Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i Airgun Shooter

Carrying spare magazines in the field is a great way to reload quickly without having to fumble for pellets, especially if shooting under the cover of darkness. Elemental Objects offers a wide range of aftermarket magazines at affordable prices so you don’t have to break the bank to stock up on spares for your air rifle. The Sheffield-based business comprises a team with extensive experience in specialist design, 3D printing and, most significantly, airgun shooting and manufacture. There is no skimping on quality and Elemental Objects goes through a thorough process entailing dozens of prototypes and countless tweaks before arriving at the final designs, which are then rigorously tested with thousands of pellets to ensure precision and longevity. Although still a relatively new enterprise, Elemental Objects already produces pellet-friendly 3D-printed…

LETTER OF THE MONTH IN PRAISE OF BELL RINGING Being a new reader of your magazine and enjoying every contribution, I was very interested in the Why We Shoot article about Rob Lowe and his search for, amongst other things, camaraderie. I too have a Walther LG400 Alutec Competition, but use it for a sport that I and some like-minded folk are trying to reintroduce to Lincolnshire and can I say that in doing so I have met and enjoyed the company of some very fine and interesting people. If it is camaraderie Rob is looking for, then look no further than Bell Target shooting! And it has the competition Rob seeks too. We had a league around the Lincoln area running for two years prior to the pandemic and…

Too many shooters head out with their airguns when the weather is fair and warm, but retreat to the comfort of their armchairs when winter arrives. I think that’s a real shame because they’re missing out on some excellent sport. It would have been easy to cancel today’s session. A cold snap has kept temperatures below zero for almost a week, and I would be lying if I said the prospect of slouching in front of the fire instead of heading out into the chill wasn’t tempting. Cold conditions can bring some excellent shooting though, so the weather has to be really bad in order to discourage me from venturing into the woods with my airgun. Natural food is starting to become scarce now, so it can be relatively easy…

Today there is a vast assortment of airgun pellet types to ponder over. Pellet choice is a huge part of the hobby for us, but despite our love of spending huge sums of cash on the various makes and types of pellet, the ammo manufacturing world – who makes what and where – seems to be a total mystery. In the past it was far simpler. Britain used to lead the way in pellet manufacturing, but today fewer real manufacturers exist here. Many regular favourite pellet brands and types are now made overseas as a result, with some positive and some negative associations. There is nothing wrong with this if it keeps an old favourite alive or introduces us to a new champion. But without some forward thinking we can…

More and more airgun shooters are adding thermal spotters to their night hunting armoury. Whether you’re controlling rats around the farmyard or pursuing rabbits over open ground, being able to see an animal’s heat signature, even when partially obscured by undergrowth, provides a serious edge. It wasn’t long ago that thermal spotters (also known as thermal cameras, thermal imagers and thermal monoculars), were regarded as expensive niche equipment for specialist applications. Investing in this tech still amounts to a serious outlay, but prices are coming down and modern thermal cameras combine remarkable image quality and long-range viewing with very easy operation. The four models featured here cover a range of price points and should meet the needs of all airgun shooters who want to set their sights on nocturnal quarry.…

Agreat choice for shooters who want a small thermal monocular to slip in their coat pocket and forget about it until it’s needed, the Axion Key is 138mm long and weighs just 250g. Despite being minuscule, it is a tough little unit and is waterproofed to withstand a 1m immersion for up to half an hour. This offering from night vision giant Pulsar is the least expensive unit in this roundup but it still delivers the goods. It may not be on a par with products twice the price and more when it comes to clarity and detail of its thermal imaging, but optical performance is still good with a smooth 50hz frame rate. Stated detection range for large objects is 1,200m, and it’s sharp enough to spot and identify…

