Air Arms TX200HC review

[Sub Sea Sniper]

Hi everybody,

I got a brand new Air Arms TX200HC in 0.22 yesterday so I thought I should throw together a little review. If you want to skip the following paragraphs be assured that this rifle is fantastic, go out and buy one. If you want to know more, read on.

Starting with the packaging (cos that's what you first see). The rifle comes in a custom designed cardboard box which protects the gun very well. Keep the box as it may come in handy if you ever send the rifle for a service or (say it isn't so) sell it on.

An A4 instruction booklet show you how to load the gun, handle it safely and has a parts list.

Now, onto the gun. The TX200HC (HC stands for Hunter Carbine) measures in at 38 inches (96.5 cm) long so it is definitely in the carbine category. The barrel is only 9 inches (23 cm) long but is a Lothar Walther barrel so it is a damn good one. The muzzle end of the barrel is enclosed by a plastic screw thingy which is a small internal, plenum style silencer. This can be removed to reveal threading to accept an external silencer. Below the barrel is the underlever, as it is the same length as the barrel it takes a good effort to cock the gun but two things assist in this respect. One is the cocking aid which is a knurled grip on the end of the cocking lever, this greatly assists grip. Second is the fact that the cocking lever is articulated which gives more leverage. The lever itself is held fast to the underside of the barrel by a sprung metal bearing.

The stock is one of the best features on the gun and is done is a dark brown, satiny finish that feels very smooth. There is a rubber shoulder pad which has those little vent holes that are perfectly sized to poke pellets into (seven on each side). I always do this as I may come across a bonus bunny grazing on the verge as I drive down to my shoot. I can quickly (but quietly) sneak out of the car, take the gun from the bag and slip a pellet in without raking through my gunbag for a tin). The butt of the stock is a meaty affair. The cheekpiece extends smoothly from the top of the butt and gives a good, comfortable hold when you shoulder the gun. The grip is almost pistol style in its angle. It has a good scoop out of the back to allow your thumb to fall comfortably and there is quality chequering on either side of the grip. The forend of the stock tapers gradually and is marked by a band of chequering either side of the far end of the stock. Overall the stock just feels right when shouldered, it has a good heft which helps keep the weight back towards the shooter and not the muzzle end.

The trigger unit is a true two stage job which has been factory set with a pretty nice pull. It can be adjusted by removing the trigger guard but I am happy with it as it is. That's all I can really say about it, it does the job perfectly so becomes a part of your shooting you don't think about.

I have read some moans about the loading procedure for the TX but I can't complain. It becomes second nature quickly and when you think about it the double safety only protects the shooter. When you pull down the cocking lever there is no tick-tick-tick-tick of an anti-beartrap device. As the lever is pulled down the loading hatch (which is to the upper right of the receiver, just in front of the objective lens of my scope) slides backwards. There are three deep cutouts on the hatch which are gripped in turn by a safety lock behind the hatch. This serves as the anti-beartrap and is a very good idea as it pretty much eliminates the possibility of the loading hatch slamming into your fingers when you load a pellet.

Having cocked the rifle the small loading area is exposed and a pellet thumbed into the end of the barrel. The safety lock is then depressed, held, and the cocking lever swung back up to the barrel. The automatic trigger safety engages when the gun is cocked. A steel cylinders pops out of the receiver just above the trigger unit. This is pushed in to allow the gun to be fired. One thing I found unusual was that once the trigger safety is disengaged it can't be flicked back on again. It should therefore only be pushed in immediately prior to firing. This is fine for target shooting but when hunting birds or bunnies you often thumb the safety off in anticipation of a shot only to find the beast has sneaked away, leaving you without a target. The safety should then be reactivated which can't be done on this rifle. Bit strange.

The receiver has dovetail grooves for a scope mount and three recoil arrestor holes. I read stories about sight creep so invested in a sturdy one piece mount with an arrestor stud screwed tight into the farthest back arrestor hole. Being a carbine the TX wouldn't work too good with a mega long scope (say, with a sunhood). I use a Nikko Stirling 3-9x42 with parallax adjustment. It stops an inch shy of the loading hatch and it isn't the longest scope out there.

Once I had whacked the scope nice and tight on my rifle I set about zeroing the whole thing. I used my garden, which is ten metres wide and zeroed on a sheet of A4 paper. Straight of the bat the gun was shooting tight and within 15-20 pellets I was shooting out felt tip dots I had drawn on the paper, from a kneeling stance. I am by no means an experienced shooter and certainly not the best marksman but the rifle certainly instills confidence in the shooter. The balance just felt right. I believe this is due to the heft of the stock, coupled with the short barrel, keeping the weight close into the shooters body which allows for better balance and poise when shooting. I don't have scales to measure the guns weight but I guess with a sight and mounts the weight is roughly 8.5 to 9 pounds.

