………………..2500
3…………..713 f.p.s…………………..2250
4…………..663 f.p.s…………………..2050

This test shows there are 3 good shots with this bullet on full power. The fourth shot could finish off an animal, but wouldn’t be in the same group if you shot at any distance.

You can also see from this string that when the onboard pressure goes below 2200 psi, the power drops off. Look at the first string with the 210-grain bullet and you can see the same thing.

Next, I tried the same bullet at 3/4 power.

Shot……..Velocity………….Pressure after the shot
1…………..720 f.p.s…………………..2800
2…………..729 f.p.s…………………..2650
3…………..716 f.p.s…………………..2450
4…………..684 f.p.s…………………..did not record

There are still just three shots with this bullet on 3/4 power. But shot number 4 might hold in the same group out to 30 yards or so. And the shots are closer in velocity. While 3/4 power might not be the perfect setting, it’s where to start with a heavier bullet like this. And what I mean is testing accuracy. You want to find the sweet spot for the best accuracy and then record what power you have. By the way, this 315-grain bullet generates 427.84 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. A heavier bullet will generate even more.

Predator “pellet”

The last bullet I tried was a 247-grain “pellet” from Predator. The box says they are sized 0.457, but they did not fit well in the breech of the rifle. I took a picture of this to show you, plus I measured this bullet with a caliper when I got back to the office.

That’s as far as the Predator pellet will go into the breech of the TexanSS I’m testing.

It was the head of the pellet that wasn’t entering the breech. When I measured it at home they measured between 0.459 and 0.462-inches in diameter, so no way were they going to enter a 0.457-inch barrel easily. They heads were not uniformly round, either. I have heard this bullet isn’t very accurate in the Texan, so I don’t expect much from it. All the other bullets seated in the breech up to their bases, so this came as a surprise.

What I have learned

Well, Aaron, everything I told you in my reply last week goes out the window with today’s test. The TexanSS is not performing like my Texan did. I guess the longer barrel of the Texan is the reason.

The TexanSS power band is around 3/4 power and up — at least it is for the 210-315-grain bullets I have tested so far. That tells me a lot about what I have to do when I start testing for accuracy.

With round balls that weigh only 143 grains the lower power settings might become much more useful. That’s something I need to test.

Noise

I saved the best for last. The TexanSS is very quiet! I shot the entire test with no hearing protection, and even on full power the rifle comes nowhere near the noise of a .22 Long Rifle round. Maybe it’s like a .22 Short standard speed, but probably less.

Now that I know where to adjust it, accuracy testing comes next.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Sub-1 crossbow. Photo used with permission of Mission Archery.

This report covers:

• Sub-1 crossbow
• Would I like to try?
• Surprise, surprise
• Description
• Bubble level
• No dry-fire
• Trigger
• Maintenance
• Special tips
• What have I left out?

This is a different kind of blog. I hope it’s one you will enjoy.

Sub-1 crossbow

When I was at Media Day at the Range at this year’s SHOT Show, I stopped by the Mission Archery booth, where they were displaying the Sub-1 crossbow. It looked cool and they engaged me in conversation right away, so I asked where the name came from. They told me this bow can shoot 3-shot groups at 100 yards that measure less than one inch between centers. That caught my attention!

Would I like to try?

This is what Media Day is all about. Of course I would like to try. I wondered what the draw weight was? Two hundred pounds, I was told. Okay, deal me out. Maybe when I was 50 I could draw 200 pounds — certainly not today. Then the representative told me that his 13-year-old daughter could cock it. Well, with that I puffed out my chest and tried to cock it. When it comes to cocking crossbows, anything a 13-year-old girl can do…

Surprisingly, the bow cocked with relative ease! Just grab both handles of the cocking assist rope and stand up. The dynamics have been worked out and once the heaviest weight of about 100 lbs. (half the draw weight because of the cocking assist) has passed, the bow becomes quite easy to draw. At the end of the draw you are holding 20-40 lbs of force. It’s not that different from cocking a mega-magnum breakbarrel and learning to hold the barrel at the muzzle for the best leverage.

I shot the Sub-1 two times from a bench at a target 90 yards away. To my surprise, both arrows landed close to each other! This thing really works! And by the way, the bench I shot from is the same one I bought and will be showing you later this month!

When I shot the Sub-1 at Media Day, I was impressed!

Three arrows into less than an inch at 100 yards is a feat, but not a one-time deal. With care and a little luck, it is possible. Remember, a Robin Hood will destroy either or both arrows, so this is risky!  Photo with permission of Mission Archery.

Surprise, surprise

When I sent my SHOT Show report to Firearms News several weeks ago the editor asked if I would like to write a feature about the Sub-1. Sure I would! Today is the first step in that process. I contacted Mission Archery and they sent me the Sub-1 package deal. That’s the bow, a 1.5-5X32 Hawke crossbow scope with rings, a cloth carrying case, a quiver, a bubble level and three 20-inch carbon fiber bolts (arrows) that weigh just over 400 grains. That package retails for $1699, which is on the high end for crossbows, but not at the top.

I weighed one of the arrows (they are called bolts when used with a crossbow) and got 417.8 grains. The bow is rated to shoot these around 340-350 f.p.s. That may not sound fast to a airgunner but in the world of crossbows it’s pretty brisk.

We have seen airbows like the Air Venturi Wing Shot that they now call the Seneca Wing Shot II in the past few years, and we know they will launch a 430-grain Air Bolt at 550-600+ f.p.s. As far as the application of launching arrows, they aren’t that different, but the operation of this crossbow is entirely new to me. And the Sub-1 crossbow has technology that makes it new to almost everyone.

Description

The Sub-1 weighs 7.5 lbs. without the scope. No other sights are provided so some kind of optical sight is required, and the little Hawke they sent with it is lightweight and compact. We know Hawke quality from their airgun scopes, and it appears to have crossed over to this one. I say that from an initial examination. Even more than a pellet gun scope, I’m going to have to learn to use this one, because an arrow’s trajectory is enormous! So there’s more to come.

The bow is 30.25 inches long and the width, axel to axel, is 13.8 inches uncocked and 10.7 inches cocked. The pull is adjustable to one of six positions, ranging from 14.5 to 15 inches. It came set in the middle at 14.75-inches, but I found 15 inches to be the most comfortable. I find that holding a crossbow is different than holding a rifle and the longer pull feels fine. It brings my cheek to the right place for the scope.

There are 24 patents pending on the Sub-1, but the most significant must be the ability to uncock the bow. All other crossbows require you to shoot an arrow to safely uncock them, but the Sub-1 has been designed to make unckocking easy and safe. You put the safety on, remove the arrow, push the decocking button, pull the bowstring back about 1.5 inches with the cocking assist rope until you hear a click, then let the string go forward under control (you hold both cocking rope handles). This is a very big deal, because good arrows can cost as much as $20. You don’t want to shoot them into the ground too many times.

The decocking button (arrow) is a first for crossbows. The automatic safety is just above it.

The pistol grip looks like one from an AR-15. Indeed, any AR-15 grip will fit, as long as it doesn’t have a beavertail.

Bubble level

I’m not kidding — they sent me a bubble level for the crossbow. The sight line of the Hawke scope is about 2.75-inches above the arrow rail, so we will have the same difficulty with canting at distance that we have with any airgun or firearm. I’m right-handed so the bubble mounts on the left side of the bow. I told them about the Leapers UTG Bubble Leveler scope, so maybe they can work out a deal for crossbows.

No dry-fire

Here is a rule you will recognize. Crossbows are not to be fired without an arrow. In other words — no dry-firing! It’s bad enough for a spring-piston airgun, but it’s death for a crossbow! In fact, the Sub-1 manual specifies that only arrows weighing 400 grains or more are to be shot, so they must need the resistance for the bowstring.

The arrows have a half-moon nock that engages the bowstring. Many crossbow bolts have flat ends without a nock. The Sub-1 requires 20-inch arrows with the half moon nock.

Trigger

The trigger is what Mission Archery calls a match trigger. It releases at 3 lbs. 6 oz. In the firearms world that would equate to an AR-15 National Match trigger that breaks under 5 lbs. I had one on my AR for several years and thought it was nice until my Geissele was installed. Of course airgunners are used to triggers that take only grams to release, so please understand we are talking about a different technology. I got to squeeze this one twice at SHOT (remember — no dry firing) so I will have to wait until I shoot to give you more on the trigger.

The safety goes on automatically when the bow is cocked, and you can appreciate that because you then have to put an arrow on the bowstring! Don’t want the bow to fire while you are doing that! You know about beartrap “accidents” when breakbarrel spring guns fire while they are being loaded? Crossbows have the same danger in a triangle that’s defined by the cocked and uncocked bowstring.

Maintenance

You’ll laugh at this one. The manual says to lubricate the rail (the deck upon which the arrow is launched) with rail lube every 5-10 shots. The bowstring runs along this rail and has some downward pressure, so there is constant friction. The lube helps prolong the string’s life. But here is the deal. You can go too far with lubing, just like you can with oiling a spring gun.

Yes lube the rail every 5 to 10 shots but don’t be anal about it. And, if you are shooting groups at long distance, don’t lube in the middle of the string. This is a common-sense thing, but as my late aunt once said, common sense isn’t that common!

Special tips

I called Mission Archery and talked to one of their engineers about the bow, because crossbows are something brand-new to me. I know even less about them than I used to about straight razors!

He gave me some important tips. Here is just one. Archers number their arrows because of course they use them again and again. If one arrow shoots five clicks to the left at 50 yards, you can hold off for it or adjust the scope like we do in field target, because that arrow may not shoot where the others do, but it probably goes to the same place every time. Numbering it allows you to keep a record.

What have I left out?

Well, I’ve probably left out a lot of things you want to know about, but you guys aren’t shy. I’m doing this report just because I can. Thank Pyramyd Air for giving me the latitude to explore subjects like this that may not be central to airgunning, but are central to shooting!

Of course there’s more, but I’ll save that for the next report.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Kral Puncher Breaker bullpup with synthetic stock.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

• The test
• The day
• JSB Exact Heavy
• Magazine is easy
• H&N Baracuda Match 4.50mm heads
• Trigger
• Wind picked up
• Crosman Premier heavies
• Evaluation

Today we will finish the report on the .177 caliber Kral Puncher Breaker bullpup PCP. I have taken longer to write this report because of the weather here in Texas. We have had a cold wet winter that has kept me off the outdoor range, and today’s test is the one at 50 yards. I learned a lot about the rifle in this test and when you see the results I think you will agree.

The test

I shot the rifle off a bench with a sandbag rest. The targets were 50 yards away and I shot 10-shot groups. Not only will I describe how the rifle shot, I’ll also give you a lot more detail on things like the trigger pull.

One of the nice things about this air rifle is its conservative use of air. The rifle was set just above the midpoint on the power adjustment and I knew there were at least 60 good shots at that setting.

The rifle was already sighted for 25 yards. All I had to do was make a few adjustments to get on target at 50 yards. Like always I did not shoot for the center of the bull, because I didn’t want to destroy the aimpoint.

I shot off that new benchrest I bought at the SHOT Show this year. I’m also learning about it, so I can write a report for you. It has taken me several times using it before I finally figured it all out, but I have now and can talk about it better.

The day

I wasn’t at my usual outdoor range. I went to Otho’s house, where he has a berm for shooting. I didn’t go there because of this rifle, but because I also tested the Hatsan Hercules that wasn’t sighted in yet. I wanted complete control of the range, so I could start shooting at 10 yards and back up as I adjusted the scope. I’ll talk more about that when I do that report.

The day started out calm with a breeze from behind me at a steady 5 m.p.h. As the test progressed the wind picked up and by the final group it was gusting to 10 mph and had shifted over to the left.

JSB Exact Heavy

The first pellet I tried was the JSB Exact Heavy that gave us a 0.494-inch ten-shot group at 25 yards. At 50 yards 10 pellets went into 1.369-inches between centers. It’s not a bad group, but it is a little horizontal.

Ten JSB Exact Heavy pellets made this 1.369-inch group at 50 yards.

Magazine is easy

I have had problems loading Kral magazines in past tests, but this time I found it easy. It was easy to load 10 pellets into the 14-shot mag and the magazine was also easy to install in the rifle’s receiver.

