So you are thinking about getting your first “high-end” air rifle…?
I thought I’d share with you some of my experience… and advice.
I own FX (Maverick & Dreamline), Daystate, RTI, Benjamin, Umarex, Beeman and Weihrauch rifles.
I have access to a machine shop and have fabricated parts, modified and polished triggers, added regulators, modified hammer springs and valves, polished barrels, bolts, triggers, transfer ports. I’ve stripped and refinished stocks. I’ve made moderators and modified them. I’ve even worked on both hand pumps and compressors. In short, I’ve spent lots of time “tuning” and modifying air rifles… except one.
The one rifle I have not touched is my Daystate Huntsman .22. It is unregulated. It is pretty. It is perfectly balanced. It is short, lightweight and easy to carry. I screwed on a small moderator. That’s it. I have not even adjusted the trigger pull weight (11 ounces). I simply took it out of the box and shot it - always with JSB 15.89g pellets. I’ve had the rifle for a year.
Yesterday, I filled her to 250 bar and fired off 60 shots. Attached are the shot string and picture of the 6 ten-shot groups.
Advice:
If you are going to own one rifle that does everything, this is my recommendation.
Learnings:
You will note that at 40 yards distance (121.16 feet - measured with a green laser accurate within 2 millimeters @ 100 yards), all ten-shot groups fit within a US dime (I pulled one shot) - and I’m just firing off groups, not “super aiming”, lol. Pellets are not weighed - straight from the tin. These 6 groups are typical - I’ve had some outstanding ones in the past - but these are typical of how the gun always shoots.
You will also note that at 40 yards, the point of impact did not change over the 45 fps spread of the unregulated shot string. I didn’t touch the scope or change my point of aim between shots/groups. Notice that PoI did not rise or drop noticeably over the 60 shots at 40 yards.
The Huntsman is only 42” long - WITH the moderator. It has a shrouded barrel and is backyard quiet with a small moderator. It is shooting with 27-28 foot pounds of power. This is enough to shoot any bird, rat, squirrel, rabbit, groundhog or skunk. The nice size, weight and ergonomics make it an easy gun to shoot accurately.
So ask yourself, what is your use case for a pellet gun…? If you need a gun that can put every shot within a dime out to 50 yards - with enough power for small game - with great ergonomics… and that requires NO TUNING - just take it out of the box and shoot it… then the Daystate Huntsman could be your 1st choice.
A key learning for me is that guns with infinite adjustments, multiple regulators and 50+ o-rings offer no real advantage for a typical pellet gun use-case - which is to shoot stuff accurately out to 50 yards. I’ll bet my Huntsman could do pretty well even at 100 yards - if I’m able to do my part.
I don’t work for Daystate, lol. I even own another gun that I believe is more accurate (RTI Prophet Performance). Just offering the benefit of my experience if you are looking for a simple, accurate, reliable higher-end rifle.
I thought I’d share with you some of my experience… and advice.
I own FX (Maverick & Dreamline), Daystate, RTI, Benjamin, Umarex, Beeman and Weihrauch rifles.
I have access to a machine shop and have fabricated parts, modified and polished triggers, added regulators, modified hammer springs and valves, polished barrels, bolts, triggers, transfer ports. I’ve stripped and refinished stocks. I’ve made moderators and modified them. I’ve even worked on both hand pumps and compressors. In short, I’ve spent lots of time “tuning” and modifying air rifles… except one.
The one rifle I have not touched is my Daystate Huntsman .22. It is unregulated. It is pretty. It is perfectly balanced. It is short, lightweight and easy to carry. I screwed on a small moderator. That’s it. I have not even adjusted the trigger pull weight (11 ounces). I simply took it out of the box and shot it - always with JSB 15.89g pellets. I’ve had the rifle for a year.
Yesterday, I filled her to 250 bar and fired off 60 shots. Attached are the shot string and picture of the 6 ten-shot groups.
Advice:
If you are going to own one rifle that does everything, this is my recommendation.
Learnings:
You will note that at 40 yards distance (121.16 feet - measured with a green laser accurate within 2 millimeters @ 100 yards), all ten-shot groups fit within a US dime (I pulled one shot) - and I’m just firing off groups, not “super aiming”, lol. Pellets are not weighed - straight from the tin. These 6 groups are typical - I’ve had some outstanding ones in the past - but these are typical of how the gun always shoots.
You will also note that at 40 yards, the point of impact did not change over the 45 fps spread of the unregulated shot string. I didn’t touch the scope or change my point of aim between shots/groups. Notice that PoI did not rise or drop noticeably over the 60 shots at 40 yards.
The Huntsman is only 42” long - WITH the moderator. It has a shrouded barrel and is backyard quiet with a small moderator. It is shooting with 27-28 foot pounds of power. This is enough to shoot any bird, rat, squirrel, rabbit, groundhog or skunk. The nice size, weight and ergonomics make it an easy gun to shoot accurately.
So ask yourself, what is your use case for a pellet gun…? If you need a gun that can put every shot within a dime out to 50 yards - with enough power for small game - with great ergonomics… and that requires NO TUNING - just take it out of the box and shoot it… then the Daystate Huntsman could be your 1st choice.
A key learning for me is that guns with infinite adjustments, multiple regulators and 50+ o-rings offer no real advantage for a typical pellet gun use-case - which is to shoot stuff accurately out to 50 yards. I’ll bet my Huntsman could do pretty well even at 100 yards - if I’m able to do my part.
I don’t work for Daystate, lol. I even own another gun that I believe is more accurate (RTI Prophet Performance). Just offering the benefit of my experience if you are looking for a simple, accurate, reliable higher-end rifle.
