Insane Bolt – the Remington Vought Bolt Action. You don’t need me to tell you that fashion is a fickle thing. This year’s must-have is suddenly soooo last year. And we airgunners are not immune. I’m not talking about what we wear and look like – most of my shooting mates look like they’ve been dug up – but when it comes to rifles, our heads are easily turned by something new.
For decades you could have any Air Guns or Air Rifles you liked as long as it had a spring inside. Then PCP air rifles came along. Pretty soon they all had a bolt action. And then, all of a sudden, bolts were out and we all had to have side levers.
To be fair, the rise of side levers had more to do with the increasingly international nature of the air rifle market which meant that manufacturers started making more rifles that exceed our UK 12 ft/lbs legal limit. The simple reality is that side levers have mechanical advantages over a bolt action when it comes to cocking heavier high-power actions.
But I for one miss a good bolt action rifle and have been hanging on to my endlessly reliable BSA R10 mk II for years. But now I think I have found another rifle to satisfy my bolt addiction – the Remington Vought.
Priced at a very reasonable £449.99, this fully-regulated sporter has the chunkiest bolt action I’ve ever seen on a rifle. But it’s much more than that.
Let’s take a closer look.
STOCK TAKE
Also available with a black synthetic handle, our test .22 rifle has a stained brown wooden stock instead. I’m not sure what the wood is, but the mid-brown finish is high quality with no drips or runs, resulting in an even colour that allows the grain to show through.
A hard rubber, non-adjustable shoulder pad is finished with a black spacer. The rest of the butt section is plain, with no cheek piece either side or much in the way of a raised comb. That said, the Remington Vought will fit left and right-handers comfortably and eye alignment down the rifle is spot on.
At 1,120mm (44 inches) and 3.5kgs (7lbs) including the 3-9×40 scope and mounts that come with it, the Vought is light and compact with a fairly standard 375mm length of pull and point of balance and inch or two forward of the trigger.
The steeply raked pistol grip has panels of good quality chequering to aid grip and you can hold the rifle with your thumb either wrapped around or up. There’s more chequering both sides of the long forend which bulges slightly from the mid-point, making the Vought comfortable to shoot freehand.
Underneath, a Picatinny rail that is split either side of the air fill gauge will accept accessories such as a bipod, torch or sling attachment. Further back, a second gauge indicates regulator pressure.
TAKING AIM
A key characteristic of the Remington Vought is the way it stores its air supply. Unlike most, but not all, other PCPs that make use of a separate air cylinder or bottle usually located underneath the barrel, the Vought’s air is stored in a cylinder that surrounds the barrel itself.
The clever design gives the rifle the kind of full-bore big game hunting rifle looks that will appeal to many shooters. Perhaps as a result of this set up and the pressures it exerts on the barrels itself, the recommend fill pressure is a relatively low, by modern standards at least, 190 bar.
Having said that, the gauges both read in psi rather than the bar that most UK shooters will be more familiar with. To save you the effort – 190 bar equates to 2,750 psi. Filling is achieved by unscrewing a muzzle cap and inserting the provided probe which is machined to snap directly onto a foster fit connection without needing a separate adapter.
Removing the cap also reveals a ½” UNF thread to accept a silencer. In truth, I found the muzzle report quite acceptable without one, but with a silencer attached, the Vought is extremely quiet, even if it means the fill port will be permanently exposed. Some kind of aftermarket bung to keep dirt and grit out would be a wise investment.
Of course, before you get to worry about how loud the Vought is or isn’t, you will need to cock the rifle. And that means operating the chromed bolt.
The large, knurled handle sits in a small slot and favours right-handed shooters. It is lightly sprung to ensure that if inadvertently lifted, it will drop back down again. The first stage is a short one and the second stage both cocks the rifle and releases the probe to allow the magazine to index for the next shot. It operates with a satisfying ‘clunk-click’ and when pushed forward again, probes the next pellet into the breech.
