Hawke Airmax 30 SF 4-16 x 50

This is my quick video overview on a brand new scope released by Hawke last week, There is very little about them on the internet other than Hawkes website so thought I would do a quick video overview. 

These scopes have been designed in the UK especially for Airgun owners. I managed to buy this one from Sandwell Field Sports who have a short supply of them because they are that new. Most popular websites still have them showing "coming soon".

Sorry in advance for my rubiish film quality and sound but like I said its just a quick overview.

Walnut Loving

As many of you will know my rifle of choice is the Air Arms Pro Sport. I've had my current Pro Sport for a year now. From taking ownership I've always had the rifle out in all weathers but pride myself in the way I look after my gear. I know some people just see their rifles as tools of the trade or there to be abused but I believe in keeping my boomstick nice and clean and always gave her a wipe down after each outing. However I wanted to give her more. 

So I decided that I would treat her to some stock loving. 

With that said I have never really conditioned my stock which is walnut. The stock is in A1 superb condition with no bumps or scratches so instead of stripping her back to the wood I thought I would just feed my stock and condition her, bringing out her eye catching grains. After much reading up on the subject so to not disappoint my sexy temptress I opted for the following product.

English Walnut Oil Preparation

At £3.00 for the bottle it certainly ticked the thrifty box and kept the Mrs off my case. The smell is superb and NO extra tools are required for the job! Thats right, NO extra items.

Walnut stocks on air rifles especially those from the factory on mass produced rifles can be very well finished but feel very dry to the touch as the wood is very porous. There are really minute microscopic holes in the wood that have this habit of catching on your facial hair when shouldering the rifle and pulling out your whiskers lol. This product is designed to be used on new stocks to help condition the finish you already have and treat the wood. The good old saying is when you begin a conditioning regime on some wood that you apply it once a day for 7 days, then one a week for a month and finally one a month for a year. Or after an outing where the rifles been exposed to rain for a good period of time.

The best way I have read to apply this stuff on the net is with the palm of your hand. I poured out a pea sized amount into the palm of my right hand and then whilst steadying the stock with my left, started to rub the oil into the stock starting at the cheek piece end and working it into the stock up to the for end. In total one coating session resulted in my using 4 pea sized amounts to get full coverage of the stock. You need to rub your palm into the wood with conviction and create heat through your skin. I mainly went with the grain pattern rather than against it whilst rubbing it in with my palm. You will notice when you first apply it that its very slippery and you'll know when to stop as the stock starts drinking it up and your left with a substance on top of the wood thats not so easy to work in. Dont worry about this or using to much as you need to leave the stock for 24 hours between coats and you will see that when you go to pick the rifle up the next day the wood will have consumed the lot.

Just remember a little bit goes and long way while using this oil. I am only on day 3 of the 7 day regime but cannot believe the difference in the stock already. The grain really does POP out the wood and I have noticed my stock has got alot darker in its general appearance which I like. The light was shit whilst I was trying to take these pics for you all after day 3 of the treatment process.

In honesty I think the stock looks 10 times better in the flesh then these pics can show but I am sure there wont be to many people out there that thinks this stock doesnt look the mutts nuts! She really is a cracker.

 

 

Happy Birthday my lickle treasure!

Mawders

A Grey Day

Saturday 25th January 2014

So with the weather forecast looking really bad over the weekend my shooting buddy and I decided to brave the elements and get back out to our permission. With last weeks haul on the grey population being rather good I was certain there would be more out this week. The presence of these vermin on this permission is strong in number and have been left pretty much untouched for years.

We arrived at the permission later than we normally would,  it was 11am already and the sky's were looking black and thick. The wind was blowing strong and with it came a bitter chill. It had been raining hard all night and the farm entrance looked like the bog of eternal stench. I didnt think the van wheels would pull through the thick muck as we drifted and slid our way into the farm courtyard. Even the cows looked miserable in their shed as the wind roared through the open sides and sent hay rolling across the ground. Due to sighting in the scopes last week I decided to forgo the routine zero check on a target board checking groupings as I knew with the howling winds it would be hard to see what was taken by the wind and what was a wobble. Instead I decided to wait for breaks in the wind and shoot at a few coca cola bottle lids I had placed up at 30 yards. Every one of them went flying with central impact marks so I was happy that the scope was still on target.

So, welly boots on and a 2 minute stroll through the muck to get out of the courtyard and into the fields and woodlands. I realised at this point that when I got to the first wooded area that I was about 4 inches taller due to all the mud welded to my boots and with that realisation came the worrying thought that this particular wooded area was slap bang on the side of a steep hill, this would make for interesting stalking sliding down the face of the hill ;-).

