Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2022 i Airgun Shooter

ZEROING IN NEWS AND MORE FIRST IMPRESSIONS KEY SPECS DISTRIBUTOR: Sportsman Gun Centre (sportsmanguncentre.co.uk) MANUFACTURER: FX MODEL: Wildcat MkIII BT CALIBRE OPTIONS: .177, .22, .25 and .30 PRICE: From £1,343.99 POWERPLANT: PCP (dual-regulated) ACTION: Sidelever MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 22 in .177 calibre, 18 in .22, 16 in .25, 13 in .30 STOCK: Synthetic with soft-touch surface SAFETY: Manual OPTICS: Picatinny rail MUZZLE: Built-in shroud system with ½″ UNF thread PRESSURE GAUGE: One for bottle, one for regulator TRIGGER: Adjustable match trigger FEATURES: Easy barrel swap EXTRAS: Additional barrel kits sold separately Whether you love them or loathe them due to their radical looks, bullpups are here to stay, and that staying power is typified by the Wildcat. It's hard to believe that this little pup has been around for no fewer…

Wold Farm is renowned for its airgun shooting and fishing, and is holding an open weekend where members of the public can come and have a look round for free. The site will be open from 10am to 5pm on 18-19 June, allowing visitors to see its dedicated zeroing range as well as its multi-lane plinking range. Wold Farm also offers an assortment of targets that have been set out on a lake. These move in the breeze, bringing a new challenge and dimension to air rifle shooting. All shooters are welcome, whatever their level of experience, and staff will be more than happy to advise and help in any way they can. Taster sessions, gun hire and tuition are available on request, and the site caters for people with…

THE COUNTRYMAN DECOYING CROWS WHY WE SHOOT • Crows are destructive agricultural pests. They cause serious crop damage, and feed on songbirds' eggs and chicks. • Scavenging crows prey on vulnerable lambs causing pain, distress and ultimately death. • Damage caused by hungry crows can impact on farmers' livelihoods, so controlling them helps the rural economy. • Time spent ambushing crows from a hide is a great way to unwind and enjoy the countryside. THE QUARRY CARRION CROW Corvus corone PEST STATUS: A major problem for farmers, especially in the spring, crows peck the eyes from newborn lambs. They also feed on the eggs and chicks of other birds. HABITAT: Crows have a wide range of habitat, but feed mostly around farmyards, in woodland and on crops. They favour nesting sites…

SHOOTING OUTSIDE YOUR EXPERT ANDY McLACHLAN Well, the warmer weather is finally starting to appear and the urge to shoot outdoors on a regular basis is once again upon many of us who nowadays prefer to stay inside over the winter period. Shooting indoors is a wonderful way of passing the hours during the colder months when it can sometimes be a little on the cool side regarding both the temperature outside and our own ability to record accurate results from our hardware. For many years, I was one of those shooters who continued to subject themselves to occasionally horrific conditions as I shot HFT courses all over the northwest of England and the Midlands. I think I've finally reached the age where I am inclined to take the easy…

TESTING STATION RIFLE TEST DAY STATE ALPHA WOLF RIFLE TEST KEY SPECS MAKER: Daystate, England (daystate.com) MODEL: Alpha Wolf PRICE: Sub-12 £2,300, High Power (tested) £2,500 TYPE: Programmable electronic bullpup CALIBRE: .177, .22 (tested), .25 and .30 (.25 and .30 FAC only) OVERALL LENGTH: 836mm (with long barrel) LENGTH OF PULL: 365mm BARREL LENGTH: 17in and 23in (tested) WEIGHT: 3.9kg (model tested without scope) TRIGGER: Two-stage adjustable electronic POWER: Sub-12 and high-power up to 95 ft-lb Daystate refuses to stand still when it comes to pushing the boundaries of airgun design. The British gunmaker set a new standard for adjustability when it launched the electronically tunable Delta Wolf two years ago. Resting on its laurels has never been a trait of this airgun giant, and further advances on the theme were…

THE GUN ROOM KJ Works is less known in airgun circles than other brands, but has a lot to offer. Concentrating initially in 6mm airsoft, the company entered the airgun market recently. The part-metal handgun here is the MkII, a 4.5mm BB repeater which looks similar to the Ruger .22 LR semi-automatic. The Ruger inspiration isn't just cosmetic, as the metal upper, barrel and action separate from the lower ABS handgrip in an almost identical manner too. It has a drop-free magazine with a built-in valve unit, and takes regular 12g CO2 bulbs. This gun has a nice feel to it thanks to the added weight of the metal. Although it's a single-action design, it's non-blowback with a much pokier muzzle velocity than average. This gun appeared for only a…

ZEROING IN BSA IN PROFILE ZEROING IN NEWS AND MORE Birmingham Small Arms was established in 1861. In Great Britain. That's an important point, because due to its close ties with its Barcelona-based sister company, Gamo, you could be forgiven for thinking BSA is as much Spanish as it is British, but in fact that's simply not true. All BSA's pre-charged pneumatics are made at the factory in Armoury Road in Birmingham. And with the exception of one Gamo model that's unavailable in the UK in any case, all Gamo PCPs are produced in the same manufacturing plant as well. At the moment all the break-barrel springers are manufactured in Spain, although some components, such as the barrel and breech block assemblies, are made here in the UK. But even that…

