Hatsan Dominator 200W

The Turkish company Hatsan was founded in 1976 and along with its shotguns are providing the British public with a wide choice of reasonably priced air guns.

The Dominator 200W is one such air rifle, that has the ethos: build it well, cheap and pack in the features; and that it certainly does. A wood-stocked, full-sized rifle with an under lever, fixed barrel configuration and available in .177, .22 or .25 calibres, it’s a nice air rifle for hunting. I wanted to test the .25 cal version, as I have been having a bit of a love affair with this short-range puncher for a while now and the 200W might satisfy that craving.

The Dominator is pretty sizable and in use it feels large but well-balanced. Available in full-size, (as tested) or carbine, it feels very solid in the hand. The barrel is 18-inches long (17.5-inches plus a length of shroud) and is a fixed barrel and underlever cocking mechanism type like the HW97 and TX200. The muzzle moulding houses the cocking lever catch, that is made of brass and is released by moving forward the twin projecting catches. The rest of the plastic muzzle moulding houses the fore sight, which is a hooded enclosure with a single red Truglo aiming dot.

Smooth Operator

Cocking the Dominator is smooth and easy, with the long cocking arm. There is an anti-bear trap device for safety, and it locks the piston and its sleeve rearward until the side-mounted release lever is depressed, once this is done the cocking arm can be returned to the locked position. Spring noise on compression was minimal and from the off it was quiet to shoot.

The receiver is large and has Hatsan’s ‘SAS’ Shock Absorber System around the mounting screws, this reduces vibrations as the Dominator is fired and helps dampen vibration that might otherwise damage scope’s reticules, whilst providing more consistent accuracy.

There are twin scope dovetails cut for 11mm and 22mm scope mounting, with a large recoil arrestor supplied. This allows a very flexible choice of scope mounts to be used and positions also for differing scope sizes and eye relief preferences. The rear sight is micro adjustable for elevation and windage, with a notched aiming mark flanked by a single green Truglo to align quickly with the red foresight element. Overall finish is a subdued satin blue, with logos highlighted in silver.

The Quattro trigger design is adjustable for weight and travel and as set, 4.15lbs on this model, was pretty good and certainly better than many triggers fitted to rifles of this type. In fact, the position of the first and second stage pulls can be adjusted to suit your tastes and safety has been a key feature of its design.

If you take up the first pull and then decide not to shoot and release the trigger pressure, the Quattro resets back to full sear engagement. The adjustments are made by tightening or loosening three screws set into the underside of the trigger. There is also a safety device that has a drop down interlock, so if the Striker is dropped without the safety applied, it will still not go off. The safety itself is sited on the rear shroud; it’s a small knurled lever that in its upright and forward position is safe and locks the trigger. Pushed down and it now unlocks and the Hatsan can be fired. It’s quiet and easy to use in the field.

 

Get Wood

The stock is wood and being Turkish is made, as you would not expect, from walnut, which was a nice surprise! This model wears a good-sized, ambidextrous design, which is a little flashy for me, i.e. it has laser-cut lettering for make and model and large cut checkered panels. These have lozenge shaped panels of bordered non-checkered wood set into checkered surrounds. The forend is nice and hand-filling and the pistol grip is full-sized. Best of all is the adjustable cheekpiece design and buttplate system; this allows you to mould the stock to your body requirements.

The cheekpiece is elevated by loosening two coin-slot screws, that allow the cheekpiece to rise on twin aluminium pillars, greatly helping with correct cheek weld and scope alignment.

The Dominator comes with three stock length altering inserts, that increase the length of pull 5mm at a time, with one inserted it was 14.5-inches. Overall finish was a matt lacquer. You’re also given in the package a bipod that attaches to the under lever and a sling that attaches to sling swivel attachments front and rear of the stock.

 

Field Testing

As with all new springers, it’s a good idea to run a few hundred pellets through them before you seriously start testing, this allows all the parts to harmonise and the lubes to spread evenly. Then you will get a better idea how your new rifle will perform. However, this Hatsan shot straight off the bat, and with some pellets very healthily indeed. It was interesting shooting the pellets across the Chrony FI chronograph, as some fitted very well into the barrel, whilst others were tight and shot low velocities. The .25 pellet is usually pretty good but can be fickle with the large diversity of pellet types tested.

With the lower velocities generated by the heavy pellets noise or muzzle report was not an issue and the Dominator felt assured but with a relatively long firing cycle. Proper follow through was therefore necessary for best accuracy that I tested at 25-yards, more than enough for .25 cal.

Top accuracy went to the Rhino pellets, with five pellet clusters measuring 0.55-inches at 25-yards. With a velocity of 501fps and 10.7ft/lbs with these 19.1-grain pellets, that makes a great close range thumper.

In joint second place for accuracy were the Superfields and RWS Super Domes, at 0.75-inches each. My choice would be the Superfields, as their slightly heavier weight and higher velocity of 439fps gave a very healthy 11.7ft/lbs energy.

Best velocity went to the Pylarms at 516fps with the 19.1-grain pellet for 11.3ft/lbs but accuracy was 0.95-inches at 25-yards. The highest energy figures went to the Spitz Kugeln at 11.8ft/lbs but it had the poorest accuracy at 1.25-inches. Some pellets that have performed well in other .25 cal rifles did not shoot well here and vice versa, that’s why, especially with a .25, It’s best to test every pellet type possible, to ascertain what works in your rifle’s barrel.

 

Conclusion

There is no doubt the Dominator is a big rifle at 45.75-inches long and weighing 9.95lbs without scope but a carbine version at 43.2-inches and 9.7lbs would probably suit smaller shooters. Also, the carbine can be fitted with a silencer if needed, the standard length cannot. I was impressed with the overall accuracy and power level of the Dominator, as it was certainly accurate and packed a real wallop with some of the pellets.

If you are after a good .25 cal air rifle, then the Dominator 200W is certainly worth a good look.

PRICE: RRP £355.00
SUPPLIER: Edgar Brothers 01625 613 177, www.edgarbrothers.com