New gun for April

This was an April Fool! Stop asking if we have any left in stock!!

April 1st 2015. New airgun design.

This month we look at the newly designed 'air rifle' from Norway's Vitser-tech co.

The Fusion XCS25 is a combination of air gun with new magnetic 'rail/coil gun' type technology.

First of all, it is semi-auto. Second.... UK legal because of a smooth bore barrel. Third...Magnets spin the projectile and give it an extra kick. So it is technically an airgun at 12ftlbs, but in reality it will chuck it's .25 specially made pellets (has to have steel in it to be magnetic) at around 120ftlbs.

It has an internal mag that holds 300 pellets and an air resevoir in the stock that will do all 300 rounds without any drop off (it's fully regulated) and the battery lasts for at least 1000 shots.

The electronic trigger is really smooth and you can make all sorts of adjustments.

The magnetic accelerator/twister is a clever bit of engineering.

It can take a variety of different rounds, but they must be the specific ones for the gun or it won't work (and they are quite expensive at £12 for 300!)

The company have sent us this picture of their ballistic gel testing.

Imagine what that would do to a rabbit or pigeon! Notice that the pellet fragments on exit, meaning there is little chance of richochets or any damage to back stops.

These are retailing at £2300... expensive but well worth it. The magnetic stabilisation means it 'one holes' at 70 yards! 



Only about 10 coming into the country so if you want one get into the shop soon as they are likely to sell out today 1st April.


I'll say that again ......"1st April"......

Afraid best we can do you is the Semi-Auto GTL480 from Evanix.  or the new Daystate Pulsar which are due any day now. Maybe I will see if I can make one of these though just for a laugh.

Engraving stocks

Checkering the stock.

The old Gamo cf20 stock came out quite well with a bit of walnut oil. Wax polish to finish it.

Now comes the scary bit. I have never worked on a stock in this way so it's a steep learning curve. Usually it's the functional parts to fix on the guns rather than the aesthetics (and I am not an artist) so this is all new to me and I plan to learn as I go along.

I think the borders may be a bit too thick but I seem to be following the master lines ok and have only had a couple of over-runs. I think I can clean this up after I'm done. More to follow as I go on, but so far not bad for my first attempt and remember that this is just an old air rifle that we are making good enough for someone to play with in their garden and not an expensive one.

There's really good (lengthy) tutorial on youtube by Midway USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lbK3us_JCY

Mine is going to be nowhere near as good as this (and this beech stock is not the greatest)... but we all have to start somewhere.

Bullpup air rifles

Bullpup air rifles seem to be in fashion at the moment with a number of manufacturers bringing out new ones.

For those that aren't sure Bullpup describes a modern firearm configuration in which the action and magazine are located behind the trigger group and alongside the shooter's face, so there is no wasted space for the buttstock as in conventional designs. This permits a shorter firearm length for the same barrel length for improved maneuverability, and reduces weight. (See wikipedia from the links for more info).

In the UK a shorter length barrel does not mean a reduction in accuracy. At the ranges sub 12ftlbs air rifles (non licensed) go out to, it shouldn't make any difference at all. We have already had a report of a target club member being mocked for using a Rainstorm until he out shot everyone there!

The bullpup design allows for a shorter front end, which is great for standing or kneeling shots and quick target aquisition. They are also handy if shooting out of a vehicle or from a hide.
Some people may find them less appealing. The scope positioning on most does take a bit of getting used to (or just use a riser). They generally have a solid and chunky feel to them and are fairly easy to handle. If you look around the forums online you will find quite a few people that have made their own bullpup using standard pcp airgun parts, it's well worth a look. (just bear in mind that UK law only allows a certain minimum length to be over 6ftlbs or it is considered a pistol... be careful!)

What have we got in the shop then?

Just having come in is the JKhan Noblesse.

This is an exceptionally well built gun with a side lever action and nice chunky 10 shot magazine. This also has a double load prevention system which is a great addition. Priced at £899
It has a black counterpart, which although looks synthetic is actually black sepatia wood.
This one is slightly cheaper at £799

This pre-charged rifle gets around 150 shots in .177 and 180 in .22 out of it's 280cc air cylinder. It has a fully shrouded barrel but can take an extra silencer if required.



This one is my personal favourite. The Evanix Rainstorm. Made in Korea it has a side lever action and a distinct futuristic look to it. The all aluminum frame is a lot more sturdy than it first looks and at £699 is a great price. We do have a gunsmith that is able to do rather nice trigger jobs on these as well if you require something a bit more high end. This gun can also take an additional silencer if needed but the barrel is already shrouded and unlike some airguns, this actually works really well.

Evanix Rainstorm Bullpup in .177 or .22

Evanix also do the Max-ML at £750 which hasn't been as popular for some reason. I quite like the overall look to it, but it is essentially the same as the rainstorm but with a different frame around it. You can also get this with a wooden stock, which some people prefer. Personally I think the synthetic looks better for the overall 'starship troopers' look of the gun.