FREE TO ENTER WIN! WORTH £185 BSA has done a great job of evolving the Meteor Evo into a thoroughly modern and classy sporting springer while retaining enough of the rifle's character to remind you of its heritage – and the Evo Silentium goes one step further by adding a fixed sound reduction system that really does help quieten down your shooting. Whether you're starting out or you're already an experienced shot, the idea is the same – to place that pellet exactly where you want it every time, and this is one rifle that will help you achieve that aim, thanks to its full-power action and chequered hardwood stock. While many shooters have cut their teeth on early incarnations of the Meteor, the Evo Silentium is a very capable…

HUNTING & FIELDCRAFT FEATURE THE HOLISTIC HUNTER My use of the all-encompassing moniker the “shooting sports” has been troubling me lately. It's a convenient catch-all term. However, I've been wondering if it's fit for purpose. While part of what I do when hunting does involve shooting, pulling the trigger is a small part of the whole. I'm happy to concede that target shooting is a sport, I'm just not so sure that the taking of life (whilst hunting) should be classified as such. Naturally, when we describe an afternoon of stalking rabbits as “great sport”, we do not mean it in quite the same vein as a football fan might when describing a hotly contested match. We are speaking of the challenge involved, but there is room for nuance within the…

VALUE FOR MONEY I am aware that some readers of our magazine will sometimes look at the hardware described by myself and others and think to themselves that if they could afford such expensive equipment, they would be capable of matching or exceeding their normal level of performance, and probably mine as well. The problem is that it is not as straightforward as that. Fair enough, if you as a target shooter are equipped with the latest high quality and expensive German or Austrian target rifle, you have in your possession a rifle that can deliver outstanding levels of accuracy, but for a cash outlay that many consider either unobtainable or just downright overpriced. Being a serious airgunner and having associated myself with other enthusiasts over the years has to…

It doesn't take much to let a good gun go downhill – just take a look at this BSA Standard. This was once a nice air rifle, but now it's quite literally a basket case. We can only imagine how a gun ends up like this, but it does – and often. So what to do with this neglected BSA? Should it be used for spares, for repair or for restoration? This .22 Standard was certainly worth saving, but the trigger guard and matching screws were missing, and the rear sight had gone walkies. The underlever catch to the barrel was there, but loose. The gun had been apart more times than a badly glued Airfix kit, and the pin and cocking link screw had also disappeared, as had the…

Knowing how to shoot is essential, but so is knowing where to aim, especially when it comes to shooting at a target that's an unknown distance from the rifle's set zero. Beamtek is offering a helping hand in the shape of the Trilase, a device that can be used to compensate for a pellet's trajectory. It uses three lasers to produce a pattern of dots that are projected onto the target. This triple laser pattern can be viewed through the scope for a couple of seconds before the shooter deactivates the Trilase and then takes the shot. The Trilase works by comparing the size of the projected laser pattern with the terrain it is on. A shooter using the Trilase will know the required holdover or holdunder by viewing the pattern…

People forget that the advent of new technology doesn't make old tech any less capable. Lamping works as well as ever, providing the same benefits – and drawbacks. But next-gen tech can offer something more, building on what's come before and delivering an enhanced shooting experience. My own experience with night vision is limited. I bought a Gen 1 NV unit almost 20 years ago, and while it worked well enough for its day, it was offputtingly clumsy and power-hungry. I quickly retired the NV sight and went back to lamping, as it was a system I was used to. I found it more effective and more enjoyable, as I'd lamp with a buddy. In the years that followed, the quality of NV units advanced, with thermal night vision optics…

HUNTING & FIELDCRAFT FEATURE SPRING STALKING Personally, I find winter hunting more successful. A flick through my diary shows that to be the case too, whether it's rats on a farm, squirrels from a hide or rabbits at night. However, nothing epitomises the joy of air rifle hunting more than stalking the hedgerows in spring and summer. Perhaps that's why people say “it's just nice to be outside” when they draw a blank. I'm fortunate to have a great rabbit shooting permission that can produce bags of 20 or more a night throughout the winter when I'm using an FAC-powered rifle and night vision equipment. The farmer thinks that's great. To him, every rabbit shot is money gained on the bottom line. However, for reasons he'll probably never understand, I find…

AIRGUN ADVICE LESSONS LEARNED Wouldn't it be great if we could travel back in time and have a quiet word with our younger selves? Avoid that particular relationship, we might advise. Stay out of the pub on Christmas Eve 1998. Never drink bourbon on an empty stomach. That sort of thing. Exactly three years ago, I began my journey as a born-again airgunner. Regular readers of my Barn Door column will know that I'm a magnet for incidents, embarrassment and small-scale calamity. So yes, there are some things I wish I could tell the 2019 version of myself; the things not to buy, the actual injuries to avoid. Perhaps new and returning airgun shooters in 2022 will be able to learn from my many and occasionally painful mistakes. JOIN THE…

TESTING STATION PELLET TEST PELLET TEST .177 WASP NO.1 Those of us who've been shooting for a number of years will be aware that some brands disappear forever, while others rise from the ashes, retaking their place on gun shop shelves up and down the country. Just like the Wasp. Two versions of Wasp pellets are back on sale, these being No.1 in .177 calibre, identified by a red label and wasp logo, and No.3 in .22 calibre, featuring a wasp on a mauve label. I already reviewed the larger calibre, so it's now time to look at the No.1. Both tins feature a screw-on lid and measure the now-standard diameter of 68mm, smaller than the original Wasp tin size. No.1 pellets come in a tin of 500 and have a recommended…