Originally Posted by
Geezer
They are Marmite.
The Theoben Siroccos were launched in 1981-82 with masses of hype. Too much. The perfect airgun. All your problems solved. I can recall at the time being very interested, but the deal then was that the basic rifle cost as much as an FWB Sport with a good scope, and a similarly-scoped HW80 cost less than that.
They never made the cut in FT, which until 1987-88 (when PCPs took over) was first FWB Sport then HW77 territory. Which is telling.
All that said, my limited experience of Theobens is (a) the triggers are not up to the standard you would expect from a gun costing a lot more than an FWB or HW; (b) the stock design, build quality, finish (if you like a purple tint to the bluing) are great; and (c) they hit field targets from field positions (including dodgy ones) with great accuracy.
Their reputation is as scope-breakers. Short, snappy, fast action. If so (and that's my experience of the firing cycle), so what? Buy a better scope. Are they worse than some metal-spring rifles? No.
In addition, beyond the Theobens (and HW90), there are two other classes of gas-ram.
First, the AWT aftermarket kits for a variety of springers. Some swear by them. Not so sure. Try a Venom or tbt kit for the same or less.
Second, the Gamo/Crosman/etc gas-rams. Show me one that shoots into 8mm ctc at 25M. Or is in any way better than the cheaper metal-spring version, especially once fettled. Marketing. Nothing more.
In a weird way, the gas spring obviously ought to be better than the metal one, but three and a half decades of use suggests that they are different, rather than better.
Never owned one (and they are a big old lump in stock form), but I have a sneaking suspicion that the "custom" Euro90 and TB90 versions of the HW90 may be the best gas-rams ever.
Smoggerati
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