Comment on HAM Posts

Hard Air Magazine reviewed the BSA R-10 SE PCP air rifle back in August 2017. We liked it then and it earned a score of 88% on test. That means that it dropped out of Gold Award territory just by a point or two. Hey, we’re tough but fair at HAM! Now we’re looking at it again. Why? Well, there’s been a significant – like HUGE – change in the price. That means that we’re going back to re-test a classic. To be clear, the BSA R-10 SE PCP air rifle is definitely “old school”. Like really old school! Here we have a traditional wood-and-metal air rifle operated using a good, old-fashioned bolt handle. There’s not a trace of “black gun”, AR-style to be seen anywhere. Many people will like it for that alone. The HAM Team feel that the R-10...

The new SKOUT Airguns EVO was shown for the first time last week at the 2024 SHOT Show. It’s a modified version of the existing EPOCH model that is intended primarily for slug shooting – at least in initial factory configuration. The EPOCH will continue in production, primarily in pellet-firing configurations and for benchrest competition. Both the SKOUT Airguns EVO and EPOCH are expected to sell at the same price. The EVO has a target date for shipping of around the end of May, 2024. Luke Sowinski, Skout Airguns’ Director of Research and Development told me that the EVO is planned to ship first in .25 and .30 calibers. That’s Luke in our heading photograph above. One externally-apparent change between the the two models is that the...

Everyone with any interest in shooting and outdoor life of any sort has heard of the SHOT Show. But what’s it like? What’s it actually like at the SHOT Show? Well. firstly it’s huge!!! As I write, the estimate is that the 2024 SHOT show exceeded 50,000 visitors. That’s why you see vast numbers of people everywhere. – plus exhibitors. Then, many of the booths are huge, too. Particularly this is the case for the big firearms manufacturers as we see below for Smith & Wesson. This means that – realistically – airguns form a quite small portion of the whole show. Then there’s a great deal of walking to do – missing all those other people, of course. That’s because airgun companies are not gathered in one place, they’re spread all...

In this post, we’ll take a look at the new Air Venturi airgun products which were shown for the first time at the 2024 SHOT Show. in our photographs above and below we’re looking at a superb customized Air Venturi Avenge-X air rifle. Well, yes, this is not exactly new in itself, but the “USAAF World War 2”-style art was a delight to behold… This beautiful artwork – Cerakote, I believe – had been applied in-house at Pyramid Air. It was truly superbly done! Being displayed as a “show special”, this was not intended for sale. However, I’m guessing that Pyramid could be open to commissions. But if you’re interested, don’t expect such work to be either quick or cheap! Meanwhile, new Air Venturi products showed the ever-increasing...

Crosman and Benjamin were showing a range of new products at the 2024 SHOT Show. Let’s take a look at some of them… In our heading photograph above, Senior Product Manager Phillip Guadalupe shows us the new low-priced PCP the company has developed. It’s going to be selling at a Street Price of around $130. Wow!!! Below we see a close-up of the 3622 (.22 caliber) or 3677 (.177 cal) as it will be known. The 3622 is heavily based on the 362 multi-pump model. It fills to 2,000 PSI, has two barrel bands and a hooded front sight. The company is claiming up to 25 shots per fill. Given the amazing price point, the 3622 has no regulator. However there is a hammer spring adjustment capability. Muzzle velocity is listed as up to 700 FPS in...

Here’s an exclusive Hard Air Magazine announcement! There’s another type of JSB pellet coming very soon. New JSB Jumbo Monster Light Pellets are announced here for the first time. They’re new – in fact so new that they may not even be shown at the SHOT Show that starts tomorrow! These Jumbo Monster Light pellets are manufactured in .22 caliber. The Czech firm has taken the opportunity to introduce a new 20.82 Grain version of the Jumbo Monster. That makes them somewhat lighter than the traditional 25.39 Grain Jumbo Monsters that are familiar to so many PCP air rifle shooters. Yet they bridge the gap from the 18.13 Grain JSB Jumbo Heavy pellets for those looking for an intermediate weight. That makes Jumbo Monster Lights an addition...

There’s no doubt about it. Umarex made a splash at the 2024 SHOT Show Range Day! The company chose this event as the venue to display the new AirJavelin FishR. It’s a bow fishing PCP! And – of course – as it was Range Day, I got to shoot this latest product from the Umarex stable. Is it an airgun? Well, I don’t know, but it’s definitely a PCP and I’ve never shot anything like it before. The heading photograph shows me shooting the FishR for the first time. As it’s intended for short range – think 10 Feet – use, there’s no absolute need for any sights. However I was informed that it does work well with a laser sight. In fact, I’m actually shooting down into a fish. Well, OK, it was a dummy fish. But Umarex had set-up a large tank to...

