Sub Sea Sniper
21-04-2005, 09:28 AM
Hi everybody,
I got a brand new Air Arms TX200HC in 0.22 yesterday so I thought I should throw together a little review. If you want to skip the following paragraphs be assured that this rifle is fantastic, go out and buy one. If you want to know more, read on.
Starting with the packaging (cos that's what you first see). The rifle comes in a custom designed cardboard box which protects the gun very well. Keep the box as it may come in handy if you ever send the rifle for a service or (say it isn't so) sell it on.
An A4 instruction booklet show you how to load the gun, handle it safely and has a parts list.
Now, onto the gun. The TX200HC (HC stands for Hunter Carbine) measures in at 38 inches (96.5 cm) long so it is definitely in the carbine category. The barrel is only 9 inches (23 cm) long but is a Lothar Walther barrel so it is a damn good one. The muzzle end of the barrel is enclosed by a plastic screw thingy which is a small internal, plenum style silencer. This can be removed to reveal threading to accept an external silencer. Below the barrel is the underlever, as it is the same length as the barrel it takes a good effort to cock the gun but two things assist in this respect. One is the cocking aid which is a knurled grip on the end of the cocking lever, this greatly assists grip. Second is the fact that the cocking lever is articulated which gives more leverage. The lever itself is held fast to the underside of the barrel by a sprung metal bearing.
The stock is one of the best features on the gun and is done is a dark brown, satiny finish that feels very smooth. There is a rubber shoulder pad which has those little vent holes that are perfectly sized to poke pellets into (seven on each side). I always do this as I may come across a bonus bunny grazing on the verge as I drive down to my shoot. I can quickly (but quietly) sneak out of the car, take the gun from the bag and slip a pellet in without raking through my gunbag for a tin). The butt of the stock is a meaty affair. The cheekpiece extends smoothly from the top of the butt and gives a good, comfortable hold when you shoulder the gun. The grip is almost pistol style in its angle. It has a good scoop out of the back to allow your thumb to fall comfortably and there is quality chequering on either side of the grip. The forend of the stock tapers gradually and is marked by a band of chequering either side of the far end of the stock. Overall the stock just feels right when shouldered, it has a good heft which helps keep the weight back towards the shooter and not the muzzle end.
The trigger unit is a true two stage job which has been factory set with a pretty nice pull. It can be adjusted by removing the trigger guard but I am happy with it as it is. That's all I can really say about it, it does the job perfectly so becomes a part of your shooting you don't think about.
I have read some moans about the loading procedure for the TX but I can't complain. It becomes second nature quickly and when you think about it the double safety only protects the shooter. When you pull down the cocking lever there is no tick-tick-tick-tick of an anti-beartrap device. As the lever is pulled down the loading hatch (which is to the upper right of the receiver, just in front of the objective lens of my scope) slides backwards. There are three deep cutouts on the hatch which are gripped in turn by a safety lock behind the hatch. This serves as the anti-beartrap and is a very good idea as it pretty much eliminates the possibility of the loading hatch slamming into your fingers when you load a pellet.
Having cocked the rifle the small loading area is exposed and a pellet thumbed into the end of the barrel. The safety lock is then depressed, held, and the cocking lever swung back up to the barrel. The automatic trigger safety engages when the gun is cocked. A steel cylinders pops out of the receiver just above the trigger unit. This is pushed in to allow the gun to be fired. One thing I found unusual was that once the trigger safety is disengaged it can't be flicked back on again. It should therefore only be pushed in immediately prior to firing. This is fine for target shooting but when hunting birds or bunnies you often thumb the safety off in anticipation of a shot only to find the beast has sneaked away, leaving you without a target. The safety should then be reactivated which can't be done on this rifle. Bit strange.
The receiver has dovetail grooves for a scope mount and three recoil arrestor holes. I read stories about sight creep so invested in a sturdy one piece mount with an arrestor stud screwed tight into the farthest back arrestor hole. Being a carbine the TX wouldn't work too good with a mega long scope (say, with a sunhood). I use a Nikko Stirling 3-9x42 with parallax adjustment. It stops an inch shy of the loading hatch and it isn't the longest scope out there.
