Protarget review

[simona]

This review is of a 1997 MK 2 Protarget, a gun I owned from near-new in late 97’ to late 05’. It may seem strange to bother reviewing a gun that’s been out of production for about five years, but with so many doing the rounds it’s still a very popular second-hand option.

The gun was purchased before AA field/JSB’s became available, and proved erratic with any pellet I tried, despite faultless chrono performance. The barrel was so tight my thumb became sore shoving the pellets in. This got me down, so much so that I was on the point of selling it when AA field came out; performance was a revelation, especially with 4.50’s. This was an unusual aspect of my particular gun as most PTs seem to go well with a tighter pellet, maybe a 4.52 or 4.53.

Incredibly I did not have to adjust my sight for the next six years. This is a great testament to the quality and accuracy of the construction of the gun, as it was serviced three or four times. The modular construction (and especially the removable scope rail) meant that everything went back as before on reassembly. The gun proved incredibly stable as regards temperature and was so consistent that on arriving at a competition I could confidently check the ranging of my scope by studying the height of impact on a long range target.

Consistency was in the order of +/- 4 fps and our (that’s me and it together) accuracy was an average of exactly ½” C-C on my club’s 50 yard indoor range with 4.50 AA field. There are several very advanced features on the PT;

First is the scope rail, this allows accurate removal and replacement of the sight with no zero shift. Slope on scope rail; no packing of scope. Good reach forward on rail. I noticed in the AGW review of the ‘colourful’ EV2 Nick Jenkinson said that he fitted the scope as far forward as it would go then increased the length of the stock to get eye relief – surely not the way to go. Interestingly Nick has fitted a higher (see later paragraph) and longer reach rail to his own EV2.

Totally floating cylinder and regulator; no zero shift.

Ambidextrous action; I often used to cock and load with my left hand.

Direct (and easy access) pellet loading, you can feel bad pellets, not so easy with a bolt or probe.

External power adjustment; you don’t have to take it to bits to tweak it.

My gun was largely standard, save a black stained stock (by Gary Cane). I did replace the standard barrel shroud (mainly because of the weight of the original) with a simple alloy tube that was bonded directly to the barrel. I shot the gun with the tube open ended, flush with the end of the cylinder; surge was very moderate, though it was noisy. In an effort to reduce this noise I fitted a baffle in the end of the tube – surge notably increased so it came out again.

I’m lucky enough to count Roger Moy as a friend (BFTA chairman) and he knows a thing or two about guns. He always serviced my machine and stressed the importance of the trigger and striker mechanisms being totally dry, free from all lubrication; some moan about PT triggers but mine was always as sweet as a nut.

Another thing I liked was the high sight line. This allowed me, with my over the arm style, not to have to build the base of the stock up. I really would urge people struggling for height in general to consider raising the sight line rather than building up the depth of the fore-end. This has the effect of lowering the base of the stock (assuming your eye and scope are in the same position as before), crucially this approach keeps the centre of gravity very low and the gun becomes incredibly stable – give it a try. True, cant becomes more critical and close range turret settings become extreme (though ranging is so precise at close range you should never get it wrong) but I think it’s worth it, especially as close range targets seem to be a thing of the past!

The greatest thing about this gun was the reliability, it gave such confidence, in competition I never thought about this gun for a moment (trusting it even if it hadn’t fired a shot for two months), allowing me to fully focus on the job in hand, what more can you ask for?

Like a mug I sold this thing for £400 with a pair of 30mm sportsmatch mounts and a butt hook, (hang on, and a gun gear rifle case!) to someone in the club who really wanted it, I fancied a change and the funny thing was I thought I might find something even better……..

In my sporadic FT excursions I managed to win a GP round in 99’ and come second in the 04’ European Championships, with loads of local wins in winter league rounds etc; all the time knowing that the gun was not an issue, allowing me to find out just how good (or bad!) I was shooting. I secretly believed I had the best possible gun and felt slightly sorry for other competitors having to use something else, even those using supposedly ‘better’ guns. I may have been deluded but in competition it was a very useful delusion to have.

In comparison with many modern FT guns the PT seems slow and ‘buzzy’ on discharge – but I’ll be dammed if I could see this manifested on the targets. Sometimes the trigger sticks, you have to pull it again to get the machine to cock. Twice I have seen stocks snap through the top of the pistol grip, (heart breakingly this happened to the gun I’m describing; the chap I sold it to dropped it). Some may not like the fact that the trigger shoe and cocking slide are plastic. Many people change the barrels, it’s certainly easy to do as fitting (via two easily assessable grub screws) and machining are both very simple. I’d give the standard one a good go first though. As far as problems go that’s about it.

