New Daystate Air Ranger.Pics to follow:

[Mortimer657]

Hi again all. This will be a longer review as i couldnt help but include the build up to purchase.so skip through if you want to just read the meat and veg of the review. hahaha.

As you all know i've been deliberating and tossing up idea's on which rifle to purchase next, as with most hunters i think we see one rifle and lust after it, then see something else and have a change of heart....and they say women are fickle!!

However, you'll all remember i was going to sell my FAC Daystate Huntsman Classic and go for a 12ft/lbs Air Arms S410 Carbine or S510 SL Carbine as for above-legal limit shooting i much prefer using my .17HMR CZ for small game. Well, i couldnt part with the Huntsman..i just like the damn thing too much . However i still wanted a new rifle so A trip to the local gunshop was in order to have a hold of both the S410 and the S510, both of which i've fired before, to see how they felt alongside one another. As it turned out i ended up shouldering both of these models and two of the HW-100 variants...again a rifle i have fired a fair few times and was impressed with.

Commenting on how great the S510 felt in the shoulder to the over enthusiastic gunshop owner (who was pushing the hard sell by now) i noticed something out of the corner of my eye....spanking brand new, just in.....New: Daystate Air Ranger, and try as i might i just couldnt ignore the sleek lines of that gorgeous rifle. I took a tentative pause and then grinned and asked the sales assistant if i could take a look at the Air Ranger. His eyes duly lit up, no doubt at the thought of making a close to £1000 sale and he unlocked the clasp, took the rifle down and handed it to me.

Now, i've fired the Air Ranger before, a couple of years back and remember being impressed with the balance of it, however two years = a lot of time and water under the bridge. Im pleased to say nothing has changed..this rifle still comes to the shoulder beautifully and its shocking just how light it is for the amount of gun it equates to. My mind had been made up for me...there was no turning back. I asked them to keep it by and made a trip to the bank.....over the counter....£1,500 crisp notes please. And back to the shop. I bet they thought i wouldnt return haha.
I then started my usual bargaining banter..."what can you do me for cash mate?", of course the assistant said he wasnt allowed to etc etc..now a tip for you all..always ALWAYS ask for a discount...a sales assistant in most cases can give you 5-10% and the manager a little more. I pushed this point and the manager stepped in..............bingo....i didnt get the cash discount i'd envisaged but i got it in kind...a Napier cleaning kit retail £22, an eco pump Napier Pellet lube spray and a set of Sportsmatch mounts. Brilliant.....so for a £995 rifle only purchase i now had some extra's thrown in...Superb. I purchased myself a Hawke Sidewinder Tactical 8.5-25 X 42 scope to accompany the rifle and parted a happy man.

TESTING:

I scoped the rifle up and set about the task of setting a 30 yard zero in the back garden , enjoyable in itself, and then set about getting used to handling this fine rifle. The stock feels absolutely great and comes to the shoulder so smoothly and that butt pad gives the user great feedback while handling this rifle, add to that a superb thumbhole configuration and a nice palm filling pistol grip, soft pliable rubber ventilated rubber butt-pad and we have a total winner in terms of ergonomic design, it really instills a feeling of confidence in the shooter. The furniture on this rifle is simply stunning and i think even those less than enthusiastic about Daystates line up will have to begrudginly admit it really does look the business.Nice to know it walks the walk as well by far outhandling any AA 410/510 or HW100 i've fired in the past.I also must admit i prefer this new model as it forgoes the old integral style trigger and instead has a traditional metal trigger guard. An improvement in my honest opinion.As per the norm a glance confirms that we have the all important air gauge in situ.

The barrel on this rifle is a fully shrouded match grade Lothar Walther affair and to be fair these are pretty much industry standard these days, and for good reason too. The shrouded barrel struck me as being fairy quiet and efficient at the task its designed to perform. I personally wouldnt feel the need to add any other silencing elements to this barrel. Its a real performer thats for sure.

Cycling the bolt on this rifle reveals a smoothe slick action and one that Daystate are no doubt very proud of. Attention to detail shines through here, i really cant say how impressed i was with the action. Equally, that magazine sits firm and snugly in the breechblock and this, again, instills total confidence in the user. More top marks for Daystate here, once again they've provided a high quality action, you get what you pay for as the saying goes.