Though plastic, the magazine is good quality, and our .22 rifle had a nine- shot capacity. With the clear plastic side facing you, simply drop pellets into the hole – be sure to keep your finger underneath to prevent them falling out. There’s no need to pre-load the inner drum, instead simply drop pellets into the chambers as you rotate the drum anti-clockwise.
As much as I love the Vought’s man-sized bolt, it does have a tendency to slide forward under gravity but hold it level and the magazine slots into the breech from the left with a momentary pause before clicking into place.
ON THE RANGE
The provided 25mm mounts are good quality. However, the 3-9×40 scope that comes with them is very much designed to get you up and running. Its clear enough, but the lack of any parallax adjustment will frustrate those looking to push the limits of the Vought’s accuracy potential.
In the interests of fairness, I mounted the provided scope to the dovetail rail for the range test. And, in all honesty, at 20 metres it was more than adequate, and I can’t say it affected the rifle’s performance in any way. Things started to get a little fuzzy at 30 metres though, and the groups suffered slightly. Out of interest, I popped one of my own scopes on and they tightened up again.
In short, the free scope is fine, but you’ll soon want to upgrade to the kind of optic the Vought’s quality demands.
The Vought’s curved blade trigger is made from metal and despite a little creep, the first stage stops definitively, and the second stage breaks very cleanly. Although there is no visible means of external adjustment, the trigger was set up fine for me out of the box.
A small blade just forward of the trigger, the safety catch is also metal. There’s no visual indicator as to whether it is engaged or not. To save you the trouble, it’s on when pulled back and off when pushed forward.
With a target set out at 30 metres, it was apparent the Vought did not think much of JSB Hades pellets. However, results with more conventional round head pellets were much better. JSB exacts were good with my best five shot group measuring 23mm centre-to-centre. However, Rangemaster Sovereigns were able to top that with a best of 18mm.
Thanks to the regulated action, variance across a 10-shot string taken in the middle of the fill range was a 16 feet per second (FPS) at an average of 557 FPS or 10.95 ft/lbs. And from a full 190-bar fill I was able to extract 75 full-power shots.
SUMMARY
On the surface, the Remington Vought looks like a stylish throwback to how PCP air rifles used to be not so many years ago. The large bolt is a joy to use, making cocking the action as pleasurable as pulling the trigger.
However, look a little closer and the Vought is much more than a simple rifle well-made. A regulated action elevates the rifle’s performance to a level that belies its price, and the clever air storage system gives it an aesthetic appeal that makes even the most expensive rifles suddenly look lumpen.
REMINGTON VOUGHT, AT A GLANCE
Price: £449.99
Length: 1,120mm
Muzzle to Breech: 660mm, including shroud
Calibres: .177 and .22
Weight: 3.5kgs Including Supplied Scope and Mounts
Trigger: Two-Stage
Safety: Manual, Resettable
Test Rifle Power: 10.95 ft/lbs
10 Shot FPS Variance: 16 FPS
CLOSE UP – REMINGTON VOUGHT AIR RIFLE
The chunky chromed bolt is one of the Remington Vought’s stand out features
The magazine sits low to the action but slightly proud of the dovetail scope rail
A 3-9×40 scope comes with the rifle and is good enough to get you started but the rifle deserves an upgrade when funds allow
Supplied two-piece mounts are good quality
The trigger blade and safety catch are metal
Patches of chequering on the pistol grip and forend are comfortable and grippy
Unscrewing a cap at the end of the muzzle reveals both a fill port and ½” UNF thread for an external silencer
The Vought’s shrouded barrel reduces muzzle crack but adding a silencer makes it a very quiet rifle to shoot
With a silencer fitted, the fill port valve is permanently exposed unless you can find an aftermarket stopper
The fill probe inserts into the port for a 190-bar maximum fill for the air cylinder that surrounds the barrel
Operating that bolt is addictive, making cocking the Vought almost as much fun as shooting it
The plastic cassette type magazine is good quality and simple to load
Pull back the bolt and push the magazine into the breech from the left until it clicks
INSANE BOLT
The Remington Vought Bolt Action
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Blog Title: Insane Bolt – the Remington Vought Bolt Action
Blog Author: Richard Sanders
Published By: Mark Watts