Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Walther to Walther

[secretagentmole]

Before Christmas my other half decided to buy me a "bad weather" gun. We went over to Wales to see my sister and called in at a well known retailer in the Midlands on the way back to pick up a Walther R8. Originally we had intended to buy a .177 but all they had was .22! Anyway we bought the gun, picked up a spare magazine as well and went back home. We got QD studs fitted and on Boxing day I was out on the patio doing a test fire using the Combro to get a shot curve figure. I was using Crosman Premier Ultra Magnums (14.3 grain) and I was surprised!

9.5 ft lb!

Ye gads! This is supposed to be pumping out 11.5 ft lb! I took it to my local RFD who tried many types of pellet and the best reading he got out was 10.5 ft lb on one shot! This was not a good gun.

After complaining we were assured we could swap the poorly performing rifle for one in .177! We took it back to the West Midlands as we had to see a man about another gun. On walking into the shop it was made plain to us that a) we could not swap the gun b) we could not have a refund c) we would have to wait for Armex to repair it. We handed the gun over got a receipt and on the way back home I got on the phone to Trading Standards.

I was entitled to a refund! Anyway as we had (against our wishes) agreed to a repair I left it for nearly a week. When I had not heard anything I rang them up again. I blew my stack in a mild mannered fashion and the person I originally spoke to agreed to ship a nice new .177 to us! Using ParcelForce Express (???) 24. I reminded him about the spare magazine we had put back in the box and was assured that a spare magazine would be included.

Ho tiddly flaming hum!

Now the following is not the fault of the seller.

On Monday ParcelFarce collected the gun. Tuesday it was still in the Central Hub (Coventry). Tuesday it was supposed to be in Norfolk. Rang ParcelFarce - they cannot distinguish the middle joint of their arm from their buttocks! No idea, blankety blank. Oh well it was delivered Tuesday.

Now the following is the fault of the seller.

Tuesday came and the box was opened. I had an RM8 (not an R8 like the last one was - more ink on this one affects the balance). I also had an instruction manual and a spare magazine. The one thing I had not got, and this is only a small thing but vitally important thing, was a filler probe. Back on the phone to the seller and one was dispatched from the shop. Now the fill probe from the shop looked totally different to the one that was in the R8 box so I thought they had sent the fill probe for something else. No they assured me it did fit and was their own probe. Well that explained the quick change nozzle on the end then. One less job to do... Hey ho!

Now there was 150 bar in the gun when it arrived and firing a few through saw a healthy 10.73 ft lb average with Defiant Ogives.

This is better. The cocking action was also a lot smoother than the .22 R8. The trigger felt better too! All in all I would have sworn the gun was made by another factory! Sighting in the .177 revealed the same flaw that struck the .22, I needed thick shims on the rear Sportsmatch mount. But once zeroed it held target well and on the hunting trip that followed acquitted itself well!

Is the Walther worth £399 (what we paid)? Yes. But basically I believe it to be an Airmagnum with a regulated bottle on, lumped in a fancy Minelli stock. Still those Minelli stocks are not cheap!

[secretagentmole]

[Retracted_Yeti]

Yep!
Looks like an 850 AirMagnum with an add on bottle!!!

HTH!

Cheers.

Roy.

[secretagentmole]

I think that is all it is! But saying that where else are you going to get a Minelli stocked PCP multishot for under £400?

[richierich]

Is the Walther worth £399 (what we paid)? Yes. But basically I believe it to be an Airmagnum with a regulated bottle on, lumped in a fancy Minelli stock. Still those Minelli stocks are not cheap!

Unless they've changed spec, they are not regulated

[secretagentmole]

One problem is that they do not mark the magazines so if you have a busy time shooting you can run out unawares! Humbrol Enamel does the job nicely!

[Rob Edge]

It is an Air Magnum with a few fettled bits and a bottle. Runs on compressed air opposed to CO2 and is not regulated.

[32:1]

After dithering about buying an R8 for months and the wait for a .177 I opted for a used AA410

Wednesday I had a few mags through my mates RM8 .177 and Im a little miffed, he paid 50.00 less and got a new warranted rifle, it shoots very well indeed and matched my 410 at every target right out to 45yds, he has found jsb exact 4.51 best. I can say it feels and shoots as good as any of my rifles past and present, weight was not an issue as we were rested, 150 shots per fill, faultless loading and cocking and no leaks (unlike my r10 mk2)

He said he has possible put 1500 pellets through it and its feeling slicker and smoother all the time, TBH I thought it was great for just 400 quid. Bugger got to save again


Chris