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BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard ‘Black Pepper’ Stock

BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard ‘Black Pepper’ Stock

I’m sure regular readers will know that I’ve previously tested two versions of this rifle – those being the BSA R-10 Mk2 VC and the R-10 Mk2 Super Carbine VC. The ‘VC’ stands for Variable Choke silencer and they offered three stock options - Walnut, Black Tactical (Synthetic) and Woodland. So what’s the great difference? BSA designate this model as ‘Standard’, which basically means this is the full length version and all ‘standards’ are fitted with a full barrel shroud. BSA devotees will not be surprised at this latest option, as they’re following a path they’ve trodden before; previously their former flagship multi-shot PCP (now discontinued) SuperTEN Mk III, was eventually offered with a bull barrel. However, they’ve gone a step further, as they’ve recently added a new stock option; the extremely attractive laminate version, which they call Black Pepper!

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Even though all furniture options are of the same design, you can’t miss the fact that this is one of the most striking and attractive pieces of furniture you’ll find outside of certain ltd edition rifles launched by one of the UK’s other top quality airgun manufacturers. The colour blend is reminiscent of others we’ve seen in the past, as the laminate ‘planking’ used to make up the stock ranges in colour variations from light to dark grey, with tinges of yellow, blue and a hint of black highlighted even further by the wonderful grain pattern.

Superbly finished, the design is ambidextrous boasting a high, well defined and substantial cheekpiece and a sliding, height-adjustable black rubber butt pad. Although the stock is quite chunky and thickset for most of its length, the neck is sensibly trimmed, resulting in it being slim at the top rear section. The drop-down pistol grip offers a near perfect firing hand hold and trigger finger position, with a palm swell locking the hand in nicely. A generously sized thumb shelf is also featured.

Red palisander wood end caps, with thin maple spacers are also integrated into the build. One is set at the base of the pistol grip, while the other is formed into an elegant and elongated Schnabel tip at the forend, complimenting the laminate’s overall ‘shadow grey’ effect colouration perfectly. Although there is no chequering or stippling, the stock holds well in the aim, due no doubt to its layout. Another welcome addition are the integral, QD sling swivel studs that are fitted as standard, so sling and bipod are possible.

ACTION STATIONS

All the R-10 Mk2 versions use a removable 200cc buddy bottle, but you can also fill ‘on-gun’ as there’s an inlet valve port on the underside of the stock adjacent to the air pressure gauge. This takes a Quick Fill probe (supplied) with a recommended fill pressure of 232bar. The company claim this gives approximately 165-shots in .177 calibre as per test rifle, and 225 in the other calibre options of .22 and .25.

Topside - the action block has the now familiar uninterrupted flat receiver for scope fitting, making this one of the few multi-shot PCPs where you don’t have to bridge over a protruding magazine; so no struggling to fit any form of scope. For test, I fitted a Hawke Airmax 30 3 - 12 X 50SF with AMX reticle, set in suitably high mounts. Even with the Hawke on top, the rifle does not feel that heavy, nor is it unhandy either!

COLOUR-CODED

It goes without saying that the rifle uses the up-graded, self-actuating, 10-shot removable magazine familiar to all BSA multi-shot PCPs. These also now have a colour-coded, high impact polymer inner rotor. The colour denotes the different calibres – these being blue .177, red .22 and black .25, also at the top on the exposed area you can clearly see it’s also numbered, so you can keep check on your round count easily. It’s ridged on the outer edge for ease of use and indexes much more smoothly and positively than the original all-metal version.

Loading is simple; pellets are placed into the empty chambers through the hole in the side plate facing you, as they appear when you manually rotate the inner ‘carrier’ anti-clockwise until all ten are filled. Incidentally, a new addition to the design is a small circular aperture towards the bottom left of the magazine face plate – when it shows a white dot you’re on your last shot.

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Operation is simple! To cock and load, first slide the large, serrated magazine retaining catch (positioned just forward of the action block on the left) forward and pull back the rear-mounted Bolas cocking bolt. The magazine now easily lifts out of the left hand side of the action. Another praiseworthy feature is the exceptional semi-match grade trigger unit. This can be fine-tuned for even the most finicky of tastes including angle of shoe position, length and weight of pull. This must be done with the action out of the stock. Praise again also to the practical and well-sized and easily accessible manually operated safety lever, positioned to the left top rear of the action block.

CRACK!

The firing signature comes as a loud crack, as would be encountered on any un-silenced PCP; indicating that the barrel shroud is certainly for cosmetic appeal only! However, on the plus side the muzzle brake, (which doubtless contributes to the noise) is removable and reveals a standard ½” x 20 UNF thread, so you have the option to fit a moderator of choice! Any quality silencer will tame muzzle report to the level most hunters require but choose wisely, as the R-10 Mk2 Standard measures 38.2” from butt to muzzle.

However, be sensible in the can you choose to fit, as although it really does require extra suppression for the hunting arena, some may feel it a tad lengthy for certain situations but thankfully it doesn’t feel unwieldy or unbalanced when shooting off-hand.

Using quality ammo, the Standard soon showed its pedigree, as it made ragged and tight one hole clusters from my 30 yard set zero out to 40+ yards when shooting off a rest. It was at this point I was able to assess BSA’s shot count claims, which seemed a tad adventurous. There was no denying the superb ‘metering’ capabilities of the air regulator fitted however, as it showed an impressive level of shot-to-shot consistency.

CONCLUSIONS

Without doubt the BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard uses one of the most high quality actions of any multi-shot PCP in this price bracket and this impressive feature makes it very attractive to any hunter. Its in-field performance and extreme accuracy make this a very efficient piece of hunting hardware, that now comes in a host of options to suit all tastes.

Although the full length rifle as tested will appeal to many shooters, I’d be surprised if BSA don’t offer a carbine option as they did with its predecessor in the near future. The stock is a compact yet chunky offering, which you might feel would be more suited to a shorter rifle, yet such is the layout, it perfectly complements the longer and heftier action of the Standard. As attractive and appealing as this superb multi-shot PCP surely is; personal choice would have me go for the Super Carbine ‘VC’ variant and certainly in this stock option. This furniture has to be one of, if not the best designed, superbly crafted and finished production laminate stocks currently available.

THANKS TO

T & J. J McAvoy LTD for supplying rifle on test

PRICE: SRP£799 ‘Black Pepper’. All other stock options £780, Spare Magazines £45
CONTACT: BSA Guns Ltd, www.bsaguns.co.uk

 

  • BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard ‘Black Pepper’ Stock - image {image:count}

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  • BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard ‘Black Pepper’ Stock - image {image:count}

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  • BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard ‘Black Pepper’ Stock - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard ‘Black Pepper’ Stock - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard ‘Black Pepper’ Stock - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard ‘Black Pepper’ Stock - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard ‘Black Pepper’ Stock - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

gun
features

  • Name : BSA R-10 Mk2 Standard, ‘Black Pepper’ Stock Option
  • Type : PCP
  • Power source : Removable buddy bottle
  • Capacity : 10 (DM)
  • Bolt-action : operated
  • Stock : Ambidextrous sporter with adjustable butt pad
  • Length : 38.2”
  • Barrel : 15.5”
  • Weight : 6.9lbs un-scoped
  • Calibre : .177 on test, .22 and .25 available(.25 is 8-shot)
  • Trigger : 2-stage, semi-match adjustable
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