Next on my list is the new Daystate Pulsar. This is coming in 2 guises. The first to be released with be the limited edition walnut stock edition (with gold inlay etc).

Limited Edtion Pulsar £1995

The standard is available in either tactical black or in laminate wood.

Daystate Pulsar £1785

A very nicely finished gun. it comes with a built in laser sight and the whole trigger system is electronic and it is also regulated. Again like most bullpups it has the side lever cocking lever. This looks to be one of the premiers in the bullpup world at the moment.

The FX Bobcat MK2 is also on our list as a nice gun with some different features such as a magazine holder in the stock.

FX Bobcat MK2

The Kalibr Cricket is one to consider and has had excellent reviews, however we don't plan on getting these at the moment as we already have such a huge range of airguns we are now running out space!

If none of these appeal then there are always the carbines to consider. Much like their 'Rifle' counterparts but just shorter (again no real difference in sub 12ftlbs) BSA for example do the ultra carbine and even their flagship R-10 is now available in carbine form. (£780)

BSA R-10 Super Carbine

It really does seem that shorter guns are the in thing at the moment. It will be interesting to see if other manufacturers like BSA follow this trend.

All of these are available from our shop. www.diffcal.co.uk

Airgun refurb progress

So the old Gamo cf20 has been reblued to an ok standard and I've completely stripped the stock of varnish. Instead of a dark varnish finish I've used a mix of walnut and Danish oil on it. The beech stock isn't the greatest but with multiple coats it is slowly starting to look good. .... Or at least better than it was.

Next stage will be to put some checkering on it. 

Refurbishing old air rifles

We get a lot of old knackered air rifles handed in to us from various places. A lot of these are collectable in their own right despite any blemishes, but some are just too far gone to be sold on.

One of my latest projects is to turn these old guns into something usable. At least a beginner can then use it for backyard plinking etc. (I dislike scrapping things if they potentially still have life left in them)

This Gamo CF20 came in from Harpenden cadets a while ago

In it's current rusty state with the wood all scratched up it is still worth about £40-£50 in my book. (It is fully functioning and the spring is still good with about 10 ftlbs of pressure coming out of it.)

First job to do was seperate the barrel from the stock and remove the trigger guard. An easy job, just removing 4 screws.

The barrel and spring housing were badly scratched. First thought was to just fill it in with cold blueing, however this didn't work as it was just too far gone.  Wire wool and a couple of hours of gentle scrubbing did the trick to remove most of the blemishes and bring it back to bare metal.

After this it was simply cold blued several times to build up the layers and get a dark finish. If I was after perfection, I would consider a hot blueing, however this is a time consuming and intensive (expensive) process and with these guns we are simply trying to bring them to a standard where they can be used and still look reasonable.

The stock was of some debate. The wood is pretty basic beech with no real patterning or anything on it. An option here would be to hydrodip it and turn it into a 'camo gun', however the big scratches all over it mean it will have to be sanded a considerable amount anyway.


It will therefore be sanded, proofed and oiled, and then hand engraved with a diamond chequer pattern on the grip and fore-end. This is going to take hours..... but I need the practice.  More to follow as find the time to do it.

Semi-Auto UK legal airgun

See my original review on our website


Evanix GTL480 Semi Auto Airgun.
UK legal.

These are the actual guns we have in stock.

So there are some differences to my Evanix GTL480 'prototype' and the ones we have got in for the UK market. (Apologies for the poor pictures)

First of all the filling valve no longer sticks out at the side. It didn't really bother me or get in the way, but having it discreetly underneath with the gauge just looks much more streamlined

Prototype 

side filling valve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New valve position.

 

 

 

 

 

We also found the stock a bit on the short side to get a comfortable position and this has been lengthend. It is still not adjustable, however you get more of a range to place the scope to suit. and the cheek piece now has more vertical adjustment.

The aluminum housing has also been improved, with better screw fixings and the panels seem to fit more flush against each other.

 

 

 

Longer more comfortable stock.

The trigger linkage also seems to be smoother on these, but that could well just be due to the better fitting stock.

There are only 10 of these in the UK at the moment, we will continue to experiment with the semi-auto market and may well be getting some more in or maybe not depending on interest from customers. (Only 2 left in stock now!). info@adifferentcalibre.co.uk if you are interested.

Big rat.

Rufus my terrier caught this big rat today... Could well be the one that's been taunting us for the past few weeks, the sneaky bastard. Not bad for a ten year old mutt! 

New Guns

So many new airguns are coming into the shop, that I don't know which one to play with first. Having had great success with my Evanix GTL480 Semi-auto, I'm not really sure that I can go back to a bolt action on any gun. I have been promised the use of one of Daystate's new Pulsar Bullpups though and maybe the BSA Goldstar. 

Daystate have just released their new video for it and some of the features look interesting. I especially like the built in bubble level and laser sight!

 

Andrew (the boss) likes this as well, but I think he is more keen on the overall adjustable nature that the BSA Goldstar has to offer.