Take the Worry out Of Buying an Air Rifle – Buying a new air rifle should be a happy thing right? And yet, for some, the amount of choice is bewildering and the prospect of spending hard-earned cash on a bad decision turns what should be a joyous event into a genuinely stressful activity.
Endless reviews in magazines, online and on YouTube don’t help (yes, I am aware of the hypocrisy); there’s simply too many guns out there and too many ‘experts’ willing to tell you how they great they are. Who to believe?
Budget isn’t always a limiting factor either. Having plenty of wedge in your pocket can be just as limiting as not having enough and doesn’t make choosing the right rifle any more straightforward.
The good news is that some decisions are a little easier. And if you are thinking of a top of the range, high-performance springer, the field is narrow. Trim it down a little further by wanting an underlever and you really are only faced with two manufacturers and four rifles. Those being the HW77 and HW97 from Weihrauch, and the TX200 and Pro Sport from Air Arms. You can see the Air Arms Spring Rifle Series on the Just Air Guns website.
I’m not saying choosing between those four is necessarily easy, but at least you have the reassurance of knowing it is almost impossible to make a bad choice.
Top of the pile, both in terms of price and, I’d have to say aesthetics as well, is the Air Arms Pro Sport. In fact, I’ve yet to meet someone who has a bad word to say about them. I’m sure there are a few, but I’ve never met them. And really, that’s not an invitation to introduce yourself.
Simply put, the Pro Sport is an excellent air rifle, and arguably the best spring piston rifle on sale. And with a PCP-rivalling price tag, it’s also the most expensive, costing between £839.99 and £909.99 depending on the model you go for.
I’m verging on gushing, so here’s a little more detail.
STOCK OPTIONS
All great rifles have a great stock, and the handle of the Pro Sport is a beauty. There was a time when Air Arms ignored the needs of left-handed shooters and offered the rifle in dedicated right-hand form only. Now, thankfully, southpaw versions are available too.
Beech stocked rifles are a little cheaper than the walnut option. Both follow a classic sporter design that is as pleasing to shoulder as it is to look at.
A perforated shoulder pad finished with a black spacer takes care of the Pro Sport’s minimal recoil and helps ensure good shoulder fit, as does the pronounced cheek piece. Like many springers, there is no adjustment in the stock, but the rolled comb sets you up for good eye alignment with a scope.
The pistol grip has panels of ornate but not fussy chequering on either side that not only look stylish but offer plenty of grip too. A rosewood cap on the bottom of the pistol grip that is set off with cream and black spacers is a classy touch. And at 365mm, the pull length will accommodate shooters of just about all sizes and builds.
Tapering to the front and finished with a couple of scoops right at the end, the fore-stock adds to the Pro Sport’s elegant sporting lines. There’s more chequering on either side and a couple of allen stock bolts are recessed so as to not get in the way.
Beautiful as it is, the Pro Sport, like the underlever springers it competes with, is something of a salad-dodger, weighing in at 4.3kgs without a scope (the walnut stock model is 4.1kgs). However, at 1,050mm and with a point of balance just forward of the trigger, it shoulders easily and the extra weight dampens any recoil.
TAKE AIM
One look at the Pro Sport is all you need to understand it has been designed to resemble a fullbore hunting rifle. In fact, if it wasn’t for the lack of a bolt on the side you could imagine it being hefted across the great plains of Africa after more exotic game than a few rabbits or squirrels.
Much of the Pro Sport’s aesthetic appeal is down to the underlever. Whilst its competitors from Weihrauch, and even its Air Arms stablemate the TX200, that have an underlever beneath the barrel, the aluminium cocking arm on the Pro Sport is designed to retract out of sight into a recess underneath the forend.
And unlike its competitors, there are no catches of switches to release the underlever. Simply pull it free, sweep it fully down and return it. The effort to cock the rifle is minimal, thanks to the use of synthetic bearings, and the action also sets the cross-bolt safety catch at the rear of the action.
If for some reason you take it upon yourself to push the catch off with the underlever down and then pull the trigger, the Air Arms design department has incorporated an anti-bear trap mechanism, which it calls the Safe-Lok system, that will save you from a nasty injury. And should you slip the safety catch off but not take a shot, pulling the underlever down again will reset it. The downside is that you cannot de-cock the Pro Sport and will need to find a patch of soft ground to safely discharge any unwanted pellets instead.
The cocking stroke also slides back a panel on top of the breech to reveal the loading port. There’s no denying that inserting a pellet directly into the breech is a fiddly thing to do – and you’ll be glad of that anti-bear trap when you’re doing it – but the knack is soon mastered. And if you do drop a pellet – and you will – it simply falls through to the floor, removing any need to turn the rifle upside down and start shaking it.