Once I had whacked the scope nice and tight on my rifle I set about zeroing the whole thing. I used my garden, which is ten metres wide and zeroed on a sheet of A4 paper. Straight of the bat the gun was shooting tight and within 15-20 pellets I was shooting out felt tip dots I had drawn on the paper, from a kneeling stance. I am by no means an experienced shooter and certainly not the best marksman but the rifle certainly instills confidence in the shooter. The balance just felt right. I believe this is due to the heft of the stock, coupled with the short barrel, keeping the weight close into the shooters body which allows for better balance and poise when shooting. I don't have scales to measure the guns weight but I guess with a sight and mounts the weight is roughly 8.5 to 9 pounds.
I noticed the rifle was well lubed, the pellets were leaving little light-green stains around the holes in the paper. They were picking up whatever lube Air Arms put in the barrel. I carried out a quick penetration test and found it to be shooting Webley Lazadomes deeper into a bar of soap than the gasrammed webley Tracker I had been using. The Air Arms Pro-Elite I had also been using penetrated deeper but I have a feeling that after a few hundred rounds the TX will equal that of the Elite.
I have not been able to get a hold of Air Arms pellets as of yet. They are supposed to be the best pellets to use in the TX but I have found that Webley Lazadomes provide consistency and good punching power.
I have only put about 50 pellets through my rifle since getting it so this review is based very much on first impressions. I will be hunting with it regularly (mostly for rabbit) and will update this review with progress reports on how the gun (and I) perform in the field.
Overall I am really pleased with this rifle, the balance, quality and hitting power are superb. I bought this gun blind, having never shouldered one before. I was initially worried in case the gun was too heavy or felt unbalanced (like the Pro-Elite) but my worries instantly evaporated the first time I picked the rifle up. It is made to nestle in your shoulder.
I could go on about this gun all day, it simply oozes quality, everything is smooth, quiet and well lubed. There is no twanging as the gun is fired, the whole cycle seems smooth and the recoil is of short duration and easily dampened by the stock. The plenum silencer does a good enough job of keeping the gun quiet, I doubt I will have to invest in an external silencer. In addition the barrel is shrouded which helps to control the noise even further. I will be out hunting rabbits tomorrow with this rifle and will post how I get on. Can't wait.
Sub Sea Sniper
I got a brand new Air Arms TX200HC in 0.22 yesterday so I thought I should throw together a little review. If you want to skip the following paragraphs be assured that this rifle is fantastic, go out and buy one. If you want to know more, read on.
Starting with the packaging (cos that's what you first see). The rifle comes in a custom designed cardboard box which protects the gun very well. Keep the box as it may come in handy if you ever send the rifle for a service or (say it isn't so) sell it on.
An A4 instruction booklet show you how to load the gun, handle it safely and has a parts list.
Now, onto the gun. The TX200HC (HC stands for Hunter Carbine) measures in at 38 inches (96.5 cm) long so it is definitely in the carbine category. The barrel is only 9 inches (23 cm) long but is a Lothar Walther barrel so it is a damn good one. The muzzle end of the barrel is enclosed by a plastic screw thingy which is a small internal, plenum style silencer. This can be removed to reveal threading to accept an external silencer. Below the barrel is the underlever, as it is the same length as the barrel it takes a good effort to cock the gun but two things assist in this respect. One is the cocking aid which is a knurled grip on the end of the cocking lever, this greatly assists grip. Second is the fact that the cocking lever is articulated which gives more leverage. The lever itself is held fast to the underside of the barrel by a sprung metal bearing.
The stock is one of the best features on the gun and is done is a dark brown, satiny finish that feels very smooth. There is a rubber shoulder pad which has those little vent holes that are perfectly sized to poke pellets into (seven on each side). I always do this as I may come across a bonus bunny grazing on the verge as I drive down to my shoot. I can quickly (but quietly) sneak out of the car, take the gun from the bag and slip a pellet in without raking through my gunbag for a tin). The butt of the stock is a meaty affair. The cheekpiece extends smoothly from the top of the butt and gives a good, comfortable hold when you shoulder the gun. The grip is almost pistol style in its angle. It has a good scoop out of the back to allow your thumb to fall comfortably and there is quality chequering on either side of the grip. The forend of the stock tapers gradually and is marked by a band of chequering either side of the far end of the stock. Overall the stock just feels right when shouldered, it has a good heft which helps keep the weight back towards the shooter and not the muzzle end.
