Indoor and target PCP, AA T200

[North Country Gal]

We've ordered one more PCP to fill a hole in our PCP collection. It's a very well known gun in the air gun target shooting world with an excellent track record. It's the https://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Air_Arms ... ights/2622.

Air Arms is an English air gun company, but the 200 is actually made by CZ.

Why the T200?

I do a lot of indoor shooting in the winter and 10 meters with light springers such as the HW30 or the Slavia 631 Lux, both of which shoot in that 450 to 650 fps velocity window. That's ideal for indoor shooting. Anything more is overkill. We also have a nice variety of air pistols, all of which shoot in that same approximate velocity range.

What we don't have, though, is an indoor friendly PCP air rifle. Love our Daystate PCP rifles and we also enjoy our Benjamin Discovery, but those all shoot at 900 fps (and the Disco only gets 20 shots per fill). Enter the T200 at 500 fps with over 100 shots per fill. Add in some nice target sights and we think this one will be a winner. Also, there are lots of add on accessories for the T200, such as a power upgrade kit if we want to shoot this one outdoors at longer distances. Should be set to go at 30 yards, right out of the box, though, if we want to also do some backyard shooting.

Will report more, later.

[BigAl52]

Nice rifle NCG. Ive posted a couple of times over there on the GTA forum and dont get much response. Seems to be kind of a clickish bunch.

[North Country Gal]

Yes, there is certainly an element of that in the various gates. Every gate seems to have its dominant group and it is sometimes hard to break in to those groups. I mostly post in the German airgun gate, because it's the most active gate for springers. I'm very well known, there, but less so in other gates.

The PCP gate is dominated by the low to mid priced PCPs, as you might expect. Almost nothing on the higher end PCPs.

The Vintage gate is heavily biased towards old Benjamin and Crosman stuff.

If you ever have any questions, of course, I'll do my best to help.

[BigAl52]

https://www.amazon.com/Wearable4U-Umare ... 286&sr=8-4

Thanks NCG. Give me your thoughts on this rifle. Sure have seen alot of reports on it and all very positive. Ive been looking at this one and trying to decide .177 or .22cal. This package is only for 22 cal.

[Sir Henry]

You should be getting a commission on all the sales you are creating here. I’m tempted as it looks like something I would really like but I need to get a year of CO2 under my belt and not just keep buying. I will be looking forward to a range report.

[BigAl52]

Im just thinkin CO2 instead of the PCP. Just cause I dont want to spend all that money on the support gear for PCP. You can also convert this one so I understand. This will also give me the multiple shot rifle.

[Sir Henry]

Im just thinkin CO2 instead of the PCP. Just cause I dont want to spend all that money on the support gear for PCP. You can also convert this one so I understand. This will also give me the multiple shot rifle.

With 90% of my firearm collection in the process of being sold I have the money but not the time to dedicate to both. The CO2 has the attraction of being a lot easier to setup for a novice like me.

But next year......

[North Country Gal]

Al, I didn't know much about this rifle, so did several reviews on it. I have to say I was impressed. It's actually a Hammerli 850, made in Germany, so definitely not some cheap imported junk. There's even a PCP version. Runs on the big 88/90 gram cartridges, but Umarex offers a 12 gram adapter. Accuracy looks good, not quite PCP class, but very good and for sure, it gets you out of the fill hassle of going PCP. Crazy number of fills.

I think the best video was by https://airgundetectives.com/umarex-850 ... ll-review/. He did some interesting mods. Check it out.

[DAVIDF]

I did not know CZ made airguns. I generally learn one or two things every time I read something you post NCG!

Took my wife to the outdoor range this past Sunday so she could shoot the Beeman R7 and a new CZ 457 Trainer. She has shot the Beeman just a couple of times in the back yard, but this time it off the bench. She really liked it a lot, more than I would have figured. Both of us loved the CZ, it is extremely accurate. Couldn't tell from our groups but I did manage to get one group that was a ragged hole at 25 yards while sighting in the iron sights. It is pretty much a tie for her as to which rifle is her favorite the CZ or her Henry H001L. The Henry is better offhand for her due to its weight and the CZ is perfect on the bench.

[North Country Gal]

Have to admit that the simplicity of CO2 is very attractive and that the typical COs power level is very back yard and indoor friendly.

David, yes, CZ has been in the air rifle business for a long time, though I didn't know that until we recently bought a used Slavia 631 (also a CZ brand) made in the 80s or so. Not surprised, though, since European countries have always had a very strong air gun tradition.

