Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i Airgun Shooter

Webley wowed the world with the introduction of the Mark VI Service Revolver in 1915, then went on to wow the airgun world with its CO2-powered BB- and pellet-firing Mark VI variants. The company is now set to wow us yet again with the release of two new Police and Civilian Mark VI revolvers in a choice of two different finishes and two different pellet calibres. While the Mark VI with its 6” barrel is best known for its military service with British and Commonwealth forces, the gun was popular with several police forces and the civilian market too, and Webley’s latest incarnations reflect this, with the new Police model sporting a 4” barrel and the Civilian variant having a snubby 2.5” barrel, making them easier to carry, easier to…

FX’s Dreamline Stealth has been created with a brand new aluminium chassis developed by Saber Tactical for improved performance. This skeletonised system offers a fully adjustable butt stock, an adjustable cheekpiece and a detachable bag rider, which lets the rifle more easily be used with a bench bag at the rear. Up front there’s a long accessory rail, which will prove invaluable for attaching a bipod as far forward as possible, which is the optimal position for maximum support. Some of the Stealth’s other features include a 1/2” UNF threaded barrel, and the ability to change calibres and swap barrel liners, which is now something of an FX hallmark. The Stealth is available in .177 and .22 calibres in sub-12 foot pound guise, while FAC-rated models are being offered in…

Telescopic sights are the norm for most air rifles these days, whether they’re PCPs, springers or gas-rams, but there’s another type of sighting system that’s far less bulky, is lighter and is generally cheaper than a scope, and that’s the dot or reflex sight. This type of sight offers no built-in magnification, but that means super-fast target acquisition, and because it’s used with both eyes open it provides greater situational awareness thanks to a wider field of view. Reflex sights have therefore proved themselves to be extremely useful in military situations as well as fast-paced sporting scenarios such as driven boar, but there is a place for them on top of an air rifle as well. However before we get into that, let’s look at why a reflex sight is…

BETTER THAN HALF PRICE! – WAS £58.37, NOW £25.00 SUBSCRIBE ONLINE NOW www.magazinesdirect.com/82AX OR CALL0330 333 1113 and quote82AX HURRY, OFFER ENDS 1 MARCH 2021! Choose your package SAVE 50% HALF PRICE WAS £25.94 , NOW £12.95 • INSTANT ACCESS ANYTIME, ANYWHERE ON IOS AND ANDROID • SAVE 50% HALF PRIZE WAS £32.44, NOW £16.20 • HOME DELIVERED • GREAT VALUE Pay by Direct Debit 4 Automatic renewal – never miss an issue □ Print & Digital Only: Pay only £25.00 every 6 months, saving 57% (full price £58.37) □ Digital Only: Pay only £12.95 every 6 months, saving 50% (full price £25.94) □ Print Only: Pay only £16.20 every 6 months, saving 50% (full price £32.44) www.magazinesdirect.com/terms help@magazinesdirect.com…

There can be no doubt that the events of the past few months have left an indelible mark over us all. The freedom we once took for granted to go out and do what we wanted, when we wanted, was taken away due to the Covid situation that unfortunately led to much sickness and death in many, if not all, the societies on our planet. Lockdown was an understandable and necessary response to Covid-19’s assault on our world. As a result, those of us with interests outside of the home were hit particularly hard when it came to maintaining our mental well-being by doing those things such as shooting that many of us find relaxing, while allowing us to concentrate upon doing something that kicks those unwanted negative thoughts into…

CHOOSE THE RIGHT GUN FOR YOU It’s great to find a rifle you like the look of, but it’s even more important to find one that fulfils your needs, and that’s more important than ever with springers, which are a bit harder to shoot than PCPs. Are you intending to do some target shooting? Maybe a heavier underlever which is more stable in the aim for short amounts of time is best. Do you want to take down some rabbits? Then a lighter break-barrel might be a better bet. PERFECT YOUR COCKING TECHNIQUE Keep both yourself and your air rifle safe by using the correct technique to cock the gun. If the cocking mechanism is not under full control and the spring is released prematurely, this could cause the barrel,…

