Or maybe the title should be "A Year In Review". I have now owned a BSA R10 SE and Daystate Revere for about a year. I wrote about both after a month or so of owning them and recently re-read that post. I thought it might be cool to talk about them again, and offer something other than the usual topic thread about the latest greatest shiny rifle. A year ago I gave the edge to the Daystate, will it still be my favorite? Read on.
The first thing I talked about last year was the style of each. Both are walnut stocks and both are beautiful in their own way. I still like the lighter weight Daystate with its slimmer stock and sleeker air reservoir over the bottle and greater weight of the BSA. However I took the time to oil the stock of the BSA because it didn't come with a glossy finish like the DS. This gave me a sense of pride that I helped the gun look nicer. Add in that BSA gives you swivel studs and the edge for me goes to BSA.
The next thing I talked about a year was shot count. The DS has a smaller tank but a factory Huma reg and fills to a higher pressure, 250 vs 232 and 162cc vs 200cc. I was getting 40 shots from the DS and about 30-35 from the BSA. I now get 50 from the BSA because I swapped the tank for a 280cc unit from a company in England, the same bottle that comes standard on the R 10TH. I also swapped the reg on the BSA to a Huma. I did this because the factory reg was not installed correctly on the BSA and it was causing issues on a full fill.So again I fiddled with my BSA to make it better. If we give the edge to the DS because quality then we have to talk about how the DS would not properly release after a fill. When using my new at the time Hill compressor the DS would not close its valve and would leak down unless you yanked out the probe. Perhaps there was dust in the valve but it did eventually work properly and for many months now has been fine. There is however always the thought that it may happen again when filling and I hate that feeling.
The next on my list was moderators. The BSA has one factory installed and you are stuck with it. The DS came with none and I have used three different DonnyFLs on it before finding the one I liked best, the Koi. This makes it the same length as the BSA and about the same sound level. No edge here for me except you have to buy one if you pick the DS.
Cocking. That side lever is sweet, when it works properly. It takes less effort than the bolt on the BSA, but the bolt works every time. The DS needs pressure just the right way or it will not engage the sear and you could double load a pellet unless you catch the mistake and reject the magazine before re-cocking the rifle. It rarely happens now as I am used to it and know how to hold the lever to make it work but it does happen often when I have friends over and have them shoot the rifle. The same friends will often comment about how hard it is to cock the bolt on the BSA.
Accuracy and power. Let's talk power first. The test sheet indicated the DS made 30FPE. A few months back I got a chronograph and it disagreed. I was getting only high 26 to 27 FPE using the JSB 18.13, the same pellet used in the test sheet. However I recently switched to JSB 15.89s and power went up to 28 FPE. After the reg swap on the BSA that rifle is a solid high 29 to 30 FPE regardless of pellet weight. The DS definitely loves loves loves the 15.89 and just yesterday I was shooting Japanese beetles off my rose bushes at 25 yards. I think both rifles are equally accurate most of the time. I do however have to give a slight edge to the DS. It just seems to be more consistent. Neither really rifle is pellet fussy, they will both shoot a variety of pellets well, but both seem to have one pellet that is just that wee bit more consistent than all the others. I regularly shoot targets in my yard from 25 yards to 70 yards and both rifles do very well. The rifle I take on a pest mission from time to time just depends on my mood that day. Forced to pick a winner I would have to go DS.
After all that I pick the BSA as my favorite rifle. The fact that I have changed and tuned it to make it my own make it my favorite. The DS is going to AOA sometime in the near future to have the side lever looked at and there seems to be some play in the shroud but I can't seem to find it on my own. I'm going to tweak that BSA just a little more and then leave it be. Last year I said I was going to add a Air Arms S510 to my stable and give thoughts on that compared to these two. Well I did add a 7 year old AA but I don't think it fair to compare it. I am selling that AA soon, but I am adding a new AA S510 as well. The old one is just great enough that I want the latest version of it as I am sure it will do well against these two fine sporting rifles. The upgrades to the adjustable power knob, greater pressure and factory reg make it a must have to complete my "British Trilogy" of sporters.