As we crossed the gate into the woods almost instantly we became aware of that rustling of leaves to our right in the distance. I knew that the noise was Mr Nutkins mooching around the woodland floor looking for his stash of acorns and edibles. Twenty yards of slipping and sliding later whilst holding onto trees for balance I spotted two Nutkins dancing round the wooded floor. I signalled to my shooting buddy like I was in the SAS, moving two fingers to my eyes whilst looking at him and then pointing in their direction and then giving the signal for two. Im glad my shooting buddy cottoned on and didnt think I had lost the plot and just giving him the V.

We both slid and skated a further 15 yards closer and were both now viewing both nutkins down the embankment at approximately 30 yards away. I steadied myself as best I could and brought the Pro Sport up to my shoulder. There he was, positioned facing back at me sat on his back legs at the base of a tree but he wouldnt keep still, he kept ducking into a hole in front of him and mooching around. I could see the top of his head and decided to take the shot. A phut and a crack later and Nutkins number one just slumped into the hole which he was so fascinated with in the first place. As I brought the rifle down I noticed the other Nutkins who at first was alarmed by the sound had now jumped from his perch and was venturing towards his fallen friend. A quick sniff and he didnt seem bothered, he continued to mooch the floor line. My shooting buddy took up aim next to me and had a small window of opportunity to take the shot through a mass of twigs. Unfortunately his .22 Air Arms Field pellet glanced a twig and went wildly off course. With that Nutkins was not hanging around and made his way to safety further into the woods sprinting and jumping like a gymnast into the distance.

I made my way down the mud slope trying to be as stealthy as I could to retrieve my trophy.

 

Pleased with my successful collection we moved on in the direction the other nutkins had run off in. We both decided to sit and wait to see what might come by. I took up residence on the floor sitting back up against a tree wishing I had put an extra layer of trousers on as my combats and boxers started soaking up the wet floor. I had only been sat about 20 minutes when I heard the unmistakable crack of my shooting buddy's Mk2 TX200 which I might add is approximately 18 years old now and has never had a service of relube in its life, all original parts and still kicking out 11ft/lb of energy consistently. I was there the day he purchased it when I were a kid and can remember many fun outing with my shooting buddy, my dad ever since. A lone figure, rifle in one hand and nutkins in the other then approached. A cracking head shot. I was assured that whilst waiting, this nutkins had come bounding out in front of my shooting buddy's view on the floor standing still long enough to be cleanly taken.

 

So an hour in and two nutkins taken from what was proving to be a nice little woodland. Brewski time, nicotine fix and ready to move on for some more.

It wasnt long whilst mooching on before another two squirrels decided it would be a good idea to start making a racket and crashing through the tree line right in front of us. These two required a little stalk as they were out of range at about 60 yards away and to many branches and twigs blocking a good shot. The first nutkins ran across a branch heading towards my shooting buddy, I glanced across and gave him the nod to go for it whilst I kept an eye on the other one. Again, the mighty crack of the boomstick, aka TX200 rang out followed by the crack and thump of a nutkins falling out the tree and hitting the floor. Another clean headshot none the less. I congratulated him on the shot and went to look for the second which had moved further into the distance. After a few minutes of mooching my second nutkins came bouncing out of a pile of logs about 25 yards to my front and leapt into the trees. Now I must admit that I had 3 shots on this occasion and missed every one of them due to twigs and incorrect hold under. I decided that nutkins had won and went to move on when nutkins decided to give me one last roll of the dice. He jumped from his hiding spot and made a dash along a thick branch 25 yards to me left. I swivelled round and took aim in the kneeling unsupported stance and let a Falcon Accuracy Plus .177 round fly. My aim was true on this occasion and a clean headshot sent nutkins tummbling from his branch. 

Both Nutkins 3 and 4 accounted for.

By now the weather had started to take a turn for the worse with parts of the sky a depressive black and grey colour and the wind now howling and rushing it were hard to stand still. We decided to leave the wood and take a walk up a field towards another woodland and monitor the tree line to our right for any activity.

Whilst walking this route and returning to the warmth of the van for banter and debrief one last grey would fall to the Pro Sport. A movement of orange and grey caught me eye, a full grown nutkins running over logs and through thick brash to my right, range to target 20 yards or so. Another perfect head shot and it really was time to call it a day as the drizzle started to fall. 