We really are spoilt for choice when it comes to airgun ammo, with that great do-it-all pellet, the domehead diabolo, being supplemented by some specialist designs for specific applications, just like the Hades from JSB. With a name like this, the Hades is very much geared towards the hunter. After all, Hades is the Greek god of the underworld and these pellets are intended to shepherd our quarry animals to the afterlife, albeit a little earlier than they might have liked. But these days we’re seeing a blurring of the lines between a hunting pellet and target ammo, and JSB itself points out that the Hades isn’t just for hunting. That was a claim I wholeheartedly agreed with when I tested the .22 variant back in Airgun Shooter issue 133,…

GET DEAD ON WITH THE DEADEYE Hardboard targets made by Custom Targets are much more fun than their cardboard counterparts because they smash apart when you hit them, and the Deadeye, the company’s latest offering, is more challenging than ever. Two sizes are available to fit 14cm or 17cm target holders, but you can also support the Deadeye via its central fixing hole. The target features dozens of tiny shoot-through zones and even more super-tiny 2mm shoot-away zones to really test your marksmanship. The laser-cut targets are great for garden range practice sessions and start at £2.50 for the single 14cm version, with savings to be made if you buy a pack of six. For more information visit www.customtargets.co.uk or call 01460 77766. DRY BAG MEANS DRY KIT Lomo is…

I was on the lookout for a new bipod, but choosing any airgun accessory can be a bit of a minefield. With such a wide array of shooting products available these days, how can we ever be sure we’re picking exactly the right one for our needs? My own personal method, “if it looks good, it probably is good”, is very unscientific, but has nevertheless served me quite well over the years. Then there’s the system where you look at the price scale and position your expectations in line with the product. That’s not to say low is bad, it’s just different. After all, a cheaper Chinese copy may lack some of the performance of a more expensive item, but it can still make us happy as we haven’t had…

WIN! THE BEST LETTER GETS A SET OF SPORTSMATCH MOUNTS LETTER OF THE MONTH LENSES IN DEPTH I just read Andy McLachlan’s article Scope Consideration and while I do appreciate high quality optical glass as produced by the Japanese and Germans, I’m reasonably sure that most HFT competitions aren’t run in near darkness where this quality of glass is definitely a requirement. Most airgunners do not run to £500+ scopes, and anything over £100 I would say might be regarded as expensive to many. Yes, it’s true that cheaper Chinese-produced scopes have glass issues, but if you check this, almost all the problems are edge relative, ie colour aberration or distortion. Given that HFT shooters tend to use small objective lenses, it would be a helpful tip from the realm…

I’ll let you into a secret: If I go out hunting and return home emptyhanded I feel … disappointed. Yes, I know I’m supposed to have enjoyed the trip just as much for having been out in the Great British countryside, irrespective of the contents of my game bag. But I’m afraid the success of the hunt does matter to me. This impulse is always close to the surface. If while out for a gentle family stroll I spy a bushy-tail high in a tree or hear a trout break the surface of a nearby river, I feel a deep pang of loss at an opportunity passing me by. At 37 years of age I have, of course, shed much of the unfortunate bloodlust that typifies the young initiate hunter.…

I have to admit to being instinctively dubious of most new things. For good or bad, “what a waste of money” and “I can’t see the point in that” are thoughts that are never far from my mind. Several years ago, I was loaned a Pulsar Helion thermal spotter to test, and with a price tag north of £2,000 my natural prejudices came to the fore. And then I actually switched it on and put it to my eye. Epiphany. I hung on to that review sample for as long as I could, making increasingly weak excuses to explain why I hadn’t sent it back. Eventually though, after selling a couple of rifles, I bought one of my own. I take it with me every time I go shooting, day…

The launch of the Daystate Delta Wolf was without doubt one of the biggest events in the 2020 airgun calendar. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the first fully functioning model, which was an awesome FAC-rated gun kicking out around 60 ft-lb. Impressive as it was, the majority of UK airgun shooters are off-ticket so they’re going to be a lot more interested in the sub-12 ft-lb model, and that’s the gun that I’ve spent a fortnight shooting in the lead-up to this test. BLISTERING CONSISTENCY One of the big selling points with the highpower Delta Wolf was its huge degree of tunability, but not surprisingly some of that has had to be removed from the legal-limit version. To prevent non-FAC shooters from finding themselves on the…

