Air Arms Pro-Sport

Manufacturer:- www.air-arms.co.uk

Recommended Retail Price :- £409.95
Intended Purpose :- Spring Powered Air Rifle
Power :- Spring
Caliber :- 4.5mm / .177
Length in mm :- 1035mm
Barrel Length :- 242mm (Over Tube 377mm)
Barrel :- Lothar Walther - 20mm o.d. - 4.5mm (.177") & 5.5mm (.22") cals -12 groove rifling - 450mm twist - choked muzzle end built in moderator.
Weight :- 4.1Kg
Safety :- Automatic on cocking. Non reset able.
Trigger :- True 2 Stage 'CD' unit adjustable weight of pull, adjustable length of pull
Action Finish : Blued
Stock :- Oiled Walnut Right handed Only
Std Power :- 12ft/lb (Mine is around 11.7-11.8 ft/lb with JSB 8.44 grain pellets)
Loading :- Sliding Breech

A few pictures of my shiny new Air Arms Pro-Sport. A big thank you to Dave and Tom at www.guns-n-stuff.co.uk for supplying the rifle along with great service. I even got to pick which one I liked the stock on the best. :-)

I have wanted a decent spring powered Air Rifle for a while now. I thought I had one in my Theoben Evolution Gas Ram, which is light, accurate and extremely well made. But I have a real problem with the trigger on the Theoben that spoils an otherwise perfect air rifle.

One of my shooting buddies Ben from the Lincs HFT club bought a Pro-Sport the other week and let me have a go with it. That proved to be an expensive afternoon with me deciding almost immediately that the Pro-Sport had to be added to my collection! I also had a spare Lightstream scope laying around that really needed a gun to go on as well.

The first thing that struck me on shooting Ben's Pro-Sport is how good the trigger was compared to my Evolution. This allowed for a far more predictable release point and therefore some very respectable groups, even after a short period of use with an almost brand new rifle.

So a quick word with Dave the club Chairman and local RFD (which is very handy) and my Pro-Sport is put on order. After a two week wait (they must be popular!) I visit www.guns-n-stuff.co.uk to collect my rifle and have a chat about all things airgun. There was a choice of two Pro-Sports both with Walnut stocks and I decided I liked the darker coloured one the best.

So here is my now two week old Pro-Sport up for a little review along with a few photographs.

Out the box you realise straight away that this is a pretty heavy rifle. At 4.1Kg (9.0389 lbs) without a scope or mounts you are probably not going to want to carry it around all day. But its intended task for me is for targets and HFT so the extra weight is probably going to help.

The Walnut stock is laser etched with the new style chequering and has a rosewood cap to the pistol grip. The quality is very high and there are no defects or machining marks on the wood. It also has an Oiled finish as standard. I really wish all the other manufacturers would do this with their own Walnut stocks as it looks so much better than varnish or lacquer. Plus if you ever damage it, repair is far simpler. You can steam out dents with a wet cloth and iron, and sand and scratches with fine wet and dry paper. Then just apply some London Gunstock finish and it will be as good as new.

The finish is pretty flat in appearance with a little sheen to it. I will probably rub in some more gunstock oil over the next few weeks to protect it from the elements a bit more and highlight the grain.

The metalwork is again finished to a very high standard with a deep Blued finish. Again you will need to keep this properly oiled to maintain the surface. Use a good gun oil such as Brunox after every outing and it should look new for years. The Air Arms and Pro-Sport text is engraved into the side of the action on the right hand side.

The barrel is a Lothar Walther - 20mm o.d. - 4.5mm (.177") with 12 groove rifling - 450mm twist - choked muzzle end, complete with a built in moderator. The built in moderator forms a shroud over the whole lot and gives a very clean a sleek look to the rifle. There is no provision for a further moderator, but it is unlikely that you would need one. Inset into the front right hand side of the action is the sliding breech. This slides back to reveal the barrel for loading.

Recessed under the front of the stock is a small cutout to allow you to pop the cocking lever out ready for use. The lever is made from aluminium and is a lot more sturdy than I initially thought it was going to be. The area your hand grips has an additional flat piece of aluminium to give a rounded handle that is pretty comfortable to use. To operate the lever you need to rest the butt of the stock on the top of your leg and use your left hand to operate the lever. It will lock out once pulled to the fullest extent. The action while the lever is being pulled is very smooth, with no binding or noise. I think the Pro-Sport is fitted with Delrin buttons on the sliding parts to reduce friction.

The sliding breech moves back and you can now see the barrel. Always hold the lever whilst loading, although there are safety features in place to protect you, don't rely on them as you only get one set of fingers. If you find the lever won't return properly after cocking you may not have pulled it quite far enough. Just try again. The automatic safety will pop out in the safe position once the rifle is cocked.

