Geordie
29-10-2005, 04:20 PM
Well, I never thought I'd see the day it happened, but my trusty AAs410k may finally be going into retirement :eek:
As many of you know, my collection is 'expansive' to say the least, but although my cabinet has beasts ranging from a Rapid, Venom TX, Phoenix, Alros and countless springers, I've always used my s410k as my main bunny gun.
Literally thousands of rabbits have been taken with that rifle over the last couple of years, and I must say we rather get on well together. Any gun that wanted to replace this would have to be *very* good indeed!
Enter the usurper :eek:
I picked up a Daystate Harrier X with nice SE stock a couple of weeks back. Much love and care was taken in restoring the woodwork with a nice oil finish, and various bits and bobs bought/scrounged to get her put together ;)
I knew from first holding the gun that the fit, for me, was excellent - far more comfortable than my AA. The extra weight helps enormously on standers, and the thumb-up groove fits my shooting style like a dream.
Things were looking promising at that stage, so while I was oiling the stock I decided to try for an all-round 'upgrade' over the kit I was using previously.
The AA was pretty quiet with a BAR CF silencer, and an EB Sniper 10x42 provided reliable, clear optics for all my shooting. My only gripe was a lack of versatility in the 10x fixed mag, which left me at a disadvantage in barns, and meaning I needed a separate rig for dusk shooting if I wanted that extra half an hour's playtime ;)
I opted for a Bushnell Legend 5-15x40 scope, Harris tilt bipod and a Rob Lane 1/2" UNF silencer to top it off.
Firstly, the silencer. I'd not pulled the trigger on the Harrier at all so far, so after fitting the Rob Lane unit and dry-firing it, the 'click' that followed made me think the gun was empty. Removing the unit and trying again though and BANG the gun did indeed have a full charge :eek:
I've always taken these "you can only hear the hammer clicking on the valve" reports with a pinch of salt, but this silencer achieves that with nobs on - fantastic :D
The first thing that struck me on opening the box with the Bushnell in it was the length - it's bloody long compared to my EB.
Optically the Legend is excellent - easily on a par with the EB, in fact probably better due to the extra brightness gained in low light when you wind the mag down. Mildots are 'true' at 12x mag if you care about that sort of thing, and the crosshairs are of sufficient thickness to provide a sure aiming mark without looking 'cluttered' or obscuring the target.
Scope now mounted, I took it to the farm I shoot on for a quick zeroing session before I went beating for the day. I'd prezeroed at ~10 yards in my garden and got a .177 sized hole from a full mag without any trouble as you'd expect. After pinning a target to a hay bale I returned to my 'usual' zeroing spot and hit the dirt to tweak it in off the bipod.
There was a mild left to right crosswind, but five shots later I assumed I was missing the target - a closer look revealed a pellet sized hole in the black, just below the 8 ring :D Couple of clicks and every shot was sailing through the 10 with unerring accuracy - I was impressed!
I had just about enough time for a quick mooch round the nearest field before meeting up with the beating line, and I managed an effortless 6 rabbits in 25 minutes.
Overall I rate this rifle as a definite upgrade over the s410k - I'd always considered them about on a par in terms of market niche, but the build quality, matt rustproof finish and outstanding woodwork put it in another bracket; for my tastes certainly.
If weight was a concern I'd say stick with the AA as it's a good pound or so lighter in the shoulder, and my 'spare' 410k will remain my NV rig for that reason anyway.
http://www.seventyninedesign.com/shoot/pix/Dan/HarrierXSE.jpg
Dan :)
As many of you know, my collection is 'expansive' to say the least, but although my cabinet has beasts ranging from a Rapid, Venom TX, Phoenix, Alros and countless springers, I've always used my s410k as my main bunny gun.
Literally thousands of rabbits have been taken with that rifle over the last couple of years, and I must say we rather get on well together. Any gun that wanted to replace this would have to be *very* good indeed!
Enter the usurper :eek:
I picked up a Daystate Harrier X with nice SE stock a couple of weeks back. Much love and care was taken in restoring the woodwork with a nice oil finish, and various bits and bobs bought/scrounged to get her put together ;)
I knew from first holding the gun that the fit, for me, was excellent - far more comfortable than my AA. The extra weight helps enormously on standers, and the thumb-up groove fits my shooting style like a dream.
Things were looking promising at that stage, so while I was oiling the stock I decided to try for an all-round 'upgrade' over the kit I was using previously.
The AA was pretty quiet with a BAR CF silencer, and an EB Sniper 10x42 provided reliable, clear optics for all my shooting. My only gripe was a lack of versatility in the 10x fixed mag, which left me at a disadvantage in barns, and meaning I needed a separate rig for dusk shooting if I wanted that extra half an hour's playtime ;)
I opted for a Bushnell Legend 5-15x40 scope, Harris tilt bipod and a Rob Lane 1/2" UNF silencer to top it off.
Firstly, the silencer. I'd not pulled the trigger on the Harrier at all so far, so after fitting the Rob Lane unit and dry-firing it, the 'click' that followed made me think the gun was empty. Removing the unit and trying again though and BANG the gun did indeed have a full charge :eek:
I've always taken these "you can only hear the hammer clicking on the valve" reports with a pinch of salt, but this silencer achieves that with nobs on - fantastic :D
The first thing that struck me on opening the box with the Bushnell in it was the length - it's bloody long compared to my EB.
Optically the Legend is excellent - easily on a par with the EB, in fact probably better due to the extra brightness gained in low light when you wind the mag down. Mildots are 'true' at 12x mag if you care about that sort of thing, and the crosshairs are of sufficient thickness to provide a sure aiming mark without looking 'cluttered' or obscuring the target.
Scope now mounted, I took it to the farm I shoot on for a quick zeroing session before I went beating for the day. I'd prezeroed at ~10 yards in my garden and got a .177 sized hole from a full mag without any trouble as you'd expect. After pinning a target to a hay bale I returned to my 'usual' zeroing spot and hit the dirt to tweak it in off the bipod.
There was a mild left to right crosswind, but five shots later I assumed I was missing the target - a closer look revealed a pellet sized hole in the black, just below the 8 ring :D Couple of clicks and every shot was sailing through the 10 with unerring accuracy - I was impressed!
I had just about enough time for a quick mooch round the nearest field before meeting up with the beating line, and I managed an effortless 6 rabbits in 25 minutes.
Overall I rate this rifle as a definite upgrade over the s410k - I'd always considered them about on a par in terms of market niche, but the build quality, matt rustproof finish and outstanding woodwork put it in another bracket; for my tastes certainly.
If weight was a concern I'd say stick with the AA as it's a good pound or so lighter in the shoulder, and my 'spare' 410k will remain my NV rig for that reason anyway.
http://www.seventyninedesign.com/shoot/pix/Dan/HarrierXSE.jpg
Dan :)