5 in total and 2 happy little hunters!

Thanks for reading!

Mawders

A Passion Renewed

Long time no post,

Having gone the last 6 months without a single outing or shot fired of the air rifle my shooting partner and I decided we reunite our passion of the sport. Due to working commitments and life in general getting in the way it had felt like a life time since I was last out with just my rifle for company. 

So a quick conversation with the land owner of a new permission we secured before going MIA for 6 months and it was still game on. Good news no less because if we had lost this one then I really would have struggled to find another like it. 

The owner of the land farms the many acres and has problems with rabbits in some of the fields along with problems with the grey squirrel who are descending from the small patches of woodland and making it into his many outbuildings and chewing through telephone cables and causing general damage and mess. The landowner also farms cows and which leads to problems with the avian pests eating and defecating in the food and around the cow sheds. So with many pests under the general license that need to be dealt with this permission should prove fruitful and supply many hours of sport for me and my shooting partner. 

So Sunday 19th Jan came around and it was time to get the kit together and await my pick up. The poor air rifle bag had a thick layer of dust on the top of it but a quick check inside revealed the beauty that is the AA Pro Sport with her walnut body.

Arrived at the farm at about 10am and decided we would probably need an extensive zero check and refinement due to having not fired the rifles in 6 months. 5 minutes late and without a single adjustment the Pro Sport was still pellet on pellet at 30 yards using Falcon Accuracy Plus pellets. A joy to behold, a joy to fire and a joy to own was all I could think about the Pro Sport.

So then quicker than I thought it would take it was time for a mooch around and get familiar with the new permission. lovely countryside and probably about 160 acres in total to  play with which consisted of a mixture of fields and small wooded patches.

I am very much a seasonal hunter and will target my vermin based upon the time of year. I always endeavour to tackle the greys when its the colder months due to less foliage and leaves in the trees.

We were not disappointed on this outing. Every small wooded area we approached had greys scampering around the woodland floor and chasing each other around. The first wood I counted 4 squirrels but just out of range at the 60 to 70 yard mark. It was difficult to get closer as it meant jumping a barbed wire fence without being noticed. I spent what felt like an eternity trying to scale the fence without moving to sudden or making to much noise. Eventually I had cleared the fence only for a bloody cock pheasant to come racing across the wooded floor like bloody road runner gobbing off and spooking all the squirrels into the trees. I waited a short while but they did not come back.

We moved on across the field to another wooded area safe in the knowledge that this farm had a strong grey infestation upon its acreage. The next wood proved more fruitful where a steady stalk and waiting game paid off with two greys falling victim to the Air Arms onslaught. one after the other in quick succession, my shooting partners shots almost timed to perfection even though we were 30 yards apart and unaware of each others targets. Both greys falling instantly from their branches onto the floor without a twitch.

We collected the pair and stood telling each other our tales of the shot chuckling away when Mawders spidy senses started tingling and the distant rustling alerted us to another incoming grey. As if by magic another good sized squirrel came bounding along the tree line completely unaware of its friends fate just ten minutes before. I waited for this one to stop and thats where I took aim. I judged the shot to be 40 yards at least and when looking through the scope all I could see was the squirrels head side on through a hole in some thick twigs blocking my view of the whole squirrel. This was going to have to be a well placed shot if ever there was one. I dropped to the kneeling unsupported position and took aim. The balance of the Pro Sport makes unsupported shots so much easier as all the weight is evenly distributed throughout the rifle. I took up first stage and still the shot was still on so I slowly squeezed off the second stage and heard the unmistakable crack of pellet skull and then saw my target fall from the branch without a twitch.

He was instantly picked up and placed with the previous two for a photo opportunity.  

This was certainly proving a brilliant shoot. The afternoon went on in much the same style and in total 7 greys were cleared from the permission, one of which was not retrievable due to it falling in a massive steep ditch covered in brambles and the like. Here are the last 3 that were taken before it was deemed a wrap and a return to the warm for a roast dinner waiting for us.

God its good to be back. Happy hunting everyone.

The Air Arms Pro Sport Returns

I will start this post apologising for not keeping the blog up to date over the past six months or so. The intentions were there to keep this site updated but many things in my personal life got in the way of making regular updates.

That I hope is now behind me and onwards and upwards as they say.

I left you reading my Epic Saga post which saw me turn my back on Air Arms and the mighty Pro Sport due to many problems I had when trying to be the proud owner of Air Arms flagship Spring Piston Rifle. 