H&H Baracuda Match 4.50mm heads

Next to be tried was the H&N Baracuda Match pellet with a 4.50mm head. At 25 yards ten grouped in 0.43-inches. At 50 yards they spread out horizontally into a 1.739-inch group. That tells us that this isn’t the pellet for this rifle. At 25 yards it looked okay, but at 50 yards it broke down. Maybe a Baracuda with a larger head size would group tighter.

Ten H&N Baracuda Match pellets with 4.50mm heads went into 1.739-inches at 50 yards.

Trigger

I found the Kral’s trigger more difficult than I remembered. The pull is heavy but I can live with it. However, the bottom of the trigger slants too far forward for comfort. I would like blade to be straighter.

Wind picked up

At this point the wind started to gust faster. I waited out the gusts and shot when it was calmest, which was still about 5 m.p.h. and still from my back.

Crosman Premier heavies

The next pellet I tried was the Crosman’s Premier 10.5-grain dome. At 25 yards they gave us a 10-shot group measuring 0.429-inches that was the best of the test. A second 25-yard group measured 0.504 inches between centers. At 50 yards they fell apart — putting 10 pellets into 1.883-inches between centers.

Ten Premier heavy pellets made this 1.833-inch group at 50 yards.

Okay — by this time I was getting frustrated. Clearly the JSB Exacts were the best pellet so far, and I thought that first group was less than an inch. That’s how it looked to me. The wind was now gusting harder and also shifting to my left.

The Puncher Breaker had done so well at 25 yards with all three pellets that I had to give it one more chance at 50. I had to try it with the JSB pellets once more. The wind was gusting, but I waited for the gusts to grow calm for every shot.

This time 10 shots went into 1.128-inches. Is that the Puncher Breaker’s best? I doubt it. I have only tested a few pellets, and all of them at a single power level. I think with the right pellet and the right power setting the Puncher Breaker will put 10 into an inch or less at 50 yards.

This second group of JSB Exact Heavy pellets was the best of the 50-yard test. Ten pellets are in 1.128-inches.

Evaluation

I’m ending the test today. I have enjoyed testing the Kral Puncher Breaker and I feel that .177 caliber was the right choice to make. We have talked about the new price-point PCPs a lot in the past few weeks. This one isn’t that much more and offers a lot for the price. How the world of airguns has changed in the past 10 years!

I would also note the big difference in group sizes between 25 and 50 yards. That’s why a longer range test is always more revealing. Not only does it show which pellets not to choose, it also shows the pellet that stands out.

The Kral Puncher Breaker is heavy, so get a sling if you plan to hunt with it. And scope it with a compact scope — both to save weight and also to keep the overall package small.

If I wanted a powerful PCP repeater, the Kral Puncher Breaker would be on my short list.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Hatsan Hercules .45 caliber big bore rifle.

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

• Sight-in
• Trigger pull
• Sight adjustments
• Only one bullet
• First target
• Second target
• Air still good
• Third target
• Summary

Wow! This report has taken a long time to write. Today we will see the accuracy of the Hatsan Hercules .45 caliber big bore air rifle.

Several things conspired to make this one take so long. The gun gave me a couple problems in the beginning. One (the fill port cover) was due to my not having a manual, but a faulty circular clip caused another one. I have had this rifle out to the range no less than 6 times, but my forgetting to bring the proprietary Hatsan fill probe caused one of the delays. And the Texas winter this year was a hard one that cancelled many range days. However, I finally got the Hercules out for an accuracy test, and today you will see the results.

Sight-in

The Hercules is scoped with the 4-16X56 UTG Bubble Leveler scope, which I believe is the best buy in an airgun scope today. The optics are clear and sharp, and that internal bubble insures the rifle is not canted with every shot. Now that my cataracts are fixed I can see the bubble very clearly, though it is on the dark side.

I was at my gun buddy Otho’s house, because I needed full control of the range. The first shot was fired from about 15 yards and landed low and left on the target. I adjusted the reticle until the shot was in the bull then backed up to 50 yards for the test.

Trigger pull

I did notice this time that the Hercules trigger breaks lighter than I assumed. I equated a big bore with a heavy trigger, but the Hercules trigger is light and crisp. That made it easy to shoot when the crosshairs were dead center in the bull.

Sight adjustments

The clarity of the scope helped me a lot. Initially I had mounted the rifle on a bipod, but as the range where I shot slopes down, it wouldn’t adjust low enough to get on target. So I used a bag rest instead of the bipod. That was perfect and I could really hold this big rifle still for every shot. That’s where I really appreciated the light trigger!

Only one bullet

If you have read parts 1 and 2 you know that the Hercules has only one bullet it can use. It’s a short .45 caliber bullet that weighs 169 grains, which is light for the caliber. They are sized 0.454-inches in diameter, which is not a size that is commonly available. It’s too large for a handgun and too small for a rifle. I was going to try some Cowboy Action Shooting bullets but they are only 0.4525-inches, and that’s too small to be accurate. In a big bore you want a bullet that’s at least bore sized or one-thousandth of an inch larger. So all testing was done with the Hatsan bullets that they call pellets.

First target

After sight-in I topped off the rifle to 250 bar (3,626 psi) and shot this entire test on a single fill. The Hercules’ 1,000 cc air capacity gives you a lot of shots, and as we will see, the better ones are at the lower pressures.

The circular clip holds seven .45-caliber bullets, so each target has 7 shots. I had the rifle hitting inside the bull after sight-in, but, as you will see, the point of impact moves around as the pressure changes.

The first couple shots landed low and to the left. As I continued shooting, though, the rounds walked to the right, toward the bull. Shot 7 was in the X ring! I thought this boded well for the next clip of seven. The group measures 5.023-inches between centers.

The first group of seven shots at 50 yards measures 5.023-inches between centers.

The onboard air gauge showed plenty of air remaining in the gun. So I reloaded the clip with another 7 bullets and started my second round. That one was informative.

Second target

The first shot hit the target low — almost off the paper. That was surprising since the last shot of the pervious group had gone through the X-ring. But the next three shots climbed higher on the paper and the final three are in the bull. It isn’t as straightforward as I would hope, but the Hercules is becoming more accurate as the reservoir pressure decreases.

This group is too large to measure with my 6-inch dial caliper, but a ruler shows it to be 5-7/8-inches between centers. If we eliminate that first shot, the other six rounds are in 3.946-inches.

The second group measures approximately 5-7/8-inches between centers, but that’s because of that low first shot. The other 6 shots are in 3.946-inches.

Air still good

I checked the onboard air gauge after this string and the needle was still in the center of the green. Although I have fired 14 shots on the fill, it appeared there were at least 7 more good shots remaining. That’s what a liter of air at 250 bar gets you.

I thought this might be the last clip of bullets I could get on this fill because as the air pressure drops in the reservoir each shot will use what looks like more of it on the gauge. In other words the gauge will now drop faster. As it turned out, I was right about that. But 21 shots on a fill of air is probably the record for a big bore airgun.

Third target

Well target three is the best one, but it’s still a bit strange. The first shot hit below the bull, then the second one hit at 9 o’clock on the bull. After that I could see no rhyme or reason where the shots were going. Some went high and others went low. In the end there were 7 shots 4.746-inches apart.

Seven shots went into 4.746-inches at 50- yards. There are three below and four up top.

The air gauge needle was now very low in the green. There might have been one or two shots remaining, but not a full 7-shot clip. So, I stopped the test at this point.

I had hoped that this last group would be smaller. It was, but not by that much. I thought there might be a correlation between the fill pressure and the group size, because note how the bullets are now in line with the center of the target. But I have no explanation for the two separate groups — one high and one low. They are both very tight, so it’s exasperating.

Summary

This is my last test of the Hatsan Hercules. I find it to be a very large, heavy air rifle. It also offers more shots than any big bore I have tested to this point in time.

I don’t care for the fill port cover that slides open when the rifle is cocked.  I would rather have a male Foster fitting so the rifle could be fill like most of my other PCPs.

The trigger is lighter and crisper than expected. There is just one bullet or pellet for the rifle, which limits your possibilities. However, with as many shots as it has, it would make a good big bore airgun for fun shooting.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

TexanSS big bore air rifle from AirForce.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

• Sight-in
• The test
• Tin Starr 210-grain semiwadcutter
• Tin Starr 310 grain flat point
• Hunter’s Supply 250-grain hollowpoint
• Something different
• Hollow base first
• Hollowpoint first
• Last bullet — the flying dumbbell
• What’s next?
• Summary

Today I will shoot the AirForce TexanSS at 50 yards for accuracy. In Part 3 we learned about the bullet tuner on the left side of the rifle. We saw that the .45 caliber Texan SS has a narrower range of adjustment than the .45 Texan I tested for you several years ago. The results of that test set us up for today’s accuracy test.

Sight-in

I scoped the rifle with the 4-16X56 UTG Bubble Leveler scope. The scope sits high above the bore line of the rifle, but the bubble level inside guarantees the rifle will not be canted when it fires.

I first sighted-in at 20 yards. I used the first bullet that I planned testing, and didn’t change the scope setting for the rest of the test. It took 5 shots at this distance to get the bullet where I wanted it — in the center of the bull.

The test

I will be shooting 5-shot groups with 5 different bullets — one of them two times for a reason I will explain when we get to it. Because of that, I left the bullet tuner set just slightly above the 3/4 mark for the entire test. If any bullet or bullets show promise, I can always refine the setting just for them, but that will have to come on another day.

I shot off the MOA shooting bench that I bought at the SHOT Show. The more I use this bench the more I like it. The rifle was rested on a long sandbag that made it steady for each shot.

The wind was blowing 5-7 mph during the test, with gusts to 20 mph. I waited until the gusts died down for each shot. These were the same conditions under which the Hatsan Hercules .45 caliber big bore air rifle was tested a week ago. Let’s get started.

Tin Starr 210-grain semiwadcutter

The first bullet tested was the 210-grain semi-wadcutter from Tin Starr bullets that tested best with the Texan. Though the SS barrel is shorter, I think the rifling twist is the same as is found in the Texan barrel, and this is a bullet of known accuracy.

From the velocity test we just did, I knew there were 3 shots that were close in velocity were possible, so I shot 3 times then refilled the rifle for the last two bullets. Five bullets made a vertical group measuring 2.232-inches between centers. Three of those bullets landed in 0.535-inches, and they are between the other two shots. That tells me this bullet is very accurate in the SS, though I probably need to tweak the bullet tuner a little.

Five 210-grain Tin Starr semi-wadcutter bullets made this 2.232-inch group at 50 yards, with three bullets landing in 0.535-inches.

The group set me at ease, because no matter what else happened, I now had a good bullet for the SS. That bullet would be good for game up to whitetail deer-size. I’m limiting it to those animals weighing 150 lbs. and at a distance of less than 150 yards. A semi-wadcutter bullet slows down in flight faster than a round-nose bullet.

A big bore bullet kills game through loss of blood — not shock. The foot pounds of energy on target don’t make much difference, as long as they are sufficient for the bullet to penetrate the game. This bullet will go completely through a whitetail deer that’s hit sideways in a classic heart/lung shot up to 100 yards, as long as a major bone is not hit. It will break a shoulder bone.

Tin Starr 310 grain flat point

Next up was the Tin Starr 310-grain flat point bullet. This one is much heavier for greater penetration. This would be a bullet to use on mule deer or even the larger red deer that are called Hirsch in Germany. Of course it goes slower than the previous bullet, so let’s see where it hits the target with the same scope setting.

This bullet impacted about 2 inches below the first one. It was still centered on the bull, though. That’s a good thing, because it means you can have two good bullets for distances under 100 yards. I shot three bullets on the fill, then refilled and shot the last two.

Five bullets made a 1.681-inch group at 50 yards. That’s plenty good for hunting out to 100 yards, though with this bullet you will need to see where it lands at that distance. Remember, this test is a 50 yards.

Five Tin Starr 310-grain flat point bullets made this 1.681-inch group at 50 yards.

