Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns 22 Cal Rifle, Spring or Gas Piston Magnum.

I believe it is the Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40EFR. Now discontinued as Nikon has quit making scopes. Bummer because they have very nice glass and solid click adjustments.

Thanks for the info. MM - you are doing good work at the 40 yd line. Learning what the gun likes - ammo, and how to hold....as noted they can be 'hold sensitive' - enjoy.

This gun is certainly hold sensitive, I'm still working on getting that dialed in.

Can't you use it as a single shot? Cheers NC

I don't know. Probably can?

Don't forget to snug up the stock screws once in a while. All that vibration can loosen screws and create some strange results downrange.

I discovered that early on, and was snugging them after every shooting session. The last time I put blue Loctite on them.

What???

Yes. A Hatsan 125 Sniper Vortex QE 22 caliber. The brown truck dropped this off this afternoon. I had to see if it was going to like the JSB 18.13 gr, since I have 2000 of them on hand.....grin.

Well the heavies seem to work great on first blush. I just swabbed the bore, and did some 15 yard shots while adjusting the irons. Sitting on a patio chair, shooting off my knee. They are going over the chrono averaging 830 fps +/- 10 fps. Seems promising for a new barrel.

I gotta say, I LIKE this gun a lot. The trigger feels fantastic right out of the box. It's the quattro trigger. The rifled barrel is only 10.5", the rest is the muffler. The shorter barrel/barrel time might help accuracy in getting the pellet out sooner. Speed seems great. 18.13gr at 830 fps, 28 FPE ,with accuracy.

It came with a 3-9x32 scope and rings (cheapy, but I'll probably mount it with a better mount), and a sling.



I did a lot of reading up on this airgun, and it felt like a bit of a gamble, but I'm so glad I pulled the trigger. I bought it from Midway, for their good return policy.

Saweeet! I've been wondering about Hatsan and you can give us all a glimpse of their rifles.

When the aigun bug bites, it can bite hard! Ha! Off season research!!

This Hatsan 125 is quite a contrast to the RWS 3500.

Where the RWS is stylish, refined, and well machined and finished, the Hatsan is a bit rough around the edges, but it really delivers, and seems far less sensitive to hold on my first time shooting it. The Hatsan is one you wouldn't think twice about dragging over rocks.....grin

I have some work to do with it, and I'll run the sampler packs through it and see how it does.

MM, how does the Hatsan compare to the RWS 1500 sound wise?

The Hatsan seems quiter to me.

The RWS has no type of sound moderation, but the longer true barrel must have less muzzle pressure.

Makes sense.

Thanks

I cut the barrel down a bit on the RWS 3500. It came at 19.5", and I cut it to 16".

It just felt too long and front heavy. So I broke out the hacksaw, file, sanding block, and bluing pen, and went to work.

Here's the result,





Accuracy seems the same with the 14.3gr. The 18.13gr JSB tightened up significantly.

Both pellet weights gained some speed.

14.3gr Crosman - 857 fps (+ 37)
18.13 JSB - 750 fps (+30)

I did a little online research before cutting the barrel. What I gleaned is that springers reach max velocity around 10" of barrel. The extra length serves sight radius, and cocking leverage.

Now it makes sense to me that the Hatsan 125 QE only has 10.5" of rifled barrel, but gets great speed and accuracy.

I figured shortening the barrel would shorten barrel-time for sure, and that might help free the pellet before I muff the shot. A little extra velocity is just some icing on the cake.

Cocking is a little harder, but no big deal. After I break it, I generally use both hands anyway.

Probably a little louder, but not enough for my ringing ears (tinnitus) to really notice.

I appreciate your sharing the journey.
The RWS does look handier with the shorter barrel but I like the cocking leverage of the longer barrel too much to cut mine.

Are you going to leave the Hatsan naked for a while or put the scope back on?

For plinking on the farm sights are ok but I like the scope for distance!

I got the inspiration to cut the barrel off a bit from looking at the RWS 34P Pro Compact, with it's 15.75" barrel.



I ended up putting the Hawke 3-12x44 on the Hatsan.

The RWS is getting a Hawke 3-9x40 AO. Should be here in a few days.

Hey MM, I've really enjoyed following you on your airgun journey. I've been "rediscovering" my springers the last month in an effort to save my rimfire ammo, and it's like I have to re-learn everything all over again. I'll get super stoked about a couple of really good groups one day, and go back the next day and totally screw it up. But, it's shooting, and shooting is fun.

So, what's your take on that Hawke 3-12x44? Is it the one with the half mil-dot reticle? I'm kinda in the market for something with more hold points than the duplex I'm currently using on my 22 caliber R9. When those 22 pellets start dropping, they drop fast!

Yes that's the one. Well, I haven't found anything to not like about it so far. The reticle is nice, kind of similar to the MQuad reticle on my SWFA scopes on the 308/30-06.

I suppose the real test will be how it lasts over time, on a springer magnum.

I dove into the air rifles for kind of the same reason. To enjoy some shooting without burning through the regular ammo and loading supplies. It seems to be working...grin.

I still haven't mastered shooting these off a rest. I do some of my most consistent shooting sitting in a patio chair, leg crossed over, and forward hand resting on knee. Not exactly still, but it seems to give the gun enough 'wiggle room' to be consistent.

I took the Hatsan 125 back to 81 yards hoping to hit a clay bird. JSB 18.13gr pellet. Held over 3 mils. I could hear the pellet hitting, but couldn't get any visual feedback from the dirt. Holding the gun loosely, the scope bounces off target during the cycle. Who would have thought...

Anyhoo, I moved up to 40 yards on the clay. One shot, one kill.

I need to set up a bigger target board and see what's happening out there at 80 or so yards.

I'm curious if hitting pop cans or clay birds would be possible (repeatable) at 100 yards? I'm going to explore that.