I turned my back on them and returned to Weihrauch purchasing a stage two tuned Sandwell Field Sports HW97KT. I wont talk about the rifle or my outings with it to much as most of you will know the rifle itself is probably regarded as one of the finest springers out there. What I will say however is that it was a damn fine rifle and was pin point accurate which in part was aided greatly by the tune the rifle had done at Sandwell Field Sports. 

However curiosity got the better of me and I soon started hungering after a Pro Sport again in the hope that I could find one second hand that didn't suffer from the same problems as the two I had previously had. It was at this time that I coincidently happened to bring the issue up with a good friend of mine who as it happened owned a walnut Air Arms Pro Sport in .177 and dressed in a lovely walnut stock and no longer wanted the rifle as he was truly hooked on the HW tuned Sandwell Field Sports rifles. We managed to work out a deal and before I knew it we had swapped rifles as he assured me his rifle did not suffer the same problems that my previous two had. For me it was a chance to reunite myself with this beautiful rifle and hope it was better built than my last two.

Sure enough I put the rifle through its paces at my local club and sure enough my mates word was true, it didn't suffer from the same problems. I could however feel that something wasn't right within the rifle. The accuracy was first rate but on firing the rifle it certainly sounded like it was missing a beat and twanged like mad. This concerned me as I wanted to rectify the problem and get the rifle shooting smoothly. This was also a relatively new rifle and was only about 6 months old and had hardly been used. A quick conversation with another good friend of mine who goes by the username Timmytree on the Hunting Life Forum and the Air Arms Owners Forum saw me book a date and time to go and see him so he could strip the Pro Sport down and take a look at what was going on. 

So, one summer day I made the trip to see Timmytree and we went about stripping the Pro Sport in the workshop and drinking some lovely home made cider whilst enjoying each others company. The hours rolled by and the end result was simply worlds apart from when the rifle first went in. Timmy showed me that the workmanship is slipping somewhat in the Air Arms quality control department. The spring and spring guide were not a good fit with a lot of slack between the two. The innards of the rifle were only very slightly greased with a white tar similar to gorilla snot and the spring ends were rough. Some swapping of internal parts, polishing of others and regreasing the insides with real gun grease and the end result as stated was worlds apart.

An intensive power check over the chrono showed the rifle was very very consistent and was putting out 10.8ft/lb which was ideal as it still had some bedding in to do and would settle at around 11ft/lb all being well to keep it well within the UK legal limit of 12ft/lb. 

So a quick zero check on Timmytree's private range and the rifle was smashing pellet on pellet at 25 meters.

The rifle was now everything it should have been before it left the factory and was so nice to shoot that it accompanied me to the local range most nights and was put to the test. Here you can see the rifle in action with a good friend of mine Si Pittaway.

  

The summer months continued in much the same way with the Pro Sport but eventually life got in the way and shooting took a back seat as mentioned at the start of this post. That backseat turned into six or so months of no shooting.

The Epic Saga

Let me just start off by stating that this is an account of the past three months of what has seemed like an epic saga. I'll detail the good points, the bad points and some welcome surprises along the way. This is more a story of my rational and decision making that's meant I have spent the past 3 months without a stable rifle.

The Beginning

It all started back in December 2012 when after long hard decision making and looking at the results others were getting with .177 air rifles I decided to make a U turn and change over from .22 air rifles and make the transition to .177.

Having never owned a .177 in my life and having always shot .22 spring air rifles you can imagine my hesitation. With a little encouragement from a friend I finally bit the pellet and put my trusted .22 HW 95K SFS Stage 1 tuned rifle up for sale to fund my new .177. Now ive never been fortunate to have the funds to own more than one rifle so it hurt having to hand over my little boomstick in search of something I wasn't even sure I would get on with. 

With the cash in my pocket I decided to visit my favorite gun shop, Sandwell Field Sports located in the midlands, a 120 mile round trip from my house. I decided that my .177 purchase would be HW and that it would be the 97 complete with a stage 2 tune from Tony Wall. Ever since purchasing the HW95K from him and experiancing the delight of a tune from him and the team I had been a fan. I walked into the ever busy shop and made my way over to the counter where Tony was standing jolly as ever. What amazed me was he remembered my name and greeted me with a good old cup of coffee. There was people everywhere but yet Tony still had time for each person and made you feel important and unique. Not a feeling I have experianced fromany other gun shop I have ever visited and certainy not from the local gunshop 2 miles down the road from me. I spoke in length with Tony about what I wanted the rifle for and he agreed that a HW97K would be the best choice and the choice of calibre pleased him greatly!

