Price :- £850-900 Price increase anytime
Intended Purpose :- rapid fire semi automatic pellet pistol
Power :- Compressed Air
Caliber :- 4.5mm / .177
Length / Height / Width in mm :- 398 / 148 / 50
Weight :- 1050g (Without barrel weights)
Sight Radius :- Adjustable from 307 - 350 mm
Front Sight :- Moveable front sight, width 4.5mm
Rear Sight :- Rear sight width adjustable from 2-7mm
Trigger weight :- 200-600g or optional 400-1400g with different trigger unit
Trigger Adjustments :- First stage, Trigger-stop and trigger weight
Trigger Blade :- adjustable in length by 8mm, rotates 30 Deg
Air Cylinder :- two included, both with built in pressure gauge
Charge pressure :- 200Bar
Includes :- Carry Case, Toolkit, two 5 shot magazines, barrel weights, fill adaptor
Options :- Single shot Mag, Dry fire mag, different grip sizes.

This is my first foray into the world of airguns. I wanted to get something that I could shoot at home indoors and outdoors that would provide me with a challenge and give me the opportunity to learn a new skill.

As all of the terminology and things related to these things is very new to me please let me know if I make any mistakes. It is always good to learn from people! Makes the days more interesting. :)

The pistol came supplied in its own deluxe plastic case. Opening the case reveals the pistol, the spare air cylinder, two 5 shot magazines and a tool kit for adjusting the pistols multitude of screws and settings. I was a little taken aback at the size of the pistol. I was expecting it to be slightly smaller! But not to worry as picking the gun up everything feels just right. I ordered my pistol with a medium sized right hand grip. This seemed a little tight on my hand and I adjusted the palm shelf on the base down a little and the fit is now almost perfect. I have resisted making any other adjustments to the grip until I have shot many more tins of pellets and reached some sort of consist ant level!

The finish on all of the metal components is absolutely flawless. Everything is in a matt black non distracting finish. Except for the air cylinders which on my gun are blue and silver anodised aluminium alloy.

The gun comes supplied with a brass Din charging adaptor. This in turn need another adaptor to attach it to the outlet on my Hill Pump . I do intend at some stage to get a 12L 300Bar divers bottle and gun gauge from these people at MDE . But the pump is fine for now. It will certainly keep you fit as getting up to 200Bar requires some effort!

The air cylinders are self contained and have an inbuilt valve to keep the air in place when removed from the pistol or pump. The end of the cylinder is fitted with an easy to read gauge showing the useable pressure range in green. Overcharging the cylinder is not recommended as it will put undue strain on the rest of the guns valving components. It will not increase the output power of the pellet.

The cylinder screws onto the nipple on the pistol underneath the barrel. This is fitted with an O-ring to seal and should be lubed now and then with only a silicone based grease. Do not use any other type of grease on high pressure air systems. The last few turns of the cylinder will open the valve and let the air feed to the pistol. It is now ready for use.

The pistol is supplied with two 5 shot magazines made from aluminium alloy. I also bought a single shot magazine. Useful if you want to concentrate on your target shooting on a shot by shot basis. The five shot mag is simply loaded by dropping in each pellet and pressing them down a little with your thumb.

Loading the pistol is achieved by first cocking the action. This is done by moving the two grips on either side of the magazine port rearwards until a small click is heard. This does not require much movement. The magazine can now be inserted.

The mag loads from the left hand side only and this can only be done in the correct manner due to the groove cut into the top of it. The mag will ratchet along and must be pushed fully home to allow all five shots to be used. You are now ready to shoot!

I set up my target in the garage and shot though the open inside door of the utility room. This is about 7.5m distance. I have a Bisley target funnel resting on a couple of cardboard boxes. With a 2mm sheet steel backstop. My initial shots were taken with the single shot magazine. I was initially very cautious as I have never fired a pre-charged pneumatic airgun of any sort before. Well all I can say is WOW. This is such an amazing gun to shoot. The trigger is very light. With the first stage movement letting you know you are nearly there.

My initial shooting was with two hands. I can see why single handed shooting is so hard to master! I was concentrating hard, trying to breath correctly, pause and slowly squeezing the trigger with the target dancing about in the sights. Pop and it is all over. The pellet hits the target and I am happy!

With my initial worries over and a few hundred shots through the gun I was starting to see a definite pattern of pellets towards one side of the target and below the centre. Time to play with the adjustments on the sights I think. These are very simple just two knurled wheels with click stops. They feel very positive in use. So I started with the LHS adjuster and made a 10 click adjustment. Shot a few more pellets and found things to be getting worse! So back the other way for 20 clicks and things are looking a lot better. Same story with the right hand side adjuster. But this time the shots move from left to right. It is now near enough. I just need to improve my technique and practice more before I'll notice any further adjustments!

Moving to the 5 shot mag opens up a whole new load of fun! This pistol will now fire pellets as fast as you can pull the trigger. The trick is to keep the pistol on target while you are doing this! It is very easy to snatch at the trigger and pull the shots way off your aim point. I like the 5 shot mag's for single shot shooting. It saves me time loading after each shot and gives me the chance to spend more time concentrating on the shot.

Plus for plinking the 5 shot mag is just fun. Tarian chalk targets are good fun with a two or three shot burst.

Single handed shooting is a LOT more difficult. Grouping goes out the window! So more practice here will be needed. After a tin or so of pellets my resolve to sort out the single handed shooting is now set. :) I can now hit the centre black areas with reasonably consistency and the last couple of targets in the photos below show my best attempts at the end of the evening session. I am pretty happy with the results after only a few hours shooting. But I can see why this hobby is addictive and will perhaps be spending many hours trying to improve my grouping!

I like the way that the concentration is so absolute that you clear your mind of any other thoughts. A good way of relieving the stress of a working day.

I have shot nearly one and a half a tins of pellets. The 5 shot mag's are just too addictive. Especially as I have three of them. Charged the air cylinders a total of six times. But still have a 3/4 full one left for later.

Overall I am impressed with my purchase and think that this will be the beginning of a yet another hobby to spend my time on. There is much to learn but the instant feedback of the target gives you a great way to self improvement and as I can shoot inside I am not at the mercy of the weather as in so many of my other hobbies.

So I recommend this pistol whole heartedly. But you must take into account that I am no expert and this is my first airgun. So comparisons with other pistols are not going to be made!

I must mention the great service that I received from Blackpool Air Rifles. I had a couple of small problems, but they were sorted out without any fuss or hassle and I will be using them for future purchases!

Also the Airgunbbs forum is a great place to learn, ask questions and talk to many thousands of other like minded people who are interested in all aspect of airgun related sports.

Manufacturer:- www.steyr-sportwaffen.com

UK Dealers

Blackpool Air Rifles (BAR) www.airgunbuyer.com

UK Importer

www.steyr-uk.com

UK Forums

www.airgunbbs.com