Sam Yang Big Bore Rifles

Korean airgun company, Industries make some rather powerful pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) air rifles and I was lucky enough to be able to shoot some when I last visited Ray Hales at A C Guns in Hastings, Sussex. We went to a nearby range and set up some ‘informal’ targets, OK, a plastic paint kettle full of water and a Coke can!

A standard fill probe is used, so it’s a quick and easy process to charge up these rifles. The first rifle I tried was an FAC rated version of the Sumatra Stinger which runs a 6-shot rotary magazine and pushes out 70ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle. We hadn’t taken any silencers with us, so I was expecting quite a bang when I pressed the trigger, however, I didn’t think it was going to be that loud!  I turned to Ray and said two words, the second of which was ‘hell’; I’ll leave it up to you work out what the first word might have been… Yes, an un-moderated .22 PCP pushing out 70 ft/lbs makes quite a noise, but I soon forgot about that and got on with shooting that poor old Coke can. I soon had the open sights adjusted for 50 yards and I can see the potential of this awesome rifle, it would make a superb long-range rabbit and hare tool with a scope fitted. The lever action is still slick and smooth in high power mode, so would give you a quick back up shot if required.

The 9mm/.357 Recluse

Next up was the Recluse that features the same overall build as the Sumatra but with a Monte Carlo cheekpiece on the butt and a single shot action with a sliding collar style loading system. The overall length is 42” with a 21” barrel, and the un-scoped weight is 8.8 lb. The knurled collar is pushed forward to reveal a substantial loading trough and a 9mm/.357 calibre pellet dropped in; the collar is then pulled back against an O-ring to seal the opening. The action is cocked via a pull back bolt handle on the right hand side of the receiver and there are two positions, one for half power, the other for full - I chose full power!

I was obviously used to the discharge of these Korean rifles by now and the 150 ft/lb on tap sure made a mess of the paint kettle, it would also spoil the day of any vermin that got in its way. Loading and cocking are a doddle and I really enjoyed shooting those ridiculously large pellets.

What a Massive Bore!

Finally there’s the Dragon Claw; this supergun has the same action as the Recluse but in .50 calibre. The lead balls it shoots weigh in at 180 grains! It’s therefore no surprise that this rifle produces 230 ft/lbs, which is rather impressive. The first couple of shots went low, as the open sights needed adjusting and the projectiles did a pretty good job of ploughing the ground in front of the target. Once I’d raised the rearsight I was soon whacking the remains of the paint kettle all over the backstop. Producing all that power uses up a lot of air, but there are still 9 shots available per charge, with more on half power obviously.

Conclusion

High powered air rifles seem be getting more popular each year, and the rifles above are easy to charge, load and fire, and pack a hefty wallop. The FAC rated Sumatra Stinger is £590, the Recluse is £670 and the Dragon Claw is £690.  See next month’s issue when I test the 12ft/lbs version of the Sumatra.