I went through a phase of cleaning the barrel about every 1000 shots, and then I just stopped bothering, if anything it became slightly more accurate.

For about the £400 mark I don’t think you can do better, in fact I’m not totally sure you can do better full stop. My P70 has an imperious trigger, Styers don’t twitch on firing, Ripleys are made so beautifully but if, bizarrely, I had to shoot an FT comp to save my life, this old thing would be what I would use. Depreciation must also now be nil, if you are interested in trying one you have nothing to lose.

Best Regards

Simon

[kieran turner]

superb review mate! Made excellent reading! You seemed to have found something in shooting that I have yet to find, a rifle you can have the utmost confidence in!

[simona]

Yes Kieran, I found it... and sold it; says something about human nature that. The grass is not always greener, subsequent experiences have rammed home the value of total reliability, I would take a 13mm group over a 10mm one if I always knew where that slightly larger group would appear.

I remember an old Russian short story about a wealthy landower in a fertile and bountiful valley in the Ukraine. He promised to give away whatever land anyone could walk around in a single day, so long as they got back to his gaff by nightfall. Greed ensured that he never gave away a square yard; nobody ever got back before dark.

Simon

[petroc]

a very nicely written account of "your old rifle" hope you manage to find another one.
had mine ten years, others have come and gone.
my findings pretty much same as yours, i thought mine was the only one with a quirky trigger!
atb
nigel

[TARGETZERO]

fine review simon,agree totally i own a pt and use it with total confidence,ive owned a few guns but never had total confidence in any ov them.imho nothing out there is better than the protarget would never sell it for love or money. perry

[mrfixit]

Yeah alright Perry you'd sell your mother

[Falcon25]

Excellent write up Simon.

I owned Mk III PT and found it an excellent gun for accuracy & consistency. If I could have changed it I would have added an air gauge to save all that pellet counting and made it a little less front heavy with more stock adjustment.

It would be of great interest if you would post something similar about you’re experience with the FWB P70.

[TARGETZERO]

Yeah alright Perry you'd sell your mother

HOW MUCH JA THINK IDE GET??IS IT ILLEGAL??

[rockdrill]

Hi Simon,

I can relate to this story, I sold my Pro-Target about 18 months ago and regretted it ever since. I bought a flashier version with a lovely red marbled stock that shot just as well as my old gun.

However my old Pro-T returned to the SW region and I cheekily said to its new owner would he swap it for my red one and he said yes so it is back with me



It sports the long export barrel under a carbon fibre shroud with integral muzzle brake and 'air-stripper' and carbine length cylinder.

Dale

[ross H]

superb review mate! Made excellent reading! You seemed to have found something in shooting that I have yet to find, a rifle you can have the utmost confidence in!

im the same kieran dont trust either of my 'ft' guns

[kieran turner]

im the same kieran dont trust either of my 'ft' guns

maybe there isn't a gun out there that we will ever trust? Bloody fussy buggers us yoofs!

[markmac]

Hi Simon - excellent review - I bought one after reading this - Only shot it once competetivley (well nearly ) in a HFT event - must admit that I am very impressed with it.

The rifle would not cock a couple of times,but a gentle squeeze of the trigger restored normal service after thinking ,whats happening?? !

I used to shoot a Ripley in FT many years ago , and yes the Ripley was an engineering masterpiece (ooohh that lovely deep blueing ) Like you, I sold my pride and joy, in a bid to get something 'different' - regretted it right up to buying the Pro Target , it just feels and looks right - well engineered (maybe not up to the very high standard of the Rip) but still very good .For me it is everything I need in a rifle - accurate,well balanced,decent shot count,good looking and did I mention accurate.

Thanks m8 for a excellent an honest account of a first class rifle.


Mac

[rockdrill]

Regarding the 'not cocking' try increasing the travel after the trigger breaks, I found this cured it for me. The 'over travel' adjusting screw is the horizontal one at the rear upper left hand side of the trigger.

[markmac]

Thanks for the advice - I will try that tomorrow.

Cheers

[simona]

Nice set-up rockdrill, is that a 32 or 35x mk4?. I've just put a 32x on my Dominator and I'm really into it at the moment; though I'm currently shooting so well with my P70 and Deben I'm not going to change that frontline set-up at the moment. Do the mk4's shift much in the heat?

Used my 'new' mk2 Protarget indoors on Wednesday night; it's just as good as my old one, ergonomically I think that they are the tops; I took 50 shots standing at a 40mm kill at 33 yards with one miss. I've had it a while but hardly used it untill this week, really enjoyed myself.

Markmac, be interested to know how you get on with the high sightline in hft, with high mounts and a 35 yard zero it should only be up to what .3 of and inch high from 18 to 35; it might be the way to go.