I have had the .22 TH version for 12+ years. The action is based on the Diana Model 34 & the trigger is a T05 copy. So the mechanics are well tested. A tune kit & quality piston seal puts the FPS spread into single digits.it also helps with the FPS if you shim under the breach seal (as on the Diana model 34) The TH has a barrel weight which makes it nose heavy (too heavy). I carbined 6 inches off & use a slip-on silencer & the accuracy still mirrors your results. I apreciate these are modifications compared to your "out of the box" review. You are quite right, its an overlooked rifle & can be had (new) for £100. Thats just how much of a bargain it really is (spoter version also available in .177) Just to help you on why you can't get the safety to fail...Is because its pushed out by the slight overtavel of the piston latch rod when you cock the gun. So, as long as you pull the barrel all the way down, the safety will set every time.
Crikey, that's bloody accurate for a budget rifle, ideal for various applications, ratting, and general pest control, even a bit of target work I recon ... Yeah, if I were starting out, it would deffo be on my list.. Interesting vid Dan, great too have you back..
Glad to see your OK Dan, wow looked at this model on paper before and just thought the same as most people do "more sales jargon than a car lot" but thanks to your reviews this one and the sabre are on the list, stil think I lean toward the sabre I fell in love with that stock anyways thanks for another impartial (mostly )review class as always stay healthy brother!
Hi Reg! The 208's are excellent mate, I knew it'd be a good performing rifle as we've zeroed a few for customers and they always put on a damn good show. That being said I never knew they were that good! Those two flyers were heartbreaking though. It wouldn't even let me cheat with a second grouping. Out of the box it shoots superbly but I am left wondering just how good it'd be with a fettle.
Hi Dan . As always , a nice Honest revue , as for being too long - nonsense , comprehensive & Good value for the money is what I'd call it (the revue is Free ! ) so in that respect it's rather like the rifle itself. As for the gripe about the serrated lines on the front sight ramp (just like My Remington Express ) I agree entirely, after a couple of hundred pellets on a plinking day I had a nasty graze on My left palm ( not enough hard graft - I must be getting soft in My old age !) so I put a piece of gaffer tape over it the next time I used it which helped a lot , until it started to peel away and left a mess, so out with the solvent and a quick clean up later out came the hot melt glue gun , that works a treat as long as You don't get to carried away with it and smooth it level whilst its still warm enough to work . Incidentally I believe that the serrations were put on there to alleviate glare from the sun affecting the users vision on bright days . Looking forward to whatever You revue next , keep up the good work . Stay Safe & Stay Well ! .
Hi Dan, and thanks for another Informative video. That SMK certainly looks great value for money that's for sure. I'm surprised though about your comments about Weihrauch safety's not always engaging. I've had many HW rifles over the past 40 odd years and I can't remember having a single safety failure yet. In fact I've still got my first ever Weihrauch that I purchased brand new back In 1977. A HW35, and that safety had never failed to engage either. ATB 👍
Hi Mark. Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Weihrauchs are tremendous rifles but the safeties aren't the best at least not in my experience. Even from new we've had a couple where the safety would only engage if you made sure to put extra effort in really pulling the barrel/underlever down. I think you can see in our HW77 and HW97 videos that the safety didn't always engage and I think the HW80 was the same. Maybe different batches were better while some were worse? I know Weihrauch had issues with the bluing on some rifles (like my 97) so I'm wondering if they've had wonky safeties at some point? I wish Weihrauch would actually revise their safeties to an extent so they are a smidge more reliable and can be reset without having to re-cock the rifle. A system like what Hatsan/Webley use or even something similar to the Express unit would be great. Their rifles are superb but in my experience at least the safety is the only weak link. Cheers Mark and sorry for the massive reply!
@@bigdansairguns83 As an old bastard who has over 40 years of experience with All kinds of Firearms and Air Rifles you are 100 percent correct, that said WEIRAUCH is still my Favourite air rifle. Excellent channel by the way,
Hello Dan.i purchased my 208 a couple of years back for a bargain £99.95!! It is a copy of the Diana 34, the trigger is the TO35, nice gun! It's my go to fun gun. The trigger could do with being a fraction lighter but it is Totally creep free unit ,.first stage was a bit long but easily. Adjusted Shame they didn't do a ..@,177. nice . I use AA5.33 I recommend this gun.
Hi Donald! That was a cracking price mate I'd be a very happy chappy with that. As you've said mate the trigger is good but I'm sure with a bit of polishing it'd be superb. It's not often that you find a creep free budget trigger. I'll try those AA's if we review the whole family of 208's. I'm sure it was the pellets why we had those two high shots.... It had nothing to do with the fleshy bit with his porky hands that is pulling the trigger.. it was all those rubbish JSB's fault.
