Daisy 922 lowdown

[Hsing-ee]

Although many pump-up air-rifles were sold in the UK in the 1980s, only a few of these 'pneumatics' have got cult status, or indeed are remembered with nostalgic fondness. Unlike most springers - some people even find nice things to say about the Relum range, or the trashier Webleys (Hawk Mk 3, anyone?) - there are a number of pump-ups that sank without trace.

The most commonly revered one is the Sharps Innova, as well as its lesser-known stablemates the Victory and the Ace. Then there is the redoubtable Sheridan, which never shot decent groups until the 1990s when accurate .20 pellets became available. And some people like the Crosman Mark 1, its got nice open sights and a comfortable wooden stock.

There is a whole horde of non-glamorous ones out there though: the plastic Crosmans like the 766 and 788, the 760 and the 761XL (basis for the Whaley/Marshal Crosmans, the most over-hyped and over-priced pieces of trash ever to grace the cover of AGW), the various nasty bike-pump Benjamins, the overpowered Setra, a sort of low quality Spanish Sheridan, and last but not least, the Daisy Powerline series, some of which are still made and sold.

Has anyone tested a Daisy Powerline 922 for power and accuracy? The one with the little plastic clips for 5 rounds? Just asking as I lusted after one in a Sports shop in Oxford, little knowing that the BSA Meteor I borrowed from my Dad was a vastly superior piece of kit ...