We can all get a bit serious at times, worrying whether our rifle has a slow leak, if the regulator is playing up or why that flyer keeps ruining an otherwise perfect group. So every now and then it’s a good idea to step back and remind ourselves that airguns are meant to be fun. Of course, that means different things to different people, but for us here at Airgun Shooter, nothing encapsulates why we love airguns more than lining up a few tin cans and letting loose. And when it comes to plinking, the blowback Crosman R1 takes a lot of beating. Fuelled by two CO2 capsules and fed by a 25-shot drop-out magazine, it will spit out 4.5mm BBs as quickly as you can pull the trigger. At…

I was recently asked why we shoot, and in particular, why do I shoot? It took me a while to come up with an answer because there are so many reasons why. For starters, I find shooting a form of escapism from my day-to-day job, both mentally and physically. Personally I can’t think of anything better than escaping the concrete jungle and heading to mother nature’s back garden. It offers me the chance to disappear into the woods and seek the solitude that it has to offer. I can listen to the natural sounds around me, such as birdsong and the leaves rustling in the breeze. This also gives me the opportunity to regain my own thoughts and the mental self-control that everyday mainstream life often knocks out of us…

WORTH £459 Rifle scopes are being packed with more features to meet the increasing demands of the modern air rifle shooter, typefied by Hawke’s brand new Sidewinder 30 SF 4.5-14x44. For more than a decade, the Sidewinder has been a byword within the Hawke family for performance and reliability. It’s a multi-discipline optic with a wide range of uses and is the company’s most popular rifle scope ever. The Sidewinder range was recently revamped to take things to another level. Redesigned from the ground up, these new Sidewinders, including the 4.5-14x44 on offer here, are lighter and stronger, and offer 100mm (4”) of eye relief. They also feature premium crown glass, improved illumination and a new locking turret system with a witness window. The Sidewinder 30 SF 4.5-14x44 10x Half…

Cold weather is setting in and rats are becoming even more of a nuisance than ever around farmyards. It’s an annual problem; most farms are home to modest populations of rats right through the year, but numbers usually increase rapidly during the winter when cold weather, rising water levels and dwindling natural food supplies force the rats onto the farm in search of shelter and an easy meal. The exodus from the fields and into the sanctuary of the yard usually begins in the autumn as farmers bring in their harvests. That was certainly the case this year and I made some good bags during the early part of the season. I was using lamping kit on quite a few of those outings as I like the simplicity of this…

After spending more than three decades trying to improve my decoying results, I like to think I know a thing or two about this challenging form of shooting. My early years resulted in more failures than successes, but the hundreds of hours of trial and error have provided me with a pretty good understanding of what works and what does not. I’m always happy to share my findings with other shooters, and I hope that it might help them to avoid some of the pitfalls that I have fallen into over the years. The number one rule of decoying, especially when using an airgun, is to manage your expectations. Persuading a wily bird that lives on instinct to land in striking distance is a real achievement. Just being able to…

Like many of you, I love shooting BB-firing blowbacks, but there’s a place in my heart for CO2-powered revolvers, and that place only gets bigger when I find out that they shoot .177 (4.5mm) pellets from a rifled barrel, rather than ball bearings from a smoothbore. Enter the Winchester 4.5 Special, a meaty handgun inspired by the old school stainless steel revolvers of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Winchester is a company that’s best known for its lever-action repeating rifles, although it did make a few handguns, including an odd single-shot bolt-action pistol and a few revolver prototypes. Nevertheless, the gun we have here is not based on any Winchester design, but instead more closely resembles the Smith & Wesson Model 625, which is chambered in .45 ACP (Automatic Colt…

Twenty years ago most of us were shooting single-shot pellet pistols. CO2 BB-firing models had been around, mostly from the United States, and most of these were plastic or diecast alloy. But one CO2 pistol appeared and changed that. Baikal in Russia released their little Makarov air pistol – an all-steel CO2 BB fast-fire repeater based on their real Makarov firearm. Superbly authentic, urban legend has it that they were made in the same factory using some shared parts as the 9mm semi-auto pistol. Think about it – an air pistol made from proper blued steel. A very unique little addition to anyone’s gun room. An optional silver version completed the picture, and over the years small details changed, providing plenty of variations for collectors to seek out and argue…