Hi Dan, I was just looking around the web when I came across the 208 at that price,did a which bit of web research which seemed to be all good, so rang the dealer first thing to double check the price,once confirmed I drove the 100 mile round trip to collect, very satisfied, far better gun than my Gamo440 especially the trigger! I have found it to be non twangy and it didn't diesel either! Matched it to a new BSA 3-9x40AO, nice combo. I will try some of those JSB Express pellets,what size are you using? With AA Fields I found the 5.53 satisfactory, good old Superdomes no good so will try the JSB out of curiosity. In the meantime I just enjoy it on the club's indoor 25yd range, Covid permitting! We had just been open for two weeks but are now locked down again! Take care stay safe stay healthy.
Great review bud. I really wish I could use a springer. Me shoulders are shot and it keeps me with me PCPs. Speaking of PCPs. Here in the USA I just got an Air Venturi Avenger .25 cal hitting 50 FPE with a JSB Hades 26.54 grain at 2200 psi regulator setting, stock hammer spring setting and 914 FPS. Just think of it as a Nova Vista Liberty MK2 improved. Crazy accurate. Loving it for the longer shots when hunting. 299$ is hard to beat with all that you get. Can’t wait till Nova Vista makes a bull pup. Take care.God bless.
Hi Heath! 50ft-lbs... I've got to get myself to the U.S Heath. The food, the trucks and of course the guns. I'd love to shoot an M1 Garand, there's just something about them. Sorry Heath I got a little sidetracked there haha. The Air Venturi gear looks fantastic and the Nova rifles were top notch too. I've got no idea how they make them for the money as they were even cheaper than the Artemis/SPA rifles. A Nova bullpup would be fantastic, they'd have stiff competition from the P-15's and P-10's but they've already got a great barrel and although the synthetic stock is a little cheap feeling if it's priced correctly nobody would really care. I hear a lot of people praising the Hades pellets, I can't wait to try them but I don't know how well they'll be suited for 12ft-lbs. Thanks Heath and all the best to you and your family. Look after yourself mate.
I read that and immediately the Boursin cheese advert popped into my head hahaha. (Brrrrrt!) "Huh, that bit of ground back there was a bit rough.... red too!".
Sadly my brand new smk sx38 went back to the shop , after 9 wks, after discovering its power had gone down to 7.5 ft lbs ,guess a broken spring or seal , had about 350 shots, a little whisper in the ear , said they get a 50 percent return, shame really cos it did feel tough but shame the springs must be crappy steel or something, si I guess in future I’ll stick to the higher end guns , my hw 97 is still going very strong, morels of the story , you pays your money and takes your choice,, not all lost my little smk cp2 is going strong and glad I bought it cheers shane uk 🇬🇧
Dan I realise I am coming in late on these reviews, been I'll for a couple years myself and not really looking at the guns. But I have tuned a few of these guns and can tell you the trigger does improve a little bit but not a great amount because of the way they actually Latch up. Look at a schematic and you'll see what I mean. A good polish and a little drop of moly paste makes it workable for the majority. The safety actually is set by the action of the central latching rod pushing back against the working parts of the safety itself unlike the cross bar type which are reliant on a spring pushing them into place. All The SMK guns seem to have exceptional barrels when it comes to accuracy, There few that need attention to the muzzle crown or breech crown and even the little B-2 has great accuracy. Loving these real world style reviews by the way. Well Done
hi Dan ... Ive owned xs19 with ww trigger i fitted it was a dream plus xs38 superb. Also the 208 synthetic.... t05 triggers a bugger to put back if it comes apart but sweet as a nut to shoot plusdiana parts are great being that smk are terrible getting spares for. NOT that stuff goes wrong...it just doesnt!!! fab review as always
Thanks Dave! The Supergrades are great aren't they? I'd love to test the little XS15's and XS12's one day. One of my best chrono spreads of all time was with an XS15.. we had a max spread over 10 shots of only 3fps! That's better than all of the high end PCP's I've ever put through the chrono and it's a sub £100 rifle haha. Thanks Dave and we'll get filming our next review ASAP.
Good to see you back Dan, and what a great review mate, as always good honest down to earth review, as for the rifle what more could you want for that price, what a great bargain in any bodies language, great stuff, Cheers mate
Hey Smedz, that was more than a bit concerning wasn't it? I knew the spring had to be fine as it was still shooting on point with no more noticeable drop (although the pellets did impact low on two bottlecaps..) I'm wondering if the high numbers with the first testing was simply due to the rifle still dieseling? Makes you wonder what power the JSB's would've been doing at point though.. If the heat didn't make me sweat enough then that sure would've! Thanks Smedz
A surprising verdict. Interesting! I didn't think it would be quite that good for the money. Dan, I know we are in lockdown again and you may well be treading water just trying to stay afloat. However, when it comes to your next review would you please consider a very affordable PCP the Beeman Commander in .22 cal? Thanks.