Tony being the professional he is even went out into the back of the shop and came back with the very rifle I wanted which was stage 2 tuned and handed it over to me for inspection. This rifle belonged to one of his friends and was currently in the shop for a service. Tony then completely knocked me back with his professionalism and attention to detail and invited me upstairs onto the range to have a few shots with the rifle to show me what sort of rifle I would be getting should I place my order.

The gun felt brilliant and anyone who owns a .177 spring piston rifle will tell you the recoil is slightly more pronounced than on a .22 spring piston rifle. Well not this rifle! Nothing but a little nudge into the shoulder just to remind you that it was a spring powered rifle and not a PCP. The gun felt solid and well built. I instantly made my mind up and placed my order right there and then. The date was December 18th so I asked Tony when he thought my rifle would be ready for collection roughly. Tony gave me a estimation date of 4 weeks which put it towards the end of Jan 2013. Perfect I thought,just in time for my main permission to open its doors to me after the shooting season finished and I could return in search of happiness squirrel bashing!

The wait over christmas and into the new year nearly killed me, I was excited. Then one morning towards the end of the month I rang SFS and spoke to another employee there as Tony was busy with customers. I enquired if my rifle had been done or if it was in the process of being done but unfortunately the news I heard was bad. The shop had been so busy that my rifle still hadnt been started. February was but a under a week away and having not really gone out hunting since October 2012 I was keen to get back out there. I started thinking about another rifle I really admired but had never owned, well the thinking soon turned into obsessing and before I knew it I had the phone in my hand. 

The Air Arms Pro Sport

Now then, this is where the saga began. After discussing the Pro Sport with some friends and mulling things over in my head I came to the conclusion that based on looks alone it was one of or the most stunning looking rifles on the market. I had also heard from several people who had owned them, still owned them or had shot them that they were stunningly accurate rifles and sumed up as being a semi tuned rifle straight from the box. It suddenly dawned on me that what I wanted from my new .177 rifle was already on offer straight off the shelf and ready to go.

So with phone in my hand I rang SFS back a few days later and still they confirmed that my rifle had not been started. I kindly asked if it was at all possible to cancel my order as it had not been started and thus meaning somebody else jumped the line and took my space for their tune and instead order a .177 Pro Sport.

Straight away the answer was "yes" "no problem". Outstanding customer service I thought and so was told my Pro Sport would be at the shop in a few days time. A few days passed and I recieved my call from Tony telling me the Pro Sport was in and ready for collection. Ever so excited I rushed up the M5 to collect my trophy. As always Tony treated me like I was the only customer in the shop and went about attaching my scope and mounts and then upstairs on the range to get a feel for the gun and get it zeroed. 

I went about shooting a 5 shot group and was startled at how accurate the rifle was! Straight away and straight out the box with the 5 pellets I shot they went through the same ragged one hole. I was that gob smacked I scoured the target end thinking I had pulled the rest of the shots and thought I would find them dotted around but it wasnt the case. The recoil of the rifle was fairly soft for a .177 and hardly any twanging sound could be detected from the spring. The blueing on the action and barrel was outstanding. The walnut stock was dark and patterned just how I like a walnut stock. I fell in love straight away! Tony even told me there and then that the Pro Sport was one of only a few rifles he couldnt improve upon much more than how they come out of the box.

To me that spoke volumes and I really did feel like I had made the right choice.

I said my fair wells and left SFS with a grin on my face eager to get the rifle down the range to really put it through its paces at 30 yards.

At the range I managed these groups.

Ten shots on target whilst adjusting and fine tuning zero.

The same group covered by a 5p piece.

Five shot group

Five shot group covered by 5p piece.

And then this trophy down the permission a few days later. Standing 25 yard head shot unsupported. Just going to show the balance of the Pro Sport as standing unsupported shots are by far the most challenging shots but with this rifle the balance makes it such there is no wavering around what so ever.

Turn of Events

After having owned the rifle for a few days it all went wrong on the Pro Sport front. When cocking the rifle it suddenly developed a small squeaking sound. I thought maybe it would go away and continued to use the rifle at the range. That small squeak then turned into a rather loud squealing sound which could even be heard above the rifles being fired in the local indoor range from other shooters. I got speaking to a few people there that had owned pro sports and they all said their pro sports never made that noise. I went above investigating where exactly the squeaking was coming from. I discovered that if you follow the cocking lever down to the point where it attaches to an alloy block that was where the squeaking was coming from. I looked closely and could see where the lever straddles each side of the block it was in actual fact rubbing alloy on alloy and shredding little particles of alloy off and causing quite some damage to the block. The squealing wasn't the only thing, as you cocked the rifle it felt graunchy like you could feel the alloy disintegrating through every cock of the lever. I tried lubing the area with some grease and this made very little difference. To say I wasn't happy was an understatement.

