to remove the mag and
give it a tap to make it
present sticky rounds
correctly to the feed lips
- but only three or four times
and just with hollow-point XTPs.
The mag’s release catch sits in the
front of the trigger guards, and a
polymer component incorporates the
whole of the underside bottom ‘metal’.
It’s quiet and warm to the touch, and
fits neatly in the stock’s underside inlet
with plentiful space for even gloved
fingers. Extending your index finger
from the trigger releases the mag,
which needs a gentle draw from its
slot/mag well, so you are less likely
to drop it.
Triggers on Anschütz rifles have
always been their Oscar-winning
feature with crisp and often adjustable
pulls that totally outpace the
opposition. The unit seen here shows
a serrated 8mm blade with a gentle
curve operating the upper unit. This
shows adjustment from 800-1,200g
for a super-crisp single-stage pull with
approximately 4mm of overtravel at the
blade’s tip. My test rifle was delivered
at 1,130g showing just 40gr overall
variation over five pulls. It’s the kind of
trigger you will immediately like and
rarely questions; it
teaches you correct
technique with a linear
squeeze for that glassy
‘snap to fire’ and just enough
overtravel to signify completion.
The 4lb weight on a sporting rifle in
controlled conditions sounded
surprisingly heavy in numbers when
weighed, simply because it never feels
heavy in use hunting – it is so easily
judged and confidence inspiring. In the
winter, I wouldn’t change it; when
wearing gloves, I like the feel of the
blade through the extra padding, while
in summer, it’s no problem at all to set
it at 3lb if you prefer that or even
lighter. Crisp to me is always better
than light: light ones can be too easy
to snatch at due to lack of feel, unless
they have a two-stage operation to give
you some positional warning.
A cocked-action indicator pin
emerges from the bolt’s shroud with a
release catch to the left side. Other
than three lugs, the key feature of the
design is the use of thrust bearings in
the firing pin to lighten forces required
to cock the action as the bolt opens.
Combined with a QPQ coating (Quench
Polish Quench is a type of
nitrocarburizing case hardening thatincreases corrosion resistance,
sometimes called Melonite) you really
do have to feel the bolt operation to
realise its capability, not on a rack at a
show but when the gun is in your
shoulder, in the field and all is set to
distract and inhibit you. It feels
peerless on a rimfire. The coating will
also prevent excessive wear and
corrosion because bare steel left in the
white on bolts always suffers long-term
on rimfires used in the field.
A Picatinny rail has been made
available by Anschütz although this riflehttp://www.rifleshootermagazine.co.uk 61»
J. G. Anschütz
GmbH and Co. KG can
trace its heritage back
to 1856. It’s current HQ
is in Ulm, Germany.ON TEST
ABOVE: I treated this
test rifle with
delicacy as it would
have been a shame to
spoil it, but it was
still very effectiveBELOW: The odd flyer
with rimfire ammo is
always infuriating