As a young man, I used to fly fish. When that interest faded, I gravitated back to my long time passion (since childhood) of spring powered air rifles. After a couple quality break barrels I ended up buying a used TX200 MK3 in .177, it had a brass cocking aid and was tuned to shoot nearly 16fpe. I still remember the original owner’s name, city and FT club that he frequented on occasion (no longer around: Kermit Airgunner Club out of Texas).
That rifle got shot A LOT and underwent 2 different tuning states before I settled for a V-Mach kit set up at 13.5 fpe. Later on it would have a lower powered (sub 12fpe) tuning kit and even went on to be professionally tuned by Paul Watts, who did AMAZING work on that rifle. A couple California state FT championships were won with that rifle as well as a Nationals title.
The TX200’s are very nice springers, and over the years I’ve had an opportunity to own them all, from TX200 MK1s (standard & Semi-Recoiless), MK2 (standard & Semi-Recoiless), MK3 (pre-fishscale and current stock design, USA power spec and UK sub12fpe spec rifles), as well as a nice customized Hunter Carbine (JM FT Dominator with jeweled compression tube). Many professionally tuned, others with custom tune kits/lightweight or skirt less pistons/modified piston to accept an HW piston seal and some were maintained “as is” with OEM internals. At one point I had 6 in my stable, but over the years have probably owned well over a baker’s dozen. I say this not to boast. I’m intimately familiar with TX200’s; that’s my point.
Besides FT, I hunted CA ground squirrels 🐿 , did pest control hunts, hunted squirrel and rabbit, shot paper and on occasion shot a silhouette match with them. Enjoyed thoroughly, for varied applications!
Of course, variety is the spice of life, and in recent years I became more and more interested in the 97k platform.
Fast forward to the present time and while appreciating a nicely figured beech stocked U.K. spec MK3 in .177 of mine, I decide to scope it with a Bushnell Elite 4200 8-32X40 and shoot it a bit at 30 yards. I knew that this rifle favored 7.9 gn pellets over 8.4gn efficiency wise, so I used some JSB 7.9 Express. In stiff wind I got it roughly sighted and was pleased to see some dime and nickel size groups forming at 30 yards from a seated FT position. It all started to come back to me: the tactile sensation throughout the cocking stroke, the muscle memory, the shot cycle feel and of course the accuracy. Yes, the accuracy. Felt familiar, felt good.
Yesterday I lined up and sent a shot on a 1/2” KZ at 30 yards. The feeling of seeing that faceplate fall made me remember the “magic” of these rifles, after all, I began shooting FT years ago with a TX200 MK3, albeit with a more powerful spring, more preload and a more constricted transfer port
.
This morning in calm conditions with a slight breeze I shot some groups at 50 yards at a target located on the mountainside. I already knew this rifle was accurate, but now I felt that connection being reestablished. All smiles! To be honest, the OEM internals for the a) long stroke of the MK3 piston and b) sub 12fpe power do not offer the ideal shot cycle feel but the results speak for themselves. This particular TX200 MK3 was very recently rebuilt. Compared to the first shots I have already noticed less surge now that is has about 125 shots through it. Still breaking in, but very much a thoroughbred.
I’ll post a video of this one later, LOL. “The magic!” Yesterday’s 30 yards seated shot at a 1/2” KZ target. Felt like a kid all over again.
Tight shiny cluster forming, right of center (resettable at 50 yards)
Y
50 yards, 5 shots seated.
No dime in pocket, but how about a flattened pellet for reference
Aim point was the star
️. 7 shots here: 6 shots near, one bad shot low. Didn’t like the low shot so shot an extra pellet to make up for it.
5 shots
Gonna pull my ad now. First the magic, then the connection. How could I let it go?
That rifle got shot A LOT and underwent 2 different tuning states before I settled for a V-Mach kit set up at 13.5 fpe. Later on it would have a lower powered (sub 12fpe) tuning kit and even went on to be professionally tuned by Paul Watts, who did AMAZING work on that rifle. A couple California state FT championships were won with that rifle as well as a Nationals title.
The TX200’s are very nice springers, and over the years I’ve had an opportunity to own them all, from TX200 MK1s (standard & Semi-Recoiless), MK2 (standard & Semi-Recoiless), MK3 (pre-fishscale and current stock design, USA power spec and UK sub12fpe spec rifles), as well as a nice customized Hunter Carbine (JM FT Dominator with jeweled compression tube). Many professionally tuned, others with custom tune kits/lightweight or skirt less pistons/modified piston to accept an HW piston seal and some were maintained “as is” with OEM internals. At one point I had 6 in my stable, but over the years have probably owned well over a baker’s dozen. I say this not to boast. I’m intimately familiar with TX200’s; that’s my point.
Besides FT, I hunted CA ground squirrels 🐿 , did pest control hunts, hunted squirrel and rabbit, shot paper and on occasion shot a silhouette match with them. Enjoyed thoroughly, for varied applications!
Of course, variety is the spice of life, and in recent years I became more and more interested in the 97k platform.
Fast forward to the present time and while appreciating a nicely figured beech stocked U.K. spec MK3 in .177 of mine, I decide to scope it with a Bushnell Elite 4200 8-32X40 and shoot it a bit at 30 yards. I knew that this rifle favored 7.9 gn pellets over 8.4gn efficiency wise, so I used some JSB 7.9 Express. In stiff wind I got it roughly sighted and was pleased to see some dime and nickel size groups forming at 30 yards from a seated FT position. It all started to come back to me: the tactile sensation throughout the cocking stroke, the muscle memory, the shot cycle feel and of course the accuracy. Yes, the accuracy. Felt familiar, felt good.
Yesterday I lined up and sent a shot on a 1/2” KZ at 30 yards. The feeling of seeing that faceplate fall made me remember the “magic” of these rifles, after all, I began shooting FT years ago with a TX200 MK3, albeit with a more powerful spring, more preload and a more constricted transfer port
.This morning in calm conditions with a slight breeze I shot some groups at 50 yards at a target located on the mountainside. I already knew this rifle was accurate, but now I felt that connection being reestablished. All smiles! To be honest, the OEM internals for the a) long stroke of the MK3 piston and b) sub 12fpe power do not offer the ideal shot cycle feel but the results speak for themselves. This particular TX200 MK3 was very recently rebuilt. Compared to the first shots I have already noticed less surge now that is has about 125 shots through it. Still breaking in
, but very much a thoroughbred.I’ll post a video of this one later, LOL. “The magic!” Yesterday’s 30 yards seated shot at a 1/2” KZ target. Felt like a kid all over again.
Tight shiny cluster forming, right of center (resettable at 50 yards)
Y
50 yards, 5 shots seated.
No dime in pocket, but how about a flattened pellet for reference
Aim point was the star
️. 7 shots here: 6 shots near, one bad shot low. Didn’t like the low shot so shot an extra pellet to make up for it.5 shots
Gonna pull my ad now. First the magic, then the connection. How could I let it go?
![N7PIYfy.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/N7PIYfy.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/N7PIYfy.jpg)
![aqAhT30.jpg](http://[url="https://i.imgur.com/aqAhT30.jpg"][img]https://i.imgur.com/aqAhT30.jpg)
