Walther Reign M2

[Carrott]

This review is for my Walther Reign M2 in 0.177”, which I’ve had for just over a year.

General Impressions
The package is yet another take on the bullpup theme. The M2 differs from the original Reign in that it now has a solid Walther barrel instead of a shrouded one. The plastic stock completely encloses the action and air reservoir which means the rifle is pretty easy to look after. The action is ambidextrous. It is shipped with the cocking lever on the right, but it’s a fairly easy job to swap it to the LHS. The magazine can be inserted from left or right, just make sure the arrow points forward. Capacity is 11 rounds in 0.177 and 10 in 0.22. Two magazines are included.
The scope rail is Weaver and sits quite high on the action. The large gap between rail and action makes a handy carry handle. I had tactical ‘extra high’ mounts from another rifle and these resulted in the scope sitting too high and I had to add a cheek piece riser to give me the correct alignment. Ten thou” of packing was necessary to set the scope zero in the right place (Hawke Airmax SF 50mm 4 to 16) The two-stage trigger is plastic, broad and comfortable. Mine has a really rough first stage although the release is OK. Taking up the first stage then releasing the trigger is a work-round for a smooth let-off. It doesn’t look too easy to strip it to give the sears a polish though. Adjustment necessitates removal of the 17 or so screws that hold the halves of the stock together. I’ve heard that it is possible to remove just the rear screws and wiggle off the rubber (non-adjustable) butt pad to access the adjustment screws.
The stock has a pattern in the moulding to give good grip where it is needed. There is an insert for a QR sling stud, but nothing at the front. The short weaver rail at the bottom of the fore-end could be used with a suitable adapter.
If you take the stock apart, one thing that's worth doing is to put some foam or tape around the air bottle. This is because the action is only held in place with four small hex cap head screws (the ones that join the stock halves are Torx) and the action can move a little within the fore end allowing the bottle to knock on the plastic. I can't say this has improved accuracy, but it hasn't hindered it and it has stabilised the action within the stock.

On the range
The Reign ships with a small air stripper. Unsurprisingly, this result in quite a loud neighbour annoying muzzle crack. I fitted a SAK moderator which does the job nicely. It also looks good as it’s on the dumpy side and sets off the lines of the rifle well. This highlighted the worst feature of the Reign - its very loud action. The plastic case and the substantially polymer action combined with the bullpup design to create a very loud firing cycle. I wear ear muff or plugs to shoot it now and I can’t understand why other reviewers haven’t mentioned the noise. Addition of he moderator also improved the groups - no idea why.
I’m not a brilliant shot, but 5 pence sized groups at 30yds are achievable (excluding the odd flyer - not me honest!). I’d say that accuracy is only marginally less than that of my HFT 500. I normally use QYS Streamlined Heavy. Bisley Magnums give similar groups, my FX chrono reports a muzzle energy of 12.1 to 12.4 ftlbs with using these pellets. BEWARE! Another thing about the Bis Mags is that they have a little nipple on the business end which will catch slightly on the magazine internals if the mag. isn’t held level while loading the last 6 rounds. There is a fix on YouTube, but as I no longer use these pellets, I see no point fixing something that ain’t broke. People have reported the same problem with pointed pellets.

I’ve included the readings from my FX Chrono below.

Pellet: QYS Streamlined Heavy, 9.56 gn.
Shot count: 44
Low: 712 fps
Hi: 754
Avg: 733
Spread: 42
STD Dev: 9.9
735,731,735,731,728,717,731,731,728,719,721,726,72 8,728,
724,733,733,735,731,712,726,728,721,742,752,738,72 4,726,726,
749,735,740,726,738,752,735,735,740,745,754,754,74 5,738,747 fps

[Re01312]

Thanks you wrote a thorough reveiw of your kit

Randall

[Carrott]

Cheers Randall,

I tried to make it honest and cover things that hadn't been covered in other reviews I've seen.