Over the last couple of issues we’ve looked at, or rather through, dedicated infrared and thermal scopes that are used in place of daytime glass. To round out our night vision series we’ve now got five infrared add-on products on the bench. As their name suggests, these products attach to your day scope, either at the back or front, and transform them for use in the dark. Apart from saving money in most cases, add-ons have the additional benefit of enabling you to use your normal scope during the day and then quickly and easily swapping over to night vision mode without having to change your zero. Thanks to Sportsman Gun Centre, Pard’s official UK distributor, we have the new NV007S (£535) as well as the NV007A (£332.99), whilst John…

Until it came about, most of us used heads-up screen-type equipment that involved lots of components and cables. All of a sudden, the Pard NV007 was compact, easy to fit and meant we could aim our rifles in the conventional way. There are several models now and we’ve already covered the NV007S, however the entry level NV007A still ticks a lot of the boxes with models that have either a 16mm lens with 4x digital zoom or 12mm lens with 1x zoom. In all other regards they are identical, weighing 250g and measuring 106x97x47mm. Attachment is via a sleeve that attaches to the rear of your scope and tightened with a couple of Allen screws. The sleeve provided will accommodate eye bells up to 45mm, with 42m and 48mm versions…

It’s fair to say that a dedicated IR scope has the edge on performance. However, when it comes to affordability and the flexibility to swap between glass during day and IR night vision, add-ons can’t be beaten. As ever, plan your purchase to suit the type of night shooting you do. If controlling rats at relatively short distances is your thing, then heads-up display products like the NiteVizor are hard to beat, especially as they make it easy to scan for targets. However, if you target rabbits at night, one of the products that enables you to look through your scope may make more sense. There’s no hard and fast rule, but a good add-on will help you add to your success no matter what you’re after.…

With BSA comfortable in their new role making air rifles towards the end of the Edwardian era, they released a special version called the Junior around 1910, which filled the need for a more lightweight airgun. The existing line-up consisted of a 43” ordinary pattern Improved Model D, backed up by a lighter 39” Light, or Ladies, version. A recent long 45” gun had also done well, especially in the big .25 calibre. But now a much smaller model was needed. At less than 35” long, this was a diddy version of the Improved Model D and was designed specifically for younger airgun users. Everything was there as on the bigger guns, just suitably scaled down for tiny hands. The Junior even had similar optional BSA accessories. The one seen…

An exciting tie break between father and daughter was required to decide the winner of one of the three categories at Norfolk Broads Bell Target Club’s Christmas competition. The annual event, which was held at Ludham Village Hall, saw three teams take part in three different rifle categories, these being Pre-1939 (Vintage), Modern Spring and Modern Rifle, with Covid guidelines being adhered to throughout. There were individual winners as well, with Jane Dixon winning Most Improved Shot 2021, while David Alexander took Best Vintage. Best Modern pitted father and daughter Shaun and Lauren Padmore against each other, with Lauren ending up the victor with a score of 40.3 out of 40.8. Shields were presented to the winners at the club’s annual dinner at the King’s Arms in Ludham. The shields…

Immersive Optics’ 10x40 is an accomplished scope that delivers a wider than normal field of view in a lighter and shorter than normal overall package. And it does all this with really great glass. While an ordinary telescopic sight relies on a series of lenses to transfer light to the shooter’s eye, the 10x40 uses a prism to refract it. This is what helps keep the weight down and the length short. But best of all, it offers a field of view that’s more than double that of a standard scope. The obvious application for an optic like this is in the hunting field, where the shooter will initially spot their quarry through a pair of binos or the naked eye, and will then want to acquire it through their…

I ’m doing it again. Despite all my promises and my best intentions I’ve started shooting springers. Now many of you will say that this is a perfectly normal and natural thing to be doing, but this is worse. I’m shooting springers, and I’ve now become absolutely rubbish at shooting springers. What on earth has happened to my decades of hard-earned experience? As a lad I would shoot anything, but having said that, 50 years ago there wasn’t much of a choice. My early rifles and pistols were noisy, heavy and unruly, but we bent them to our will, often quite literally. Shooting apples in an orchard, and realising that my aim was off, it was not unknown to give remedial sight adjustments by “tapping” them with a heavy stone.…

