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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Air Arms TX200HC review

    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

  2. #2
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    Arrow

    Glad you are pleased with it. As a former owner of both the HC and Mk 3 variants, I agree with most of what you say except I did find the beartrap ratchet a bit annoying and the click-click-click noise as you cock I suspect could frighten rabbits away. Personally I find the cocking effort ridiculous for a 12 ft lb rifle-my Weihrauch HW95 is cockable with one finger! I don't know whether you tried the TX200 Mk 3 before choosing the HC but I found the slightly longer cocking lever much easier to use and the extra length hardly noticeable. The mk 3 is also quieter-unless you use the screw- in extra silencer which completely ruins the whole point in having the shorter HC.
    Good shooting!
    'It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others'.

  3. #3
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    Not sure why you posted this in FAC section

    I happen to rate the HC as the best TX ever made, I have tuned them to almost 20ftlb in .22, not bad for such a tiny barrel

    Rapidnick, I agree that the HC needs an additional silencer but with one of the suitable models fitted the gun is about same length as the MKIII but quite a bit quieter

    Baz

  4. #4
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    A quick way to achieve quiet cocking is to hold the anti bear trap down whilst cocking Or to render it inoperable (not good safety) is slip a bit of plastic under it

    baz

  5. #5
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    Took out the TX for its first proper hunting session and was well pleased. I zeroed it for about 20 yards then went on a good long rabbit stalking session.

    I couldn't near what few rabbits were on the go today (my fault for being too noisy). I eventually reached the limit of my shoot and saw one lonesome rabbit standing near a gate that marks my shoot boundary. I stalked nice and low amongst some rushes and got to about 25 yeards. I couldn't go prone as the rushes were quite tall so I dropped to one knee and took aim. There was a slight side wind which I ignored as it was fluctuating so much. The rabbit was bolt upright, it knew something was up.

    I took my time, waited for the wind to drop then fired. The Lazadome whacked the rabbit in the head with a power I found surpisingly strong for such a range. One bunny down. I was really impressed with the power compared to the old gasrammed Webley Tracker I have been using. Unfortunately there was very few rabbits on the go today bu maybe next time.

    Sub Sea Sniper

  6. #6
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    Was out at my shoot yesterday. I have new land to shoot on that adjoins my existing shoot so I had a lot of ground to cover. Trudged about for about two hours and did notice the weight of the gun. I guess slings would be a good idea but I like having the rifle at the ready as rabbits can pop out and surprise you.

    Anyway, I got three rabbits today. Three stalks, three 10-15 metres shots, three down. Can't say fairer than that.

    I am gonna build a hide in the whins tomorrow which I reckon will be a good test for the carbine as it will be fairly cramped. I will update this post then.

    Sub Sea Sniper
    . . .and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory for ever.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by baz
    Not sure why you posted this in FAC section Baz
    I don't think he's listening Baz
    "The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please"
    Lt. Col. Tim Collins, commander of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish

    Oh and I joined in April 2002 eleven years a member now

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Karlos.
    I don't think he's listening Baz
    An air rifle IS classed as a Firearm

    (sorry)

    JB
    Never eat yellow snow
    ---------------------------------------------------------

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by jpdbromley
    An air rifle IS classed as a Firearm
    well said, tis a bloomin airgun forum after all !!!!

  10. #10
    Professor Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Rapidnick
    Glad you are pleased with it. As a former owner of both the HC and Mk 3 variants, I agree with most of what you say except I did find the beartrap ratchet a bit annoying and the click-click-click noise as you cock I suspect could frighten rabbits away. Personally I find the cocking effort ridiculous for a 12 ft lb rifle-my Weihrauch HW95 is cockable with one finger! I don't know whether you tried the TX200 Mk 3 before choosing the HC but I found the slightly longer cocking lever much easier to use and the extra length hardly noticeable. The mk 3 is also quieter-unless you use the screw- in extra silencer which completely ruins the whole point in having the shorter HC.
    Good shooting!
    You can stop the rachet clicking by depressing the anti-bear trap button as you cock it. It certainly does frighten off rabbits Nick unless you do that, as I found out several times when cocking for a second shot. Of course, pressing the button as you cock, means you don't have an anti beartrap mechanism while you do it. True about the silencer negating the carbine effect too.

    Edit:

    Oh - on reading the thread further, I see Baz has alreadys said the same thing about quietening the loading procedure.
    Last edited by Professor; 21-06-2005 at 10:09 AM.

  11. #11
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    Quick update, this gun continues to impress. I have still been bagging the rabbits (though not as much as before, but thats down to me, not the gun) and everything in the gun has settled in nicely.

    One minor issue I have found is that just under the front of my scope there is a small section of bluing that seems to to have faded. I put this down to being where water will drip from the front of the scope during rain.

    I have started shooting target from 40-45m and found the gun to be extremely consisten. Although there is a large drop off it is predictable and the pellet seems to carry a lot of energy even at this distance.

    I got a bit of oil in the barrel somewhere and for a while the gun was dieseling quite spectacularly. One shot I fired during this was from 50m and there was no appreciable drop off at that range which freaked me. I got a pull thru and sorted the gun out.

    I will be buying a Hawke HD Sport MAP 6x40 scope tomorrow and will post on how this works with the gun.

    Sub Sea Sniper
    . . .and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory for ever.

  12. #12
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    SSS

    With regard to the safety catch, if you re-cock the under-lever it will reset the safety. I found this safety button thing annoyong on my TX until I was advised of the cure. I hope this assists, I am sure AA haven't changed this on your model, happy hunting.

    Take care, Voldy
    All in black, all in black, gives wabbits a heart attack.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sub Sea Sniper

    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 which can't be done on this rifle. Bit strange.
    To re-engage the safety pull the cocking handle fully down again and you will hear a click, this is the safety reactivated

    Well works on mine
    Maverick
    ---------------------------------------------------------------

    Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time.

  14. #14
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    To re-engage the safety pull the cocking handle fully down again and you will hear a click, this is the safety reactivated
    Sorry to hijack the thread!

    Do you think this will work with my mk3 as well, as it is becoming a slight annoyance/****offance!
    TX200 Mk3 Pink Calibre, HW99s Blue Calibre
    Huntsman MK1 Pink calibre, AAS200 Pink Calibre

  15. #15
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    Ahaa!

    They don't like you to say **** do they??
    TX200 Mk3 Pink Calibre, HW99s Blue Calibre
    Huntsman MK1 Pink calibre, AAS200 Pink Calibre

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