I rang SFS and spoke with Tony and he stated it was something he had never heard of before and to pop the rifle down for inspection. I made my way down and presented the rifle to Tony. He straight away set about stripping the action from the stock to investigate and when he saw the damage and heard the noise himself he was totally baffled. Tony recommended sending it back to air arms for repair so the actionwas boxed up there and then. Just before I left the shop Tony being the true gent he is realised I would be without a rifle knowing I am a one gun man. He then did somthing that really surprised me. He went out the back and came back handing me a gun slip containing a HW35 complete with scope, sling and a full tin of pellets so that I could carry on. He also rang Air Arms there and then and spoke with his contact and explained the problem enquiring how long they thought they would have to have the rifle for. Tony told me his contact believed it would be given priority and be fixed the same day it comes back to them and posted straight back to my address. Tony gave me the lady's details at Air Arms so I could ring them and arrange for the rifle to be returned to me on completing the work to fix the rifle. 

I waited a week for my rifle to be delivered to them as it had to be sent from SFS to the distributer and then on to AA from there. I rang Air Arms and spoke with my contact I had been given and she confirmed the rifle had arrived that very day and had already been sent into the engineers for repair. The rifle was the fixed the very same day and back in the post to me. I recieved the action the very next day. I was sleeping off of a night shift and came downstairs to a long cardboard box sat in the hallway. Brilliant I thought, lets open the box and fit the action to the stock!

This is where I then realised this wasnt going to be the case!

These images show the box my action came back in and show the top of the action around where the safety switch is sticking out of the box, looks like the couriers decided to play tag rugby with my £500 rifle!

Fuming was an understatement, I was shaking with anger, I just couldnt believe what had happened! I questioned the wife that took the parcel and she confirmed she was leaving the house when the courier delivered the parcel so he placed in damage side down in the hallway for her and quickly sped off. I got straight on the phone and rang AA and spoke with my contact. She couldnt be more apologetic and stated she would take the matter up with the couriers and in the mean time would send a brand new .177 action to SFS so all I would have to do is drive down to SFS and give them my damaged action in replacement for the new one. Unbelievably the action arrived at SFS two days later so I went straight down and swapped the actions over and at the same time gave Tony his HW35 back.

Back in the Game!

Or so I thought! The new rifle proved just as deadly accurate as the last Pro Sport, at the range it was smashing bulls out at 30 yards and on its only hunting trip scored an awesome standing 30 yard headshot on a squirrel. Then, as if I hadnt been plagued by enough misfortune the rifle suddenly developed the exact same squeaking sound the last one did! 

I had had enough and this was now beyond a joke. Two brand new rifles both with the exact same problem! Not even an £80 SMK makes such a racket when cocking, this was completely out of order for a £500 rifle that is deemed by many as the flagship of the AA range.

I rang Tony at SFS and explained to him that the same problem persisted with the new rifle and Tony agreed, no arguments, no fobbing out on the phone, he just simply agreed, this was not good enough! Tony asked me if I wanted him to order another Pro Sport in and swap them over but enough was enough for this airgunner, put simply I had fallen out of love with the most superb looking rifle in the airgun world. I asked Tony if I could have a HW97K instead complete with a stage 2 tune and I would pay the difference on collection. Without hesitation Tony couldnt be more helpful and told me it wouldnt be a problem. He also informed me that due to the amount of attention and trade SFS were getting they were actually stacked out for tunes and Tony said he had to stop taking orders due to the amount of rifles he had waiting. I told him I was happy to wait but Tony being the true gent he is wasnt happy with the trouble I had gone through and told me he would try his hardest to have my rifle done within a few weeks.

True to his word 3 weeks later I am now the proud owner of a HW97KT with a stage 2 tune. I have only had the rifle for a couple of days and been out once with it on a freezing, bloody windy day down the farm and so I will post my findings of the rifle and its craftmanship as I put her through her paces over the next few weeks or months. She certainly on the face of things feels strong, well engineered and reliable. Ive fired 50 shots through her roughly and was hitting little red circles slightly larger than a 5p piece out to 50 yards in strong winds at the farm. I carried out two 5 shot strings over the chrono and on both occasions the average fps spread was 4fps. Thats from a rifle thats had roughly 50 pellets through her. I think this could be somthing rather special indeed! Time will tell.

