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Today, Doug Wall explores how the hammer affects PCP performance. It’s the final part of his Barra 1100z tuning series. In this post, he replaces the hammer from the Gen 1 gun with that from the Gen 2 model and finds a significant improvement. In fact, Doug’s work shows up to a 52% increase in regulated shot count and up to 50% increase in total Muzzle Energy for those regulated shots. WOW!!! Compared to other tuning methods, changing the hammer has generally received less interest. Doug’s work shows that the hammer affects PCP performance. It’s much more than many of us have thought. Read on to find out… How The Hammer Affects PCP Performance – Planning In the last installment, I tested the regulated Barra 1100Z, and one of the...

The range of Longshot Target Cameras is now becoming available at Airgun Depot. These sound like a great addition for the long-range airgun shooter and benchrest competitor. Ideal for practice for the Pyramyd Cup! Longshot systems are designed to provide an easy way to see and record your shooting accuracy at significant distances. They link to your phone or tablet for display at the bench, allowing you to see your downrange impacts in real time. There’s a LongshotHD app for both Android and iOS that can be downloaded for free. Longshot explains that this app transforms your phone or tablet into a live feed monitor when used with their wireless cameras. This means you can instantly view your shots and make adjustments without...

The new Umarex Avera air pistol was first seen at the 2025 IWA OutdoorClassics show in Germany. Then HAM readers learned more details in our post in March. Now we have one in-house and can bring some first impressions of this CO2-powered gun. As we can see, Umarex has invested in a good-quality, colored retail box for the Avera. That’s important for attracting sales in a “big box” store environment, where the box is the salesman for the product. The box also shows wadcutter pellets as the preferred diet of the Avera. Sensible advice. Umarex wisely includes an additional two 8-round magazines (for a total of three) with the gun. That’s a great move as multiple mags can be pre-loaded for shooting or in case of inadvertent loss...

The Airguns of Arizona Labor Day Sale is now running! This time there are reductions on multiple Brocock and American Air Arms air rifles. For example, there’s savings of $200 on the new Brocock Sonoran. Fitted with a Sub-MOA barrel and in .30 caliber, the Sonoran is currently on sale at $1,695.99 – including 480cc HPA bottle and case. But wait, there’s more… For more shots in a smaller caliber, the Brocock Sahara is available for as low as $989.99 in .22 and .25 calibers. That’s 10% off. If you’re a big bore shooter, there’s $200 off the Western Airguns Bushbuck 45 too…. This offer expires through Labor Day, 2025. However the available stock may well be gone before then. If you’re interested in one of these Brocock, American...

In Part Two of this review series, we’re looking at ATN X-Sight 5 daylight image quality. Read on, because there are some big surprises along the way! Today’s post follows-on from Part One where we made a general overview of the product. Specifically, the precise, full, product name is the ATN X-Sight 5, 5-25 Smart Day/Night Scope. It’s positioned primarily as a hunting tool. As a “digital riflescope”, it’s a completely new concept to me and – I suspect – many HAM readers. Actually, I had never actually even looked through one before! So, before diving deep into a feature analysis and all that exciting nighttime stuff, I wanted to start from a simple baseline: “What’s it like to look through in daylight?”. In order to do this...

Today we’re taking a first look at the ZAN Pellet Sizer. HAM readers first saw this product in our March 2025 report from the IWA OutdoorClassics Show in Germany. Now it’s here in the USA and you can buy it from Pyramyd. The product itself looks to be almost identical to that Zan showed me several months ago. I am interested because it’s an innovative, interesting tool that has the potential to enhance the consistency of both head and skirt diameters. Zan is displaying some exciting thinking in the airgun ammunition world and this is part of his obviously fertile imagination. Now it’s clear that this is not a mass-market product. The average Joe is never going to buy one of these – particularly at the not inconsiderable cost of...

Well, you certainly cannot say that Nate is resting on his laurels. Following rapidly-on from the original NateChrony, he introduced the SteadyShot shooting training tool. And now there’s a NateChrony SmartTarget! Nate is a very smart, creative guy. Now that he has three products announced, we can see something of the way his mind works. It’s clear that he is focused on value-priced, shooting-related products that help every airgunner improve the accuracy of their shooting. All NateChrony products work by detecting and reporting movement. He does this using an innovative combination of technologies: 3D printing, electronics, sensors and software. But the main component is his outstanding creativity! That’s what really impresses me...