Hunter’s Supply 250-grain hollowpoint

Next I tried a 250-grain hollowpoint bullet that was provided to me by AirForce. This is a bullet they recommend for their Texan and TexanSS. Five went into 2.48 inches at 50 yards, and the group is still fairly well-centered in and around the bull. Once again, I shot three bullets, then refilled for the last two.

Five 250-grain hollowpoints from Hunter’s Supply landed in 2.48 inches between centers at 50 yards.

Something different

Now let’s leave the world of conventional bullets and look at two experiments that were conducted by Tin Starr Bullets. The first is a design that was suggested by AirForce. Nobody knew how it would turn out, which is why we test. This may be the first time this experimental big bore bullet has been seen, and without a doubt it is the first time it’s been tested in the TexanSS.

The bullet is a deep hollow-base or hollowpoint configuration, depending on how it’s loaded. This is the bullet I alluded to at the start of the test. I tested it both ways, and in a moment we will see how that went.

The bullet is extremely light — 137 grains. Even a .45 caliber round ball weighs 143 grains, so you know that this one is very light!

Tin Starr made a prototype mold to cast this bullet for a proof-of-concept test. It wasn’t made on a production mold that would cost much more to make. However, if there is any merit, it should be evident with the test bullets. Then they can decide to invest in a production mold.

Finally — and this holds true for every Tin Starr bullet seen in this report — these bullets are made from lead that is as pure as can be. Pure lead is very soft and takes the rifling easily with low friction. But it doesn’t cast well. Add tin or antimony to get bullets that fill the mold better and look both sharper and cleaner. Tin costs many times what lead costs, so that’s out. Antimony hardens the lead alloy too much. Bullets cast with it may look better but they shoot worse, until you get the velocity up over 1,500 f.p.s., which no big bore air rifle can do. Hard lead bullets also smear inside of the bore, causing early leading.

This Tin Starr prototype bullet is either a hollowpoint or a hollow base — depending on how it’s loaded.

Hollow base first

The first target was shot with the hollow positioned at the base. Two were fired on a fill, then the rifle was refilled and the last three were fired. They landed in a group that measures 3.818-inches between centers. Even though this group is larger, they are still centered on the bull.

One thing I did not notice until writing this report is that three of the five bullets tumbled in flight! The hole at the extreme right shows the side profile of a bullet. The highest hole looks like two bullets went through, so the bullet was tipped on an angle, and the one in the X-ring is nearly sideways.

Five bullets shot loaded with the hollow in the base are in a group measuring 3.818-inches between centers at 50 yards. Three have tumbled.

Hollowpoint first

Next I loaded five of the same bullet with the hollow point first. These made a group measuring 4.095-inches between centers. This group also drifted a little to the right at 50 yards. Of all the bullets shot, it was the only one that went sideways a little. I shot all 5 rounds on a single fill of air, because they are so lightweight. If they had proven accurate, more testing with different parameters would have been indicated.

Loaded hollow point first the same Tin Starr prototype bullet went into 4.095-inches at 50 yards. These seem to have flown straight — more or less.

I recommended to Tin Starr that this bullet is a no-go for the TexanSS. Given the results we have already seen, this bullet adds nothing.

Last bullet — the flying dumbbell

The last bullet I tested this day is one I call the flying dumbbell. It is based on the 1960s French shotgun slug called the Balle Blondeau, and over the last 20 years I have never seen it fail to deliver astounding accuracy in air rifles. Even smoothbores can shoot this shape accurately for short distances of under 50 yards. I recommended to Tin Starr that they prototype this shape in a lightweight bullet for the TexanSS.

The prototype flying dumbbell is not a pretty bullet — yet.

Once again they made a prototype mold for this proof-of-concept test. And the 182-grain cast slug is pure lead, so we have another rough-looking bullet. However, handsome is as handsome does!

Again I shot all 5 shots on a single fill of air. Five flying dumbbells went into a group measuring 1.072-inches at 50 yards, with 4 of them in 0.573-inches. This is the most accurate bullet of this test by a significant margin!

The flying dumbbell was the most accurate bullet of this test. Five went into 1.072-inches at 50 yards, with four of them in 0.573-inches.

I will say that Johnny Hill of Tin Starr Bullets that’s part of the Weatherford Pawn Shop (817-594-8511), thinks the flying dumbbell may not be accurate for longer distances. I will have to test that. I know that many years ago Gary Barnes shot three similar bullets into less than 2 inches at 200 yards with one of his big bores, so I think the design might hold up. Also, if you order some of these  they will be rough like what you see here. It takes time and a lot of money to create a custom mold for a high-speed commercial casting machine.

What’s next?

Now that we know which bullets to work with (the 210-gr. SWC, the 310-gr. flat point and the prototype flying dumbbell), the next step is to do some tuner adjusting on the rifle to see if we can improve these results. Based on this test the TexanSS deserves a test at 100 yards. And I have every intention of doing one.

Summary

As you can see, the .45 caliber TexanSS is another barn-burner! It’s what you expect from an AirForce big bore. This is a 400+ foot-pound air rifle that’s quieter than a .22 Short and as accurate as anyone could hope for. It has a delightful trigger and conserves air, plus that tuner allows you to use the full range of 0.457 and 0.458 lead bullets.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Umarex Gauntlet.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

This report covers:

• JSB Exact Heavy
• H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm heads
• Decision time
• Crosman Premier 10.5-grain heavies
• Another decision
• JSB Exact Heavies
• H&N Baracuda Match
• Summary of this test
• Bug Buster scope and P.O.I. mounts

Today we start looking at the accuracy of the new .177 caliber Umarex Gauntlet. I think this report will be interesting to many of you. Let’s get started.

JSB Exact Heavy

The rifle was already sighted-in from the last report, so I loaded 10 JSB Exact Heavy pellets into the magazine and started shooting from 25 yards. Yes — I said 10 pellets. I forgot about skipping pellet number 2 and loaded the entire magazine. Shot one went fine but the mag jammed on shot 2. I didn’t force it. I just pushed it out and resumed shooting. This target has 9 pellets instead of 10, and they made a very vertical group at 25 yards that measures 0.704 inches between centers.

Nine JSB Exact Heavy pellets fired from the Gauntlet magazine made this vertical 0.704-inch group at 25 yards.

H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm heads

Next up were H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50 mm heads. Once again I loaded 10 into the magazine. This time it was out of pure stubborness. I just wanted to see if this pellet would feed through the mag. Pellet number 2 fed fine, but pellet 5 or 6 jammed and had to be removed. Once more this is a 9-shot group.

Notice how far to the left these pellets impacted. The scope setting wasn’t changed for the entire test, because I also wanted to see where the other pellets would hit the target.

Nine H&N Baracuda Match pellets went into this 0.726-inch group. Notice how far to the left it landed.

Decision time

At this point I decided that the magazine that came with this Gauntlet is defective and I didn’t want to waste any more time with it. If I owned this rifle I would be contacting the seller for a return of just the magazine — not the rifle that I now have adjusted very well. From what I read this problem is not common, so I don’t think you need to worry about it.

Fortunately a single-shot tray came with the rifle, so I installed it and continued the test. Loading it is a little fiddly, because there isn’t a lot of room in the trough. I use two hands to load each pellet, to keep from flipping them end-for-end.

Crosman Premier 10.5-grain heavies

I decided to give the Crosman Premier Heavy pellet a try for no special reason. These were all fired single-shot and I shot 10 this time.

Ten Premier heavies went into 0.456-inches at 25 yards. Now we are getting somewhere! Notice this group is not just the smallest one so far, it’s also quite round, which means there are no adverse affects on the pellets as they leave the muzzle.

Ten Crosman Premier heavy pellets went into this very round 0.456-inch group at 25 yards.

Another decision

At this time I really wanted to try different pellets, but something told me I needed to give the first two pellets a retest with the single shot tray. Target shooters know that single-shot loading is the absolute best way to get the lest measure of accuracy, because no matter how good a magazine is, it always compromises somewhere. I still want to try different pellets in the Gauntlet, but today I will retest both of the first pellets.

JSB Exact Heavies

Next up were 10 JSB Exact Heavies. This time all 10 were loaded singly. The group they made is still vertical and it landed in the same place, but it measures 0.501-inches between centers. That’s two-tenths tighter than the first 9 shots (0.704-inches to 0.501-inches). While that difference is small, and may be even smaller because of measuring errors, it is a smaller group than the first one that has one additional shot. I think that’s significant.

Fired single-shot, 10 JSB Exact Heavy pellets went into 0.501-inches at 25 yards. The group is still vertical, but visibly smaller.

H&N Baracuda Match

If I was going to retest one pellet with the single shot tray I had to retest both, so the H&N Baracuda Match pellets were next and also last. This time 10 pellets made a 0.566-inch group. Like the JSBs, this group is smaller than the first one and also has one additional pellet.

In the single-shot mode, 10 H&N Baracuda Match pellets went into 0.566-inches at 25 yards. Seven of the pellets are in 0.204-inches.

This time I thought I was going to use the trime for the picture, because the first 7 pellets went into about 0.204-inches. But shots 8, 9 and 10 all landed outside the central group. They are the holes at 6 o’clock, 9 o’clock and 12. I watched them fly through the UTG 3-12X32 Bug Buster scope.

Summary of this test

I believe this test demonstrates the accuracy of the Gauntlet rifle. Have I found the most accurate pellet? Probably not, but notice that when I shot them single shot, all the pellets did well. That speaks well for the rifle.

The trigger is adjusted perfectly for me. I have a positive 2-stage pull that is not supposed to be possible, but with careful adjustment of the overtravel screw I made it happen.

I shot this entire test — 48 shots — on a single fill of air. That tells you the Gauntlet has enough air for many shots in the field. But it does raise a question. Were my second groups of JSBs and Baracudas better just because they were single shot, or does less pressure in the reservoir have anything to do with it? I plan to conduct another test at 25 yards to find out.

Some people have said that the shots will walk as the pressure changes, but I don’t see that today. So that’s something else I want to test at 25 yards.

People have also said if the shroud is bumped the point of impact will shift. That’s another test. So, there are a lot more things to learn about the Gauntlet before we go to 50 yards.

Bug Buster scope and P.O.I. mounts

Some readers thought the Bug Buster wasn’t the scope to use on the Gauntlet. I think it’s doing quite well so far, and the P.O.I. scope rings are superb!

I will say that the image of the target is not as sharp and crisp through the Bug Buster as it would be through a larger UTG scope. And the reticles are heavier, to give a hunter faster acquisition in the deep woods. So, on a brightly lit target, they look heavy. But the groups I got speak for themselves. The Bug Buster works well — despite all I had to do to mount it.

Good test so far, and there is still a lot to come.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

A history of airguns

This report covers:

• Why we collect
• Today
• .12 caliber
• The box
• Lead BBs?
• Fragile
• Art deco
• Summary

Why we collect

Sometimes we collect something because of its performance. A Whiscombe recoilless rifle that’s powerful and accurate might be an example of this. Other times we collect something because of the way it is made — the craftsmanship. The Sheridan Supergrade comes to mind.

And other times we collect something for other reasons. My M1 Carbine is an example of this. I like it for three important reasons:

1. It is so well made and so well designed. It weighs 5 lbs. — a rifle weight that has never been equalled in a rifle as powerful, to the best of my knowledge. And this rifle was designed in 18 months, back in the late 1930s!

2. More than 6 million carbines were produced in just a few years in a national program that had as many as 10 prime contractors and hundreds of subcontractors — in the middle of a war! It was the Manhattan project of firearm development!

3. Even today, 80 years later, the carbine design has not been equalled. The Ruger .44 magnum carbine was more than two pounds heavier than the M1, and the designers had difficulties with that!

Today

Today I want to start a review of an airgun that’s similar to the Carbine in how clever the designers were — Daisy’s Targeteer.

.12 caliber

The first Targeteer came to market in 1937. That was just past the height (or depths) of the Great Depression — a time when companies were struggling just to survive. That there was any innovation happening at all is a marvel in itself. Ironically, the M1 Carbine was being developed at the sane time

The gun uses BBs sized 0.118-inches in diameter. They are much smaller than conventional steel BBs. There are other guns that use the same ammo, but as far as I know they all either fire by means of a catapult or an exploding cap.

In 1937 two dollars bought all this. There is a gun, a steel tube of .118-caliber steel BBs and a box that turns into a shooting gallery, as you can see.

