I am back on the air after some 50yrs. Prompted by my friendly dairy farmer wanting the magpies on his slurry pit controlled, I made some enquiries as to a suitable rifle. I was going to be shooting from a purpose built hide, so weight was not a problem and length was, it needed to be manageable in confined spaces. Eventually it was suggested that an Air Arms TX200HV would be the bees knees.
I visited my local gun store, which also happens to be a serious air gun place and found a second hand TX200HV for the equivalent of $425, as new, not a mark on it. In fact until the guy said it was second hand I thought it was new. SOLD!! He then suggested the EXACT Diablo .177 would work well, so a 500 tin of those also went in 'the cart'.
All of that is now history. I was so impressed with the vast improvements in air rifle design in the last 50yrs. This gun was beautifully made and in the UK as well, although I think it has a German barrel.
Whatever, I put on a Hawke 4 - 12 x 50 scope which has mill dots and went into my wood to get it zeroed. I was not disappointed, this rifle was seriously accurate if I did my job.
I have now had it four weeks and it has seen the demise of 39 magpies, 1 carrion crow, 1 rabbit(head shot) and one hare(head shot). One magpie was a good 40yrds and poked its head above the parapet one time too many
Seriously enjoying the discipline required with an air rifle and aiming for a half century in the next week or so on magpies
The TX200 is a superb piece of kit. However if you require an air rifle to tote around then be aware it weighs in at 8lb !! and may be difficult to fit a sling. From a static position it would be hard to beat.
The only problem I have is the loading. You have to load one at a time and my old arthritic fingers have problems bending into the small space, so I made a little gizmo which places the pellet into the barrel for me. I hope from the photos you can se how that works. The hacksaw blade obviously will bend allowing the piece of nail J&B'd into the blade to push the pellet through and into the barrel.
I made it so the blade swings to one side so the pellet can be fed in head first. Works a treat and saves a lot of fumbling and lost pellets.
I visited my local gun store, which also happens to be a serious air gun place and found a second hand TX200HV for the equivalent of $425, as new, not a mark on it. In fact until the guy said it was second hand I thought it was new. SOLD!! He then suggested the EXACT Diablo .177 would work well, so a 500 tin of those also went in 'the cart'.
All of that is now history. I was so impressed with the vast improvements in air rifle design in the last 50yrs. This gun was beautifully made and in the UK as well, although I think it has a German barrel.
Whatever, I put on a Hawke 4 - 12 x 50 scope which has mill dots and went into my wood to get it zeroed. I was not disappointed, this rifle was seriously accurate if I did my job.
I have now had it four weeks and it has seen the demise of 39 magpies, 1 carrion crow, 1 rabbit(head shot) and one hare(head shot). One magpie was a good 40yrds and poked its head above the parapet one time too many
Seriously enjoying the discipline required with an air rifle and aiming for a half century in the next week or so on magpies
The TX200 is a superb piece of kit. However if you require an air rifle to tote around then be aware it weighs in at 8lb !! and may be difficult to fit a sling. From a static position it would be hard to beat.
The only problem I have is the loading. You have to load one at a time and my old arthritic fingers have problems bending into the small space, so I made a little gizmo which places the pellet into the barrel for me. I hope from the photos you can se how that works. The hacksaw blade obviously will bend allowing the piece of nail J&B'd into the blade to push the pellet through and into the barrel.
I made it so the blade swings to one side so the pellet can be fed in head first. Works a treat and saves a lot of fumbling and lost pellets.