Hey there folks, I hope you've all had a great start of the week!
This is going to be a brief review of an almost brand new and little used (barely tested out) Hatsan Mod. 125, that I bought some year and a half go. I have heard a lot about Hatsan airguns over the years, both good and bad and I've always wanted a big, heavy "Magnum" springer, that would feel like a real .338 Lapua mag. rifle, but in a form of an airgun.
Since I really didn't know what I was going to get with this Hatsan 125, I just decided to go with a spring-piston driven version of it, instead of the Vortex, because I've seen a lot of accounts, on multiple occasions, of these Vortex gas rams either being under-powered, or leaking air pressure and losing their strength entirely. On the other hand, I've rarely seen or heard of any instances of mainsprings breaking on Hatsans, I've read about a couple of them on older Hatsan mod. 55s and Striker 1000s, but nearly not as many, as of the Vortex gas piston systems. Also, I don't have a whole lot of experience with gas pistons and I also think that springers are easier to maintain and troubleshoot, should the need be. I've gone with a .22 caliber version, as the .177 really made no point at all for me, because I'd have to shoot heavy and expensive pellets out of it in order to bring the velocities down. So far, I've got some 150+ pellets through the gun and the cocking has been made a little easier now that the gun's been broken in. It's still a beast to cock, at first I thought the 50-60 pound cocking effort (as it's been labeled by the manufacturer) was a bit exaggerated, but I soon found out that they were pretty much spot on. Although I do feel that the gun is heavy on the cocking, I could still shoot it all day long with no issues. I guess I'm of such physique, or stature if you will, even though I'm not a particularly strong guy, which allows me to shoot just about any airgun without getting fatigued too much over time - Or it could also have something to do with adrenaline, which is, at least in my opinion, one hell of a drug
Shooting is just such a thrill to me, it completely takes me over
The Hatsan 125 - Standard, fitted with a Leapers 4x32 AO:
I like the safety switch too, it works like a real hammer on a powder burner, although its travel is rather short.
When I was out shopping for a Hatsan, I decided to go with the regular stocked version, with just the plain "Monte-Carlo" styled plastic stock, as I liked the simplest variant the most, apart from the other two, the thumbhole one and the Sniper variant. The gun is already heavy as it is (coming in at 7.9 pounds), so I didn't exactly want the extra weight of a heavy stock, such as that of the Sniper variant. Although I have to say, that the Sniper stock would certainly tame the harmonics of the recoil a little better (and therefore potentially increase some accuracy) than the regular version does, even though it comes with the SAS and the DynaPad, which I actually quite like, cause it's a nice looking and comfortable recoil pad. Nevertheless the recoil is still harsh, even with all of the rifle's dampening features, but the issue I'm still struggling with is in the severe hold sensitivity of the gun's stock, if I don't hold it in the same spot each and every time, the fliers start occuring on the target and the shots go all over the place. Some folks have suggested to simply lay the front end of the stock into an open palm and then the accuracy will improve... I have yet to try out different holds and grips, perhaps leaning the rifle onto the front end of the barrel will help out with the accuracy, who knows...
Speaking of barrels, I noticed that the TH version of the 125 has a hooded front sight at the end of the barrel (which is good), but a very short muzzle piece, which is a con, because it doesn't give you that extra, comfy leverage of the muzzle piece, that really comes in handy for cocking the gun. All in all, I like the standard version because of that more, than any other - it has the best properties of the other two and offers a good balance between shooting comfort and utility. Besides, I'm used to shooting guns with traditional stocks anyway, but I believe the TH version allows for a better grip.
What I really like about this 125 model is the breech on the barrel, because unilke with some other brands such as Gamo, or Crosman, when you tap on the barrel to get the breech open, it opens up just enough to insert and seat the pellet into the barrel without having to cock it all the way first. I really like that, because I usually load the pellet into the barrel first and then I cock the gun. The one troubling thing I've noticed however, is that the bore is slightly "over-the-bore-specs" in diameter, not too much, nothing exaggerated, but nevertheless I'm going to have to lead the outlines of the pellets' skirts along the chamber and manually fit them to the bore. I know that Hatsan's got a bad habbit of putting over-bore barrels on their guns, it's nothing new, I've been reading about these issues for quite a while now. However, the barrel on my gun looks pristinely smooth on the inside, all the way to the end and the crown is alright too. I know that these guns can deliver good accuracy and mine certainly can, for as long as I'm gripping it right (although I'm still trying to figure out which gripping technique is the best - I'll find out in time). In addition to all of this I should also point out, that 15.89gr JSBs flew over the chrony slower than 18 grain Norica Premium pellets, of the 5.53mm head diameter. Apparently the Noricas seal the bore better than JSBs, which is strange... I've yet to try out some JSB 18.13gr Heavies, with 5.53mm head diameters. I think the gun's going to like those; In fact, I'm almost certain about it.