Once the rifle is cocked and loaded and the lever returned it is ready for use. A shiny gold plated trigger sets everything in motion. But first the safety button located on the rear left hand side of the action needs to be depressed. Once the safety has been released it cannot be reset, so be sure you are lined up on the target and ready to take the shot. The trigger is a proper two stage and is adjustable for weight and length of pull. You have to remove the trigger guard to get at the weight adjustment screw.

I used the trigger as set by the factory for the first week. It was pretty good but had a little bit of creep in the second stage with about 1mm of movement before the sears would release. So I lightened the weight spring by one turn and set the adjustment so that the second stage is now just a gradual increase in pressure till it releases with no additional movement. It feels similar to my Air Arm S400 GML one now. Not quite as good, but it is still bedding in. You can strip the trigger and polish all of the sear faces. But it is good enough as it is for me at the moment.

The top of the action has grooves cut for the scope mounts. There are 3 recoil stop pin holes as well. I decided to use a Sports Match OP25C one piece double strap medium mount to attach my Lightstream 4.5x14x44 FFP scope with. This gives a very firm grip on the rail and the double straps don't apply quite as much pressure to the scope tube as the single strap version so should reduce the risk of damage or crimping. They need to be done up firmly or the scope will move with the recoil from the rifle. But don't over tighten them or you will damage the scope.

My scope and Butler Creek lens cover Just clears the top of the action by about 1mm and lines up nice with my cheek resting on the raised comb of the stock. Perfect.

With the scope fitted the rifle balances at the point that the side chequering reaches its lowest point, about 90mm in front of the trigger guard. A little front heavy compared with my Daystate MK3 or Air Arms S400 GML. But it feels comfortable and balanced. The pistol grip fits my medium sized grip without any issues. I tend to shoot with my thumb pointing up at the top of the action and try to keep it relaxed.

Time to go to the club and see how it shoots at some decent distances.

We are lucky to have some covered standing bench rest positions at the Lincs HFT club on our range which goes out to 40Yards. We have steel plate target holders at 20, 30 and 40yards. So I set my shooting bag down and rested the back of my gloved left hand loosely on the top of it. I'd been told not to rest the Pro-Sport directly on the bags as the recoil will move the rifle as you shoot. So a soft grip similar to how you would hold the rifle when resting on a peg on the HFT range is what is needed. Again I did not the pull the butt of the rifle hard into my shoulder just a little pressure.

Squeezing the trigger still makes me blink after using mostly PCP for a couple of years. The recoil is not harsh but you know something is happening. It definitely take some getting used to. I put several shots at the target before making any adjustments and my groups are initially not that good. I found the knack is to repeat the exact hold and grip on the rifle on every single shot. Supporting the rifle further forward resulted in my shots going low. Move further back and they start climbing. It is certainly not as twangy as I was expecting. After a few sessions the groups start to improve tremendously and I really am starting to like this rifle a lot.

It was club competition day and I had never even shot at a nockover with the now two hours old rifle. So after a bit of ribbing from my fellow club mates and a naming session for my new rifle.
( 'Zebadee' thanks Chris. I think! :-) ) out on the the HFT course we all go. It's certainly a bit different shooting at HFT targets with a springer. I was constantly trying to keep my hold constant but the forced positions on certain pegs make this very tricky. It certainly make you grin when a few of the tricky long shot start to fall over. It's just those 15mm reducers that need a bit of work. I think my end score was 47ex60 so room for improvement.

Another week goes by and I have had about 600 pellets or so through the rifle now. It did highlight my first problem with it. The cocking bolt screw S455 has worked itself loose. Not a major issue, but annoying on a new rifle nonetheless. Just the fact you have to remove the stock to get at it to properly to tighten it up. Then to add insult to injury it goes loose again after only a further 100 shots. This time I apply a bit more torque on tightening it up and it has been O. K. since. But I can see me buying some Loctite if it happens again!

The second weekend shooting with the Pro-Sport was a huge improvement. The 40 yard groups on the photos below were as good as my PCP. I did not expect it to ever be as good as that. It just needs a lot more concentration to shoot as well. My second trip round the HFT course was way better as well with a very respectable 54ex60

I have to say that I am more than happy with my Pro-Sport and look forward to years of shooting with it. It has opened my eyes to how much fun a spring powered air rifle can be.