Dan - cheers for another great review. I would have to assume that the front sight ramp is serrated to prevent glare. However, as I would suspect that the front sight unit is molded from matt black plastic, I doubt that glare would really be a problem.
Hi Stephen, it's matte black so I wouldn't imagine it was for glare. My only reasoning is that it has been done for added traction but I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about their hands slipping off their barrel when cocking. It's only a minor complaint but it'll be a bit annoying should it find its way onto other rifles.
Hey Dan , I hope Your OK ? I'm really missing Your revues ! ,it's Ok if life is being a pain , things Will improve ! in the mean time ,Shoot Straight , Stay Safe & Stay Well .
I’m not sure if crowning on the barrel makes a gun pellet fussy. The reason being is that the Nova Vista Alpha/Liberty and the Air Venturi/Nova Vista Avengers are all Un-crowned barrels and they are not pellet fussy at all. In fact they have proven themselves to be some of the most accurate budget guns I own and hold their own against several guns I have paid a thousand or so dollars more. Maybe it has to do with the type of rifling imho. I really don’t know for-sure but I noticed that the NV barrels have a similar rifling to a Marlin Micro-Grove rimfire’s do.🤷♂️ Some have 16 groves and others 21 groves. Not pronounced but there.
Cracking rifle dan had 4 all have been very accurate still have the black stock version going off to be glided and tuned triggers can be tuned to be more than capable with a little fettling shot many rabbits with mine 45 yards no problems when conditions are perfect, not that i shoot at that distance regularly most 15/30yards but as you say they are a cracking rifle.
It would be great if you did some reviews of the air rifles that were raved about in the 1980s. Probably be difficult to get them as they were when new, but it would still be a nice comparison. I paid over £ 80 for my Original 45 in 1980 or 81. Work that out in pounds and pence today. How would these 80s springers stack up today?
Hi Phillip! Hopefully it'll be a PCP that we look at next. Fingers crossed the Zbroia Sapsan. That being said if you'd be interested in something more affordable there's also a few new Artemis rifles.. It's also a travesty that we haven't reviewed an S410 or S200 yet. Thanks Phillip!
Gosh theres alot of good rifles for cheap these days. £90=Hatsan 900x, £105=Remington Pest Controller, £130= SMK XS208, £140 SMK XS38/SMK XS20/Remington Express/, £150= Remington Express XP, £170=Remington Sabre, £180=Cometa 220, £190=Cometa 300 £200=Remington Warhawk, £230=Weihrauch HW99S, £250=Diana 430L and so on. And thats not mentioning all other brands or the used bargains.
Hey 99 ron. I say to all of my customers it's a minefield out there. There's not many "bad" rifles on the market these days thankfully. Regarding springers some might twang more than others and have a smidge more kick but I've not come across one that wouldn't group. ...yet..
If you have the money for a cometa fenix 400, you might as well get the Weihrauch HW99S,it has the best trigger of any springer, and with a half decent 3-9-40 scope it is very accurate.then you can stick a upgrade kit in it and it's pinpoint accurate 👍
Hi Jose! Out of the two I'd go Fenix all day, no offense to the SMK as it's still a great rifle but the Fenix has the more refined action and superior trigger/barrel. The HW99S is also a good shout and is on par with the Fenix, the 99S has a marginally better trigger and a metal one at that but the Fenix is a lot less twangy to shoot. It's neck and neck for accuracy and it mainly comes down to preference. Thanks Jose!
Great video Dan! I was worried there as well! I said to meself, self I think the spring may be broken lol. I wish I could get these guns from SMK here in Canada! You have reviewed quite a few decent budget rifles. Yes, I own Weihrauch and Walther springers but I love the budget-minded guns as well.
Hey mate! Yeah that was really odd, it was a major "UH OH" moment during that second test.What did pop into my mind however was if it was doing 10+ft-lbs using Rifles then what would it have been doing using JSB? That's a tad concerning considering our power limits! Thankfully she settled down nicely so that's more than a relief! You probably can get SMK's in Canada but they'll be badged as BAM, Westlake or XISICO. It's worth taking a look as you may see some very familiar looking rifles ;) Thanks mate and I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
@@bigdansairguns83 Only place I know that even remotely sell anything Xisico is a military surplus store that sell airguns. I bought an Xisico/Norinco (says Norinco Made for Canada on the receiver) BAM B3-2 .22 underlever. I put almost 1000 pellets through that gun in the first 4 days I had it home. I refinished the stock with cut in finger grooves, tuned it and topped it with a budget 3-9x40AO. Shoots fantastic! but it's the only SMK derivative I can find here.
