Several weeks ago I received a package shipped to me from Airguns Of Arizona that included the New Brocock Atomic XR pistol in .22 caliber. This was a big surprise to me as things had been kept very quiet about the production of this lightweight, compact and very versatile new offering. The Atomic is the latest version of the Brocock PCP platform and can trace its line right back to the original Compatto. The Brocock Atomic XR Pistol is a new model that’s dedicated for the US market. UK regulations mean that it will not be available in its country of origin and that it leaves the British factory as a carbine. The Atomic XR is available in .22 caliber with .177 coming. In pistol form the Atomic XR features an Air Superiority Products power adjuster that’s installed by AoA. This works in conjunction with the regular, side-mounted Brocock power adjuster that's essentially a transfer port restrictor.
BROCOCK ATOMIC XR INFO
I was excited to get my hands on this pistol as it has a huge range of power settings. For example, in .22 caliber the range is all the way from 30 shots at 20 Ft/Lbs on High Power, right down to 120 shots at 4 Ft/Lbs on Low Power.
This range of Muzzle Energies allows the Atomic XR to be used for hunting in the field at full power, or as a plinking/target pistol for basement or garage range use at home. In .177 caliber, the Brocock Atomic XR is a certain contender for Field Target pistol competition. In common with other Brocock PCPs, the Atomic XR is equipped with a Lothar Walther barrel, HUMA regulator and the new XR sidelever action.
The one-piece Aluminum chassis incorporates a prominent Picatinny rail for attaching a bipod. With a length of 14.5 Inches when configured as a pistol, the new Atomic weighs just 4 lbs. It’s 4.6 lbs as a carbine. The Atomic XR has a 10″ LW barrel that’s stiff as can be as well being fitted with 1/2″ UNF threads for ease of mounting a wide range of moderators.
I mounted the 0dB 110c, this quieted the report dramatically making it more than adequate for backyard use. The pistol comes standard will 11mm scope rail but can be upgraded to a picatinny mount that’s available from Airguns Of Arizona. This mount allows the use of a dot-sight that fits the gun well and is ideal for up-close hunting and target shooting.
The Atomic XR is of side-lever design and is a smooth one at that, very easy to cock due to the lower power levels and low spring tension.
Just in front of the side-lever is “one” of the power adjusters that can be found on all the XR line of Airguns. This allows on the fly adjustment that comes in handy for those situations where we want to instantly lower or raise the power. An example would be if we were hunting out on a farm shooting pigeons and wanted full power and then later that evening we were to hunt inside a barn for rats, we can simply turn the power down without needing any tools or internal adjustments. Beyond the side adjustment the Atomic XR is fitted with an Air Superiority Power adjuster. This adjuster is located just behind the breech and further allows us to control the pistols hammer spring preload.
The power wheel has increments of power that reads in numbers from 1 to 9, this allows us to always keep track of our adjustments for when using different pellets. If that’s not enough adjustment the Atomic is also fitted with a HUMA regulator that is factory set to 135 bar. The regulator can be internally adjusted for those who want to go more detailed with tuning although I feel it’s set to a good mark. Moving down the Atomic has a well placed paddle style safety that can easily be motioned on and off with the flick of the index finger.
This is a very simple design and one of my favorite locations for a safety, great for quick on and off during hunting situations. The trigger unit is two stage and breaks at just over 1.3 lbs with a very predictable feel, this too can be adjusted further. The overall fit and finish on the pistol is fantastic, very well machined lower that is fitted with a nicely contoured AR style grip.
The lower is all one piece billet aluminum and include 4″ picatinny rail integrated into it, perfect for mounting accessories such as flashlights, lasers or a bipod. I have found the Accu-Tac to be one of the best bipods that has been a proven durable unit in the field. These bipods are heavy but the added weight is well worth it for the heavy duty build quality. The New models of Brococks now include the newer style magazines that have moved over from the sister company Daystate.
These New magazines have a magnetic door that can be pulled open to expose the entirety of the drum that hold 11 pellets. These are very easy to load and I like how they can easily be cleaned out if any debris get ingested. These magazines are all aluminum construction and slide in and out of the breech very easily. Beyond the magazine the Atomic XR includes a single shot tray as well, this tray can be loaded from either side of the pistol.
I prefer to load the tray from the left side as I like to single load pellets with my right had, this is a simple but very useful addition for the target shooter. I took several shots with the gun and immediately concluded that in pistol form as a right handed shooter it would be nice to have the cocking lever on the left side of the rifle.
As it is I have to either take my hand off the grip to cock the side-lever with my right hand or turn the pistol to the left and cock with my left hand. This really didn’t bother me to much as I had planned to configure the Atomic XR into a carbine where the right side cocking would be no issue. After having some fun in the backyard I decided to remove the dot-sight and mount a BSA pistol scope that I would try for some short range 25 yard targets. This is no doubt a pretty sharp looking pistol and found this configuration to work pretty well for closer range targets.
I was shooting the 18gr JSB’s at 701 fps that was giving me a fantastic spread of just 7 fps over 32 shots from a 250 bar fill pressure. Mind you this with just the adjustment on the rear power wheel set to high. This was only 25 yards but I was still really happy with my results considering I really don’t ever shoot pistols.
Pretty decent eleven shot group with plenty of room for improvement on my part. After shooting a bit more we moved back to the table where I added the tactical carbine stock.
To add the stock the lower needs to come off with the four bolts located around the side of the trigger guard, fairly simple and straight forward.
Once the lower is removed it’s important to make sure the side power adjuster ball spring doesn’t fall out, this spring keeps tension on the side power adjustment knob. Moving back we had two bolts to remove that allows the Air Superiority Power adjuster to be removed to be able to fit the carbine stock.
The hammer spring needs to slide over the guide on the carbine stock, the carbine stock has an internal adjustment that comes set from the factory to 20 fpe but can be adjusted in and out with two neoprene set screws that lock in place. The stock simply slides in and bolts in place.
After getting everything back together I decided to mount the Hawke Vantage 3-12×44 SF scope that fit the gun well and allowed for mounting my Tactacam for when filming the action on our hunt.
Anyone interested in seeing more about the Atomic XR I welcome you to check out the full detailed video that includes my final thoughts. Marley and I had a great few days out with a new tent along with some fantastic food I took some time to prepare. Happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability.
.https://youtu.be/mjByUsvX28Q
