Recently, a business peer (heretofore serious power burner) expressed an interest in learning about air rifles. I invited him over to my range and gave him a two or three hour air gun experience, sharing with him an opportunity to shoot about every air gun in my vault. He fell in love with my super accurate, tuned, .177 TX200 MKIII, and with some regrets, I allowed him to purchase it. Having another TX200MKIII Walnut in .22, the one rifle I had never owned was a TX200HC, and decided that procurement and set-up of such would be a fun project.
I reached out to Pyramid Air, and though they did not have one in stock, the thought was one would be in somewhere around May 5, so I ordered it. To my surprise, on Sunday May 2nd, Fed Ex delivered the new rifle to my front door.
As I relay the following, please don't get the wrong impression, as the legends like Paul Watts, Scott Schneider, John Thomas and the likes have forgotten more about spring guns than I will ever know. However, there are currently 18 spring guns in my vault, and I have sold another 10 or 12 over the last couple of years, and have now been tuning my own spring guns for a couple of years. In addition, I am going through pellets at a rate of 25,000 to 30,000 per year. I offer this only to think I have a reasonable perspective about air gun quality, durability, and performance.
I believe that this forum in particular, does not give enough tribute to Air Arms. While I would never consider getting rid of my terrific Weihrauchs, my Air Arms rifles are every bit as accurate and dependable. While I own a RAW and RED WOLF HP, both phenomenal rifles, my Air Arms S510 and S410 PCPs are the dependable, super accurate, work horse rifles in my collection.
The TX200 series rifles are amazing, particularly in terms of fit and finish. As evidenced by the photos below, the walnut stock on and bluing on this TX200HC is stunning for an out-of-the-box production rifle. The standard inclusion of the cocking handle is a very nice added feature, and likely somewhat necessary with the shortened cocking handle.
I mounted a Bushnell 6-24x50 Nitro scope on this rifle. I acquired this scope after Odolye posted a few weeks ago that they were on sale via Midway USA at a savings of nearly $400. I am not disappointed. I find it to be on par with my Hawke Airmax, Vortex Diamondback, and Element Helix scopes. The reticle is very clear, and during all of the testing indicated below, each click of adjustment up, down, or sideways resulted in the perfect anticipated amount of POI shift. I rarely use anything but the Sports Match vertically adjustable mounts with stop pin, and this instance was no exception.
As is typical, I start by cleaning the rifle barrel, and significant black grease came out with the early patches. Sighting the rifle in, and using the AA Diablo Field 8.4 Gr pellets, and because of the adjustable mounts, I had it sighted in (my indoor 18 yard range) using only five shots. I then proceeded the testing protocols as indicated on the exhibits as found below.
Without a doubt, this is the most smooth, accurate, out-of-the-box spring gun I have yet to test to date! Shooting groups of +/- .3", out of the box, with a 20 shot chrono statistical deviation of only 1 fps, this rifle exhibited absolutely zero buzz or harshness in the shot cycle!
The bad news, if any, is it is the most pellet particular spring gun I have ever tested. The good news, with the AA 8.4 Gr pellet, I shot six 10 shot groups, two before installing the Vortek PG-3 Steel spring kit, and four afterwards, with each 20 shot string holding an SD of 1, and producing phenomenally consistent & tight center core groups.
After shooting all of the pellets I had to test with the gun as delivered, I installed the Vortek spring kit (photo of label included). This was the high output kit. As you will ascertain, some velocity was gained (not necessarily my goal). Several of the pellets did not group as well with the Vortek kit installed and the corresponding higher velocity. However, the AA 8.4 Gr pellets held true to form. With the Vortek kit, the rifle's shot cycle was even smoother.
Note that the one thing I did not care for out-of-the-box, was that the cocking stroke was "gritty" or rough feeling. While I had the rifle disassembled for the Vortek Kit installation, I used emory cloth and hand polished the tube rail the cocking shoe rides in, followed up with the application of a premium grease. That corrected the problem and the rifle now cocks very smoothly.
Would I have done anything different? If the rifle wasn't performing to the level of perfection that it is, I would probably have disassembled it one more time, and cut 1/2 to 3/4 of one spring coil off. At the very end of the cocking stroke, it often takes a little extra effort to get the rifle to lock-up, telling me that the compression tube is really full. However, it never fails to lock-up and is shooting so well, I decided to leave it alone.
Trigger adjustment was really not too necessary, as out-of-the-box it was very good for a hunting trigger. I did reduce the 2nd stage creep to where there is no noticeable creep now, and it was easy to accomplish.
