Daystate TSAR (aka ATAMAN M2 - Field Target)

[AdminMASTER]

...a marketing mumbo jumbo deal for Daystate to distribute these in UK ; nothing new out of Daystate UK factory TBH

NB: for our US readers - Its just like Beeman air rifles - all WEIHRAUCHS (Made in Germany)

The video of Tony Belas saying it costs £/$ to develop from ground up is prohibitive reason for not doing another UK designed & made FT gun (since Grand Prix electronic FT fiasco rifle)- and hence he's been talking to ATAMAN for last 4 years...so Its been tweaked to UK tastes....Mmmm...like: adding dovetail and air stripper

TBH, It's a commercial deal and of course there are royalties to pay ATAMAN for putting the engraved Daystate.

Anyway - some high res pics

https://www.facebook.com/daystateltd/

[NeilM]

There will be three, possibly more, being shot at the BFTA European Champs at Weston Park this weekend.

I had a look at one last week as it was launch day and one of the Daystate team is a clubmate.

It looks like a nice enough rifle, but, the first 100mm or so of the barrel out of the breech block looks like its been machined down to fit inside the action (you can clearly see it in the video interview with Tony Belas). I assume one barrel type is used across a range of rifles. Also both the guys in the South West who have these have complained about the heavy weight of the first trigger stage.

All of that said, the rifle seemed to perform well.

I'll be interested to spend some time with one after the Euro's.

[AdminMASTER]

Keep us posted on them Neil...preferably some pics if you can manage ?

Trigger first stage - either no doing, or a guru can sort out..or home job DIY super mega polish

Barrels- you're right - am sure final sales samples wont have the diameter cut off per breech block area...otherwise there are options - Trotanium or Carbon sleeve.

Others wingeing about "free float"- problemo ? - NO actually; just remove the barrel / air cylinder band (am shocked FT shooters gripe about this - would make you believe they can't change their oil filter on their car or replace a flat tyre themselves )

PS: or do an Andras F. M. - ie: a new barrel band ONLY for air cylinder (Per Fwb P70Ft) ...Jon or anyone can muster that up in a jiffy....Alu or Syntered Plastic

[NeilM]

I'll have my camera with me and as well as seeing Stu, Rich and Steve on the course, I'll visit the Daystate stand.

I think the trouble is that many shooters are complete mechanical no nothings, and happy to be that way. So what we see as minor modifications, they see as impossible.

The question I ask with the Tsar is, what's new / different?

It has a Lothar Walther barrel, as do the RAW rifles, the FTP900, the HFT500 and I expect some of the ISP Airstreams. So what is going to make the Tsar perform better than any of those?

I saw an impressive group that Rich shot at 55 yards today, smaller than the size of a 5p coin, but, the wind had carried the pellets around 50mm from the point of aim, which is easy to cope with in a steady breeze, but a lot harder to judge when the wind is light to variable. That said, the rifle has less than 1500 pellets through it so far, and by the time it gets to 5000 I suspect it will be settling in a lot better.

[NeilM]

Well, I had a look at all four of the Daystate Tsar's currently about and one of those is a modified Ataman.

Tony Belas said the barrel will be sorted on the next production run and also a new trigger group will be installed which Rich Beaugie said is "superb".

The machining on the hook part of the butt hook is a little under finished, but I get the distinct impression the three blue rifles were the first preproduction units, so lets see what the production models look like.

All three guys shooting at the Europeans told me that the Tsar performs well, but it was just a lack of time with the rifle that was affecting their scores. Mind, I don't think having video cameras pointing at them during the competition helped.

I'll be shooting Rich's rifle in a week or two and writing a 'first impressions' piece for Comp Air.

Here are a couple of pictures from the stand at the Midland Game Fair.

[AdminMASTER]

credit: Yorkshiretea (UK)

BFTA Euros 2016 - Day 1 & 2

[NeilM]

I shot a Tsar today, one which belongs to clubmate Rich Beaugie and which looks the same as the blue one being used by Stu Hancox.

It is not a light rifle, but it is very well balanced rifle, quite neutral and comfortable in all three FT positions. The trigger is a little heavy on the first stage, but nothing you can't work with. The second stage breaks like glass, maybe a touch heavier than I prefer, but utterly predictable. The lock time is pretty fast, but more importantly the shot is loosed without any movement of the rifle, not a mm, all you hear is the report and a slight ringing from the metalwork.

The cheekpiece is a delight, very abbreviated and with a near 90 degree shelf. Those the like to sink their face into a stock will not like it, those, like me who hang a cheek bone over the shelf will love it. The grip is also comfy and well positioned, and with a small amount of lateral adjustment, along with full rotational adjustability and two long trigger blade rails, you would have to try very hard indeed not to find a position which suits you.

Accuracy is well up to FT standard, but as expected on such a new rifle equipped with a stainless steel barrel, it does need shooting in and so it does take a bit of wind at present. As has been seen with the early stainless Steyr barrels, once all the sharp edges have worn off you can end up with a very accurate rifle.

The adjustable hamster has the best mechanism I have used to date and locks solid in position when the clamp is closed. This made stock adjustment rapid and easy.

The butt hook.... hooks and without breaking any of the owners adjustments, I was soon comfy.

I had limited time on the course, but a 50 yard sitter was easily dispatched and the rifle was so still that I was able to watch the pellet all the way to the target every single shot. Kneeling and standing were both done at 35 yards and were straightforward, the mass of the rifle damping any wobbles which allowed me to tame and control any sideways movement so that as I wandered across the kill, I could loose the shot the moment the crosshair was where I wanted it.

So, first impression.... very nice, impressively dead and with more to come as the barrel shoots in.

[Yorkshiretea]

You can see my pictures here http://www.pelletonpellet.co.uk/ no problem with you uploading them.

[AdminMASTER]

Thanks !

Great website by the way & plenty of nice kit

NB: Martin, can you get your web designer to allow users to download ? had to do a manual screen grab and create a new pic to upload here..pain in backside to do that...

PS: you should add a Watermark bottom right of your pics ie: "Copyright - Pellet on Pellet" in transluscent small white typeface ...

Missed 1 pic - here: http://www.pelletonpellet.co.uk/2016/09 ... ra_id=1850

[Yorkshiretea]

Thanks !

Great website by the way & plenty of nice kit

NB: Martin, can you get your web designer to allow users to download ? had to do a manual screen grab and create a new pic to upload here..pain in backside to do that...

You can grab from Facebook if you want, probably easier for you. https://www.facebook.com/pelletonpellet/

PS: you should add a Watermark bottom right of your pics ie: "Copyright - Pellet on Pellet" in transluscent small white typeface ...

Missed 1 pic - here: http://www.pelletonpellet.co.uk/2016/09 ... ra_id=1850

Not bothered about doing that to be honest as some sites I post on don't allow me to advertise but I'm more than happy to let people use them.