Love the CZ 457 platform. The 457 Trainer is excellent, I agree.

[BigAl52]

NCG yes I knew it was not the typical made in china rifle. Only because of the research I did. Just still deciding 177 or 22

[North Country Gal]

Your call on that one, Al. We're just target shooters, so not much advantage for us going 22.

[dave77]

Al, I didn't know much about this rifle, so did several reviews on it. I have to say I was impressed. It's actually a Hammerli 850, made in Germany, so definitely not some cheap imported junk. There's even a PCP version. Runs on the big 88/90 gram cartridges, but Umarex offers a 12 gram adapter. Accuracy looks good, not quite PCP class, but very good and for sure, it gets you out of the fill hassle of going PCP. Crazy number of fills.

I think the best video was by https://airgundetectives.com/umarex-850 ... ll-review/. He did some interesting mods. Check it out.

This looks like one I'd be interested in getting, it's in my price range and accurate. Would be using it for target shooting and maybe shooting some rats that have been invading my friend's chicken coop. I was looking at some break barrels but would rather have the easier, quicker loading of this one. Couple of questions, I have a decent scope on my .22 that I rarely shoot. It's a Weaver 3-12x44mm, maybe a little overkill for a pellet gun but it looks very similar to the one on the gun in the review. Also is this the one Al said you could convert to PCP.
Just curious if it's possible to shoot BB's in the .177 model.

[BigAl52]

Dave
I would need to dig a little deeper in research to be sure on converting this one but maybe NCG knows that answer. I had watched that video before she pointed it out and if Im not mistaken I think he mentions it. If not I know on GLA there is a thread where a guy has done it as he owns more than one. As far as BBs go this gun has a magazine that is made for pellets so I don’t think BBs are an option

[John E Davies]

Just still deciding 177 or 22

Bigger pellets are way more fun if you plan to plink cans or paintballs. Plus they are a whole lot easier to manipulate if your finger dexterity is declining. This is the main reason I bought a .25 caliber Bull Boss. I do not shoot enough rounds to make the pellet cost a factor. Look for a gun that has a single shot tray available.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[North Country Gal]

Dave, I suspect you could shoot BBs in any 177 air rifle if you wanted to do it bad enough, but I see no advantage to it. For sure, you're not doing the rifling any favors since typical BBs are steel. That's why actual BB guns are smoothbore. Folks who have done it report poor accuracy, anyway. Not something I would recommend. Is there a reason why you'd want to do it?

As for the scope, yes, you can use any kind of scope you want on a CO2 or PCP or pneumatic. It's only on piston guns that you need to get a scope that is "air gun rated" due to the recoil. Even with such an air-gun rated scope, I've still had scopes go bad on my springers. Replacing scopes on springers is just something we springers shooters have to do at times. Not fun. Lost one this week.

The one caveat about using rimfire and big game scopes for air gun shooting is parallax. Parallax at 10 meters with even a standard rimfire scope without an AO is enough to be a problem. It can cause misses on very small targets. Many big game scopes won't even focus, clearly, up that close. Couple weeks back, I tried a Nikon big game scope with an AO and had that problem, because the AO wouldn't even focus down to 30 yards. Simply could not get a sharp image at 30 yards. Give that scope a try, though. Might work just fine. Won't know till then.

I agree, John, that there are advantages to bigger pellets and handling is definitely one of them. I think every shooter has to weigh the pros and cons, then make the choice of caliber decision for themselves.

[Sir Henry]

I have never heard the term joule used before.

[Sir Henry]

Is the .177 measured from the lands or the grooves on airguns?

[North Country Gal]

Joule is the unit of energy in metric, fpe is the unit of energy in the English system. In countries where the metric system is used, such as the continent in Europe, joules are used instead of fpe to rate air gun power.

The 177 is the measurement between the lands, though most air gun barrels measure slightly less between the lands than the marked caliber. Typically, a 177 barrel will measure .176 between the lands. The grooves are larger and vary by barrel manufacturer. Again, in metric a 177 cal airgun is a 4.5mm air gun.

[dave77]

Was just curious about the bb's, pellets are cheap enough. From what I can see my scope has a AO dial, I didn't have any trouble focusing down to around 40 feet so will probably at least try it on the airgun.

The Umarex 850 M2 looks like what I want but being a novice when it comes to airguns is it not recommended to leave a partially used CO2 cartridge in the gun, if so I would probably wait for the 2X12-GRAM CO2 ADAPTER to come back in stock before ordering the gun.