Cheers.
The first thing I talked about last year was the style of each. Both are walnut stocks and both are beautiful in their own way. I still like the lighter weight Daystate with its slimmer stock and sleeker air reservoir over the bottle and greater weight of the BSA. However I took the time to oil the stock of the BSA because it didn't come with a glossy finish like the DS. This gave me a sense of pride that I helped the gun look nicer. Add in that BSA gives you swivel studs and the edge for me goes to BSA.
The next thing I talked about a year was shot count. The DS has a smaller tank but a factory Huma reg and fills to a higher pressure, 250 vs 232 and 162cc vs 200cc. I was getting 40 shots from the DS and about 30-35 from the BSA. I now get 50 from the BSA because I swapped the tank for a 280cc unit from a company in England, the same bottle that comes standard on the R 10TH. I also swapped the reg on the BSA to a Huma. I did this because the factory reg was not installed correctly on the BSA and it was causing issues on a full fill.So again I fiddled with my BSA to make it better. If we give the edge to the DS because quality then we have to talk about how the DS would not properly release after a fill. When using my new at the time Hill compressor the DS would not close its valve and would leak down unless you yanked out the probe. Perhaps there was dust in the valve but it did eventually work properly and for many months now has been fine. There is however always the thought that it may happen again when filling and I hate that feeling.
The next on my list was moderators. The BSA has one factory installed and you are stuck with it. The DS came with none and I have used three different DonnyFLs on it before finding the one I liked best, the Koi. This makes it the same length as the BSA and about the same sound level. No edge here for me except you have to buy one if you pick the DS.
Cocking. That side lever is sweet, when it works properly. It takes less effort than the bolt on the BSA, but the bolt works every time. The DS needs pressure just the right way or it will not engage the sear and you could double load a pellet unless you catch the mistake and reject the magazine before re-cocking the rifle. It rarely happens now as I am used to it and know how to hold the lever to make it work but it does happen often when I have friends over and have them shoot the rifle. The same friends will often comment about how hard it is to cock the bolt on the BSA.
Accuracy and power. Let's talk power first. The test sheet indicated the DS made 30FPE. A few months back I got a chronograph and it disagreed. I was getting only high 26 to 27 FPE using the JSB 18.13, the same pellet used in the test sheet. However I recently switched to JSB 15.89s and power went up to 28 FPE. After the reg swap on the BSA that rifle is a solid high 29 to 30 FPE regardless of pellet weight. The DS definitely loves loves loves the 15.89 and just yesterday I was shooting Japanese beetles off my rose bushes at 25 yards. I think both rifles are equally accurate most of the time. I do however have to give a slight edge to the DS. It just seems to be more consistent. Neither really rifle is pellet fussy, they will both shoot a variety of pellets well, but both seem to have one pellet that is just that wee bit more consistent than all the others. I regularly shoot targets in my yard from 25 yards to 70 yards and both rifles do very well. The rifle I take on a pest mission from time to time just depends on my mood that day. Forced to pick a winner I would have to go DS.
After all that I pick the BSA as my favorite rifle. The fact that I have changed and tuned it to make it my own make it my favorite. The DS is going to AOA sometime in the near future to have the side lever looked at and there seems to be some play in the shroud but I can't seem to find it on my own. I'm going to tweak that BSA just a little more and then leave it be. Last year I said I was going to add a Air Arms S510 to my stable and give thoughts on that compared to these two. Well I did add a 7 year old AA but I don't think it fair to compare it. I am selling that AA soon, but I am adding a new AA S510 as well. The old one is just great enough that I want the latest version of it as I am sure it will do well against these two fine sporting rifles. The upgrades to the adjustable power knob, greater pressure and factory reg make it a must have to complete my "British Trilogy" of sporters.
Cheers.