The rifles had less than 50 pellets through her and is no where near bedded in yet, Ive taken her out once on the coldest windiest day we have had for ages around here and took eight to ten standing shots at this target set out at 30 yards in strong gusts of wind. One wobble or caught by the wind but all in all a happy bunny. I'll just have to try and find a windless nice day to properly calibrate the scope and get it bang on. 

The Conclusion

This whole experiance has taught me alot. The reason for this post was to fill in a few blanks recently due to lots of pm's asking me what was wrong with the Pro Sport. The two main things I think important to conclude to my tale is the Pro Sport itself and the customer service I recieved.

Should you buy a AA Pro Sport? YES! without a shadow of a doubt! Would I buy another Pro Sport? NO! Definately not.

The rifle is the most superb looking rifle out there and I still think thats the case. Everything about the rifle stands out but unfortunately so does that fault with the lever. When speaking with my contact she didnt sound surprised with my explanation of what was wrong with the rifle. The turn around was quick, very quick and I would have loved to have known if that first rifle that was fixed would have worked or if the problem would have crept back. I never got to find out due to the courier smashing the top of the action. Ive never known any company to get a product back, fix it the same day and then send it back for the next day. Incredible customer service and one I couldnt fault. Whats more, as a gesture of goodwill AA then sent me in the post two tins of AA Fields in 4.52 which was a most welcome surprise. 

So, many people own these awesome accurate superb rifles and dont have any problems, maybe they are older models when the engineering was better. All I know is for two brand new rifles to do exactly the same thing after 200 pellets or so sounds to me like there is quality control problems at the factory. Maybe different parts are being sourced which is cheaper for AA but maybe these parts are not up to the job. 

Simply put, I will never be able to purchase another one in fear of the same thing happening again, every time I would cock the rifle I would be worried that the dreaded squeak would come back. I think for such a deadly accurate rifle and superb looking rifle AA really dropped the ball on the lever craftmanship. Interestingly enough though I have not heard of the same problem with older Pro Sports, so maybe if you have a working one keep hold of her and look after her because my experiance of the new ones has left me dissapointed.

Then there is Sandwell Field Sports. From the very start I have had nothing but good dealings with Tony and the team and I really cant urge anyone fairly local popping in to see for yourselves just how friendly the team are there. Nothing was to much effort for Tony everytime I had a problem throughout this saga. He lent me one of his rifles for as long as I needed and trusted me to look after it. Every problem I had was swiftly looked into and rectified. There are plenty of gun shops between my house and SFS but I wont go anywhere else for a rifle purchase, tin of pellets or anything else shooting related. Every visit I felt welcome and looked after. If you find a gun shop you get all of that then look after them and put your business their way because when their gone they really are gone. Tony and the team really do have a faithful following of people who travel god knows how many miles to put business his way but do so because he really is one of the best out there. I didnt really want to focus on the tuning side of things for this post but more on SFS customer service and quality.

How much fuel have I spent going back and forth to SFS over the past 2 months? Probably in the region of 100 quid, how satisfied am I with the level of service from them? 101% satisfaction!

Would I change anything? Yeah, I should have kept my original order in and not cancelled it for a Pro Sport, but then if I hadnt of done that I would always be wondering what they are like. The rifle as stated is superb and just about the best you can get off the shelf for accuracy and looks but that cocking lever just disturbs me! Its built from flimsey parts in my experiance and not engineered correctly. Maybe I was unlucky but to have two different rifles both do the same thing in the first 200 pellets makes me think there is something a miss in the factory.

The conclusion is I have now sampled Bevarian Steak and cant see me going back to British hamburger any time soon.

I will write a solid review of the stage 2 tuned 97KT at a later date if there is demand for it. At the moment its bringing me smiles from ear to ear and THAT can only be a goood thing, plus it a real pleasure to cock it and not have to dread the high pitched squeaking.

ATB

Mawders

Boredom Leads to Weight Gain!

So having spent all my 'day passes' that the wife grants me recently I was imprisoned inside Mawders Manor bored and desperate for some airgun action!

With one kid at nursery, the other just fallen asleep and Mrs Mawders doing some housework I set about mooching, only not in the field but in my man cave otherwise known as the kitchen!