VALUE FOR MONEY At a MSRP of $19.99 for a tin of 400 these domed-head, 14.3 Grain Benjamin Match Grade Pellets work out to a price of 5 Cents each. This is a fair cost for mid-weight, domed .22 caliber airgun pellets at the time of writing. This is also a very fair price for the quality on offer. Sure, it’s about double that for regular Crosman Hollowpoints. However, the consistency is much superior and is comparable with that of other pellets from quality manufacturers at a similar price. Of course, if you order in bulk from Pyramyd Air, Airgun Depot or other leading online airgun dealer, you’ll be able to buy four tins for the price of three, reducing the individual pellet price to 3.75 Cents. Also many US shooters will be happy...

This new Sightron S6 10-60×56 ED Field Target Scope has been announced for the 2024 SHOT Show. It’s being described as a premium choice for airgun, small caliber Field Target and Benchrest shooters. “This is an incredible optic,” says John Long, National Sales Manager with Sightron. “The S6 10-60×56 ED FT sets a new optical standard for airgun and .22 competition shooting. The all-new 34mm tube design employs two Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass elements for an unprecedented shooting experience that provides a 55% improvement in optical resolution over our HAM Gold Award-winning and industry standard SIII FT models.” At the core of the riflescope are 15 Japanese optical-grade glass lenses. The scope includes two Extra-low Dispersion...

The 2024 SHOT Show is almost upon us – it runs from January 23 – 26. HAM Publisher Stephen Archer will be reporting from the show – as always. There will also be a dedicated thread in the HAM Community for other members to post additional content. Above. Here’s a few of the 80,000+ attendees at the 2023 show. So let’s take a look at the airgun manufacturers who will be present. In alphabetical order, they are: – ASG (ActionSportsGames) – Air Venturi – AirForce Airguns – ATA Arms – Barra Airguns – Beeman – Black Bunker – Diana – Crosman/Benjamin – Evanix – Hatsan – Huglu – JTS/Xisico – Kral – Rapid Air Worx – Reximex – SKOUT Airguns – Snowpeak – Umarex Below. Umarex is always well represented with a stylish booth, lots of staff...

VALUE FOR MONEY The Barra 1866 CO2 air rifle is the latest product to be released by this new, growing airgun company. But be careful… Barra has had an 1866 air rifle for some time. In fact, this was the first air rifle marketed by the company. However it’s important to appreciate that the new Barra CO2 1866 air rifle is a completely different airgun! The original Barra 1866 was a multi-pump pneumatic with plastic breech selling at a much lower price. It’s still available in multiple versions. The new model is a much higher-end model with – almost – all metal construction, combined with individual “cartridge” loading and ejection, together with CO2 power. There’s also an interchangeable barrel capability. It’s a HUGE step forward...

Here’s some first news about new 2024 SHOT Show Umarex products… Umarex USA has “leaked” some tantalizing information about some new Umarex Airguns which will be debuting at SHOT Show 2024. And this first one is definitely a surprise! The airgun making the biggest splash – literally – will be the new FishR. Based on the successful AirJavelin frame, the FishR utilizes saltwater grade components to open the door to bowfishing for airgunners. That’s it in our heading photograph above. Umarex has also announced that they will be launching several new PCP models in 2024. The new Zelos PCP air rifle offers a multitude of customization options for airgunners interested in everything from benchrest shooting to plinking. Then there’s the...

Following-on from its lists of air rifles, air pistols and scopes, Pyramyd has now announced its 2023 Top Airgun Ammo list. That includes pellets, slugs and BBs. Given the huge number of products included in this category, the company has divided its Top Airgun Ammo list by calibers. There’s five products for each of .177, .22, .25 and .30 calibers, as we’ll see below. The big surprise for me is the lack of slugs in this list. There’s just one – the .25 caliber FX Hybrids. Given all the excitement about “unwaisted” airgun ammo, it’s interesting to see that 19 out of 20 products in Pyramyd’s 2023 Top Airgun Ammo list are traditional diablo pellets. That’s definitely food for thought! Summarizing the list by manufacturer is less...