By the time you read this, Santa will have once again tied up the reindeers and sent the elves back to their homes as we welcomed in the New Year. Personally, I am a bit of a Grinch when it comes to Christmas as I would much prefer to paint myself green and wait it out. Fortunately, I am very much in the minority when considering the festive season, with most normal people appearing to fully engage with the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, or modern-day Christmas as it is now known. Whatever it is called and as we are all aware, this time of year has been celebrated for millennia and in most cases represents an opportunity for us all to get together with friends and family for some…

Zeiss is a world leader in the optics market and, true to form, the DTI 3/25 delivers impressive optical performance. It has a detection range of up to 880m for a man-sized object and clarity is excellent – I was able not only to spot rabbits at 500m, but also to confidently identify them by their clear outlines. It focuses down to less than 10m, which makes it great for close-range airgun work such as farmyard ratting. The DTI’s high-resolution display and 50hz frame rate make for smooth viewing, and the 1-4x zoom range, with distinct 0.5x stops, should meet most shooters’ needs. Most significantly, this robust unit is compact, measuring 187mm in length and tipping the scales at 410g. That means it is pocket-sized, although it comes supplied with…

Pard’s NV007 is largely responsible for a new class of infrared night vision add-ons, spawning a number of me-too products. To stay ahead of the game, the company launched the NV007S, with several design and feature enhancements. At 118x75x102mm and 265g, it is as light and compact as its siblings and fits within the eye relief tolerance of most conventional scopes. Pressing the power button gets you up and running in the blink of an eye and a quick press of the ‘+’ button activates a sleep mode to save the battery. The same button indicates a red laser function disabled for the UK market. The left button switches between colour and black and white day/night modes, as well as three levels of brightness from the integrated and adjustable 850nm…

The Pulsar Forward F455S is the most expensive product on test. However, it is designed to perform at a level higher than required for hunting alone. At 830g and with dimensions of 155x136x77mm, it’s a substantial piece of equipment and even if you plan to shoot from sticks or some other rest, you’ll notice the change in your rifle’s balance. The F455S is attached via a collar that clamps to the objective lens on your scope. The collars cost an additional £109.95. There are versions for scopes with 42mm, 50mm and 56mm objective lenses, which includes plastic adaptors to suit different lens housings. With the collar attached, fitting the F455S via a four-point bayonet system is quick and easy, enabling you to swap into night mode with a minimum of…

While a few airgun ammo stalwarts have been in constant production, others have disappeared, some on a temporary basis and some for good. But thanks to John Rothery Wholesale, the temporary drought is over in the case of the Wasp, as these pellets are now flying back onto the shelves and buzzing back into action. These new-breed Wasps are available in two varieties, No.1 pellets in .177 calibre, identified by a red label, and No.3 in .22 calibre, featuring a mauve label. This test focuses on the larger calibre, but I’ll take a look at the .177 variety in a future article. Both tins feature a screw-on lid and measure the now-standard diameter of 68mm, which is smaller than the original tin size, with the .22 variety being deeper to…

PAO is bringing out a hands-free headlamp that will prove a big help to shooters when the sun goes down. And despite its name, the LumenMAX Hunter Headlamp will also find a home with people who enjoy fishing, jogging, camping or even working in their garage. The headlamp generates a maximum output of 600 lumens with a beam throw of 200 metres while providing up to three hours of use from a single charge. It adjusts through 45 degrees, providing great flexibility of beam direction, and there are five modes of operation. In addition to the white light, the rear battery compartment is fitted with red warning LEDs that offer red solid on, red strobe or red alternating on/off which could prove vital in an emergency situation. The Hunter Headlamp…

A mid the excitement of setting up a new air rifle, some aspects of prep work, set-up and maintenance are forgotten, but these really can make the difference between owning a solid and dependable gun or shooting one that seems inconsistent and is likely to let you down. If a rifle is not functioning as expected, then yes, it could be defective and will need to be taken to a gunsmith or even sent back to the factory for the fault to be rectified. But while a rifle may be displaying an annoying problem, it can often be put right or avoided altogether with just a little effort from the shooter. If you’re someone who’s new to the fantastic sport that is airgun shooting, then here are a few tips…