Today Doug Wall conducts some initial testing with his regulated Gen. 1 Barra 1100z in .177 Caliber. This follows-on from the regulator installation in the previous part of this series. Background In this article, we’ll explore the performance of my newly-regulated, 0.177 gun. The reg. was set to about 1,700 PSI, so I’ll be doing tests to see what kind of velocity I get. With different hammer spring settings, I’m expecting to see some differences in air usage. Based on what I was seeing as I was installing the regulator, there may be some hammer free flight below about 5 turns in, which should increase shot count. When I started doing the testing, I noticed that the velocity has crept down a bit. The testing right after installing...

SIG SAUER has just launched a range of Red Training Guns. So is this the end of SIG Airguns? These non-functional, inert ASP RED GUN products are stated by the company to “replicate the size, design, and handling of the real firearms for the most accurate training”. They “accurately replicate the size, design, and feel of real SIG SAUER pistols”. For example, including removable magazines for practice reloading to simulate any scenario”. For example, the M17 Red Training Gun With 2 Magazines shown above has a MSRP of $119.99. In addition, they are “ideal for all training levels – law enforcement, security professionals, martial artists, and responsible firearm owners. They are also holster-compatible. SIG says that they fit...

The Umarex Primal 20 Gauge PCP Air Rifle is shipping-out from the company’s Fort Smith, AR, headquarters. You will be able to buy it very shortly… Umarex Primal 20 Gauge PCP Air Rifle System – A Big Bore Slug Gun Actually, we probably should describe the Primal 20 as a system. Yes, there’s the Primal 20 Gauge PCP which – in its shipping configuration – is a .625-Inch caliber big bore hunting rifle. However, by simply changing the Invector choke at the muzzle end of the barrel, the Primal can function as a slug gun or a shotgun. To support these two modes of operation, Umarex USA has also introduced two dedicated types of ammunition for the Primal. First there’s a dedicated 395 Grain pointed sabot slug. Fired at up to 725 FPS...

Precihole airguns are manufactured by Precihole Sports, a division of the ISO 9000-certified Precihole Machine Tools company that’s based in India. Precihole Machine Tools is a multi-million Dollar turnover business that’s a serious player in the precision deep hole drilling solutions market. The company manufactures state-of-the-art machine tools and special purpose machines for multiple industries worldwide that need precise, deep holes precisely created in metal. Among them are barrel-making machines. Interesting! At the 2024 IWA OutdoorClassics show in Germany, Air Arms announced that it would be distributing a range of models from Precihole Sports in a number of key territories. This would utilize the British company’s...

Air Venturi and Nielsen Specialty Ammo have announced a tie-up. The announcement has been made public today in the form of a “Strategic Partnership to Deliver Premium Airgun Ammunition”. Val Gamerman, President of Air Venturi said, “By combining NSA’s expertise in ammunition design and metallurgy with Air Venturi’s operational scale, we’ll be delivering unmatched value and performance to our customers. I have deep respect for what Nick has built over the past decade—his focus on automation, quality, and customer care is exceptional. It’s a true American small business success and I’m honored he chose us as his partner for the next chapter.” Air Venturi says that this strategic partnership with Nielsen Specialty Ammo unites NSA’s...

Today we’re looking at some simple Umarex Komplete tune possibilities. Why? Well I think that the Komplete is one of the best airguns in the market at $200 or less. It’s also an ideal first airgun for newbies and thus a great learning platform. “But surely there’s nothing to tune with the Umarex Komplete?” I hear you say. My response is that the Komplete is very well set-up by the factory. I agree that there’s no external tuning capabilities, such as we have become used to with many recent PCPs. However there are still some simple steps that can be taken to improve this versatile airgun. Also, I’ll say that these “tuning” possibilities are simple ways to make the performance better and more consistent. So I took a regular...

Long-established Spanish airgun manufacturer Norica has launched a new pair of PCP air rifles. They are the Norica NTX 30 and NTX 35. In fact, Norica is located in the city of Eibar, in the Basque area of northern Spain. It’s a center for the Spanish arms industry. The Norica NTX models are developed and manufactured there. The Norica company has been manufacturing airguns since 1917 and is very proud of that fact! Norica already has a higher-end range of PCP airguns in the market, under the Viriatus name. The Norica NTX 30 and NTX 35 are seemingly almost-identical models. The difference between them is that the NTX 35 is regulated, while the NTX 30 is not. Both are available in .177, .22 and .25 calibers and are playing in the...

