Gonna go ahead and put my review of the BSA R-10 here, based on one I wrote on a Dutch airgun forum.
Calibre: .22
Power: 40 J / 30 foot pounds
Magazine: yes
Mounting: 13mm Dovetail
Length: 97 cm
Weight: 3.1 kg
Retail price (in Europe): €1000 - €1100
(Personal) score: 8 out of 10
Price/quality ratio: 9 out of 10
Product page: http://bsaguns.co.uk/air-rifles/pcp-airguns/R-10-MK2.aspx
Recently bought this gun second hand, my 'price/quality ratio' score is based on that. Gun was in an impeccable state, barely used.
This is the first really accurate gun I bought. My older guns at the time were a Benjamin Trail NP XL and a Evanix AR-6, both of which shoot hard rather than accurate; I also have a Marauder P-rod but mainly use it for plinking, with a red dot sight.
Started out at 25 meters and haven't really used it often on distances longer than 50-60m; you just have to go for the tightest grouping, regardless the distance
. Enough of a challenge with this small calibre in windy conditions, I'd say.
For benchrest shooting, I find filling up magazines rather boring, and prefer a single shot tray. Luckily enough it came with one, the old type though
You have to get used to it a bit, because of the breech which is closed at the top (single shot trays in FX guns, for example, are way easier to use), but when you're actually used to it, it works well enough.
Gonna buy some extra buddy bottles for it, which can simply be replaced in the field, and after a while I will replace the regulator by a custom Dutch one (HumaReg), for an even more constant pellet speed. With such reg it actually becomes a good 100m BR gun, despite its low calibre (most shooters ranking high in the competitions use bigger calibres: http://100mairgun.nl/post/2014/10/Nils-wint-100m-wedstrijd-Ochten.aspx . Dutch site, ranking at the bottom is clear enough though).
Recommended pellets: well, you always should test yourself obviously, however not unlike others I found that JSB Heavy (15.89 grains) group very well. Others have very good results with the Air Arms Field diabolo, 16 grains. These are produced by JSB too. BSA guns typically prefer the bigger sized pellets (5.52 and 5.53 mm, no idea if these have actual counterparts in the imperial system).
PROS
*Very nice, light and adjustable trigger, I'd say match grade.
*Nicely balanced gun
*Cocking it doesn't take too much effort, and the bolt only needs a soft push with your thumb to close and fall back into place
*The full shroud, with internal baffles, makes it reasonably quiet already, additionally a LDC can be mounted. Tested it with one, accuracy was not impacted
*40-45 regulated shots / fill . BSA says 50, but as usual that's a bit optimistic. Still, not bad at all.
*Easily exchangable buddy bottle (which has to be removed the right way though - first you unscrew it +/- 1 turn, then you shoot your reg empty)
CONS
*Gun uses a filling probe. I really prefer a quick disconnect coupling directly mounted to the gun, the way e.g. FX does it (Boss, Royale, ...), or Crosman/Benjamin on e.g. the Marauder pistol. O-rings on filling probes go bad way too fast, even when lubing them properly and only taking them out of the gun when absolutely necessary.
*13 mm dovetail, in stead of the more typical 11 mm. Really inconvenient, you have to order the right mounts for it, or an adapter (or not, and use 11mm scope rings, but that just doesn't seem right to me).
*If you try to mount a bipod on the sling stud, it will most probably cover the hole for the filling probe. Can be fixed with a ring around the buddy bottle, with a sling stud on it, but still.
*If you mount a rifle sling to the existing studs, which are quite close together, the only way to carry it sort of conveniently is upside down, which I don't like.
*Regulator on my model is quite useless, I'd say (more recent production batches are fitted with a different one, it seems). This is mine:
Concluding: Quite a list of contras, but don't be mistaken by that, I love this gun. This one is gonna stay with me for years at least, possibly forever.
Calibre: .22
Power: 40 J / 30 foot pounds
Magazine: yes
Mounting: 13mm Dovetail
Length: 97 cm
Weight: 3.1 kg
Retail price (in Europe): €1000 - €1100
(Personal) score: 8 out of 10
Price/quality ratio: 9 out of 10
Product page: http://bsaguns.co.uk/air-rifles/pcp-airguns/R-10-MK2.aspx
Recently bought this gun second hand, my 'price/quality ratio' score is based on that. Gun was in an impeccable state, barely used.
This is the first really accurate gun I bought. My older guns at the time were a Benjamin Trail NP XL and a Evanix AR-6, both of which shoot hard rather than accurate; I also have a Marauder P-rod but mainly use it for plinking, with a red dot sight.
Started out at 25 meters and haven't really used it often on distances longer than 50-60m; you just have to go for the tightest grouping, regardless the distance
. Enough of a challenge with this small calibre in windy conditions, I'd say.For benchrest shooting, I find filling up magazines rather boring, and prefer a single shot tray. Luckily enough it came with one, the old type though
You have to get used to it a bit, because of the breech which is closed at the top (single shot trays in FX guns, for example, are way easier to use), but when you're actually used to it, it works well enough.
Gonna buy some extra buddy bottles for it, which can simply be replaced in the field, and after a while I will replace the regulator by a custom Dutch one (HumaReg), for an even more constant pellet speed. With such reg it actually becomes a good 100m BR gun, despite its low calibre (most shooters ranking high in the competitions use bigger calibres: http://100mairgun.nl/post/2014/10/Nils-wint-100m-wedstrijd-Ochten.aspx . Dutch site, ranking at the bottom is clear enough though).
Recommended pellets: well, you always should test yourself obviously, however not unlike others I found that JSB Heavy (15.89 grains) group very well. Others have very good results with the Air Arms Field diabolo, 16 grains. These are produced by JSB too. BSA guns typically prefer the bigger sized pellets (5.52 and 5.53 mm, no idea if these have actual counterparts in the imperial system).
PROS
*Very nice, light and adjustable trigger, I'd say match grade.
*Nicely balanced gun
*Cocking it doesn't take too much effort, and the bolt only needs a soft push with your thumb to close and fall back into place
*The full shroud, with internal baffles, makes it reasonably quiet already, additionally a LDC can be mounted. Tested it with one, accuracy was not impacted
*40-45 regulated shots / fill . BSA says 50, but as usual that's a bit optimistic. Still, not bad at all.
*Easily exchangable buddy bottle (which has to be removed the right way though - first you unscrew it +/- 1 turn, then you shoot your reg empty)
CONS
*Gun uses a filling probe. I really prefer a quick disconnect coupling directly mounted to the gun, the way e.g. FX does it (Boss, Royale, ...), or Crosman/Benjamin on e.g. the Marauder pistol. O-rings on filling probes go bad way too fast, even when lubing them properly and only taking them out of the gun when absolutely necessary.
*13 mm dovetail, in stead of the more typical 11 mm. Really inconvenient, you have to order the right mounts for it, or an adapter (or not, and use 11mm scope rings, but that just doesn't seem right to me).
*If you try to mount a bipod on the sling stud, it will most probably cover the hole for the filling probe. Can be fixed with a ring around the buddy bottle, with a sling stud on it, but still.
*If you mount a rifle sling to the existing studs, which are quite close together, the only way to carry it sort of conveniently is upside down, which I don't like.
*Regulator on my model is quite useless, I'd say (more recent production batches are fitted with a different one, it seems). This is mine:
Concluding: Quite a list of contras, but don't be mistaken by that, I love this gun. This one is gonna stay with me for years at least, possibly forever.