The new Diana Two-Fifty is the latest breakbarrel springer from the German company. So why the name “Two-Fifty”? Well, it’s similar but a step up from the existing Diana 240 Classic. The additions are a thumb hole stock and bundled scope. Oh, and quite a lot more power (1,000 FPS rather than 575 FPS in .177 caliber). That’s always popular! The Two-Fifty is also a step-up from the – er – Diana Two-Sixty. The Two-Sixty is another similar model. However the Two-Fifty improves upon it with a beech wood stock (instead of synthetic) and a 3-9×32 zoom scope rather than a fixed power 4×32 optic. The Diana Two-Fifty – as well as the 240 Classic and Two-Sixty – are traditional, single shot, spring/piston air rifles. They are relatively...

The first EFT Grand Prix Florida was held in early December, 2023. A total of 31 shooters participated in this first Extreme Field Target competition east of the Mississippi. Sponsored and organized by Atlas Airguns and Airguns of Arizona, there is no way it could have happened without them – as you will read! Tristan from Atlas Airguns takes up the story… It was a snow storm! But wait, that wasn’t the case at all, was it? It felt like that for us Floridians: 73° in Central Florida! Now that is cold 🙂 Arriving at the Ares Training Facility in Leesburg, Florida at 11 am, it was hard to believe that this moment had finally arrived… Twelve months prior, even before becoming an airgun dealer and opening Atlas Airguns, I casually...

No less than 5,875 high school shooters competed in the 2023-24 JROTC Three-Position Postal Championship. That makes it by far the USA’s largest air rifle competition! Yes the JROTC championships are shot at “just” 10 Meters range. However, the Three-Position (3P) rules mean that there’s a forced, equal number of prone, kneeling and standing shots with 10 rounds fired on each target. Don’t knock it, it’s really TOUGH, Olympic-style shooting! When HAM Publisher Stephen Archer visited Camp Perry some years ago to watch the Finals, he was amazed at the maturity of the competitors and their incredible concentration as they zoned-out the noise and kept firing those pellets right through the centre of the target! Not only that but the...

Now we have Pyramyd’s 2023 top pistols. This list of best-selling air pistols is a companion to the similar lists of top air rifles and riflescopes already published in HAM. BUY FROM PYRAMYD: Crosman 2240 CO2 Air Pistol, .22 caliber 0.22 Pyramyd’s year-end best-seller lists are undoubtedly the best insight we – the airgun-buying public – have into the sales of the World’s biggest airgun dealer. No other company gives us anything like it. That’s why it’s so important and interesting… When compared to previous years, they’re also a guide to the changes that are happening in the airgun industry – that’s why we track them with great interest every year in HAM. BUY FROM PYRAMYD: Hatsan Jet II 0.177 So what do we learn from Pyramyd’s...

Yesterday we looked at Pyramyd’s top-selling air rifles of 2023. Now it’s time to look at Pyramyd’s 2023 top riflescopes. Again, this list is generously provided by Pyramyd. Thanks to the company for making this information available! BUY FROM PYRAMYD: Mantis 4-12×40 AO Rifle Scope, Mil-Dot Reticle, 1/4 MOA, 1 Tube As with the rifles, we’ll try to compare the 2023 top riflescopes with those of last year. Here it’s a little difficult as the 2022 results were divided into two lists – “budget scopes” and “high end scopes”. This time there’s only one list. However it’s extremely likely that the budget scopes were the biggest sellers. So we can at least compare the top five budget scopes from 2022 with the overall top-selling scopes...

The BRK Ghost World Record Limited Edition is a new version of the Ghost. It has been produced to commemorate the win of Fady Kiwan at the Benchrest Rimfire and Air Rifle World Championship in 2023. You can read more about Fady’s win in this HAM story. Winning not one but two world championship titles is an amazing feat, but to set a world record score in the process is an incredible achievement. And yet that’s exactly what Fady Kiwan did in the 2023 Benchrest Rimfire and Air Rifle Championships held in Plzen, Czech Republic. There he used the same BRK Ghost across the many disciplines, only changing the barrel length and caliber – one of the rifle’s key design benefits. Now, to celebrate Fady’s success, BRK has launched a...

Pyramyd has announced its 2023 Top Air Rifles. This is a list of the best-selling air rifles sold by the company throughout last year. As always, Pyramyd’s year-end best-seller lists are a fascinating peek into the sales of the “World’s biggest airgun dealer”. When compared to previous years, they’re also a guide to the changes that are happening in the airgun industry – that’s why we track them with great interest every year in HAM. Below. The Air Venturi Avenger was the top-seller again. It was a HAM Gold Award Winner in both regular and bullpup configurations. Now first, let’s remind ourselves that the airgun market has become increasingly fractured between the airguns that are still being sold in big box retail stores and those...