Generous shrouding and an in-built moderator on the 377mm Lothar Walther barrel both balances the ProSport’s looks and ensures a muted muzzle report, and twang from the mechanism, whilst not completely eradicated, is minimal.
As you’d expect on a rifle of the Pro Sport’s potential, Air Arms assumes you’ll want to fit a scope and no open sights are provided. At 225mm long, the dovetail rail provides ample room for just about any size scope and is fitted with holes to accept mounts with an arrestor stud if you feel you need one.
Some would argue that the gold trigger is a little showy-off. But then again, why not? More importantly, the two-stage and fully adjustable unit is a good one with a smooth transition in each stage and a clear stop in between.
ON THE RANGE
It’s always worth giving the barrel on a new rifle a quick pull through to remove any grease and muck picked up during the manufacturing and transport process. In fact, that initial clean is all any of my rifles get unless they suddenly become less accurate.
With that job done, I assembled a range of pellets to put through the .22 calibre test rifle. Air Arms Diabolo Field seemed an obvious choice, but I added JSB Hades – one of my favourites – as well as some H&N Baracuda 8 and Daystate Sovereigns.
Given the rifle’s level of engineering and the quality of the Lothar Walther barrel, it won’t come as much of a surprise to know that there was little to choose between any of them.
Resting on the back of my truck, the Air Arms Diabolo Field 5.52mm were just about the most accurate, delivering a 20mm group at 20 mm that opened up minutely at 30 metres. However, based on a small sample of just 10 pellets straight out of the tin, the JSB Hades were fractionally more consistent with a spread of only eight feet per second (FPS).
As you’d expect, power wasn’t an issue either with the chronograph showing an average of       578 FPS which converted to output of 11.79 ft/lbs.
Given half a chance, springer enthusiasts will delight in telling you their rifle is just as accurate as a PCP. And, when it comes to the Air Arms Pro Sport, and it has to be said, the TX200 and Weihrauch’s best, it’s hard to disagree.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the need to pull back the underlever and manually loading each pellet into the breech to give you away, casual onlookers wouldn’t notice the difference.
But there is one of course. For a starter, muted though it is, the Pro Sport, like other springers, has recoil. However, that’s part of the fun isn’t it? Unlike a PCP, springers like the Pro Sport will reward proper shooting technique and the better you get at shooting it, the more your groups will improve.
When it comes to hunting, there’s no denying that at more than four kgs, which by the way is no heavier than comparable underlevers, the Pro Sport will give you a workout. Unless that is, you are brave enough to take a drill to that lovely stock and fit a sling.
But in terms of accuracy and power, the Pro Sport makes a fine hunting rifle.
It is, after all, the ultimate sporting springer.
AIR ARMS PRO SPORT AT A GLANCE
Name: Air Arms Pro Sport
Price: £839.99 – £909.99
Weight: 4.1 – 4.3 kgs unscoped
Length: 1,050mm
Barrel length: 377mm
Calibres: .177 and .22
Test rifle power: 11.79 ft/lbs
10-shot FPS variation: 8 FPS
Safety: Automatic, resettable
Trigger: Two-stage and adjustable
BUTT PAD
A squishy rubber shoulder pad absorbs the minimal recoil and makes the Pro Sport comfortable to shoulder.
CHEEK PIECE
The pronounced cheek piece is a feature on dedicated right and left-hand rifles.
ROLL OVER COMB
The rolled comb is both stylish to look at and ensures good eye to scope alignment.
PISTOL GRIP
Finished with a rosewood cap and spacers, the pistol grip also features ornate panels of chequering.
SAFETY CATCH
The cross bolt safety catch is set each time you cock the rifle; no indication as to whether it is in the safe.
TRIGGER
Perhaps a little too ‘bling’ for some, but there’s no denying the quality of the Pro Sport’s adjustable two-stage trigger.
LOADING PORT
The breech is revealed by a panel that slides back when the underlever is pulled down.
RECESSED UNDERLEVER
The aluminium cocking lever folds back out of sight. However, this is still very easy to ues and access at all times.
COCKING THE RIFLE
Synthetic bearings makes cocking the Pro Sport a smooth and effortless process.
SHOOTING FROM TRUCK
In the field with Richard Sanders as he puts the Air Arms Pro Sport to the test from the back of his truck.
AIR ARMS PRO SPORT
Take the Worry out Of Buying an Air Rifle with an Air Arms Pro Sport.
ABOUT JUST AIR GUNS
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Website: www.justairguns.co.uk
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Blog Name: Take the Worry out Of Buying an Air Rifle
Blog Author: Richard Sanders