Daisy made .118-caliber steel BB shot for the Targeteer. You can see some of the imperfections in the shot that resembles the kind of imperfections all BBs made during the same era used to have.

The box

Let’s talk about the box for a moment, because it has bearing on today’s subject. As you can see in the picture, the box becomes a shooting gallery for the pistol inside. That is the kind of innovation that excites me. The Targeteer is too weak to penetrate the box, so you can use it as a gallery for a long time. Most boxes have tiny imprints of lead BBs (I’ll explain why in a moment) on the inside of the box lid, which is how the gallery is supposed to be set up.

This is the way the box is set up to be a gallery. This box hasn’t been shot with lead very much, but as you can see, the spinners have been shot. They still have much of their original paint!

Lead BBs?

The .118-caliber steel shot wasn’t ever very popular. Daisy discontinued making it sometime in the late 1940s or 1950s, I believe. Tins of the BBs are now very collectible in their own right! At one airgun show I once paid $100 to a person who was desperate to sell 3 Targeteer pistols and 10 tubes of the shot. I sold two of the pistols at the show and all but one tube of the shot and recovered my money, which was necessary because it was all the money I had on me and I was a thousand miles from home. It sounds like a risk, but I knew I could come out okay. I still have the one pistol I kept and I’ll show it to you in a bit.

But the .118-caliber steel BBs are too valuable to shoot. Fortunately there is a cheap substitution. Number 6 lead birdshot is a perfect substitute. It isn’t always uniformly round, but take a good look at that steel shot. They aren’t that round, either.

“But B.B., I don’t know where to buy lead birdshot. Maybe you know where they sell it but I sure don’t. Sure you do! Buy a box of 25 12-gauge cartridges at your local discount store. Just be sure they have lead shot, because I don’t know how well lead free shot works. It may be fine — I just don’t know.

Pry one cartridge open and save the shot in a small bottle. That much should last the rest of your life, because Targeteers are not guns you will want to shoot a lot. The other shot you can package and sell at the next airgun show. Plenty of airgunners are just like you and need some shot but don’t know where to find it. Sell a cartridge-worth of shot for $5- and you’ll make over a hundred dollars on the deal. You won’t get rich quick and it may take several shows to sell it all, but do what you have to, to move it.

Model 118 Daisy Targeteer Number 320 shooting gallery set

Now, for the  pièce de résistance — the subject of today’s report! The shooting gallery set is a red molded plastic shooting gallery that has a rod of white spinners running through the center. The top has a place for a chrome-plated Daisy model 118 Targeteer to sit. Even the feet are special, as they are hollowed out and designed to accept one tube of shot per foot. This gallery was made from 1949 through 1953 and is much rarer than the one in the box,

The red and white Daisy shooting gallery for the Targeteer is one of the most beautiful products Daisy ever made. Mine is in great condition!

Fragile

The white plastic spinners in this target are somewhat fragile. I have seen several targets that have damaged spinners. Exposure to the sun and smoke turns them yellow and they do get brittle with time. At some point they will start cracking and breaking off from firing. If you shoot them with lead shot it will leave black marks on the plastic.

The red plastic is also prone to changes over the years. Mine no longer accepts shot tubes in either foot. The plastic has warped over time. Daisy plastic stocks from this same timeframe did the same thing. But other than that, my target is in excellent condition. There are some, though, that aren’t so pretty.

This gallery has been shot a lot. You can see the marks of the impacts on the spinner and several spinners are either broken off or cracked. Even the red case is cracked on the right side.

The entire 320 set came in a white cardboard box that has blue lettering. That is the only thing I don’t have with mine. I have seen boxed sets at shows, but be prepared to spend a lot more for one.

Art Deco

The thing about this set is it is so pretty that decorators can use it in a man cave. They don’t care what it is — it just looks nice. Sometimes even domestic tranquillity can be assured by the appearance of something as pretty as this!

Summary

I will end the report here but the plan is to conduct a complete test for you. Both velocity and accuracy will be difficult to measure, as the .118 BBs are both small and weak. But we shall see.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

TexanSS big bore air rifle from AirForce.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

This report covers:

• First comments
• Bubble Leveler
• Collar Buttons are a no-go at 100 yards
• 210 SWC is still a great bullet
• Balle-Blondeau-talk
• Balle-patent
• Balle Blondeau
• 355-grain flat point dogbone
• Ton shoots at 100 yards
• One more test

I had the Umarex Gauntlet out to shoot at 50 yards last week but the day was just too windy. Once I got it sighted-in for 50 yards the wind picked up and blew the pellets all around. I wanted this test to be a good one between the magazine and the single-shot tray, and it wasn’t going to happed this day. So I brought out the TexanSS that has no difficulty shooting in the wind.

Today I will show you how the AirForce TexanSS big bore performs at 100 yards. I have spent several days at the range to get today’s results. That’s why it took me so long.

First comments

I will first tell you that the TexanSS is a very well-developed air rifle. The gun shoots a wide range of bullet weights, as long as the bullet diameters are 0.457 or 0.458-inches. There are a lot of .45 caliber bullets out there that aren’t those sizes and you shouldn’t waste your time with them.

The trigger works well. It’s not adjustable but it’s as fine a trigger (both light and crisp) as I have seen on any big bore. The power adjuster works well, though the SS needs it to be set around the 3/4-power level or higher. It’s more sensitive to adjustment than the Texan, which I guess is due to the shorter barrel. I will also tell you that although this SS is not silent, it is remarkably quiet for a big bore rifle of this power (up to 400 foot pounds).

Bubble Leveler

As I mentioned in Part 4 I installed the 4-16X56 UTG Bubble Leveler scope on the rifle. I put the bubble in the center of the vertical crosshair for every shot, knowing I am removing all scope cant from the equation. If that doesn’t mean much to you read this report. At $225, there isn’t a scope on the market that can match the optical clarity and quality of this one — and that’s without the bubble!

Collar Buttons are a no-go at 100 yards

First I will tell you that the collar button and short dumbbell bullets that did so well at 50 yards did not hold up at 100. That was one whole day at the range. I hoped they would astound us, after seeing them perform at 50 yards. But they opened dramatically and gave groups of 7-10 inches.

210 SWC is still a great bullet

Next I tried the Tin Starr 210-grain semi-wadcutter that did so well in the Texan. These did well at 50 yards in the TexanSS. They also performed well at 100. Knowing that the first two shots after the fill were the best, I shot one bullet, then refilled and shot two more. After those two I refilled again and fired the final two bullets. All five bullets were shot on the first or second shots after a fill. After a careful sight-in the first five shots for record went into 2.704-inches at 100 yards. Any one of them would have taken a deer-sized animal.

The first five 210-grain semi-wadcutters went into 2.704-inches at 100 yards.

After seeing those shots I adjusted the scope again and fired five more. These were also fired as one shot then a fill and two more and another fill and the last two. These landed higher and are more centered on the bull but not quite as tight, at 3.215-inches between centers. Once again, five killing shots.

The second five 210-grain semi-wadcutters went into 3.215-inches at 100 yards.

Because I was testing, I did not spend the time to fine-tune the adjustment wheel. It worked well enough at 50 yards with this bullet and I had a lot of testing left to do, so I left it where it was. Undoubtedly if this was the only bullet I shot in this rifle, the power could be fine-tuned for just it.

Balle-Blondeau-talk

Johnny Hill of Tin Starr Bullets (817-594-8511) has been working with me throughout the Texan and TexanSS tests. He is the one who suggested the 210-grain SWC that is so accurate. Well, I discussed the Balle Blondeau-style shotgun slug of the 1960s with him and he liked it.

The Balle Blondeau shotgun slug revolutionized the world of shotgun hunting in the 1960s. It can do the same thing for big bore airguns today.

The Balle Blondeau shotgun slug flies straight and true over long distances, due to high drag on its tail.

Johnny tried several designs to see if these were as good as I said. The collar buttons were first, but the flying dumbbells that were so accurate at 50 yards were another successful part of that research. Johnny guessed they wouldn’t shoot well at longer distances because of their lack of weight, though, and they didn’t. He reckoned that a longer and heavier slug was needed — just like the Balle Blondeau. Enter the 355-grain pure lead flat point dogbone!

The Tin Starr 355-grain dogbone bullet borrows from the Balle Blondeau.

This is a pure lead bullet, so it will be faster than a bullet with antimony. The harder bullets may look better  — these shoot better! I held off reporting the 100-yard test until I could test these for you. Unfortunately on the day I shot this bullet, I was at my buddy Otho’s house. The target was measured by laser as 93 yards distant. The 210-grain bullets had been shot at my club’s rifle range and were exactly 100 yards.

The first shot didn’t even hit the target box the paper target was taped to. Shot number two missed, as well. I had the target box sitting under a gong target, so I held on the top of the gong, knowing I could hear the bullet if it hit metal. Instead, the bullet landed 18 inches below my aim point, striking the target. From there it was easy to adjust the scope to hit the target. Then I fired five shots for record.

The first shot wasn’t loaded deep into the breech, but I thought it would be okay. That was a mistake I was to discover in a bit. That first shot hit high on the bull. The next 4 shots were all seated deep in the breech and landed together about 4 inches below the first one. Shots 2 through 5 are grouped in 2.892-inches between centers. That’s very good, but that first shot had me buffaloed until I spoke to Ton Jones at AirForce.

The first shot wasn’t seated deep enough. When I did seat deep the shots went closer together at 93 yards.

Ton shoots at 100 yards

Ton told me in his experience this 355-grain Tin Starr flat point dogbone is extremely accurate at 100 yards, as long as it is seated consistently deep. He said the bullet holes of the first and second shots will touch at that distance. I asked him to test it for me. Yesterday he did that. He sent me a picture of 7 shots at 100 yards that is better than the 6 shots I had fired with the Texan several years ago. And his distance was a true hundred yards, as measured by laser. Since we know an American quarter is just under an inch in diameter, this 7-shot group has to be around 1.25 inches at 100 yards.

Ton Jones tested the 355-grain dogbone bullet at 100 yards in his TexanSS.

Ton Jones put 7 355-grain dogbone bullets into about 1.25-inches at 100 yards. Three on top at the left, 2 at the right and 2 above the quarter.

Ton seats each bullet to the same depth, which is the base of the bullet. He doesn’t want to allow the bullet to cock sideways inside the bore and the two driving bands prevent that. If he can’t seat the bullet that deep he blows the shot off. That impressed me, because it’s the same sort of thing a blackpowder shooter would do.

One more test

I will test the TexanSS one more time, and this time I will seat the 355-grain flat point dogbone bullets consistently deep to their base. I have the power adjustment dialed in correctly (I think). Now it’s time to get the seating right, as well. Stay tuned!

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Beeman QB Chief precharged pneumatic air rifle.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

This report covers:

• The test
• H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm head
• Bug Buster scope performance
• JSB Beast
• What now?
• Summary

Today we see how the Beeman QB Chief precharged pneumatic air rifle does at 50 yards. Get ready for a pleasant surprise!

The test

I shot the rifle last Friday, which was my banner day at the range. The weather was perfect with no hint of a breeze — perfect for testing the accuracy of an air rifle. The test was ourdoors at 50 yards. I shot off a sandbag rest and the rifle was scoped with the UTG 3-12X32 Bug Buster scope.

The Bug Buster 3-12 scope is a perfect match for the QB Chief.

I looked at the 25-yard test results and selected the two best pellets. First up was the H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm head. At 25 yards the QB put ten of them in 0.334-inches. Sight-in took several rounds and then I shot the first group. I filled the rifle after each group, as we have established that the QB Chief gets around 15 good shots per fill to 2000 psi.

H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm head

The first group of 10 Baracuda Match pellets went into 1.386-inches at 50 yards. As you can see, the group is left of center, so after the group I adjusted the scope to the right. The height seemed to be aove the center of the bull, so I left it alone. I don’t want to shoot out my aim point.

Ten Baracuda Match pellets went into 1.386-inches at 50 yards on the first try.

Bug Buster scope performance

Several readers have mentioned that the crosshairs of the Bug Buster scope are thick, and indeed they are. I can still see them inside the bull, though, and as you will see shortly, they do work quite well. I adjusted the scope to the right after the first group.

