Webley En4cer

Webley’s En4cer is a 425cc buddy bottle equipped precharged air rifle shod with an AR-15 styled synthetic stock, and keenly priced for a newcomer to PCPs. The stock features length of pull and cheekpiece height adjustment with characteristic ‘Black Rifle’ looks and familiar underslung pistol grip with associated short reach to the trigger blade that will certainly suit smaller hands. The twostage unit breaks at 1800-grams after a 450g first stage and although not particularly crisp, it’s reasonably readable and you do get used to it. A steady squeeze with good technique is well-rewarded.

The rifle is delivered with two 14 shot magazines in 177, or 12 shot capacity in the 22 versions for a 12ft/lb power rating and an FAC model is also available. Each mag needs to have the clear cover plate fully rotated to pre-tension the loading spring before the first pellet locks this in place, allowing you to spin the cover back around and fill each slot with a pellet dropped into place. With the bolt fully drawn back, using the vertical handle on the right-side cocking lever, the mag slots into position mid action with plenty of clearance to fit whatever optics you like on the 11mm rail. Each cycle of the bolt loads and cocks the action with final round hold open and it’s very fast and easy to cycle, regardless of strength, hand size or with gloves.

The 530mm barrel is an aluminium shrouded ‘Quantum Silencer’ with a diffuser showing an O-ring within the muzzle to seal the 28mm full length silencer that is created, minimising muzzle report very effectively. A ½-inch thread is also featured beneath a cap; so, you can fit an extra moderator and the internal 14mm diameter steel barrel is tensioned by the threaded endcap, so don’t be tempted to continually remove the shroud, as zero can be slightly affected.

Pump it up

A 200-bar fill pressurises the buddy bottle (in agreement with my 7-litre tank’s pressure gauge) with a supplied QR adaptor next to the pressure gauge in an underside recess on the stock; it’s a fiddle to access with regular sized hands though and certainly not possible in gloves. I found that the firing cycle to remain reasonably constant at 765-772-feet per second muzzle velocity (JSB Diabolo 8.44g pellets/11.1ft/lbs) for the first three mags (42 shots before the downward drop of speed over the chronograph descended to 720-feet per second by the time shots in the 5th to seventh magazines. (9.7ft/lbs). Point of impact also altered, as can be expected but remained within 20mm low of zero until the 8th magazine, so not the end of the world for plinking at 30-metres.

You can adjust Length of pull from 15¾-inches (400mm) down to 12 5/8-inches (320mm) to suit nearly any shooter or clothing/rucksack strap on your shoulder etc. for a walking/stalking encounter. The cheekpiece shows 30mm of vertical adjustment and locked with a polymer screw thread to the right side of the stock, which is small, yet easily nipped up and doesn’t interfere with left handed shot position and can also be swapped to the opposing side anyway.

Glassware

Scoped up with a 4-12x50 Nikko Sterling Panamax optic, at 4kg/8.8lbs, the gun was a centrally balanced and light to carry with quick and pointable handling to hunt with but accuracy beyond 30m was a bit delicate; so, as long as distances remain sensible, you won’t have a problem head shooting squirrels. Stock fit and fast adjustable length of pull on the underside catch are quick to adjust with a single thumbscrew, enabling alteration of the cheekpiece height. Sadly, that cheekpiece is very short and positioned rearward, toward the grippy, rubberised butt pad, so your cheek will more than likely be falling off the front edge of it, if you correctly lean into the rifle. Trigger control needs patience and although seeming adjustable, didn’t really offer much in the way of improvement; so, I returned to the factory setting knowing that a slow, patient and perceptible squeeze was required with all movement easily felt under my index finger on the blade. Noise from the internal mechanism was a crisp twang as the hammer spring was released and reload speed was extremely fast thanks to the 44mm dropped bar from the 82mm lever, although the right-side safety catch was tricky to access, unless you could engage it directly with a thumb or fingernail to click it forward. Single shots can be loaded with an included tray that slots in place rather than the magazine and when fired carefully rested at 30-metres, a 40mm group for the 14 round contents of each magazine was consistently capable of garden plinking and medium to short range hunting.

Ambush!

I was happy to use the gun throughout the summer with a plentiful squirrel population that I attracted onto feeders set no further than 20m from likely ambush positions, these tough little critters need very precise headshots for success and I tended to start out with a 200-bar Fill every time and never prolonged more that 28-42 shots worth (three mags) on this unregulated PCP before a top up. It suited instinctive shooting and although fitted with an underslung Weaver rail for bipod mounting, was a little unsure when shot prone as the injection moulded stock components are made more for looks than mechanical precision, so play in the joints and flexible forend was a weak spot when attempting a firm position with relaxed hold, whilst drawing the trigger 3mm through its ‘surprise` style firing stroke. The action body is machined from solid aluminium billet and sits inside the injection moulded stock with a single Allen headed release screw to free it for maintenance, although the trigger pull can be accessed through the trigger guard and there is an M6 threaded brass escutcheon for other compatible accessories under the forend.

Conclusion

The En4cer is not perfect and has a significant power curve but an interesting introduction to new shooters with great size versatility and well-priced for its capability at closer ranges but not an out and out hunter in my opinion.