A few 40 Yard groups from the club. With the rifle loosely rested in a gloved hand sitting on my shooting bag. I would have been happy to get groups like this with a PCP!

www.air-arms.co.uk

http://airarmsclub.21.forumer.com/index.php

www.airgunbbs.com

www.guns-n-stuff.co.uk

		Air Arms Pro-Sport
	Back


	Manufacturer:- www.air-arms.co.uk Recommended Retail Price :- £409.95 Intended Purpose :- Spring Powered Air Rifle Power :- Spring Caliber :- 4.5mm / .177 Length in mm :- 1035mm Barrel Length :- 242mm (Over Tube 377mm) Barrel :- Lothar Walther - 20mm o.d. - 4.5mm (.177") & 5.5mm (.22") cals -12 groove rifling - 450mm twist - choked muzzle end built in moderator. Weight :- 4.1Kg Safety :- Automatic on cocking. Non reset able. Trigger :- True 2 Stage 'CD' unit adjustable weight of pull, adjustable length of pull Action Finish : Blued Stock :- Oiled Walnut Right handed Only Std Power :- 12ft/lb (Mine is around 11.7-11.8 ft/lb with JSB 8.44 grain pellets) Loading :- Sliding Breech A few pictures of my shiny new Air Arms Pro-Sport. A big thank you to Dave and Tom at www.guns-n-stuff.co.uk for supplying the rifle along with great service. I even got to pick which one I liked the stock on the best. :-) I have wanted a decent spring powered Air Rifle for a while now. I thought I had one in my Theoben Evolution Gas Ram, which is light, accurate and extremely well made. But I have a real problem with the trigger on the Theoben that spoils an otherwise perfect air rifle. One of my shooting buddies Ben from the Lincs HFT club bought a Pro-Sport the other week and let me have a go with it. That proved to be an expensive afternoon with me deciding almost immediately that the Pro-Sport had to be added to my collection! I also had a spare Lightstream scope laying around that really needed a gun to go on as well. The first thing that struck me on shooting Ben's Pro-Sport is how good the trigger was compared to my Evolution. This allowed for a far more predictable release point and therefore some very respectable groups, even after a short period of use with an almost brand new rifle. So a quick word with Dave the club Chairman and local RFD (which is very handy) and my Pro-Sport is put on order. After a two week wait (they must be popular!) I visit www.guns-n-stuff.co.uk to collect my rifle and have a chat about all things airgun. There was a choice of two Pro-Sports both with Walnut stocks and I decided I liked the darker coloured one the best. So here is my now two week old Pro-Sport up for a little review along with a few photographs. Out the box you realise straight away that this is a pretty heavy rifle. At 4.1Kg (9.0389 lbs) without a scope or mounts you are probably not going to want to carry it around all day. But its intended task for me is for targets and HFT so the extra weight is probably going to help. The Walnut stock is laser etched with the new style chequering and has a rosewood cap to the pistol grip. The quality is very high and there are no defects or machining marks on the wood. It also has an Oiled finish as standard. I really wish all the other manufacturers would do this with their own Walnut stocks as it looks so much better than varnish or lacquer. Plus if you ever damage it, repair is far simpler. You can steam out dents with a wet cloth and iron, and sand and scratches with fine wet and dry paper. Then just apply some London Gunstock finish and it will be as good as new. The finish is pretty flat in appearance with a little sheen to it. I will probably rub in some more gunstock oil over the next few weeks to protect it from the elements a bit more and highlight the grain. The metalwork is again finished to a very high standard with a deep Blued finish. Again you will need to keep this properly oiled to maintain the surface. Use a good gun oil such as Brunox after every outing and it should look new for years. The Air Arms and Pro-Sport text is engraved into the side of the action on the right hand side. The barrel is a Lothar Walther - 20mm o.d. - 4.5mm (.177") with 12 groove rifling - 450mm twist - choked muzzle end, complete with a built in moderator. The built in moderator forms a shroud over the whole lot and gives a very clean a sleek look to the rifle. There is no provision for a further moderator, but it is unlikely that you would need one. Inset into the front right hand side of the action is the sliding breech. This slides back to reveal the barrel for loading. Recessed under the front of the stock is a small cutout to allow you to pop the cocking lever out ready for use. The lever is made from aluminium and is a lot more sturdy than I initially thought it was going to be. The area your hand grips has an additional flat piece of aluminium to give a rounded handle that is pretty comfortable to use. To operate the lever you need to rest the butt of the stock on the top of your leg and use your left hand to operate the lever. It will lock out once pulled to the fullest extent. The action while the lever is being pulled is very smooth, with no binding or noise. I think the Pro-Sport is fitted with Delrin buttons on the sliding parts to reduce friction. The sliding breech moves back and you can now see the barrel. Always hold the lever whilst loading, although there are safety features in place to protect you, don't rely on them as you only get one set of fingers. If you find the lever won't return properly after cocking you may not have pulled it quite far enough. Just try again. The automatic safety will pop out in the safe position once the rifle is cocked.