Safari, so good.” At least I think that’s what they used to say back in the day. Well, Safari SO good! Let me explain. My buddy Ray Hampton bought an FAC-rated gun. It was a very good gun, but needed a bunch of tuning. He spent more time tuning the thing than shooting it. I was lucky. I had an FX Impact in .25 and a Daystate Red Wolf in .22 and both were amazing. I would spend time tuning the FX to a certain slug, but for hunting I would switch to the Daystate Red Wolf because it always worked right off the bat. There was no need to check the tune, no need to tweak the muzzle velocity, it just worked. My buddy had the hump because he…

Nothing upsets the balance of nature more than introduced species. Ecosystems have for millions of years evolved to function with the native wildlife they contain. Suddenly plonking something alien into such a delicately balanced community almost always has a negative impact – it is like cramming the wrong cog into a carefully tuned engine and then expecting it to run smoothly. Most of us have witnessed this first-hand with grey squirrels and the damage they cause to the woodland environment, but there have been numerous other harmful introductions in our countryside. These include ringneck parakeets, muntjac deer and of course mink. Mink are mustelids, related to stoats and weasels, but significantly larger. They are predators that will take anything from fish to waterfowl and small mammals. The type seen in…

The most expensive thermal spotter in this roundup, this offering from InfiRay is also the top of the crop when it comes to optical quality. Stated detection range for large objects is a huge 2,597m, and the detail shown on airgun quarry such as rabbits and rats at closer distances has to be seen to be believed – I could see small birds roosting in hedgerows when scanning the fields for rabbits. Weighing around 520g and at 202mm in length, this model feels quite chunky in the hand, but is no great burden to carry on the supplied neck strap. The onboard rechargeable battery gives a runtime of up to six hours which can be extended significantly by switching to standby mode when not in use. Viewing is enhanced by…

While some CO2 guns are totally original designs, others are inspired by powder-burning firearms, with the Brothers In Arms series of historical replicas from Lee-Enfield (Guns) falling firmly into the latter category. The M4A1 was developed by Colt and is in service with multiple operators around the world, notably the US Army, with the Marine Corps due to follow suit. But while that gun fires 5.56x45mm NATO rounds, this CO2 variant shoots 4.5mm BBs. It features all-metal construction throughout the barrel, receiver and the 18-round magazine. Plenty of plastic has been used here as well, most notably the handguard, pistol grip and telescoping butt stock, but that’s the case with the original M4A1 too. The 5.56mm M4A1 was accepted into service by the US military in 1994. It first saw…

Heads-up shooting, in which you take aim via a screen rather than through a scope, may seem a little counterintuitive, but products like the NiteVizor HUD X150 can be extremely effective on an air rifle. At just 250g and measuring 115x96x58mm, the HUD X150 will attach to most scopes with an eye bell between 35 and 48mm wide with a two-part screw on attachment that includes a couple of plastic shims. Once fitted, the HUD X150 attaches with a bayonet type fitting, making it easy to swap between different rifles. Once you’ve jiggled the unit into position to ensure the crosshairs are central in the screen and level, a large wheel adjusts the reticle focus. An ocular ring and the scope’s parallax adjustment sharpens the target image. The five-button layout…

Wulf night vision gear is a new entry to the market but is quickly making a name for itself. And it’s not hard to see why; the package is comprehensive and great value for money, especially if you shop around. The pack comprises an IR illuminator, a couple of scope attachments with plastic shims, a rubber eye cup, battery charger and adjustable Picatinny mount to attach the IR torch. You also get a pair of rechargeable batteries, a mini-SD card, some Allen keys, a USB cable and the Wulf Shadowlux, which comes in its own hard case. Designed for scopes with 42mm or 45mm eye bells, the attachment collar is fixed into place with a couple of Allen screws and the NV unit clips on via a bayonet attachment. The…