Winchester 4.5 Special (Airgun)

With Gamo/BSA’s recent deal to incorporate Daisy Airguns under their corporate umbrella, we can expect a procession of interesting new models to wing their way over the pond, all with the fun element very much at the forefront. I remember the famous American brand from my youth, the pump-up Daisy Powerline a regular entry from the ‘buy by catalogue’ days. On test here is a CO2-powered pistol from Daisy, manufactured in Taiwan under license and using the classic Winchester brand name. It’s the Winchester 4.5 Special revolver, and as far as first impressions are concerned, it really looks and feels the part, being of all metal construction, bar the grips.

Get a grip

Supplied in a simple cardboard carton, open the box and the authentic look and feel of this 4.5 Special are instantly apparent. Nicely machined in what appears to be stainless steel, the action has sufficient weight and precision to impress from the off, with all the metalwork polished to a good standard. Admittedly, the plastic grips are just a bit hollow sounding, but their practical function, as a sliding door to the CO2 chamber within, makes the use of synthetics ideal, if a minor detraction from the otherwise solid feel.

Specification

2.25lbs in the hand means this model does have an authentic heft as mentioned, but several other features stand out, so it’s worth confirming just what we get for the asking price. An 8-shot magazine for a start, complete with ejector action, adjustable open sights, a rifled barrel, a double-action trigger and the opportunity for 80 shots from a capsule.

Ready for action

And so to the simple preparation. Firstly, we need to get a standard 12-gram CO2 capsule onboard, which is neatly contained within the grip. To access the chamber, it’s actually a simple matter of gently sliding the grip down from the top, and then back and up to the right. Initially, I was over keen, and removed the grip altogether, to get access, but this makes it fiddly to reconnect. The grips are actually designed to be slid back and up, keeping the small clip attached in the rail at the top whilst you do so. Drop a CO2 capsule into its recess nose first, then gently tighten the bottom wing nut until, firstly pressure is felt, then secondly, a small hiss of gas escaping is heard, as the seal is pierced. Snap the grips closed, and the operation is complete. Now to fill the revolving cylinder. Push the knurled release catch on the right side forwards, and this will allow the cylinder to swing out from the left. Push the ejector rod back and the 8-shot magazine will be pushed up, to be removed. Insert a pellet flush into each chamber, drop the mag back into the cylinder, close it, and everything is ready.

Caution

As always though with this style of airgun, it pays to take care and observe the basics. Low-powered pistols, especially at close range, mean more chances of ricochets, so the wearing of safety shooting glasses is always recommended. Secondly, the nature of CO2 sees the capsule itself become extremely cold when dispensing gas, especially on fast release at the end of a charge, for example, so be very careful with any contact with skin.

Fast fire

I was keen to see how this Winchester handled and over my 10 yard test distance, it was time to experiment. First, set the hammer and be deliberate, then blam away, for rapid fire. As it turned out, results came in near identical, whether I shot with a deliberate aim, single or double action, which was surprising. If you’re not familiar with these terms, ‘single action’ sees the hammer pulled back by hand to set the trigger on each shot, with the result that the trigger has less work to do, so it is marginally lighter to pull. This would normally be the slightly more accurate route. ‘Double action’ is when we just pull right through the trigger, so the hammer is rising and falling in one operation, which inevitably causes more movement. On test, groups of around 2” over 10 yards are fine for fast-fire, tin can shooting, and as mentioned, the fun factor is the top priority with this 4.5 Special. The shot count overall was pretty impressive, with 80 shots perfectly possible, depending on the pellet and ambient temperature, of course. For a rough guide of performance, my first 40 shots clocked a 52 fps variation, whilst stretching that out to 80 saw a significant velocity drop off. Accept that we’re talking fun shooting here and real-world performance figures become fairly academic. Being CO2, there is some movement as the shot goes off and a small crack as the gas expands, but the combination of the feel of a semi-replica pistol and the ease of use in action is indeed a potent one.

Winner

In short, it was a pleasure to reacquaint myself with Daisy airguns, and this Winchester 4.5 Special is a pleasing example of what this American manufacturer does best, and that’s to force us to enjoy ourselves!