Hello gents and greetings from America. I have been lurking on this site for a long time but I never too the time to register so I thought my first post should be a review. My disclaimer: I have no financial ties to RAW, this is just a first person review.

As many of you know Theoben UK is gone and with it's demise one of the greatest air rifles was laid to rest. The good news is America stole another gunsmith (Martin Rutherford) from England and the Theoben Rapid has been reborn with quite a few refinements. I loved my Rapid but I always had a hangup with the fact that the gun was lacking a gauge and a modern straight pull bolt. Now on with the review...


The facts:
The new Rapid Air Weapons (RAW) has taken the Rapid action and added a straight pull bolt similar to the ones found on the excellent Air Arms S510 and Weihrauch hw100 along with a much needed fill gauge. The RAW HM1000 Thumbhole comes with an 11mm dovetail mount and Martin’s own carbon fiber moderator that really quiets the gun. The barrel is 24.5 inches long with the attached RAW moderator and the barrel itself comes in at 19 inches. The overall length is 44.5 inches and she weighs 8 pounds. The trigger pull is two stage with the take up short and just a few ounces. The trigger is crisp and quick with the final stage breaking at 0.6 pounds. The new thumbhole is set for a right handed shooter and I am not sure if left handed models are available yet. This gun was shooting 18.1 JSBs at 33 foot pounds and the JSB Monster 25.39 at a whopping 36 foot pounds. The gun is equipped with a 400cc bottle that delivers on a full 210 BAR 50 shots before I need a refill. The mean FPS on the JSB 18.1 showed an average for 50 shots at 906 fps with a deviation of 18 fps. The RAW HM 1000 is comes with a small gauge and a foster fill port on the top of the gun. The gun is supplied with a 12 shot Theoben type magazine and I think genuine Theoben mags will fit this gun.

Impressions:
The stock and gun are a pleasure to shoot. The cheek piece is generous and very comfortable on the face. I found the gun very well balanced and because of this fact the gun feels lighter. The grip is very ergonomic and a single had carry is easy with the use of the thumbhole. There is also a thumb platform if the shooter chooses to use it. The gun is very easy to shoot off hand and the accuracy is lights out. This gun will out perform my capabilities. The best part of the gun is it’s noise reduction. The snap on FAC guns can be quite loud and this can cause a problem for follow up shots. The RAW carbon fiber (we leave the “e” off in American English) moderator is on par with the Huggett in my opinion. Filling the RAW is simple, no need for extra “pullers” to disconnect the foster fitting, there is plenty of room to release the fitting with your fingers. The gun cycling is butter smooth, and the straight pull bolt is a big improvement over the older Theoben type. I found I was able to stay on target while reloading the weapon. Modern PCP rifles are becoming insanely accurate and this RAW HM1000 is no different. Through magazine loading and not hand selecting pellets I was able to get pretty much same hole MOA if I did my part. This gun could be used for targets but make no mistake it is a hunting gun and that is really the intangible quality of this rifle; hunting. The gun may be a little long for in the car sniping (not sure if you guys do that in the UK but it is common here in the USA) but the balance of the gun make it perfect around the barn and feed lot. My first outing with the HW1000 yielded 155 feral pigeons in and around the feed lot. This will surely get me a second invite by the farmer. The gun was quiet enough to take multiple shots on the pest but the sound of the pellet striking the body of the bird proved to be enough to scare the birds. I used my somewhat slow learning curve to figure out that head shots were more quite and thus this technique put more birds in the bag. I was able to move around the farm with ease and the high shot count meant I could spend more time shooting and less time at the 4runner refilling the gun.

In closing I know many of you don't want to bother with a FAC and this review may not be that useful to you. I apologize if that is the case. I know Martin Rutherford does make sub 12 foot pound guns and if you liked the Rapid (who doesn't) you will love this new Rapid. For those of you who don't know Martin used to work for Theoben and I believe he is continuing the long and wonderful gunsmithing tradition of the English gunmaker. Air gunning is becoming very popular here in the USA and we'll be happy to take anymore gunsmiths into our country

Desert in January


After Sunrise


RAW grip


Action




The Moderator


12 shots 50 yards


Gauge


Foster fitting


Supplied dust cover


Magazine


Cocking lever