Airguns are a blast. Not literally, of course. Airguns are particularly quiet – especially when they’re fitted with an integrated sound moderator like the new Hatsan Torpedo 150 Sniper Combo. That particular not-firearm is the latest evolution of the original Torpedo 150 fixed barrel/under-lever rifle. In addition to the not-silencer, the Torpedo boasts an ambidextrous thumbhole-style stock with an adjustable cheek rest and the Vortex Gas Piston System, which lets owners leave their gun cocked and locked without causing any damage to the airgun. The company’s presser also claims the VGPS provides shooters with “more consistent power between consecutive shots” and “eliminates most vibrations caused by the oscillation of heavy springs and have a significantly longer lifecycle than spring-powered airguns – providing higher and more consistent velocities over their lifetime.” I’m not sure . . .
why the Turkish manufacturer calls the airgun “sniper” – unless they’re trying to see things from the squirrels’ point-of-view. Anyway, it’s not a lot of money; available in .177 (1250fps), .22 (1000fps) and .25 (750fps) calibers at an MSRP of $399.99. Ahead of our review, here are the specs:
Torpedo 150 Sniper Combo:
Under-lever cocking system with bolt-action loading mechanism
Available in .177 cal (1250 fps), .22 cal (1000 fps), .25 cal (750 fps)
Fully adjustable 2-stage Quattro Trigger System
SAS Shock Absorber System
Precision rifled steel barrel
Manual and automatic cocking safety
Anti bear-trap safety
Ergonomic and stylishly designed ambidextrous synthetic thumbhole stock
Elevation adjustable comb
DynaPad recoil pad system for maximum recoil absorption
Heavy-duty secure 11mm/22mm Weaver style scope mounts
Micro-adjustable rear sight for both windage and elevation with TRUGLO fiber optics
Includes: bipod and 3 TRIOPAD stock spacers to change length-of-pull
With .22 being so expensive and hard to find these days, air rifles might have a resurgence for plinking, practice, and even for small game.
Although there is plenty of .22 in my part of the world, the cost makes budget .223 reloads look more attractive.
For small game especially I can see why airguns would be useful; very cheap ammo, and the shot (at least what I use) is steel. Limiting your exposure to lead is never a bad thing.
I have a Crosman break-barrel that I have around 2-3k rounds of .22 for. A 19.3 grain .22 cal round ball pellet moving 1100-1150 FPS can penetrate a pine 2×4…sometimes.
.22lr would require a trip to the range, where an airgun can be fired safely on my property and without pissing off/being SWAT’ed by my LibTard neighbors.
The range being a scheduling issue plus a guaranteed 3 hour time commitment (not including cleaning) vs as little as 10 mins out the back door.
A couple good selling points.
What is an anti-bear trap safety?
No idea, but I guess this is the gun to buy if you’re a bear.
To prevent the cocking lever from snapping back onto your hand, like a bear trap.
Well that’s not nearly as interesting. Probably a good idea though.
Anyone who has ever puled the trigger on a Daisy lever-action BB gun with the lever half-cocked knew EXACTLY what that meant. My knuckles still cringe every time I think about it… and I haven’t even SEEN a Daisy in probably twenty years!
Holy crap!
That was 40 plus years ago and I can still hear and feel that lever slamming onto my knuckles
Nice #2 Phillips screwdriver tip on the pellets at the left.
Thereby helping to preserve our right to keep and arm bears.
The photo I see goes to the Hatsan site but is not the gun described.
You don’t have to $400 for a good air gun.
Next item required to be lost in a terrible fire at sea, in 3, 2, 1. . .
I have a break barrel .177 crossman I bought at wally world for 99 bucks during the first barry inspired ammo drought. It would definitely be a small game getter at reasonable ranges.
I want a semi auto version with a 20-30 round mag. It’d be a super fun short range tactical trainer / short range squirrel gun. Except every air gun that pushes a .177 pellet at 1000+ FPS is a bolt gun or break barrel single shot. Any high powered semi autos out there for $500 or less?
http://www.fxairguns.com/
FX Monsoon semi auto $1500-$1800. Evanix semi autos are even more. My Umarex .177 M&P clone was $45 bucks. For that price I can definitely deal with a mediocre trigger.
If you can get the CZ 200, marketed by Air Arms as the S200,
https://www.czub.cz/en/catalog/84-air-guns-cz/VV/CZ_200_S_FS_COLOUR.aspx
you wont really ever need another air rifle.
I eagerly await the write up on this.
I really want an accurate pellet rifle, but I keep coming up with lemons.
last i checked, Beeman Air Rifles where great, way better then your crossman/daisy stuff and about double the price of the daisy/crossman stuff. My cheap diasy shot beeman pellets the best of all the brands I tried. That was about 15 years ago, but I bet they are still good.
I’ve had my 2 Beemans for 30+ years. They’re still great airguns. They’ll outlive me. Beeman R1 air rifle (1984); Beeman P1 air pistol (1985). Both were made by Weirauch in W. Germany. Weirauch, also, makes them under their name. HW80, same as the R1. HW45, same as the P1.
My R1 is the classiest looking of all my guns. That includes my firearms.
Oops. I spelled Weihrauch wrong.
Meh. If you’re gonna spend that much coin, get a Benjamin Marauder. With the right pellets, my .22 Mrod will shoot a ragged single hole at 25m all day at 900fps.
I just bought the 2014 Benjamin Marauder in .22 although most people seem to opt for the .25 It’s a little more expensive than that Torpedo thing and is a PCP rifle, not a gas piston, but what a pleasure to shoot. It’s suppressed and as others pointed out, loud bangs in a urban neighborhood is a bad thing and suppressed air rifles are pretty darn quiet. I have another PCP rifle the Eun Jin Sumatra 2500 in .22 and that thing is worthless as it is extremely loud. Shooting it can be heard for blocks, so it is of no use to me. You can’t be making loud bangs and having squirrels drop from trees because someone will see that and become unhinged and be calling the cops thinking it’s a powder gun.
Personally, I see no reason to have a gas piston or spring piston when you can have a plain PCP rifle unless you are doing extensive field shooting. If you never take it out in the field, stick with a PCP
I fill my PCPs off a scuba tank.
Like all airguns from HatsanUSA, nearly every component of the Torpedo 150 Sniper Combo is made in-house by the Turkish manufacturer including its precision-rifled German steel barrel and fully adjustable two-stage Quattro trigger system. The Torpedo 150 Sniper Combo is available in .
The picture you see is of the 2015 model there is a totally new gun now with a big silencer on it and a button on the bottom so don’t get the two missed up get the new one not this one .