	Once the rifle is cocked and loaded and the lever returned it is ready for use. A shiny gold plated trigger sets everything in motion. But first the safety button located on the rear left hand side of the action needs to be depressed. Once the safety has been released it cannot be reset, so be sure you are lined up on the target and ready to take the shot. The trigger is a proper two stage and is adjustable for weight and length of pull. You have to remove the trigger guard to get at the weight adjustment screw. I used the trigger as set by the factory for the first week. It was pretty good but had a little bit of creep in the second stage with about 1mm of movement before the sears would release. So I lightened the weight spring by one turn and set the adjustment so that the second stage is now just a gradual increase in pressure till it releases with no additional movement. It feels similar to my Air Arm S400 GML one now. Not quite as good, but it is still bedding in. You can strip the trigger and polish all of the sear faces. But it is good enough as it is for me at the moment. The top of the action has grooves cut for the scope mounts. There are 3 recoil stop pin holes as well. I decided to use a Sports Match OP25C one piece double strap medium mount to attach my Lightstream 4.5x14x44 FFP scope with. This gives a very firm grip on the rail and the double straps don't apply quite as much pressure to the scope tube as the single strap version so should reduce the risk of damage or crimping. They need to be done up firmly or the scope will move with the recoil from the rifle. But don't over tighten them or you will damage the scope. My scope and Butler Creek lens cover Just clears the top of the action by about 1mm and lines up nice with my cheek resting on the raised comb of the stock. Perfect. With the scope fitted the rifle balances at the point that the side chequering reaches its lowest point, about 90mm in front of the trigger guard. A little front heavy compared with my Daystate MK3 or Air Arms S400 GML. But it feels comfortable and balanced. The pistol grip fits my medium sized grip without any issues. I tend to shoot with my thumb pointing up at the top of the action and try to keep it relaxed. Time to go to the club and see how it shoots at some decent distances. We are lucky to have some covered standing bench rest positions at the Lincs HFT club on our range which goes out to 40Yards. We have steel plate target holders at 20, 30 and 40yards. So I set my shooting bag down and rested the back of my gloved left hand loosely on the top of it. I'd been told not to rest the Pro-Sport directly on the bags as the recoil will move the rifle as you shoot. So a soft grip similar to how you would hold the rifle when resting on a peg on the HFT range is what is needed. Again I did not the pull the butt of the rifle hard into my shoulder just a little pressure. Squeezing the trigger still makes me blink after using mostly PCP for a couple of years. The recoil is not harsh but you know something is happening. It definitely take some getting used to. I put several shots at the target before making any adjustments and my groups are initially not that good. I found the knack is to repeat the exact hold and grip on the rifle on every single shot. Supporting the rifle further forward resulted in my shots going low. Move further back and they start climbing. It is certainly not as twangy as I was expecting. After a few sessions the groups start to improve tremendously and I really am starting to like this rifle a lot. It was club competition day and I had never even shot at a nockover with the now two hours old rifle. So after a bit of ribbing from my fellow club mates and a naming session for my new rifle. ( 'Zebadee' thanks Chris. I think! :-) ) out on the the HFT course we all go. It's certainly a bit different shooting at HFT targets with a springer. I was constantly trying to keep my hold constant but the forced positions on certain pegs make this very tricky. It certainly make you grin when a few of the tricky long shot start to fall over. It's just those 15mm reducers that need a bit of work. I think my end score was 47ex60 so room for improvement. Another week goes by and I have had about 600 pellets or so through the rifle now. It did highlight my first problem with it. The cocking bolt screw S455 has worked itself loose. Not a major issue, but annoying on a new rifle nonetheless. Just the fact you have to remove the stock to get at it to properly to tighten it up. Then to add insult to injury it goes loose again after only a further 100 shots. This time I apply a bit more torque on tightening it up and it has been O. K. since. But I can see me buying some Loctite if it happens again! The second weekend shooting with the Pro-Sport was a huge improvement. The 40 yard groups on the photos below were as good as my PCP. I did not expect it to ever be as good as that. It just needs a lot more concentration to shoot as well. My second trip round the HFT course was way better as well with a very respectable 54ex60 I have to say that I am more than happy with my Pro-Sport and look forward to years of shooting with it. It has opened my eyes to how much fun a spring powered air rifle can be.
		A few 40 Yard groups from the club. With the rifle loosely rested in a gloved hand sitting on my shooting bag. I would have been happy to get groups like this with a PCP!
	www.air-arms.co.uk http://airarmsclub.21.forumer.com/index.php www.airgunbbs.com www.guns-n-stuff.co.uk