Right now, I've got a Leapers (the old Leapers, not UTG) 4x32 AO scope mounted on this gun, and before you guys start asking questions about it, yes, it's the one my friend gave away to me and surprisingly IT HOLDS ZERO, for when it was on my friends' gun, it had a loose reticle and only the lower half of the reticle stood in place, the upper one was jumping around, or otherwise flickering a bit. Apparently the shock of the recoil on this gun is so pronounced, that the momentum in which the lens flickers happens so quickly, that it's completely un-noticable. Anyway, I didn't send the scope back to UTG, because I wanted to find out what would happen, if I put a partially defective scope as such, on a magnum springer. And found out I have, it's amazing that the lens didn't fall off, or otherwise worked itself out of place by unthreading itself in its module/erector tube... Nevermind, it stopped flickering around and it holds zero. Good enough for me! Now, the mounts I used were two-piece, scope rings that came with the scope and they have a 22mm Weaver base, which is just perfect, because these newer Hatsans have dual-mounting rails, for both 1913 picc. mounts, or otherwise 22mm Weaver mounts, and for 11mm dovetails. The bases of the rings loosen up after some 50-70 shots, because of the guns' kick, and therefore have to be re-tightened every so many rounds.
So far I've tried out the following pellets and two types of slugs: JSB Exact 5.52/53, H&N Baracuda 18, H&N 21gr Slugs, JSB KnockOut Slugs .216 (these don't work at all, probably not enough power for these), Norica PREMIUM 18gr and the Norica FIELD LINE, and I've somewhat determined that Norica 18 grainers and JSB Exacts, both 5.52/53 work pretty well, however I'm not exactly certain how the H&N slugs perform, haven't had enough of them through the gun yet...
Here's the groups, and as I've stated up above, I haven't exactly figured out how to hold this thing right yet, it's pretty hold sensitive.
Experience will certainly yield better results, or perhaps they have already - I'm gettin' better, see... The 16mm central group speaks for itself, the gun can shoot, but only if the shooter is consistent, relaxed, and breathes the right way. If these conditions aren't met, then there are fliers;
11 shots in the black, the other 7 are just fliers, the gun works fine.
This target was set up on a pole, at 25 meters and there are 20 hits on it (all of the shots taken).
While I was browsing for a scope (in the end I got it from a friend), I came up with a terrible idea. The idea was to line up the top of the chevron with the red fiber-optic on the front post sight, in hopes of getting a point of reference... And as most of you would assume from the image beneath, it didn't work at all. What in the name of... was I thinking?!
Behold: The one and only, true slavic red-dot:
Even though it's cursed, it kind of looks cool innit?
Well that wraps up this review, I'll keep on shooting this gun and se what happens... Will it break, will it start shooting even better with time? Who knows, we'll see in a year or two... Have a good one folks!
This is going to be a brief review of an almost brand new and little used (barely tested out) Hatsan Mod. 125, that I bought some year and a half go. I have heard a lot about Hatsan airguns over the years, both good and bad and I've always wanted a big, heavy "Magnum" springer, that would feel like a real .338 Lapua mag. rifle, but in a form of an airgun.
Since I really didn't know what I was going to get with this Hatsan 125, I just decided to go with a spring-piston driven version of it, instead of the Vortex, because I've seen a lot of accounts, on multiple occasions, of these Vortex gas rams either being under-powered, or leaking air pressure and losing their strength entirely. On the other hand, I've rarely seen or heard of any instances of mainsprings breaking on Hatsans, I've read about a couple of them on older Hatsan mod. 55s and Striker 1000s, but nearly not as many, as of the Vortex gas piston systems. Also, I don't have a whole lot of experience with gas pistons and I also think that springers are easier to maintain and troubleshoot, should the need be. I've gone with a .22 caliber version, as the .177 really made no point at all for me, because I'd have to shoot heavy and expensive pellets out of it in order to bring the velocities down. So far, I've got some 150+ pellets through the gun and the cocking has been made a little easier now that the gun's been broken in. It's still a beast to cock, at first I thought the 50-60 pound cocking effort (as it's been labeled by the manufacturer) was a bit exaggerated, but I soon found out that they were pretty much spot on. Although I do feel that the gun is heavy on the cocking, I could still shoot it all day long with no issues. I guess I'm of such physique, or stature if you will, even though I'm not a particularly strong guy, which allows me to shoot just about any airgun without getting fatigued too much over time - Or it could also have something to do with adrenaline, which is, at least in my opinion, one hell of a drug
Shooting is just such a thrill to me, it completely takes me over
The Hatsan 125 - Standard, fitted with a Leapers 4x32 AO:
I like the safety switch too, it works like a real hammer on a powder burner, although its travel is rather short.
When I was out shopping for a Hatsan, I decided to go with the regular stocked version, with just the plain "Monte-Carlo" styled plastic stock, as I liked the simplest variant the most, apart from the other two, the thumbhole one and the Sniper variant. The gun is already heavy as it is (coming in at 7.9 pounds), so I didn't exactly want the extra weight of a heavy stock, such as that of the Sniper variant. Although I have to say, that the Sniper stock would certainly tame the harmonics of the recoil a little better (and therefore potentially increase some accuracy) than the regular version does, even though it comes with the SAS and the DynaPad, which I actually quite like, cause it's a nice looking and comfortable recoil pad. Nevertheless the recoil is still harsh, even with all of the rifle's dampening features, but the issue I'm still struggling with is in the severe hold sensitivity of the gun's stock, if I don't hold it in the same spot each and every time, the fliers start occuring on the target and the shots go all over the place. Some folks have suggested to simply lay the front end of the stock into an open palm and then the accuracy will improve... I have yet to try out different holds and grips, perhaps leaning the rifle onto the front end of the barrel will help out with the accuracy, who knows...
