Well that was last year, so imagine my surprise when I got a call from Tye to say it had arrived.
I drove the 50 odd miles up to Tamworth to collect this new beastie, and as usual was met with the hospitality that Solware are getting a well earned reputation for, Coffee and biscuits appeared high on the agenda, still it was early.
The AT44 single has a very uncluttered breech area, as you would expect, from a single shot rifle, but it seems so much lighter for it (as you would expect)
My choice of scope for this rifle was always going to be a lower magnification and less zoom than I would normally use, but I figured that being a .25cal my range was going to be reduced anyway. I have had a couple of .25cal Hatsan Strikers before, so I knew that short range, about 15-30 yards was going to be all I could realistically use.
My choice was going to be limited, as good quality, low mag, lightweight scopes is quite restricted. So a Hawke Sport-HD IR (HK3013) was chosen, this is a 2-7x32AOIR with tremendously clear optics. The IR facility is a good one, as it doesnt "flood" the tube with light when being used, as it only illuminates the mildot section of the crosshairs, with either red or green light.
The serial number indicates this rifle was "born" in March re-iterating the information that this was built for me as a special request. However, Tye has had his hands on this at the shop and he is keen to try and stock this single shot as a standard item. Solware are a little unsure about a RRP at the moment but it will be around the same price as the multishot version, which seems odd, but the quality is very good, and the build quality is extraordinary, As good as my Air Arms S400 classic.
All the normal ergonomics as the standard? multishot, but without all the magazine and accompanying mechanics. The rest of the rifle is exactly the same as the "normal" multishot, and all the usual features are there, a simple filling probe into the air tube, with the functional rotating collar to cover the hole. A very accurate gauge mounted into the end of the detatchable air tube. Good quality turkish hardwood stock, with fine checkering around the pistol grip area. The, now standard, auto safety is in the perfect position, right where it should be.
The clearer breech area will make loading each individual pellet easy, unless you fit a set of low mounts like I did Doh!! However the smaller calibers will have more room for your fingers, as the big .25cal pellets make the space seem smaller.
All in all a superb rifle and very easy to shoot. As this picture shows, I have fitted studs to the stock for a sling, as I like the comfort of carrying the rifle over my shoulder.
OK so that kinda gives you the bare bones of this rifle. So whats it like? If you have shot one of the latest AT's you will know instinctively, that this is, just right. Perfectly balanced and with the ajustable butt plate, fits the shooter.
As with all new PCP's the rifle comes with air in it, from the testing proccess, however this was filled to 180bar out of the box, so i didnt bother "topping it up" as i will fit a "de-pinger" straight away, but it seems a shame to lose all that, kindly donated air, so I got the Chrony out and gave it a quick power test.
I fired 5 pellets (H&N Feilds)(20grn) and achieved 499,500,500,500,500fps, that equates to 11fpe and I'm very happy with that. Now before I hear all the "my .177 shoots at 11.999 and I'm getting 800fps" remeber this is firing a BIG pellet at 500fps and, as I said before, I was aware of the restriction of range, in having a .25cal. But thats where this rifle gets a bit weird. The two Hatsan Strikers I have owned in .25cal, have, being springers, been a little, er, difficult, to achieve any consistant accuracy at more than 30 yards. I used H&N Feilds in them and they just wernt anywhere near as consistant as the Marksman pellets I recommend.
So here's the thing, I intended to set the zero at 20 yards and work from there, but I had a new scope on the AA S400 to zero, and had set the card holder at 25 yards and forgot to move it for this rifle, so by accident have set the zero at 25 yards. But the Hawke scope was an easy scope to set, so away I went. a few clicks and that was it. Now its easy to say "pellet on pellet" but this was amazing, once it was set, not only was p,o,p relatively easy but dead centre of the target aswell. Now this sort of thing impresses me. All this from a rifle that costs low three hundreds with big heavy pellets.
So after the zeroing was set, I decided to see what the drop was like at distance. Normally a .25cal will shoot ok out to about 35 yards then gravity takes over (damn you Sir Isaac Newton). Imagine my surprise when after a couple of test shots I was able to consistantly knockdown AND reset the 45 yard target, I know its just a rifle, but this was seriously impressive stuff, at 45 yards the pellet is still carrying 7fpe, compare that to a .177 with the same muzzle energy at 6fpe, doesnt sound much, but the ,25 (20grn) slug is still travelling at nearly 400fps and the .177 (8.5grn) is doing 580fps I know which one I would prefer if I was a rabbit.
Just a couple of other things. First, as i said I didnt re-fill the rifle and all the testing was done with the factory charge of about 180bar, I still achieved 70 shots before i noticed any significant drop in power.
The other thing is weight. The AT44 single shot, with scope (and I am aware it is a small one) came in at......
..... 8lb 7oz or 3.7kg in new money.
and the AT44-10 (with a bigger scope)...
..... 10lb 6oz or 5.5kg. Thats nearly a kilo heavier for the multishot, and the multishot doesnt feel that HEAVY!!!!!
So summing up, If you are looking for a pretty awesome .25cal then this could be it. Give Tye or Carl a ring on 0844 357 0306. This is a rifle that could appeal to a lot of shooters, especially if you are looking for something a little different, and dont want spend a fortune to get it.
These are just my thoughts
Gary
PS I mayt try a "bigger" scope in the future, but have to say that the Hawke is a really good scope, with super clear glass and a really good illuminated reticle, maybe a x9 mag would have been a better prospect, but I know my limitations as well as the rifles.