JSB Beast

Next I tried some JSB Exact Beasts. These 16.2-grain domed pellets are super-heavyweight for .177 caliber, and as such make good hunting pellets if the accuracy is there. At 25 yards they gave a 0.36-inch group that is all the accuracy you need, but at 50 yards the 10-shot group opened to 2.217 inches. They may have destabilized by 50 yards because I noticed several of the holes are torn to the left.

JSB Beasts are definitely not for 50 yards in the QB Chief. Ten shots in 2.217-inches. Several holes are torn on their left sides and appear to have more pellets through them.

What now?

After seeing what the Beasts did I didn’t feel the need to try them again, but the Baracudas were tantalizing. So, I refilled the reservoir and shot a final group of them. This time it was different. The scope was adjusted pretty well and the shots didn’t wander at all. Ten of them packed into a tight 0.873-inches at 50 yards.

A great group of 10 Baracudas! It measures 0.873-inches between centers. I don’t think it’s typical.

That is a very good group, but I want you to understand that I probably can’t shoot another one as good for quite a while. Rather than say the QB Chief is capable of groups less than an inch at 50 yards I believe the true accuracy of the rifle is somewhere in-between both groups. It’s somewhere around one inch for ten shots.

Summary

This has been a thorough test of a budget PCP. It turned out better than I expected. The trigger was adjusted to a very light and convenient pull and the accuracy is spot-on where it should be.

The rifle has good adjustable open sights and a nice 11mm dovetail atop the receiver. You only need pellets and air to get started with this rifle, but it will grow with you as you want it to.

It is short on breath (fewer shots per fill) but the fill stops at 2000 psi, which is very user-friendly. All things considered, I think the Beeman QB Chief is a best buy.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

• The mostest-fastest pellet gun!/li>
• The mostest-powerfulest
• How to generate power
• The deal
• What does this mean?
• Summary

I am at Sig today, so I won’t be able to comment as much as usual. I have airguns to test, but today I thought I would do something different. Many of our readers have gotten into modifying their guns, so I will address that today. What works, what “works” and what doesn’t.

The mostest-fastest pellet gun!

There are those who want to see just how fast a pellet can be propelled, so they put together a science experiment that uses helium as the propellant gas. They looked on the periodic table and discovered that helium is the gas with the smallest atom that is safe. Hydrogen atoms are smaller, but they remember the Hindenberg disaster.

They cobble up special fittings to connect a helium tank to their airgun. Ever wonder WHY certain gasses like oxygen and helium come in tanks with fittings that don’t couple with ours? It’s not a mistake. The fittings for those gasses are intentionally different that ours for safety reasons. That still doesn’t stop someone who works at a hospital from stealing an oxygen tank and making the fittings to fill their airgun. Then they find out why that’s not such a good idea.

An air rifle that was operated on pure oxygen.

If they live through the experience, they become spokesmen for the DON’T MISUSE OXYGEN campaign.

Every few years I am contacted by someone who has discovered that helium is a thinner gas that flows faster through a valve and increases pellet velocity. They invariably think they are the first to discover this, which is similar to a troop of Cub Scouts exploring the wilds of New York City’s Central Park. It may look raw to them but lots of folks have already been there.

What these people who are after speed don’t understand is, speed is not why most people shoot airguns. It might be a passing interest, but most airgunners come to realize that hitting the target is far more satisfying. And, if there is one thing these speed guns don’t do well it’s hit what they shoot at. Either that or the entire ensemble of stuff required to do the deed occupies the rear seat of a car and weighs more than the shooter. And it costs as much to shoot as a centerfire rifle shooting commercial ammo.

By the way, helium also leaks readily. Your PCP that holds air for years may leak down in hours when filled with helium.

I’m not telling anyone that this isn’t an interesting pursuit. I’m just saying is isn’t mainstream and I doubt it ever will be.

The mostest-powerfulest

A close companion to the speed freak is the power monger. He is after the highest number of foot-pounds (or kilogram force-meters per second — because these guys live everywhere) his airgun can generate. There is actually a large segment of the big bore airgun camp that does nothing but shoot their guns through chronographs, trying to keep the power bar raising!

How to generate power

Power in a projectile is a factor of both velocity and weight. Velocity increases power rapidly, as shooters were taught by Roy Weatherby, the “High Priest of High Velocity,” back in the 1940s and ’50s. But velocity is not the only thing that boosts power

Weight also increases power in a projectile. And weight also does something velocity does not do — it increases penetration.

Elmer Keith was perhaps the best-known proponent of heavy bullets. Though diminutive in stature, Keith liked his big bullets and wrote about them a lot. And, he had an acolyte in Art Alphin, the founder of the A-Square Company, LLC. When Art and I served together in Germany in the 1970s, he told me his dream was to go to Africa and hunt the Big Five — the five African game animals considered the most dangerous to hunt on foot. They are:

African Lion
Leopard
Rhinoceros (usually the Black Rhino)
Cape Buffalo
African elephant

We linked up again at Fort Knox several years later and I saw Art at the nearby Knob Creek range, shooting a .458 Winchester Magnum off a bench! You have to appreciate that Art didn’t weigh more than 160 lbs. in those days (I was lighter then, too), and to see this little guy firing round after punishing round from a bench made me wonder. I have shot a .458, but I would never consider doing it from a benchrest!

Turns out Art had lost a Cape Buffalo in the African bush after hitting him with a .458 Winchester. So he resolved to never allow that to happen again and A Square was born. You may not have heard of the company, but many of you know of the .577 T-Rex cartridge. The .458 Winchester develops just over 5,000 foot-pounds, depending on the load. The .577 T-Rex develops 10,180 foot-pounds! If that doesn’t phase you, type .577 T-Rex go Boom into You Tube and watch the video.

The deal

Here’s the deal — move the heaviest projectile you can as fast as you can and you will get the greatest energy possible from that projectile. Why do I say it that way? Well, as projectiles increase in weight they also increase in size. The bore diameter keeps their width in check, so the length has to increase. The ultimate horsepower warriors end up with long bullets their guns cannot stabilize, and eventually they reach the limit of bullet length that can be loaded. The SAD thing is — it’s all for naught! It’s a meaningless pursuit, because it gets you nothing useable.

The same Elmer Keith who loved his big bore double rifles also acknowledged that a pistol bullet will go all the way through a cow, head to tail. In other words, a .44 caliber pistol bullet fired at 900 f.p.s. from a Colt Single Action revolver will be just as lethal to large game like bison as a 500-grain .458 bullet moving at 2,500 f.p.s. Just as lethal because neither bullet kills by energy. Both kill by penetration and blood loss.

Now, the .458 bullet does have a big advantage. It will break bones that the pistol bullet will not break. It keeps on going when things get in the way. So, it may do more damage to the animal as it passes through. That’s why big game hunters shoot .458 Magnum rounds. But the reverse is also true. Bison have been killed with .45 Colt bullets that produce less than 700 foot-pounds.

What does this mean?

The application of all of this is pretty basic. Big bore airguns kill by one main method — loss of blood. Brain shots are also very lethal, but they require pinpoint accuracy, because the brains on game animals are not that large, plus many animals like pigs and Cape Buffalo, are protected by thick bone plates. Unless you are positive of the shot, a brain shot is not the way to go. Blood loss is slower but more reliable.

A big bore airgun that develops 250 foot pounds or more and is .45 caliber will work for smaller deer, as long as it is accurate. Drop back to .357 caliber and you better increase the power by at least 100 foot-pounds to get the penetration you need. Lighter bullets don’t penetrate as far. Also, the blood loss will be slower from a smaller diameter bullet. This is why I do not recommend .30 caliber big bores for deer-sized game. Sure, they will work, but if you have understood this report you’ll see why they aren’t the best choice.

Summary

If you really want to hunt game, look for a big bore with proven accuracy. I recommend staying with .45 caliber or larger.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Sig Sauer’s new ASP20 gas spring breakbarrel air rifle breaks ground in many areas!

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

• Why a gas spring?
• Trigger
• Why a breakbarrel?
• Does the ASP20 have an internal shock absorber?
• On with the build
• Final assembly — the stock
• The barrel
• Off to the range
• Shooting sensation
• Cocking effort
• Accuracy
• Whisky 3 ASP 4-12X44 scope
• Summary

Boy, is there a LOT of interest in this new rifle! You guys are asking a lot of very good questions about the new ASP20 breakbarrel rifle, as you should. I will begin by addressing some of the most prominent ones.

Why a gas spring?

Some call it a gas piston, others say gas ram, but we are all referring to the gas spring (the industry term for a spring that uses compressed gas in place of a coiled steel spring to do its job). Gas springs replace coiled steel mainsprings in spring-piston airguns. They are more modern and easier to make and obtain, they don’t take a set if left compressed, they are less susceptible to cold and, if the design is right, they are smoother operating. They also eliminate several parts that rattle and they remove some weight from the powerplant.

Trigger

Why does the trigger stop at 2.5 pounds on the lower end? Someone yesterday said they wished the trigger adjusted down to 6 ounces like a Rekord, but the only Rekord that does that safely is the target Rekord found in the HW55. The standard Rekord stops at about a pound. Messing with screw 51B (the sear contact area) is dangerous! The Diana T06 is about the same, if not a little heavier on the low end.

When a trigger breaks cleanly, 2.5 pounds is very light. For a trigger on a hunting rifle generating 20+ foot-pounds, it’s as light as you need. Remember, when it’s cold your fingers will loose sensitivity. I’m sure there will be discussion about this, but that is the reason.

Why a breakbarrel?

Several readers asked why Sig didn’t just make a sidelever or an underlever — assuming those designs are somehow better. Sig designed this breakbarrel to be just as accurate as any sidelever or underlever and to save a couple pounds of weight and some cost at the same time. If they got it right, a breakbarrel was the way to go. We shall see how they did today.

Does the ASP20 have an internal shock absorber?

There is no internal shock absorber in the ASP20. You only need that when there is vibration to be absorbed. The ASP20 doesn’t vibrate, so nothing is needed. The Anschütz 250 (a target rifle of the 1960s) had an internal shock absorber, yet was well-known for its vibration. It’s better to design the gun right than to build in gimmicks that fix the problems.

On with the build

We left off yesterday with the powerplant being assembled. I didn’t cover the silencer/moderator/lead dust collector (ha ha!) on the front of the barrel. It is indeed an active silencer that contains three synthetic spools that look like old-fashioned hair curlers.

Three synthetic spools snap together to make up the backbone of the ASP20 silencer.

Each spool is wrapped with felt. The small spiny projections on the spool hold the wrap in place.

Final assembly — the stock

I have passed by many things in assembly that are standard. I wanted to hit the high points of innovation for you, and even that has taken a long time. Now it’s time to drop the barreled action into a stock.

Some readers have commented on the strange shape of the stock. Sig patterned it after the German SSG 3000 sniper rifle stock. The first offering of the ASP20 will be in a black wood stock. Why? Because wood is easier to profile than injection molds are to fabricate. Instead of spending many tens of thousands of dollars creating the mold parts for a synthetic stock, Sig decided to launch the rifle with the wood stock first.

The barreled action fits in the stock in the conventional way.

They are still refining small design decisions for the synthetic stock, like should they offer an adjustable comb/cheekpiece as an option? They have already put in the design elements necessary to make the adjustable comb possible, but these mold parts take a long time to fabricate and wood is quicker to bring to market. So, Mrs. Calabash — do you want the rifle in September/October, or can you wait until next February? I’m making those dates up, but they represent the kind of timeframe the SigAir team is wrestling with. I shot the rifle in a wood stock and that is what I am about to report. It’s also on the rifle that I will test for you.

The barrel

We left the plant floor and returned to the conference room for a final discussion and presentation before adjourning to the range. This was where I got to ask about the barrel.

Sig rifles their own barrels. They use precision-honed seamless tubing. Do you remember the Benjamin Maximus and the fact that it has a slightly more accurate barrel than the Discovery? Honing before rifling is the reason. Most airgun barrels are rifled from seamless tubing that is held to a tight tolerance in manufacture. But, as tight as they hold the dimensions, reaming and honing the tubing makes it more uniform. It costs more to do it that way and the improvement in accuracy isn’t that great, but it is there.

