Most Powerful Production Airgun out on First Hunt

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echochap

Member
Apr 1, 2015
214
32
MN, United States
I just posted a video on the first hunt with the Hatsan Piledriver .457, which is the most powerful production air rifle in the world. This hunt was from last month, but I was under an NDA and just cleared to release it. I was really impressed with this gun for the short while that I had it. Unfortunately I didn't have enough bullets or time to do an exhaustive test, but plan to get the rifle back soon for a detailed workup and..... another hunt :).

https://youtu.be/UJkq_e4H4AE
 
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Reactions: Tronic, Micro, JimNM and 1 other person
More powerful than the Texan cf? I believe they said the Texan is up in the 750-760 fr lb. From what I read, the hatsan 45 is only 700 ft lb.
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I've got several Texans, and have been shooting them for several years. They are also excellent hunting rifles, I've got them in .257, .308. .357. and .457 and these have become guns that I trust and rely on. Last year I took deer, hogs, javalina, turkey, aoudad, and feral goats with them. Having said this, my long barrel production Texan .457 (in out of box trim) goes to about 600 fps. They may have a custom shop gun that goes higher, but I haven't seen anything in their catalog. I believe a couple of the guns Eric Henderson has tweaked are doing that.

I certainly don't think power is the end all and be all of a good hunting rifle, you need the whole package.... and in this respect accuracy is more important once you reach a certain energy threshold. But I do believe the Piledriver is the highest power (out of box production rifle) out there..... and from what I saw in my short experience with it is that it ticks the other boxes as well.
 
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Nice offhand shootin bro! (PILE DRIVER) great name for that gun. Do you know how many shots per fill it got?
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I was getting 5 shots, the first three could clover leaf at 50 yards, and the next two shots each dropped about 2" and 4" respectively. Unfortunately I was short on bullets and had to limit my range work. The problem with offhand when using the side shot camera mount is that the guns lifts off target.... the gun has a bit of recoil.
 
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More powerful than the Texan cf? I believe they said the Texan is up in the 750-760 fr lb. From what I read, the hatsan 45 is only 700 ft lb.
Click to expand...


I've got several Texans, and have been shooting them for several years. They are also excellent hunting rifles, I've got them in .257, .308. .357. and .457 and these have become guns that I trust and rely on. Last year I took deer, hogs, javalina, turkey, aoudad, and feral goats with them. Having said this, my long barrel production Texan .457 (in out of box trim) goes to about 600 fps. They may have a custom shop gun that goes higher, but I haven't seen anything in their catalog. I believe a couple of the guns Eric Henderson has tweaked are doing that.

I certainly don't think power is the end all and be all of a good hunting rifle, you need the whole package.... and in this respect accuracy is more important once you reach a certain energy threshold. But I do believe the Piledriver is the highest power (out of box production rifle) out there..... and from what I saw in my short experience with it is that it ticks the other boxes as well.
Click to expand...

I'm talking about the news Texan. Not the old one. Look it up. The new Texan lss carbon fiber is shooting over 750 ft lb right from the box. So hatsan piledriver is only 700ft lb so it wouldn't be the most powerful production air rifle if there is already one shooting over 750 ft lb.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gf3S5_T8MFw
 
Upvote 0
More powerful than the Texan cf? I believe they said the Texan is up in the 750-760 fr lb. From what I read, the hatsan 45 is only 700 ft lb.
Click to expand...


I've got several Texans, and have been shooting them for several years. They are also excellent hunting rifles, I've got them in .257, .308. .357. and .457 and these have become guns that I trust and rely on. Last year I took deer, hogs, javalina, turkey, aoudad, and feral goats with them. Having said this, my long barrel production Texan .457 (in out of box trim) goes to about 600 fps. They may have a custom shop gun that goes higher, but I haven't seen anything in their catalog. I believe a couple of the guns Eric Henderson has tweaked are doing that.

I certainly don't think power is the end all and be all of a good hunting rifle, you need the whole package.... and in this respect accuracy is more important once you reach a certain energy threshold. But I do believe the Piledriver is the highest power (out of box production rifle) out there..... and from what I saw in my short experience with it is that it ticks the other boxes as well.
Click to expand...

I'm talking about the news Texan. Not the old one. Look it up. The new Texan lss carbon fiber is shooting over 750 ft lb right from the box. So hatsan piledriver is only 700ft lb so it wouldn't be the most powerful production air rifle if there is already one shooting over 750 ft lb.



http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gf3S5_T8MFw

Click to expand...


I went on their website and didn't see it, but will look again. I will be meeting with them at the SHOT Show and will ask then. I think it's worth noting that on the Piledriver this is starting out of the box, and when I get the rifle again will start playing with it to see what it can do with some tweaking. Having said this, there is more to the gun than power. What I was more impressed with was shot to shot consistency for the first 3, and even though the 4&5 shots dropped, that was also consistent. Also the short length overall and the ergonomics are very good. I am also interested to see what happens with other bullets, I know that with my Texans, Bushbuck, and Quackenbushes, there was a lot of trial and error before the optimal bullet was found.
 
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Awesome video. Thanks for sharing your FIRST HAND, real life, gun in hand experience.

There are those who rely on third hand info and would argue with their own reflection. Your disclaimer was clear and more than sufficient.

Please keep the flow of good Information flowing.
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Thanks Jim.... I almost didn't put that title in as I knew it was a bit click baity :) ,,,,, What I really think is that once you get to a certain point, the slight differences don't matter that much. What I am really looking forward to is getting the rifle back so I can really start working through it before I take it out hunting again. I liked the ergonomics and shootability and the consistancy, but these thing need a lot of field time to really get a handle on.
 
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