There’s a new PCP air rifle at Airguns of Arizona. It’s the BRK Saguaro. (BRK Saguaro Performance, to give its’ full title). The Saguaro is a large, tree-like cactus that’s native to the Sonoran desert. Everyone who has shot at Extreme Benchrest has seen them, but fewer know it’s official Latin name of Carnegiea Gigantea. Anyhow, this new air rifle is named the “BRK Saguaro”, not the “BRK Carnegiea Gigantea”. Phew! The Saguaro is a development of the well-known, classic BRK Sniper XR. Hard Air Magazine reviewed this gun in its “Magnum” form back in 2020 and liked it a lot. It easily earned a HAM Gold Award for its performance on test. Compared to the “base” Sniper XR, the new Saguaro sells for just $96 more. But it offers a huge...

There’s a great deal on the Crosman Prospect PCP air rifle now at Pyramyd AIR. It’s just $229.99. That’s a massive $150.00, or 40% saving against the previous selling price! Here’s how we described it in our HAM review. It was a Hard Air Magazine Gold Award winner… “The Crosman Prospect air rifle is a perfectly good airgun. It’s accurate and shoots well with a variety of pellets. The feature set is comprehensive and it’s definitely good value for the selling price. The traditional, all metal, construction will appeal to many and gives a definite solidity to the feel and handling of the Prospect. The action is efficient, giving a good shot count from the relatively low capacity HPA tube. So, yes, the Prospect earns a HAM Gold award...

Blackwolf or Ghost? That’s a question that many air gunners have asked. When in the market for a top-grade PCP air rifle, should I buy a new Daystate Blackwolf, or a BRK Ghost? So HAM Tester Doug Rogers and I sat down one sunny afternoon recently and discussed just that question. We were in the outstandingly fortunate position of having an example of each air rifle in front of us. So we made the most of it and compared them side-by-side! Specifically, we compared the Daystate Blackwolf “cylinder model” with 17-inch barrel and the latest “Blue Ghost” special edition. Now this is not a regular, standard Hard Air Magazine test review. We have tested the Blackwolf and Ghost exhaustively already. Both are HAM Gold Award winners, the...

The Seneca Dragonfly Mk 2 Synthetic is a forthcoming new version of this multi-pump air rifle. For me, the big news is the price. It’s just $159.99. That’s $40.00 LESS than the original Dragonfly Mk 2 when it was introduced back in 2022! What, lower price? Yes, it’s true. The reason is that the wood furniture of previous Dragonflies has been replaced with a black synthetic buttstock and pump handle. Hard Air Magazine reviewed the wood-stocked Dragonfly Mk 2 in March 2022. It was a Gold Award winner! In that HAM review, we concluded that – “particularly in Mark Two version – the Dragonfly is almost certainly the best multi-pump air rifle out there. And at $200, it’s great value for what it offers.” We see no reason to change that...

This is the first part of a Hard Air Magazine review series on the ATN X-Sight 5, 5-25 Smart Day/Night Hunting Scope. Why a series? Well, this is an exciting, complicated product with a TON of features. As a “digital scope”, it’s also a completely new concept to me and – I suspect – many HAM readers. Actually, I have never actually even looked through one before! So I mounted it onto a KalibrGun Snipe 2 air rifle and began to investigate. Let’s start slow and work our way into it together… ATN X-Sight 5, 5-25 Smart Day/Night Hunting Scope Basics – 1 Well, the first thing to say is that you don’t actually LOOK THROUGH the X-Sight 5. You LOOK INTO it. What? Yes, it’s true! You can’t look in through the eyepiece and see daylight at...

AEA Center Punch Pellets are now in stock at Pyramyd AIR in a range of calibers from .177 to .35 cal. These pellets have been gaining strong endorsements from some airgun shooters, so now could be a good time to try some with Pyramyd’s “buy four tins, get one free” program. Starting with the largest caliber, AEA’s .35 caliber pellets are available in 100-count tins at 79.77 Grain weight. There’s also 110 Grain versions in 80-count tins. Interestingly, while a choice of two weights is available in most of the calibers carried by Pyramyd, there’s a choice of three in .30 caliber. The .30 caliber range starts with 150-count tins of 45 Grain pellets. There’s also 150-count tins of 50.5 Grain pellets and 100-count tins of the heaviest...