The gorgeous two stage trigger is a nice swept back affair and gives a high level of feedback to the shooter. It has a medium level of first stage travel, this being ultra smoothe and predictable in itself before tightening up for the second stage and thereafter, release of the shot. Squeezing gently on the second stage reveals a nice smooth release of shot and follow through is equally as smoothe. I personally felt no need to adjust this unit, however, a with most rifles on the market today , the option for adjustments is there allowing you to set this system up to your own preference. Either way i think most will find this trigger to be a smoothe and amazingly enjoyable one to use.

I opted to stick to my usual pellet favourite of Air Arms Field pellets but also purchased a tin of Daystates own FT brand since these are high quality pellets and naturally were the reccomended choice by Daystate. Reivews i've read in the past on these rifles confirms that they arent overly pellet fussy, however, loading up with either of my choices prooved to be a wise choice as accuracy was simply stunning with both. At my set zero of 30 yards one hole groups were the norm, in fact i had to check the sandbag backstop to make sure my pellets were in fact passing through the same neat .177 sized hole..it was that accurate. Moving out to 40 and 45 yards saw the rifle (with my input of course) saw the same one hole group maintained...UNBELIEVABLE, is all i could mutter as i cycles through shot after shot. At 55-60 yards that accuracy dropped to single enlarged one hole groups and tight little cloverleaf patterns that you coule cover with a pound coin with total ease. Believe me to say this rifle is accurate is not doing it justice. It has to be seen and preferable fired to be believed. Chronograph readings on the AA Fields came back with an 11.8 ft/lbs reading and the Daystate FT pellets gave 11.72 ft/lbs...both totally useable for real world small game hunting. I've no doubt the local rabbit/woodie/squirrel and corvid population will soon be able to testify to that. And lets not forget that enormous shot count . from that buddy bottle.

Since i have only had this rifle for a couple of days now i have not had the chance to take it into the field to put it to work at its intedned use (intended use by me at least) but, as always, as soon as this task has been accomplished you'll all be the first to hear and see the results, even though i am a LITTLE wary of damaging that gorgeous stock ..but a rifle has to earn its keep after all.

All in all i am 110% happy with this rifle..it ticks all the boxes for ingenious features, a great ergonomic stock and a confidence inspiring action with accuracy to match. I've no doubt this newer upgraded model will fly off the shelves.

Hope you all enjoyed the review, stay tuned for those all important photographs of a very happy owner and his new rifle...and stay tuned for a review of its performance on live quarry in the field.

Take care all.

[The Robin]

Great write up and review, bet you are very happy with it. It's always worth asking and been a bit cheeky if you can get anything knocked off the price or can i have some goodies

Look forward to seeing the pic's

[Tadpole]

Many thanks for sharing, a great review let's hope you are up to the Air Rangers perfomance in the field ....................

[Mortimer657]

Many thanks for sharing, a great review let's hope you are up to the Air Rangers perfomance in the field ....................

Your not wrong. As with many good quality PCP's these days, this rifle will outshoot the shooter in 90% of circumstances. I've no doubt this rifle is going to do an absolutely stellar job of hammering the local bunny populous

[philbot007]

Very nice - my dream gun that is

[coxy1981]

nice review mate , sorry if you already said this but what did you go for .177 or .22

[javarke]

nice review mate , sorry if you already said this but what did you go for .177 or .22

.177 mate

my pellets were in fact passing through the same neat .177 sized hole

[meldino2005]

great write up and looking forward to the pics. very smart looking rifles which id love to buy myself but i think the mrs would string me up on barbwire by my nuts if i did . atb

[Nipper7657]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum so please forgive any dipstick questions or grammatical errors etc etc. I've had a few air rifles; my favourite being the Air Arms Khamsin I owned a few years ago. Wanting a PCP, I went to the Sportsman Gun Shop and was very easily talked into putting down a deposit on a 3 week old .22 non-FAC Air Ranger (I now have to sell some of my big boy's toys to pay for it - courtesy of the curly haired boss lady). Having read about a zillion forums on pellets, the only conclusion I have come to is that the best way to identify the best pellet for my Ranger is to spend lots of additional dosh on a variety of pellets and employ the old trial and error process. Is this really the only way to find out?? All advice very gratefully accepted. Cheers, Nipper.

[eddie1964]

Nice write up and thanks,
I have been planning to upgrade my QB78d Th over the last couple of months but like us all see something and want it. However I have held back on running to the local gun shop but have been looking and reading about different PCP's. I am fortunate and can afford the Daystate range of rifle but was not sure if the money being ask was worth it but clearly from the reviews they are.

Ah well looks like a trip to the gun shop to purchase a MK4 or maybe I'll have a look atr the air wolf

Thanks again nice to see somebody else in the same position as me

I'll update post shortly