Speaking of barrels, I noticed that the TH version of the 125 has a hooded front sight at the end of the barrel (which is good), but a very short muzzle piece, which is a con, because it doesn't give you that extra, comfy leverage of the muzzle piece, that really comes in handy for cocking the gun. All in all, I like the standard version because of that more, than any other - it has the best properties of the other two and offers a good balance between shooting comfort and utility. Besides, I'm used to shooting guns with traditional stocks anyway, but I believe the TH version allows for a better grip.
What I really like about this 125 model is the breech on the barrel, because unilke with some other brands such as Gamo, or Crosman, when you tap on the barrel to get the breech open, it opens up just enough to insert and seat the pellet into the barrel without having to cock it all the way first. I really like that, because I usually load the pellet into the barrel first and then I cock the gun. The one troubling thing I've noticed however, is that the bore is slightly "over-the-bore-specs" in diameter, not too much, nothing exaggerated, but nevertheless I'm going to have to lead the outlines of the pellets' skirts along the chamber and manually fit them to the bore. I know that Hatsan's got a bad habbit of putting over-bore barrels on their guns, it's nothing new, I've been reading about these issues for quite a while now. However, the barrel on my gun looks pristinely smooth on the inside, all the way to the end and the crown is alright too. I know that these guns can deliver good accuracy and mine certainly can, for as long as I'm gripping it right (although I'm still trying to figure out which gripping technique is the best - I'll find out in time). In addition to all of this I should also point out, that 15.89gr JSBs flew over the chrony slower than 18 grain Norica Premium pellets, of the 5.53mm head diameter. Apparently the Noricas seal the bore better than JSBs, which is strange... I've yet to try out some JSB 18.13gr Heavies, with 5.53mm head diameters. I think the gun's going to like those; In fact, I'm almost certain about it.
Right now, I've got a Leapers (the old Leapers, not UTG) 4x32 AO scope mounted on this gun, and before you guys start asking questions about it, yes, it's the one my friend gave away to me and surprisingly IT HOLDS ZERO, for when it was on my friends' gun, it had a loose reticle and only the lower half of the reticle stood in place, the upper one was jumping around, or otherwise flickering a bit. Apparently the shock of the recoil on this gun is so pronounced, that the momentum in which the lens flickers happens so quickly, that it's completely un-noticable. Anyway, I didn't send the scope back to UTG, because I wanted to find out what would happen, if I put a partially defective scope as such, on a magnum springer. And found out I have, it's amazing that the lens didn't fall off, or otherwise worked itself out of place by unthreading itself in its module/erector tube... Nevermind, it stopped flickering around and it holds zero. Good enough for me! Now, the mounts I used were two-piece, scope rings that came with the scope and they have a 22mm Weaver base, which is just perfect, because these newer Hatsans have dual-mounting rails, for both 1913 picc. mounts, or otherwise 22mm Weaver mounts, and for 11mm dovetails. The bases of the rings loosen up after some 50-70 shots, because of the guns' kick, and therefore have to be re-tightened every so many rounds.
So far I've tried out the following pellets and two types of slugs: JSB Exact 5.52/53, H&N Baracuda 18, H&N 21gr Slugs, JSB KnockOut Slugs .216 (these don't work at all, probably not enough power for these), Norica PREMIUM 18gr and the Norica FIELD LINE, and I've somewhat determined that Norica 18 grainers and JSB Exacts, both 5.52/53 work pretty well, however I'm not exactly certain how the H&N slugs perform, haven't had enough of them through the gun yet...
Here's the groups, and as I've stated up above, I haven't exactly figured out how to hold this thing right yet, it's pretty hold sensitive.
Experience will certainly yield better results, or perhaps they have already - I'm gettin' better, see... The 16mm central group speaks for itself, the gun can shoot, but only if the shooter is consistent, relaxed, and breathes the right way. If these conditions aren't met, then there are fliers;
11 shots in the black, the other 7 are just fliers, the gun works fine.
This target was set up on a pole, at 25 meters and there are 20 hits on it (all of the shots taken).
While I was browsing for a scope (in the end I got it from a friend), I came up with a terrible idea. The idea was to line up the top of the chevron with the red fiber-optic on the front post sight, in hopes of getting a point of reference... And as most of you would assume from the image beneath, it didn't work at all. What in the name of... was I thinking?!
Behold: The one and only, true slavic red-dot:
Even though it's cursed, it kind of looks cool innit?
Well that wraps up this review, I'll keep on shooting this gun and se what happens... Will it break, will it start shooting even better with time? Who knows, we'll see in a year or two... Have a good one folks!
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Thanks for the heads up!