With that in mind I remembered that I had taken stock just recently of a tin of .22 Falcon Accuracy Plus pellets. The Tinternet a wash with raving reviews about these pellets and how accurate they were in most rifles I knew I just had to try a tin. Being a spring piston shooter I was also intrigued to see how they would perform in my rifle as they are one of the lightest pellets on the market and being as a springer loves the lighter pellets and PCP's preferring the heavier pellets I have high hopes for these jelly beans.



The field testing will have to wait for another day unfortunately but I'll start with pellet weights.

Pellet Weights? Really?

Now I have always prided myself on being the type of shooter that picks his trusty springer, grabs a handful of his favourite pellets, empties them in his pocket and walks out the door to begin his adventure. I have lost count of all the threads on forums and articles stating anyone that wants to get the best out of their shooting needs to weigh, separate, wash and lube their pellets. I have heard good and bad points from both sides but never done it myself till today.

Armed with my mates junkie scales and two brands of pellets I went about weighing each pellet individually on the junky scales. For the purposes of the test I grabbed a handful from each tin and counted out approximately 70 pellets and started putting them to the test.

Now the main reason for doing this is to actually see if what some people are saying about inaccurate pellet weights to whats listed on the tin is true. I have heard some horror stories about some pellets being weighed and being a whole grain to the two grains heavier or lighter than those stated on the tin. This in turn doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that if you have a well calibrated rifle and scope and rely on pellet weights to keep chairgun figures optimised then having a pellet that doesn't quite weigh what your telling chairgun wont do what chairgun says it will. This in turn can cause your shot to fall low/high of the target and for those people that compete at the highest level this could be catastrophic.

Luckily I haven't reached those dizzy heights yet and very much just like a nice mooch now and again for some food for the table or the thrill of the hunt. However a recent hunting trip got me questioning this pellet weighing debate as a few shots presented themselves and I missed on both occasions. Now I put this down to adrenaline, hold technique could have been off slightly or numerous other variables that plaque the pop gun community.

Falcon Accuracy Plus

So first up were the Falcon Accuracy Plus weighing 13.43 grains according to the tin!

 

Now I would like to stress that I didnt weigh the whole tin but my first impressions were awesome. The long line in the middle are the pellets weighing 13.4 grains. Which is as close as I could get the scales to the advertised 13.43 weight. Each line either side is .1 of a grain so for instance to the right is 13.5 grains.

I can only assume having not weighed all the pellets that the theme would continue nicely. There were however no nasty surprises of pellets being a whole grain lighter or heavier and for that it could just reflect on the quality of the pellets and their manufacturer which I believe is now Air Arms.

Air Arms Field Diablo

Next to be tested were the AA Fields in 5.52 head size and weighing in at an advertised 16 grains.



Again, nothing scientific was done to select the pellets for testing, it was pretty much what was left in the tin actually. The longest line in the picture shows the pellets that weighed exactly what was reported on the tin of 16 grains. The lines to the left and right again show pellets in order of .1 of a grain size so taking the far right line shows pellets weighing 16.1 grains.

As with both brands of pellets, the picture and tests show that for these two brands alone on this occasion there was no big shocks in terms of extra light or heavy pellets causing massive accuracy issues. I am no expert but I am sure that .1 of a grain surely cant make that much difference to the point of impact on the target car or vermin.

Both pellets are considered to be the more quality assured pellet and are both sat at the top of the airgun pellet price list so its pleasing to see that there are no major concerns with what I tested. I would have liked to have had a brand of 'plinking' pellets or not as well known pellets to compare weights but unfortunately didnt. Maybe those results would have been far more shocking!

I got to the end of my test with the intention of separating the 13.4 and 13.3 pellets out of the Falcon Accuracy Plus and using these for hunting and target shooting at the range as I considered they would be consistent but in the end I just poured them all back into the same tin and put the lid on.

A Wasted Test

Maybe, who knows, I was bored, I needed to test a theory that us airgunners are being lied to on pellet weights and I had a spare few hours. I realised that if my strings of pellets ranged from 13.1 to 13.5 grains with the majority being 13.4 grains then that was acceptable for me. Had I of seen variations of a whole grain or two then I certainly would have left those separated for plinking purposes only.

I would love to hear anyone else's experiences of pellet weighing and coming across shocking results and the opinions of those that still think my weights are unacceptable or acceptable.

Conclusion

I'll remain that shooter that grabs a handful of pellets and empties them into his pocket whilst picking up the trusty springer for a mooch round the permission. Maybe in the new year when I try my hand at HFT I'll be persuaded otherwise but for now I'll leave the weighing or forgetting to weigh to the manufacturers.