Next I asked about the breech. Is there a leade (a taper to the rifling at the breech) to help with loading the pellet? Yes there is. There is a two-part leade that tapers gradually into the rifling.

The barrel has 12 lands and grooves, which is pretty standard for an air rifle. The twist is 1 turn in 450 mm which is 1:17.72-inches. I know for a fact that Lothar Walther uses the same twist rate in some of their airgun barrels.

The barrel is not choked. I asked, and Ed sort of smiled. He said, “After you shoot it today, you tell me if you think it needs to be choked.”

We saw a sectioned barrel, but it did not show the breech.

Off to the range

After lunch we boarded Sig7, their black SUV, and headed to the range 7 miles away. On a 300-acre campus, Sig has put more than 40 firearm ranges that run from 15 yards to 1,000 yards. The public is welcome to attend special classes given on these ranges, and several times while I was in New Hampshire people outside our tour group, seeing the SIG logo on shirts and such, came up and volunteered that they had attended one or more classes and loved them! Even the desk clerk at the hotel where I stayed said the same thing when I checked in. If I lived in the area I know I would attend.

The ranges are also used for law enforcement and the military, and there were a couple ranges we were not allowed to see. Is this where where covert things are practiced? They run the ranges day and night and use cars, buildings and other structures to simulate real life. I jokingly asked where the Las Vegas cop had learned to shoot through his windshield while driving, and a particular range was pointed out!

We shot airguns on an indoor range that goes to 50 yards. Needless to say the ASP20 was first on the list, but, as there were only two firing positions and more than 8 of us, we took turns. Terry Doe volunteered to go first and Ed Schultz volunteered me. Great! Me, next to a world champion shooter. I guess Ed wanted some balance.

Shooting sensation

I started with the .177 caliber rifle. Shooting was off a bench that had a semi-hard bag for a rest. Knowing that a gas spring rifle needs the artillery hold, I assumed that hold immediately.

I started out shooting with an artillery hold.

The trigger was set with a medium length first stage, which is how I like it. And the safety is manual. Take it off and act like a big boy. Put it back on when you need to — not when the nanny committee thinks you should!

The rifle had been sighted-in so all I had to do was aim and shoot. The second stage of the trigger broke crisply — as nice as a T06 trigger, if a trifle heavier. And then came the sensation of firing.

There was a little recoil jolt and no vibration. I mean none — as in zero, zip, nada, null, void of, and lacking in all respects. If the rifle hadn’t jolted, I wouldn’t have known that it fired. I would compare the firing sensation to my R8 or to a tuned HW50.

After my first shot I turned to Ed Schultz who was watching my target through a spotting scope and I told him this is the first gas spring air rifle that hasn’t slapped my cheek when it fired! It feels like a TX200 Mark III, which I guess is the point. Remember that synthetic ring at the rear of the piston? A large part of the lack of vibration is due to that. Not all, though. Sig has paid scrupulous attention to every detail in this rifle, to make it shoot smooth.

Cocking effort

At dinner that evening I talked with Sig engineer Kris Kras, who told me Ed had requested up front they design a breakbarrel with a cocking effort of under 40 pounds. Kris developed a mathematical model that predicted a 36 pound effort, based on the design, and when they first tested the prototype it was 35 pounds. The production rifles are coming off the line at bang-on 35 lbs. cocking effort.

While that number sounds high after all I have said about the rifle being the new FWB 124, you have to remember — this one gets 20+ foot-pounds in .177 and 23 foot-pounds in .22! Any other air rifle in this category would cock with around 50 pounds effort, if not more. There were three women shooting with us this day and all of them were finding the rifle easy to cock. A couple who aren’t airgunners had to learn to hold the barrel at the muzzle to use all the leverage, but they did it without complaint. Would less cocking effort be better? Sure. I would also like to weigh 160 pounds, have hair and have a sixpack instead of a keg, but the laws of physics and nature have to be obeyed! (rim shot!)

Discharge sound

At this point I started listening to Terry’s rifle as he shot. You cannot tell how loud a spring gun is when you shoot it yourself, because most of the noise is in the powerplant — not coming out the muzzle. The sound travels through your cheekbones right to your ears and the rifle sounds loud. When someone else shoots, you hear how it really sounds and the ASP20 is not that bad. It is certainly quieter than any other 20+ foot-pound spring rifle that hasn’t been tuned. I would put the discharge as equal to my Diana 34P that I tuned with a Vortek spring kit. That rifle also doesn’t vibrate and vibration is where most of the noise comes from. Is it backyard friendly? That depends on the yard, your neighbors and where you live.

Accuracy

Okay — I have waved the big juicy sirloin steak in front of you dogs for three days now and I got you slobbering all over yourselves. I will make this pretty brief because I am still going to thoroughly test the ASP20 in .22 caliber for you. And, I will remain as skeptical as I always am when testing.

I started shooting with the ,177 caliber rifle at a target just 7 yards away, to verify that the scope was sighted for me. I hit just to the right of the aim point and at the same level. Then I reached out to 35 yards and shot a couple, all the while being amazed that the powerplant is as smooth as it is. Definitely no slapping of the cheek when this rifle fires. Then I shot it a couple times at 50 yards. I probably put 3 or 4 into 1.5 inches. Remember — I was using the artillery hold. That fact is about to become important.

Ed then asked me if I would like to try the .22 caliber rifle. He felt it was a touch smoother, which it is. That’s why I asked for a .22 caliber to test 6 months ago when Sig asked me which I preferred. At this power level the larger caliber is always a trifle smoother.

Remember, too, that Terry Doe, a world champion airgunner, was shooting on the bench next to me. I looked over at him and, lo and behold, he was resting the rifle directly on the sandbag. Golly! Doesn’t he know?

Terry Doe shoots at 50 yards with the ASP20 resting directly on the bag!

Oh! Wait! Maybe he DOES know! Maybe this rifle is so smooth that it can be rested directly on the sandbag. By this point I had shot the .22 caliber rifle at 7 yards and knew its scope was on. Then Ed mentioned something about the scope I am using.

Whisky3 ASP 4-12X44 scope

I listened to Ed before proceeding. The Whisky3 was developed for the ASP20 and, besides being a bright, clear optic, it does something I have never seen done well before. Sight it in at one distance (or was it two?) and you can then dial the elevation knob to adjust for any distance you are shooting. When I returned to the shooting bench I tried it. Ed showed me that the scope on the rifle I was shooting was set at 7 yards — its closest focus distance. He then dialed it to 35 yards and told me to try a couple shots. This time I rested the stock directly on the sandbag. Ed said to rest it just forward of the triggerguard.

I shot two pellets at 35 yards and they hit dead-center on the aim point with their holes touching. So the direct rest worked. Then I dialed the scope to 50 yards and shot at the far target. Once again, dead center. Ed was watching my target through the spotting scope and I told him to watch me shoot the second shot. This time when I shot, the hole at 50 yards stayed the same size. The scope was set on 12 power and Ed had a more powerful spotting scope, so I asked him what he saw. He said he never saw the hole increase in size! I either shot a second pellet through the same hole or I shot the rifle completely off target, which is an old marksman’s trick to impress newbies. Guys, I would have done that (the trick) but I wanted to know how accurate this new rifle is, so I was really trying. I never expected it to shoot through the same hole! Yes, Ed, I guess this barrel does not need to be choked!

The Whiskey3 scope is a real stunner! It retails for $359 by itself, but Sig is bundling it with the rifle for a whole lot less. One reader commented that bundled scopes are usually not good, and I would agree. This one is the exception.

Ed suggested that I not shoot a third shot at this target, because it might mess up my day. It probably would have, but at the same time Terry Doe was having the same good fortune on his 50-yard target with the .177 rifle. I did stop shooting after just two shots, but Terry went for a full 5 shots, and look at what he did.

Terry Doe shot five .177 caliber JSB Exact 8.44-grain domes. Terry said this (it’s around one inch) group will only get better as he learns the rifle. Photo provided by Sig Sauer.

Oddly, I was also shooting .22 caliber JSB domes, so now we know what brand of pellets it likes. We also had some Sig Sauer Crux and Wraith domes to shoot, but I found them very hard to chamber.

Summary

Whew! I thought today would be the end of this report for sure, but there is still a lot more to come. I have pretty well covered the ASP20, though.

I’m taking a break tomorrow and writing about some gun from history. The last part of this report will come next week. This report has been fun, but I am also worn out! Have some pity on a tired old man and let me catch my second wind.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Hatsan’s .30 caliber 135 QE Vortex is a large breakbarrel — both in size and caliber.

This report covers:

• Not only no…
• Calibers
• Description
• Stock
• Trigger
• Sights
• Scope base
• Ammunition
• Do you own one?

This is the airgun I mentioned at the end of yesterday’s report. The Hatsan 135 QE Vortex .30-caliber pellet rifle is intriguing because the caliber is so large. This is the only big bore breakbarrel I know of. But is it practical? Is it worth the effort (stay tuned for that!)? Is this an air rifle you can do anything with besides brag? I intend finding out.

Not only no…

It was 2006. I was in Josh Ungier’s office in Pyramyd Air’s old location. Josh had been showing me different cool things, like the pump-assist Benjamin 392 they were working on and we were having a great time, just talking airguns. Then he got a cagey look in his eye, which for Josh was common because he always had something bizarre cooking. He reached behind his desk and pulled out a large breakbarrel rifle and handed it to me. “Cock it, Thomas,” he said. Josh always calls me Thomas.

Well I tried, and I couldn’t do it — at least not with one hand. I had cocked mega magnum breakbarrels before, including a Beeman Crow Magnum that took 60 lbs. of effort, and I knew from that experience that this one cocked even harder. I estimated 75 lbs. But we will never know because that rifle had a coiled steel mainspring and the rifle we are examining today has a gas spring. It’s still hard to cock, though.

I told Josh that Hatsan had stepped over the line with this one. Nobody was going to buy an air rifle that cocked this hard. Yes, that’s what I said. Well, this may come as a surprise, but I was wrong. They made the rifle and people have been buying them ever since.

Calibers

This rifle is offered in calibers .177, .22, .25 and .30. I’m testing the .30, for the reasons mentioned earlier. I personally wouldn’t want the .177 in such a large air rifle. The .22 would be my lower limit, but when the rifle gets to this level of effort, I think .30 is the way to go.

Description

The 135 QE is large. It’s 47.2 inches long and weighs 9.9 lbs., nominally The test rifle weighs 9.5 lbs. and that difference is due to the weight of the wood that always varies a little. The barrel is 17.25 inches long, which includes the QE silencer in the form of a full barrel shroud. The pull is a manly 14.5-inches.

Stock

The stock is Turkish walnut and the test rifle has some good figure in places. The finish is an even matte all over. Both sides of the forearm and pistol grip are generously checkered with fine diamonds that actually have some grip. The comb is adjustable for height and the rubber butt plate adjusts up and down, so this rifle offers a wide range of ergonomic adaptations for fit. The forearm is square-sectioned, which allows it to be thin enough for a good hold while being deep enough for great strength.

The stock is 99 percent ambidextrous — favoring neither side. The automatic safety is a button located at the center of spring tube end cap. The one tiny thing that favors the righthander is the forward sling swivel comes from the factory on the left side of the stock. It appears to me that it could be switched to the right side easily enough. The rear sling swivel is centered at the bottom rear of the butt. All in all this rifle should be equally comfortable to right- or left-handed shooters.

Trigger

The trigger is Hatsan’s Quattro 2-stage adjustable match trigger. They used the word match, not me. It’s not really a match trigger — it’s a sporting trigger. The trigger is supposed to adjust for pull weight and length of first and second stage travel. You can also adjust the weight of the first stage pull. I’ve not had luck adjusting this type of trigger in past tests with other Hatsan rifles, so this time I plan to spend more time at it.

The Quattro adjustable trigger adjusts for pull weight (screw 1), length of first and second stages (screw 2) and the weight of the first stage pull (screw 3).

Sights

The sights are fiberoptic, front and rear. That may not be such a bad thing on this pellet rifle because it is definitely not for shooting targets. This is a hunting airgun, pure and simple.

