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Instead of giving you a counterpoint, I’m going to tell you why I fell in love. I’m going to start the story a good 8 to 10 years ago. I’ve never been good with dates.
Frederick from FX came to the US with his new 30 caliber rifle to win extreme Benchrest. I was on the phone with the folks at AoA first thing Monday morning buying that specific Rifle. It was in the post or something that he couldn’t bring it back. That was an incredibly accurate Rifle. And it wasn’t my first FX or last FX. They make good rifles. I’ve shot lots of rifles as you can possibly guess.
A few years back I watched everyone clamber to buy the new red wolf… yawn, I had no interest. Everyone was posting about them. I had owned one of the original daystate electronic rifles, it was a model three field target Rifle. Thank God I bought it used for a good deal and could sell it and get my money back, because I hated it. It wasn’t ready.
and then the pandemic hit. I was pretty much trapped like everyone else, I wanted a new toy, frankly I said to heck with it, not quite in those words. And I bought RedWolf. I had met Lauren at nationals in Baton Rouge, she hand picked me a rifle for accuracy. I would not be surprised if they didn’t tune it a bit. When I received it, I took the barrel off and scrubbed it with JB bore paste Then I mounted the scope and shot it. It was amazing. But why?
first off the physical components:
You don’t have to cock a hammer spring every time you take a shot. I’m going to say that again you don’t have to cock a hammer spring every time you take a shot. Say that 500 more times, and you’ll start to get what it means. The rifle doesn’t move. You can use one finger to pull the bolt back, one finger to push it forward. I can’t tell you again how important this is. After you’ve shot the rifle for five or six hours you sit back and smile and go oh my God. That’s just one little tiny component that just absolutely thrilled me. You can’t comment on it if you haven’t had a session where you shoot it for at least four hours. I can’t say enough about that one piece. All of the above paragraph, it’s because it’s electronic. Because you’re not caulking a hammer spring, there is no hammer and or spring exploding when you pull the trigger. That’s a lot of reaction that’s not taking place. A hammer spring and a hammer is violent. Again, until you’ve really explored what this means long term, it doesn’t sink in.
The trigger is absolutely the best trigger I’ve ever shot, compared to hundreds of rifles, both air guns and center fire. Jewel triggers, Shilen triggers. I have one set trigger on an Anschutz 54 that is 1/6 of an ounce. It’s a double set trigger. The red wolf is better. It’s electronic there are no moving parts. It’s better than the triggers on my AZ tuned field target rifles. Better than any of at least half dozen rapids I owned over the years. It’s that good. Again, electronics.
Let’s go back to the pandemic. I would not have possibly been able to get a dog without COVID…yet I have Penny. I’ll guarantee you I would not of bought a RedWolf without Covid. It just plain would not have happened. I was going nuts, getting depressed, and needed something new, so I bought one.
I ended up buying three of them. The second two I found used. The 177 is even more amazing than the 22. It just sits there when you pull the trigger. It’s absolutely silent with the LDC that I already owned . I don’t have to caulk a hammer spring. The trigger is better than any rifle I’ve ever owned or shot. Absolutely mind-boggling how much this changed Airgun shooting for me. it shoots Crossman Premier heavies into little tiny bugeye groups at 100 yards. At 30 foot pounds. It cracks the sound barrier every time. It is so freaking cool. It shoots sub MOA Groups at 200 yards with slugs. I can’t even believe that I can state that.
And in addition to all of the above. I can play with all the controls for how the air is delivered. I can have any velocity I want. I can tune it to a specific pellet or slug. Again mind boggling stuff. I can save those programs and switch them easily
The one thing I really didn’t like about the red wolf and I still don’t like about the red wolf is the battery. They seemed to fix that on the Delta.
Then they put on an on board chronograph. I hate chronographs. I know this because I always shoot them. So I must hate them. They don’t often work for me. I was planning on buying one of the new ones. I really like having it built into the rifle. I didn’t think I would like that. I find myself checking it out all the time.
Now if they could just figure out a way to put a Woodstock on the D wolf…
mike