I noticed the rifle was well lubed, the pellets were leaving little light-green stains around the holes in the paper. They were picking up whatever lube Air Arms put in the barrel. I carried out a quick penetration test and found it to be shooting Webley Lazadomes deeper into a bar of soap than the gasrammed webley Tracker I had been using. The Air Arms Pro-Elite I had also been using penetrated deeper but I have a feeling that after a few hundred rounds the TX will equal that of the Elite.

I have not been able to get a hold of Air Arms pellets as of yet. They are supposed to be the best pellets to use in the TX but I have found that Webley Lazadomes provide consistency and good punching power.

I have only put about 50 pellets through my rifle since getting it so this review is based very much on first impressions. I will be hunting with it regularly (mostly for rabbit) and will update this review with progress reports on how the gun (and I) perform in the field.

Overall I am really pleased with this rifle, the balance, quality and hitting power are superb. I bought this gun blind, having never shouldered one before. I was initially worried in case the gun was too heavy or felt unbalanced (like the Pro-Elite) but my worries instantly evaporated the first time I picked the rifle up. It is made to nestle in your shoulder.

I could go on about this gun all day, it simply oozes quality, everything is smooth, quiet and well lubed. There is no twanging as the gun is fired, the whole cycle seems smooth and the recoil is of short duration and easily dampened by the stock. The plenum silencer does a good enough job of keeping the gun quiet, I doubt I will have to invest in an external silencer. In addition the barrel is shrouded which helps to control the noise even further. I will be out hunting rabbits tomorrow with this rifle and will post how I get on. Can't wait.

Sub Sea Sniper

[Rapidnick]

Glad you are pleased with it. As a former owner of both the HC and Mk 3 variants, I agree with most of what you say except I did find the beartrap ratchet a bit annoying and the click-click-click noise as you cock I suspect could frighten rabbits away. Personally I find the cocking effort ridiculous for a 12 ft lb rifle-my Weihrauch HW95 is cockable with one finger! I don't know whether you tried the TX200 Mk 3 before choosing the HC but I found the slightly longer cocking lever much easier to use and the extra length hardly noticeable. The mk 3 is also quieter-unless you use the screw- in extra silencer which completely ruins the whole point in having the shorter HC.
Good shooting!

[baz]

Not sure why you posted this in FAC section

I happen to rate the HC as the best TX ever made, I have tuned them to almost 20ftlb in .22, not bad for such a tiny barrel

Rapidnick, I agree that the HC needs an additional silencer but with one of the suitable models fitted the gun is about same length as the MKIII but quite a bit quieter

Baz

[baz]

A quick way to achieve quiet cocking is to hold the anti bear trap down whilst cocking Or to render it inoperable (not good safety) is slip a bit of plastic under it

baz

[Sub Sea Sniper]

Took out the TX for its first proper hunting session and was well pleased. I zeroed it for about 20 yards then went on a good long rabbit stalking session.

I couldn't near what few rabbits were on the go today (my fault for being too noisy). I eventually reached the limit of my shoot and saw one lonesome rabbit standing near a gate that marks my shoot boundary. I stalked nice and low amongst some rushes and got to about 25 yeards. I couldn't go prone as the rushes were quite tall so I dropped to one knee and took aim. There was a slight side wind which I ignored as it was fluctuating so much. The rabbit was bolt upright, it knew something was up.

I took my time, waited for the wind to drop then fired. The Lazadome whacked the rabbit in the head with a power I found surpisingly strong for such a range. One bunny down. I was really impressed with the power compared to the old gasrammed Webley Tracker I have been using. Unfortunately there was very few rabbits on the go today bu maybe next time.

Sub Sea Sniper

[Sub Sea Sniper]

Was out at my shoot yesterday. I have new land to shoot on that adjoins my existing shoot so I had a lot of ground to cover. Trudged about for about two hours and did notice the weight of the gun. I guess slings would be a good idea but I like having the rifle at the ready as rabbits can pop out and surprise you.

Anyway, I got three rabbits today. Three stalks, three 10-15 metres shots, three down. Can't say fairer than that.

I am gonna build a hide in the whins tomorrow which I reckon will be a good test for the carbine as it will be fairly cramped. I will update this post then.

Sub Sea Sniper

[pipesmoker]

Hi SSS, do you use your Surefire or Scorpian for shooting at night? How effective is it ?
Why did you choose the HC version instead of the Standard version?

