Confession first, I rarely choose an air rifle on its looks

But I have a deep regard for the Crosman Quest and all of it’s, Oriental Nieces and Nephews. So when I saw the Stoegers X20s in the wooden stock, I thought, “At last, a proper, newer modern version”.

The Stoeger X20s I have was purchased from Solware of Tamworth.

With a price tag of £215, for the rifle, a 3-9x40AO ‘scope, a slip and a tin of pellets.

So how just how good is this deal? In my opinion, it’s probably one of the best “deals” I have seen. We have all seen the “Combo’s” were you get a scope that, frankly, you will change pretty soon after purchase. I have found the ‘scope in this package to be very good, very reminiscent of the Hawke “Airmax” I had a few years ago, which was one of the best scopes I have used.

This is what came out of the box, in the package I bought. Not much wrong with this picture.

This is a .22, as for me, this is a Fun plinking or HFT rifle If it’s a short(ish) range course.

There is definitely a move towards quieter air rifles these days. With shrinking areas to shoot at and with the relentless growth of towns and cities, we as shooters are getting squeezed into smaller areas to shoot. So logically we will need quieter and quieter air rifles. Enter the Steoger X20s, a full barrel “reflex” silencer certainly dampens down the decibels, and this is around 95db, which is quieter than a boiling electric kettle. The barrel length suppressor serves another purpose, as it gives a good solid surface to get hold of , whilst cocking the rifle, and it’s not a cold lump of steel, worth bearing in mind if you intend using this a hunting tool on a cold, frosty, morning!!

This is a very effective, sound moderator.

Like so many break barrel air rifles this has an auto safety, but unlike many, this has the safety release, conveniently housed in the rear of the action, and falls exactly where you would want it to be. Easy to just nudge your thumb up from the stock and press it in.

This is a feature found on some of the newer Air rifles to come from Turkey and China.

The scope does not come fitted to the rifle, so you do have to do some work.... But this brings me to the only criticism I have of this rifle, I may be unlucky, but the dovetail rail on my rifle was machined poorly and was not as crisp and sharp as I would expect. As the picture shows, not machined as needed. However this “problem” only manifested itself to me, as I only ever “nip” the clamps up, before I make any adjustments, so when I lifted the rifle into the shoulder it dropped off, fortunately I caught it and no damage was done.

But one thing I would mention here is the neat arrestor slot cut into the top of the action.

So, all together, and after rotating the scope to be square on the action, an opportunity to get to grips with the rifle.

The stock is lovely and a real quality item, well made with the familiar “warm” feeling you only get from a wooden stock, not the sterile “coolness” I get from a synthetic stock!!!!

Deep and clean Checkering on the fore-stock and the pistol grip, give a reassuring feel. The stock has a nice “matte” finish.

So on to the first few shots. Breaking the barrel for the first time was a bit of a shock as I was not expecting to have to use quite as much force as I did, but this was a brand new rifle so I’ll forgive it. A very smooth cocking cycle was another surprise, but this was a nice surprise. Not much effort to actually cock it, and holding onto the silencer, I loaded my first pellets. I tested using the 10 yard range at home. I fired the first shot, I was greeted by a dull thud from the stock into my shoulder and almost no muzzle noise at all, and the most noise was the pellet hitting the target. About 2inches down and slightly right, so a quick twirl on the turrets (which had a very nice defined click) another was sent down the barrel, with a few repeats I got a single raggedy hole with a string of 10 pellets.

I ran the Stoeger over the Chrony just to see how “full power” it actually was. I know you always read on the sales blurb “full power” but, normally, after checking, the “full power” you can sometimes be disappointed, well not on this rifle. Using my weighed and matched pellets, I was seeing 620fps, with 13.5 grain pellets, that’s 11.53fpe. Now I would expect that to climb a little but it is close to the UK max of under 12fpe. This may be because of slight dieseling, but I will need to try some much heavier pellets.

All I can say is "this is a great rifle", it’s better than I was anticipating. It is as quiet as the sales pitch. It shoulders well and the wooden stock is brilliant. This is a great value Air rifle.