The rear sight adjusts in both directions with smooth click detents. They are too quiet to hear but both can be felt when they are turned. In just hoisting the rifle a few times I believe the open sights will do it great justice.

Scope base

Hatsan has had a novel and wonderful scope base for many years. Their base accepts both 11mm airgun scope rings and Weaver rings, by virtue of its two-tiered design. On a mega magnum like the 135 I think it goes without saying that the Weaver rings will be the ones to use, because they are the most secure under recoil.

Hatsan’s two-tiered scope base accommodates both 11mm (top) and Weaver mounts. Weavers are what you want.

The Pyramyd Air website says the 135 doesn’t recoil and vibrate like some spring-piston air rifles, and that is correct. But make no mistake — it does recoil! I will say more about that in the upcoming reports.

Ammunition

Ammo for this rifle is a very big deal! More specifically, pellets. It wasn’t until a few years ago that .30 caliber pellets were even made. There have been .25 caliber pellets around as long as modern pellet rifles have existed, for at least the past 110 years. But thirty caliber is a recent phenomenon. So the number of pellets is few. JSB makes 2 — one is a 44.75-grain dome and the other dome weighs 50.15 grains. I have both of them.

Predator Polymag also makes a .30 caliber hunting pellet and I have a tin of them to test. Air Venturi makes a 44-grain round ball and I have a box of them to test, as well. The only pellet I don’t have is the .30 caliber H&N Baracuda, because they have been out of stock for some time. So this rifle will get as thorough a test as  is possible to conduct.

The heavier cast bullets in .308 caliber are not for this rifle. According to the specs, it is a 30 foot-pound rifle, so when we apply the “magic” number, we see that even the lightest pellet or ball will not be going 671 f.p.s. The “magic” number is the velocity in f.p.s. at which the weight of the bullet in grains equals the muzzle energy in foot pounds. That would be a 30-grain pellet going 671 f.p.s. However, this is a Hatsan airgun, so I expect the energy to be quoted consevatively.

Do you own one?

Today I start testing something very different. I welcome the comments of anyone who own this rifle. I am in a place I have never been and I’m not quite sure of what to do. It would be nice to hear what you who have owned and used this rifle think about it.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Hatsan’s .30 caliber 135 QE Vortex is a large breakbarrel — both in size and caliber.

This report covers:

• The test
• Sight-in
• JSB Exact 44.75 grain
• JSB Exact 50.15-grain
• Predator Polymag
• Next
• JSB domes at 25 yards
• Predator Polymags
• Polymags with the tips removed
• Popeye?
• What’s next?
• Summary

Time for me to bend the bow of Ulysses and see what it can do. Today I have a slightly different accuracy test for you.

The test

I tested the rifle at both 10 meters and 25 yards. I shot 5-shot groups today because this rifle is just too hard for me to cock. A tired BB is a sloppy BB. All shooting was off a sandbag rest in the normal fashion and I used the artillery hold, both because I knew the rifle would be twitchy, something several readers confirmed.

Sight-in

Sight-in took five shots. As it came from the package the rifle was shooting high and right. The open sights have scales to tell you where they are and I found the windage scale most helpful, getting on target.

JSB Exact 44.75 grain

First to be tested for no special reason was the JSB Exact 44.75-grain dome. I checked through the spotting scope to see that the first pellet landed in the black and then didn’t look again. I held the rifle very loose, concentrating on not pulling it into my shoulder. A twitchy rifle needs to be allowed to twitch all it wants to, because it will probably do so the same way every time.

The group looks quite large, but you must remember that these are .30 caliber pellets. Thirty caliber can be anything from 0.30-inches to 0.312-inches. It depends on the country that controls the round. I needed to know the exact size to calculate the groups, so I measured this first pellet. It came out at 0.308, so that is what I will subtract from all the group sizes to find the center-to-center dimensions.

As you can see, these JSB pellets measure 0.308-inches — at least this one does.

This first group measures 0.439-inches between centers. It looks larger but that’s just due to the size of the pellets. This is not bad for a 10-meter group shot with open sights! This pellet bears watching.

Five JSB 44.75-grain Exact domes made this 0.439-inch group at 10 meters.

JSB Exact 50.15-grain

Next I tried the JSB Exact dome that weighs 50.15 grains. It probably looks similar to the last pellet, but it landed lower on the target and also made a larger group. I did not adjust the sights from the last group. Five of these pellets went into 0.754-inches at 10 meters.

Five JSB 50.15-grain Exact domes made this 0.754-inch group at 10 meters. It landed a little lower on the target at 10 meters.

Predator Polymag

The last pellet I tried was the Predator Polymag. They weigh 44.75 grains, the same as the first JSB dome, which means JSB, who makes Polymags, probably uses the same lead preform for both pellets. The Polymag is a hollowpoint with a red polymer tip in the hollow. I have found this pellet in other calibers to deliver superior accuracy, so today we will see what it can do in .30 caliber.

Once again I did not change the sights from the first group. Polymags landed a little lower than the first JSBs and a little higher than the second ones. They also went a little to the right. Five of them made a group that measures 0.536-inches between centers. That’s almost as good as the first pellet and quite a bit better than the second one. I tell you that for a reason.

This group of 5 Predator Polymags is slightly larger than the first group of JSBs. It’s 0.536-inches between centers.

Next

Okay, with 10 meters out of the way and with the rifle sighted in, we can back up to 25 yards. I will only shoot the two best pellets at this distance, but one reader asked me to try something special, as well.

JSB domes at 25 yards

I did not adjust the sights for this session. The first group was shot with the 44.75-grain JSB Exact domes. They made a group that measures 0.973-inches between centers, but 4 of the pellets are in 0.33-inches. That’s smaller than the first group at 10 meters! Of course it’s just 4 of the 5 shots, but it hints at a level of accuracy I hadn’t expected to see from this rifle.

At 25 yards five JSB 44.75-grain domes went into 0.973-inches c-t-c. Four are in 0.33-inches.

Predator Polymags

Next up were the Predator Polymags that did almost as well at 10 meters as the JSBs. At 25 yards the 135 put 5 of them in 1.231-inches between centers. Once again, 4 pellets were even tighter, at 0.572-inches. Notice these pellets landed lower on the target, and also to the right, which is the same thing they did at 10 meters. What I’m saying is this big Hatsan rifle is proving to be very consistent.

Five Predator Polymags went into 1.231-inches at 25 yards. Four are in 0.572-inches.

Polymags with the tips removed

Reader Kevin asked me this after Part 2 was published.

“Speaking of limited pellet choices for your accuracy testing portion of this series, please consider removing the plastic tip from the predator pellets and testing them as a 4th pellet when you move beyond 10 meters. Two reasons for this:

1-Many of the plastic tips in predator pellets become offset and at distance this affects accuracy.

2-I’d like you to have at least one arm that looks like Popeye’s”

Well, Kevin, I tried doing that to several of the Polymag pellets and I could not get a tip to come off or even to move. I noticed that I was starting to damage (bend) the pellets I was working on, so I gave up. You may have seen batches of Polymags whose tips were loose, but these .30-caliber pellets aren’t like that. I looked at every pellet in the tin (that’s only 100) and none of the tips had fallen off.

Popeye?

As for Popeye’s arm, I started this series off more like Olive Oyl. But today I shot the rifle many times and cocking was getting smoother. Maybe it’s because I eats me spinach! Kidding aside, the test 135 is getting smoother to cock. Not easier, just smoother.

What’s next?

I went to 25 yards today because you guys are starting to pester me to test this rifle at 50 yards. Before I do that I need to get a scope mounted and zeroed. I will test the scoped gun at 25 yards before moving out to 50. So that’s next.

Summary

I was surprised by the performance of the rifle today. That said, the high cost of .30 caliber pellets forces me to say that I think .25 caliber is the better way to go. Until now I have not thought of .25 caliber as a plinking caliber, but comparing nickel pellets to 10- to 12-cent pellets, it certainly is! If you want to take full advantage of this big breakbarrel, go with the largest caliber you can comfortably afford to feed.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Air Venturi’s Seneca Double Shot air shotgun.

This report covers:

• Fast second shot
• Let’s review
• Sub-1 crossbow
• Reality of bow hunting
• Description
• How many shots?
• What it shoots
• Is this for you?
• Summary

I usually just review the products and leave my personal opinions out — or I try to weave them in under the radar. Not today. I first saw today’s subject airgun, the Seneca Double Shot air shotgun at the 2018 SHOT Show. I looked at it and then showed it to Rossi Morreale on American Airgunner, all the while wondering — WHY? What possible use is there for a double-barreled air shotgun? Then Val Gamerman, the president of Pyramyd Air, told me. The extra barrel gives you a fast second shot.

Fast second shot

That second barrel gives you a quick second shot at a deer or other large game animal, when you are using Air Venturi Air Bolts. Nuff said! That is a real reason for owning a double-barreled air shotgun.

Let’s review

Before I describe this airgun let’s look at some past articles that have brought us to this point. First there was my review of the Seneca Wing Shot air shotgun. There are just two parts to that review because I treated the report of the Air Venturi Air Bolts as a separate subject. But, if you read that report you’ll see that the Wing Shot was at the heart of it.

We learned that the Air Bolt is an arrow (or bolt, as they are called by crossbow shooters) that fires much faster than any crossbow can. And they are accurate. Rossi Morreale shot a Robin Hood at the 2016 Texas Airgun Show while sighting in his Wing Shot for an upcoming pig hunt. That’s where the point of an arrow hits an arrow in the target and splits it.

While sighting in his Wing Shot for a pig hunt, Rossi Morreale shot this Robin Hood (arrow hitting the base of another arrow already in the target).

Sub-1 crossbow

And there is one more report that you should consider. I also tested and later bought the Sub-1 crossbow. I initially did it because my experience with the Air Bolts compelled me to learn what a true crossbow was like. And the Sub-1 isn’t just any crossbow. It is the most accurate crossbow on the market today, with the possibility of shooting three bolts into a group that’s smaller than one inch at 100 yards! Not that I ever did it, but it has been done.

I found the Sub-1 extremely accurate, but at a cost of about double that of the Wing Shot. It isn’t as powerful, but with a crossbow, power isn’t everything. The bolts they fire are so heavy (400+ grains) that when they hit they keep on going — right into the boiler room of a large game animal, if they strike in the right place.

Reality of bow hunting

With an arrow, the animal has time to move after it hears the shot. This move is instinctive and triggered by sound. The Sub-1 puts arrows out at around 350 f.p.s. The Wing Shot is about 200+ f.p.s. faster. Even so, it isn’t so fast that the target doesn’t have time to move. Stealth and patience are still the name of the game when hunting with any kind of bow — even an airbow!

Description

Okay, enough background. Let’s get to it. What’s this Double Shot like?

The Double Shot is a side by side double barreled precharged pneumatic shotgun that weighs 8.55 lbs. That’s heavy for a shotgun, so if you are a scattergunner there will be some getting-used-to time ahead. They claim a velocity of 450 f.p.s. with Air Bolts, so the gun has been tamed from the Wing Shot to get more shots per fill.

Seneca Double Shot muzzles.

There is a single trigger, so the selector mechanism on top of the gun lets you switch between barrels. The action is cocked by a bolt on the right side of the action that is pulled straight to the rear each time you want to shoot. So, to fire both barrels you set the switch to either the left or right barrel, cock the gun and fire, then switch barrels with the selector, cock and fire again. With practice it takes seconds.

The selector for which barrel fires is on top of the receiver. You can rotate either knurled knob to select to barrel and a line (arrow) tells you which barrel is going to fire. This photo also shows the knurled sliding breeches for loading balls or shotshells.

The gun has a pretty wood buttstock and forearm that many people commented on at the SHOT Show. It looks like a fine English double with its straight buttstock that has no hint of a pistol grip. It also handles like one, though the weight does slow it down.

There is a brass bead up front for rough sighting

How many shots?

The specs say you get up to 5 powerful shots per fill. That would agree with what I saw from the Wing Shot. However, since this is a double barreled gun, why not just go with 4 shots per fill? That will help you with air management, because its twice through both barrels. Naturally there is an air gauge in the forearm to tell you where the fill is. And this gun fills to 3,000 psi, so a survivalist can fill it with a hand pump. The rest of you may recoil in disbelief when I say that, but you have to remember — this gun isn’t for plinking.