[Sub Sea Sniper]

Pipesmoker,

I don't know everything there is to know about flashlights but I use a lot of them as I spend a lot of my time on night shift. As well as providing light to see I use intensely bright flashlights to provide me with a tactical advantage when dealing with suspects / potentially violent offenders.

There are a whole raft of 2 cell lithium torches you can buy now, from the cheapo Madjak torches on Heinnie to the tactical ones from Surefire that will cost you a second mortgage. All of the the 2 cell lith torches throw out about 60-65 lumens of light and they will last an hour or so. Sure the liths are more expensive than normal AA's but they are smaller and if you buy then from the web (7dayshop or similar) they aren't too pricey.

I personally use my Scorpion on my rifle, mounted to the front of the stock with some very sophisticated duck tape. Simple, but effective. I also use a Black Diamond headtorch when I am walking about at night to save the Scorpions batts. The whole thing works well but I don't really do it much now as I am crap at lamping and much better at stalking.

If you are desperate for a metal bodied torch but can't shell out for a Surefire check out the LedWave torches on Heinnie. I got the Z2 Duo which is a two lith with 60 lumen output. It also has a three LED array which puts out 9 lumens and offers greatly extended battery life. I now use this torch exclusively at work. The LEDs for map reading etc and the main bulb for bigger lighting tasks.

As for the HC I was using a Pro-elite before and the weight was way too far forward. I got the HC as it is much better balanced and I do find it is an advantage when I am stalking through whin bushes as some of the gaps are quite tight. I cannot rate this gun highly enough. It has surpassed all my expectations and as people have said about it on this forum it does feel like a tuned springer straight out of the box.

All the best

Sub Sea Sniper

[Sub Sea Sniper]

Another two hunting sessions with the TX and took six on the first shoot and four on the second.

I am now realising that this gun outshoots me by a huge margin. I am relatively new to airgunning and am still trying to improve my technique. I noticed last night that although I can get headhsots from standing at 20 metres they aren't always well placed enough to get a clean kill. I now try to stalk into a position where I can kneel or go prone for my shots as this improves accuracy a lot.

Most of these standing shot mishaps are my fault but I am also aware of the weight of the rifle. It really does pay to practice with this gun regularly to build up the muscles needed to hold the gun steady.

Anyway, I have noticed that my hunting success rate has increased by using this gun, even though it is heavier than the Webley Tracker I used to use. I think this is down to the power and consistency of this gun. Last night I got a rabbit by leaning on a fence post and taking him down from about 25 yards, clean kill. I wouldn't have attempted that shot with the Tracker but I am confident (in the power of the TX, at least) that a well placed shot will take a rabbit down from this range.

It was pouring rain last night and the gun shrugged it off and threw out pellet after pellet with its usual consistency. This gun just gets better and better. I also noticed that although the HC has only the internal plenum silencer when you buy it that there is little, if any, need for an external silencer. I have shot two rabbits in quick succession and they do not seem spooked by the noise. Sure there is a sharp little crack when I fire the TX but downrange this turns into little more than a polite cough.

I am simply stunned by the accuracy, consistency and power this gun delivers time after time. My hunting success and confidence have both increased a lot since buying this gun.

Sub Sea Sniper

[NearoZero]

Are you a representative from AirArms?




Good hunting

I applaud your patience to get to such medium/close ranges and a zero of only 20y? may as well take it to 28y, or mess with chairgun to find the optimum zero range for your rifles power/pellet choice, atleast then if you do happen to incorrectly judge range, say its 6 y longer than you thought youd be in at a better chance of getting close enough to the kz to make the shot count.

[Rapidnick]

I am relatively new to airgunning and am still trying to improve my technique. I noticed last night that although I can get headhsots from standing at 20 metres they aren't always well placed enough to get a clean kill. I now try to stalk into a position where I can kneel or go prone for my shots as this improves accuracy a lot.

Sub Sea Sniper

Do you really think you should post an admission that you don't always kill your prey cleanly?

[Karlos.]

Not sure why you posted this in FAC section Baz

I don't think he's listening Baz

[krazy_horse]

I don't think he's listening Baz

An air rifle IS classed as a Firearm

(sorry)

JB

[andy_scouser]

An air rifle IS classed as a Firearm

well said, tis a bloomin airgun forum after all !!!!

[Karlos.]

tis a bloomin airgun forum after all !!!!

Yes ostensibly it is an airgun; BBS, and, that's why we have a very large airgun forum section

I believe that this forum was added to allow reviews of rifles/guns etc. that require an FAC/SGC to own and use.

However my post was not a pop at SSS, I just thought it was hilarious that despite Baz ever so gently telling this chap that he had posted in the wrong section, he just carried on banging out post after post. Classic