Final thoughts - for those that don't mind spending a couple of $100 more than one might spend for other premium springers, I believe you will get your money's worth, as the fit, finish, and performance of these rifles are incredible. Unless you are as picky as I am, this rifle is perfect in every way for the typical user, without any alterations or custom tuning, and should be an heirloom that can be passed down for many generations. If and when it needs service a decade from now, this is one of the easiest rifles to disassemble and service on the market, with parts readily available from a number of domestic and overseas entities.
I reached out to Pyramid Air, and though they did not have one in stock, the thought was one would be in somewhere around May 5, so I ordered it. To my surprise, on Sunday May 2nd, Fed Ex delivered the new rifle to my front door.
As I relay the following, please don't get the wrong impression, as the legends like Paul Watts, Scott Schneider, John Thomas and the likes have forgotten more about spring guns than I will ever know. However, there are currently 18 spring guns in my vault, and I have sold another 10 or 12 over the last couple of years, and have now been tuning my own spring guns for a couple of years. In addition, I am going through pellets at a rate of 25,000 to 30,000 per year. I offer this only to think I have a reasonable perspective about air gun quality, durability, and performance.
I believe that this forum in particular, does not give enough tribute to Air Arms. While I would never consider getting rid of my terrific Weihrauchs, my Air Arms rifles are every bit as accurate and dependable. While I own a RAW and RED WOLF HP, both phenomenal rifles, my Air Arms S510 and S410 PCPs are the dependable, super accurate, work horse rifles in my collection.
The TX200 series rifles are amazing, particularly in terms of fit and finish. As evidenced by the photos below, the walnut stock on and bluing on this TX200HC is stunning for an out-of-the-box production rifle. The standard inclusion of the cocking handle is a very nice added feature, and likely somewhat necessary with the shortened cocking handle.
I mounted a Bushnell 6-24x50 Nitro scope on this rifle. I acquired this scope after Odolye posted a few weeks ago that they were on sale via Midway USA at a savings of nearly $400. I am not disappointed. I find it to be on par with my Hawke Airmax, Vortex Diamondback, and Element Helix scopes. The reticle is very clear, and during all of the testing indicated below, each click of adjustment up, down, or sideways resulted in the perfect anticipated amount of POI shift. I rarely use anything but the Sports Match vertically adjustable mounts with stop pin, and this instance was no exception.
As is typical, I start by cleaning the rifle barrel, and significant black grease came out with the early patches. Sighting the rifle in, and using the AA Diablo Field 8.4 Gr pellets, and because of the adjustable mounts, I had it sighted in (my indoor 18 yard range) using only five shots. I then proceeded the testing protocols as indicated on the exhibits as found below.
Without a doubt, this is the most smooth, accurate, out-of-the-box spring gun I have yet to test to date! Shooting groups of +/- .3", out of the box, with a 20 shot chrono statistical deviation of only 1 fps, this rifle exhibited absolutely zero buzz or harshness in the shot cycle!
The bad news, if any, is it is the most pellet particular spring gun I have ever tested. The good news, with the AA 8.4 Gr pellet, I shot six 10 shot groups, two before installing the Vortek PG-3 Steel spring kit, and four afterwards, with each 20 shot string holding an SD of 1, and producing phenomenally consistent & tight center core groups.
After shooting all of the pellets I had to test with the gun as delivered, I installed the Vortek spring kit (photo of label included). This was the high output kit. As you will ascertain, some velocity was gained (not necessarily my goal). Several of the pellets did not group as well with the Vortek kit installed and the corresponding higher velocity. However, the AA 8.4 Gr pellets held true to form. With the Vortek kit, the rifle's shot cycle was even smoother.
Note that the one thing I did not care for out-of-the-box, was that the cocking stroke was "gritty" or rough feeling. While I had the rifle disassembled for the Vortek Kit installation, I used emory cloth and hand polished the tube rail the cocking shoe rides in, followed up with the application of a premium grease. That corrected the problem and the rifle now cocks very smoothly.
Would I have done anything different? If the rifle wasn't performing to the level of perfection that it is, I would probably have disassembled it one more time, and cut 1/2 to 3/4 of one spring coil off. At the very end of the cocking stroke, it often takes a little extra effort to get the rifle to lock-up, telling me that the compression tube is really full. However, it never fails to lock-up and is shooting so well, I decided to leave it alone.
Trigger adjustment was really not too necessary, as out-of-the-box it was very good for a hunting trigger. I did reduce the 2nd stage creep to where there is no noticeable creep now, and it was easy to accomplish.
Final thoughts - for those that don't mind spending a couple of $100 more than one might spend for other premium springers, I believe you will get your money's worth, as the fit, finish, and performance of these rifles are incredible. Unless you are as picky as I am, this rifle is perfect in every way for the typical user, without any alterations or custom tuning, and should be an heirloom that can be passed down for many generations. If and when it needs service a decade from now, this is one of the easiest rifles to disassemble and service on the market, with parts readily available from a number of domestic and overseas entities.