Daystate Pulsar v Fx Bobcat

[nimrod177]

After a lot of thought, well over night as couldn't sleep i decided to get the Daystate Pulsar in .22 with the walnut stock (ltd Edition). I now own both the Bobcat and the pulsar so maybe in a good position to compare the two.
Presentation was a winner for the pulsar as it comes in a hard case with foam already cut out for a scope. The FX i was expecting to come in some sort of case for the money but came in a black box and to be fair not a great deal of packaging to keep it safe in it's transit from Sweden. Fx comes with rifle, magazine and charging probe plus the manual which is generic so you have to read through to find the relevant bits for the Bobcat. They should produce a manual for each rifle not just one that covers the whole range. The instructions for the loading of the magazine aren't totally clear and easy to follow.
The Daystate has it's own manual, a little certificate as it's the ltd edition, single shot tray, allen keys for adjusting the trigger, a warranty card and the fill adaptor. Batteries were already in the rifle. Now the down fall for the Pulsar. The case is not long enough to put the rifle in with a moderator attached. Well the stumpy moderator i have fitted for now anyway, the case could be about 6" longer.
Finish. Obviously the two rifles are totally different as one is walnut and plastic with steel shroud and the other is synthetic finish. The fx was clean and not covered on layers of oil however the cheek piece was a sort of grey in colour but a good rub down seemed to clear away the grey film and it is now a matching blak with the rest of the rifle. The black on the FX barrel shroud is a semi sheen for want of a better word. The Black on the pulsar is a powder type coating and matt in colour. I think i prefer the finish on the bobcat but that is a personal thing. If i am really picky the bobcat's finish shows no mould lines whatsoever. The pulsar has a visible mould line on the fore end of the picatinny rail. The walnut on the pulsar is nothing to write home about and finished with oil to a slight sheen. I have a r10 with better grained walnut on it.
Initial feel. First thing i noticed on the pulsar was the trigger blade was loose and facing the wrong way. Strange as there was a test sheet giving stats etc. Surely whoever "tested" the rifle to give the chrono reading would have noticed a loose trigger blade and certainly one facing in the wrong direction. The pistol grip on the pulsar could do with being a little bigger for me as i have quite large hands and the bottom of my palm is slightly over the base of the grip. Also the indent for access to the batteries was a bit sharp on the edges and after walking around with it for an hour my palm was a little sore. The fx is a nice fit for my hands but there is a allen screw right underneath where my thumb joint touches which after a while made quite an indent into my skin will be easier to sort this than the pulsars hole in the battery access clip. Balance between the two for me was very similar but the pulsar "felt" slightly heavier on the back end but i can live with that. The cocking lever on the fx is better tucked away into the stock. The pulsar lever is slightly more proud and a bit more noisy on the cocking than the fx. The safety on the fx is next to the cocking lever and very smooth to operate with just a gentle nudge. The pulsar safety is inbuilt into the trigger much the same as the air arms and i kinda prefer this to the fx, but it is noisy to engage and disengage which i found annoying.
Magazine. The daystate wins hands down. Very easy to fill and operates smoothly. The loading of pellets into the fx is initially a pain in the backside as the first pellet has to be loaded from the front then the mag is turned over and the remaining are loaded from the rear of the mag. The instructions in the manual are not the easiest to follow. Now i am used to it it is ok and i can manage it in the dark for ratting but i would have the daystate mag over the fx any day or night of the week. The mag sticks up on the pulsar as do all daystate mags but being a bull pup it doesn't interfere with scope mounting. I would still prefer to see it lower in the action. I can envisage problems when i go to mount my nite site as i think the mag will be in the way. It was on the fx but i have moved the cheek piece back and it clears the magazine. Anyone with a nite site will know about the camera unit on the scope.
Silence. Fx is almost silent without a mod fitted. There is no way of adding an additional mod as there is no male thread or female thread to attach a mod to. UK Neil is making a special one for me. The pulsar although shorter than the bobcat is noisier without a mod but if fitting a mod it ends up longer and i have fitted a stumpy mod. It is now almost silent but won't fit in the case with the mod attached.
Power. The pulsar is kicking out 11.5 ftlb on H&N ftt. The Bobcat is kicking out 11.9 ftlb on H&N Baracuda's. The Pulsar settled down to a 10ftps spread over 4 mags at 180 bar. The Bobcat won hands down at 3ftps spread over 4 mags at 180 bar (The Bobcat is a 14 shot mag the Pulsar is a ten shot mag). Both rifles like H&N pellets so far. However i have put more pellets through the Bobcat then the pulsar so maybe it will tighten the ftps up a little with more lead in the barrel.
Accuracy. No contest so far. The Bobcat is more accurate at the moment, however see above as per shots through the gun. Approximately 500 through the Bobcat and 200 through the pulsar. Bobcat is regged smooth twist and pulsar is standard barrel. However at the same stage of pellets in the Bobcat ie about 200 it was still more accurate than the pulsar. Time will tell. The Bobcat has a Hawke Sidewinder half mil dot 4.5-14x42 mounted on it. The Pulsar has a Zeiss Duralyt 3-12x50 sat on top. A £300 scope compared to a £700 scope so really the Pulsar should have the edge on the Bobcat.
Triggers. Both have fully adjustable triggers. I have not had to adjust these bar tightening the Pulsar's after turning it to face in the right direction.
Attachments. Haven't managed to figure out if i can attach a Bi-Pod or sling to the Bobcat. Pulsar has the plastic forend with picatinny rail system. Would have liked to have seen both rifles fitted with standard studs at the prices they are selling for. I believe Daystate have done it the way they have so that they get extra income from the sale of their own Bi-Pods. £35 a Bi-Pod from Daystate. Hole in the stock for the mag on the Bobcat is a good idea and it is held in place by a spring bob when pushed in. I believe Daystate have missed a little trick there. Both cheek pieces are adjustable backwards and forwards which is nice. Both have power adjustment. I prefer the Bobcat as is much simpler system to use over the pulsar, just turn the knob on the side. Daystate's novel on and off for the power is growing on me. Bobcat has two pressure gauges one pre reg and one post reg. Call me old fashioned but i still like the idea of a pressure gauge to show bottle pressure on a rifle. Turn the Daystate on to get pressure in bottle. Quick peek at pressure gauge on cylinder on Bobcat.
Which One To Buy. Well so far, weighing up the various pros and cons it would be the Bobcat for me. £1300 for the Bobcat versus £1900 for the Daystate. Yes i have a limited edition with gold trigger etc etc but for me personally i would still go for the Bobcat if money wasn't an issue. I think the Bobcat MKII regulated is the better value for money. I am not a person that goes in for looks so a black stock or walnut and black stock is not an issue for me. It is solely down to performance and useability for value for money. We shall see how reliability pans out as i have only had the Bobcat for two weeks and the Pulsar for a day.
An Alternative. Priced between the two comes the Steyr Hunting 5. I love my Steyr and it is more accurate than both these rifles. Well balanced for a full length hunting version and the cocking/firing system leaves the other two in the dark ages. Now all i have to do is get the Karbine version also in .20. And no i don't want a semi auto, i am fine with the speed of loading on the standard versions