The trigger unit is a true two stage job which has been factory set with a pretty nice pull. It can be adjusted by removing the trigger guard but I am happy with it as it is. That's all I can really say about it, it does the job perfectly so becomes a part of your shooting you don't think about.
I have read some moans about the loading procedure for the TX but I can't complain. It becomes second nature quickly and when you think about it the double safety only protects the shooter. When you pull down the cocking lever there is no tick-tick-tick-tick of an anti-beartrap device. As the lever is pulled down the loading hatch (which is to the upper right of the receiver, just in front of the objective lens of my scope) slides backwards. There are three deep cutouts on the hatch which are gripped in turn by a safety lock behind the hatch. This serves as the anti-beartrap and is a very good idea as it pretty much eliminates the possibility of the loading hatch slamming into your fingers when you load a pellet.
Having cocked the rifle the small loading area is exposed and a pellet thumbed into the end of the barrel. The safety lock is then depressed, held, and the cocking lever swung back up to the barrel. The automatic trigger safety engages when the gun is cocked. A steel cylinders pops out of the receiver just above the trigger unit. This is pushed in to allow the gun to be fired. One thing I found unusual was that once the trigger safety is disengaged it can't be flicked back on again. It should therefore only be pushed in immediately prior to firing. This is fine for target shooting but when hunting birds or bunnies you often thumb the safety off in anticipation of a shot only to find the beast has sneaked away, leaving you without a target. The safety should then be reactivated which can't be done on this rifle. Bit strange.
The receiver has dovetail grooves for a scope mount and three recoil arrestor holes. I read stories about sight creep so invested in a sturdy one piece mount with an arrestor stud screwed tight into the farthest back arrestor hole. Being a carbine the TX wouldn't work too good with a mega long scope (say, with a sunhood). I use a Nikko Stirling 3-9x42 with parallax adjustment. It stops an inch shy of the loading hatch and it isn't the longest scope out there.
Once I had whacked the scope nice and tight on my rifle I set about zeroing the whole thing. I used my garden, which is ten metres wide and zeroed on a sheet of A4 paper. Straight of the bat the gun was shooting tight and within 15-20 pellets I was shooting out felt tip dots I had drawn on the paper, from a kneeling stance. I am by no means an experienced shooter and certainly not the best marksman but the rifle certainly instills confidence in the shooter. The balance just felt right. I believe this is due to the heft of the stock, coupled with the short barrel, keeping the weight close into the shooters body which allows for better balance and poise when shooting. I don't have scales to measure the guns weight but I guess with a sight and mounts the weight is roughly 8.5 to 9 pounds.
I noticed the rifle was well lubed, the pellets were leaving little light-green stains around the holes in the paper. They were picking up whatever lube Air Arms put in the barrel. I carried out a quick penetration test and found it to be shooting Webley Lazadomes deeper into a bar of soap than the gasrammed webley Tracker I had been using. The Air Arms Pro-Elite I had also been using penetrated deeper but I have a feeling that after a few hundred rounds the TX will equal that of the Elite.
I have not been able to get a hold of Air Arms pellets as of yet. They are supposed to be the best pellets to use in the TX but I have found that Webley Lazadomes provide consistency and good punching power.
I have only put about 50 pellets through my rifle since getting it so this review is based very much on first impressions. I will be hunting with it regularly (mostly for rabbit) and will update this review with progress reports on how the gun (and I) perform in the field.
Overall I am really pleased with this rifle, the balance, quality and hitting power are superb. I bought this gun blind, having never shouldered one before. I was initially worried in case the gun was too heavy or felt unbalanced (like the Pro-Elite) but my worries instantly evaporated the first time I picked the rifle up. It is made to nestle in your shoulder.
I could go on about this gun all day, it simply oozes quality, everything is smooth, quiet and well lubed. There is no twanging as the gun is fired, the whole cycle seems smooth and the recoil is of short duration and easily dampened by the stock. The plenum silencer does a good enough job of keeping the gun quiet, I doubt I will have to invest in an external silencer. In addition the barrel is shrouded which helps to control the noise even further. I will be out hunting rabbits tomorrow with this rifle and will post how I get on. Can't wait.
Sub Sea Sniper