What it shoots

The Double Shot is a smoothbore airgun, so it is ideally suited to shoot shot. Each barrel has a removable choke that’s taken off to load Air Bolts and shoot round balls, but put on for shotshells. You can also add the special longer and tighter 12.2mm chokes that Pyramyd Air provides that are supposed to give 10 percent tighter groups. I may have to try them for you.

Shot is available in a variety of loads that include a long shotshell loaded with number 8 shot, a long shell loaded with number 6 shot and an empty shell you can load with whatever you prefer. The specs say to expect up to 1,130 f.p.s. with shot.

The Double Shot also shoots .50-caliber round balls up to a velocity of 600 f.p.s. Accuracy will be less than with an Air Bolt, but out to 30 yards it ought to do the job. I will test it for you.

And of course the Double Shot also fires Air Bolts at up to 450 f.p.s. I think that is it’s strong suit, but a hunter will probably want to use all three types of ammo in this most versatile hunting airgun.

Is this for you?

Some of you have patiently read today’s report, all the while saying to yourselves, “This is not for me.” I get that. Air shotguns are not for every airgunner and this double barreled one certainly isn’t. It’s not a bragging-rights airgun, though you will certainly surprise and maybe even shock your shooting friends when you bring it out.

No, this airgun is for hunters — hunters of larger game, mostly. I’m going to test all the features, except wingshooting that I’m horrible at.

Summary

We are looking at a big bore airgun that’s not for everybody. It’s also unique in the airgun world. This is a step outside everybody’s comfort zone, and I am looking forward to it.

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

A punt gun is huge! The man has a conventional shotgun in his other hand for comparison.

This report covers:

• Market hunting
• What is a punt?
• What is a punt gun?
• The nasty part
• Punt guns in the movies
• Why the punt gun today?

I’m having some fun today, and I want to invite all of you to have some with me. First of all — what do punt guns have to do with airguns?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

About the only thing I can say is that both things have the word “gun” in their title.

Market hunting

I will step across the politically correct line now and talk about market hunting. Until the 20th century, market hunting was one of the ways the human race survived. Today we go to the grocery store. In 1875 we either raised our own meat or else we bought it from a meat market that, in turn, bought it from either a local rancher or a market hunter.

A market hunter is a person who kills wild game and sells it to others for money. For the program to work there needs to be lots of game and people need to be affluent enough to be able to afford to pay somebody else to provide it to them. There also needs to be no laws in place that limit the amount of game that can be killed.

Before you start preaching to me about how wrong this is, allow me to present a 21st century equivalent. Wild pigs are fast becoming a problem all across the United States and Canada. In the state of Texas they are considered to be a plague by none other than the Smithsonian magazine. They are out of control and breeding faster than hunters and natural attrition can keep up. They destroy crops and valuable ranchland, ruining it for cattle. There are no limits on the numbers of wild Texas pigs that can be harvested (killed) by hunters. They are even hunting them from helicopters to try to keep the numbers in check!

And yet — wild pigs are edible by all those who don’t have religious restrictions that bar them. I have eaten wild pig meat and it tastes as good as any other swine when it is properly prepared. If a hunter were to start selling meat harvested from wild pigs, as long as the proper care was taken and the necessary inspections were done, there would be few objections.

Well — the same held true for wild ducks, geese and, yes, even swans, in the latter 19th century and earlier. These waterfowl abounded with seemingly no end in sight, and market hunting was a common practice. Enter the punt and the punt gun.

What is a punt?

A punt is a small boat that has a very shallow draft. It is moved about by a pole in contact with the bottom of a shallow river or pond. Punts were not intended for recreation initially, though they are often used that way today. Punts were primarily intended for market hunting or market fishing in shallow waters.

The punt was a one-man craft with a shallow draft. It was essentially just a mount for the punt gun.

Today, punts are used in many places for sightseeing — similar to the gondolas of Venice. But a century and more in the past they were more for business — the business of getting meat from below and above the surface of the water.

What is a punt gun?

A punt gun is a huge shotgun with a bore that’s nominally 2-inches across, though there are smaller examples that could actually be fired from the shoulder. One of these has a bore as “small” as 0.928-inches, so just over 92 caliber. It weighs only 10.5 lbs. and is a flintlock. I am wondering whether it qualifies as a true punt gun, but it’s certainly on the large side for a fowler! And, no flintlock fowler was ever well-suited for birds on the wing because of the delay in the lock. So, maybe the sellers are right.

Most classic punt guns weight in the neighborhood of 250 lbs. and have a recoil that can crack a wooden boat transom. So, there was padding in the form of straw stuffed between the butt of the gun and the boat.

These monsters fire copious quantities of lead shot for the purposes of harvesting great numbers of waterfowl with a single shot. They are loaded from the muzzle like a cannon and most of them fire by means of a percussion lock. The trigger was pulled by the gunner, but he stayed away from the butt. As I just mentioned it was braced against the stern of the boat. The tremendous recoil would move the punt in reverse when the gun fired.

“Brother, can you lend a hand?”

Punt guns were made by hand, one at a time, so there are no specifications. Most bores were about two inches across (200 caliber, if you will), but that’s just an approximation. Since they were loaded through the muzzle and since their smoothbore barrels launched shot instead of solid projectiles, the size of the bore wasn’t that critical.

The nasty part

No doubt by now you have figured out how the punt gun was used. The punt was poled or paddled (by both hands over the side of the boat) slowly toward a large flock of waterfowl that were sitting on the water. When the boat was as close as it could come to the flock without spooking them, it was “aimed” by steering the prow of the boat until the muzzle of the gun was pointed in the direction of the greatest concentration of birds. Then the trigger was pulled. A single shot might take as many as 50 birds that the gunner would then gather and take to shore for processing.

This was not a sport. It was hunting for food and it was done on a commercial scale. If you compare it to sporting conduct it appears cruel. But don’t do that because that opens the conversation to modern meat harvesting techniques that are even less sporting than this was.

Punt guns in the movies

One reason most people don’t know about punt guns is they seldom show up in movies. In fact, the only movie I know of that featured one was Tremors 4-The Legend Begins. In the Tremors series, iconic conservative counterculture hero Burt Gummer is a prepper who leans heavily on his firearms, his military experience and his knowledge of apocalyptic household chemistry to survive. In Termors 4 his ancestor, Hiram Gummer, resorts in the late 1800s to a punt gun to kill one of the Graboids (30-foot-long wormlike monsters that live underground).

Why the punt gun today?

We looked at a most unlikely double barreled air shotgun earlier this week. Writing and thinking about that got me thinking about today’s subject and I thought I should share it with you.

I know that many of you know as much as I do about punt guns. But I’m hoping there are some readers who have never heard of them. Today’s blog is for those people and for their wonderment as they read this!

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

• Synergis
• Gamo USA
• The story
• It gets better
• AirForce Airguns
• Diana Mauser K98 PCP
• Summary

Synergis

We were in the Umarex booth in the last report, so we’ll start there. The one other airgun that caught my eye in that booth was the new Synergis underlever repeater. Yes, this is yet another spring-piston rifle that repeats!

The Synergis from Umarex looks exciting. Photo courtesy Umarex USA.

This rifle has a gas piston/spring, yet is quite easy to cock. I am guessing it’s between 25 and 30 pounds of effort. It gets 1,000 f.p.s. with .177-caliber lead pellets and 1.200 with alloy pellets. It has a 12-shot rotary magazine, so it’s another spring-piston repeater. But this one has an underlever, so the mag is lower than usual with a springer that repeats. It has a shrouded barrel for quiet shooting and comes bundled with a 3-9X32 scope and rings. But wait for it — the really big news is the price. The Synergis retails for $169.95! When Umarex marketing manager Justin Biddle told me that I said, “What?” I expected $100 more.

Sure, we all know it’s made in Asia. It has to be at that price. But with all it offers I plan to test it and hope that it’s accurate. If so, it will be a new best buy!

The Synergis uses the same type of rotary mag we have seen with other repeaters.

The Synergis mag lies low in the receiver!

Gamo USA

Okay, I told you there would be big news today. Here it is. I was in the Gamo booth, trying to photograph their new Gen II Swarm Fusion 10X that was sitting inside a locked glass case, when another guy caught the attention of Gamo representative, Brad Conley. Brad was very helpful and told the other man, who was a gun dealer, a lot about the new Gen II Swarm. I listened in and got more information than I have ever gotten in the Gamo booth.

After the man was finished, I introduced myself to Brad and asked if there was any way to take the rifle out of the case for photography. He didn’t have the key, but instead went into one of the upstairs conference rooms (their booth is 2 stories and it’s huge) and got another example to show me.

Gamo’s Swarm Maxim 10X Gen II has the lowest magazine profile of any breakbarrel repeater on the market.

The story

Gamo may not have invented the repeating spring-piston air rifle (I don’t really know who did, but I’ve seen a Haenel from the 1950s) but they have been working with them since the 1960s. That’s half a century! But, until the Swarm came out a few years ago, they didn’t always feed pellets reliably. The Swarm took care of that. Using a reliable rotary magazine is so much easier than feeding lead pellets through a tube!

But the Swarm, and now the other breakbarrel repeaters that have come out at this show, all have very tall feeding mechanisms that force you to use high mounts for a scope. The Swarm Maxim 10X Gen II solves that with a horizontal magazine that reduces the height of the mechanism considerably. You can see for yourself in the photos. And, no, the horizontal mag is not compatible with the Gen I vertical mag.

You can see how low the new horizontal magazine lies when the barrel is closed. This allows the scope to be mounted lower.

The Swarm pellet feeding mechanism works well with the horizontal magazine.

Brad held the Swarm with the barrel fully broken so I could see how far it broke down. This is a long-stroke gas piston, which means easier cocking for great power.

It gets better

As I was talking to Brad, Gamo’s new vice president of sales, Joe Syring, walked up and introduced himself. Before coming to Gamo USA, Joe worked at Crosman for a number of years and we had met when he was there. We talked — and talked — and talked! Things have now turned around for me at Gamo USA. Joe is someone I can talk to, and he understands the American airgun market.

You know how we always say not to dry-fire a spring gun? Joe asked me about that and I told him that Gamo was the exception. They used to tell folks in their ads that they dry-fired their spring guns 10,000 times without any signs of damage. I thought I was impressing the new guy until he told me that, before one of their spring rifles goes into production, Gamo takes 10 and dry-fires EACH of them 10,000 times. That is 100,000 dry-fires before a gun comes to market. AND (but wait, there’s more) they pull a couple rifles out of each thousand in production and shoot them 10,000 times, as well! I don’t know why their marketing department hasn’t made more of this, but I certainly plan to.

AirForce Airguns

When you go to the AirForce booth, these days, you have to remember that they are also the BKL booth, the RAW booth and the AirForce International booth. The first thing I want to tell you is the RAW rifles are now shipping. Production is not up to full speed by any means, but guns are going out the door.

Some models of RAW air rifles are now shipping.

The other new rifle in the AirForce booth was the new Texan LSS. The L stands for long, because this is a full-length Texan with a shroud. This way you can get the full 500 foot-pounds of power in a quiet (ish) rifle. But they did something more. They will take the final five inches of the shroud that contains the baffles removable, so if you want a shorter rifle you can have it. It doesn’t show in the photo, but that’s what it will be on the production gun.

AirForce owner, John McCaslin, holds the new Texan LSS shrouded big bore air rifle.

Diana Mauser K98 PCP

I will leave you with this one to discuss over the weekend. The Diana Mauser K98 PCP is based in the Stormrider, so expect that level of performance — 20 foot-pounds in .177 and 26 in .22. The rifle is large and in charge, yet not overly heavy. As you can see, the appearance looks quite realistic. I expect this one to sell for less than $400 and you should see it by the summer.

Diana’s new Mauser K98 PCP will be great for the replica gun guys, of which I am one.

Summary

I am now so full of secrets that if you opened me up I would look like a box of Raisin Bran. There is more SHOT Show report to come, but you all need to chew your cud on this stuff for the weekend. Old BB is finally going to get some sleep!