@@injairgun The B-3's aren't a bad rifle. and yours defnitely sounds like an interesting specimen now. What also impressed me the other day was an SMK DB5 that we ordered in for a customer, it had a nice trigger and the customer had sent me pictures of his groups and at near 20 yards he's practically getting 5p groups with it. That's at only 9ft-lbs. If you're interested in the 208 take a look at the BAM B25 I think it might be just what you're looking for. Cheers mate and I hope this helps, they're a very sweet rifle for sure.
Dan, I found an online store here in Canada that carry Xisico break barrels! WIll have the XS25SFB (bamboo stock I love the look of it!) hopefully next week! Next will be the XS28 and they have it too!
It looks like a Daisy, Winchester 1000 (made in Turkey) or the Winchester 1100 (made in China). In the air gun world it seems the same basic floor plan is duplicated over and over again, with a new name and slight changes here and there. For a pellet rifle to be worth anything it has to shoot good groups, consistently, at least 30 yards with open sights.
@@bigdansairguns83 Hey, my best shot and/or limit with open sights is at 65 yards hitting soda cans. It depends on three primary factors. The gun, the sights and the shooter. I have many, many pellet guns, in all sizes, price ranges, shapes and configurations. Only a few of my break barrel riles are accurate with open sights beyond 30 yards. The Daisy, Winchester 1100S (made in China), using cheep Crosman 10.5 grain domed pellets is fantastic. ( I was so impressed I bought three more.) The earlier Winchester (made in Turkey) can barely keep up at 25 yards consistently. At present I have three of them. My definition of a good pellet rifle is shooting golf balls at 30 yards with open sights. I do not like fiber optic glow sights. I'm 67 years old and my eyes are good and I don't have the shakes. Former military. Years ago I bought a lot of 15 Shanghai B3-1 under lever pellet guns in .177. (With non-removeable rear sight mounted on the breech block.) They were taken apart, new seals, deburred, tuned, crowned and so on. Only one is dead accurate at 30 yards with open sights using cheap Crosman 7.9 domed pellets. Another accurate break barrel rifle I have is the QB-25, in .177. (Actually I have two.) I have a third, in .22 and that one is not accurate beyond 10 yards. I also have a large collection of scopes. But still I prefer open sights, with a numbered degree wheel for the elevation knob. At present my favorite, long range pellet rifle is the Hatsan Bull Boss, in .22 Using a quality scope (under $600 price range) I can hit golf balls at 125 yards consistently. Except when necessary I use cheep Crosman domed pellets as my standard or basic pellets.
Hi Run ZZ. I suffer mate so you don't have to. Suffer being the correct word as that heat was ridiculous. If I weren't sweating enough then we had that misfire that was the second chrono test. I've heard of sweating bullets but that was sweating hand grenades!
Hi I was just wondering when the review of the zbroia Sapsan will be uploaded as im sure I've seen on the shop site that this will be coming soon. I am very interested in seeing more of the UK version rather than watching the other variations. Thanks
Its a copy of the Diama RWS/34 i have one and its a good knockabout springer the .177 i have has no twang Its really designed for 18ft/lb and they have detuned it for the UK market . Mine had an issue with the breech seal recess which was milled a bit to deep which i fixed with some thin washers/packers i made .This was a common problem on some of these guns apparently .
Naaah sounds like fake news to me. Just kidding! They're a nice rifle the 208 and you can definitely see the inspiration with it. They do shoot well too it must be said.
Hi Hendrick! I've had my eyes on one of these for a while so I'll see what I can do. It's an interesting looking thing that's for sure but the spec that they come with looks great for the price. I'll see if I can get my filthy mitts on one.
Hi Dan, did you clean the barrel before this review? I just got a 208 and it's running 8.5-9 ft lb. Pellpax has told me to clean the barrel and it should right itself! 😂
Hi BD, I have a number of spring and PCP rifles but the 208 TH looked interesting , as my daughter snagged my Walther LGV for furlough fun in the garden! Do you have a .177 in stock. I could buy from my local RFD but a: He's become a bit of a **** recently, and b: I fancy the 100 mile drive to pick up. Do you have any goss on the Air Venturi PCP , looks great for the ££ ?
Hi Dave, the 208TH is my personal favourite it's a lovely rifle to shoulder and that barrel weight calms what little recoil there is. We don't have a .177 at the moment I'm afraid and our suppliers are also out of the 208's at the moment but I believe they've got a new shipment coming in hopefully this month. If interested mate contact us at bigdansairguns.co.uk and I'll let you know as soon as they're in. Regarding the Air Venturi's I haven't got anything on those I'm afraid, that being said should I hear anything I'll be in touch. Also well played to your daughter the LGV's are lovely rifles! I'd also be willing to bet that she's naturally better than both me and you with it as women and kids are unfairly talented when it comes to shooting for some reason... Thanks Dave and all the best to you and your family.
I have a question. When you say a lighter pellet is better in a springer. Do you mean it's more accurate or has a higher FTB rating? Something people need to think about when staying within the legal limit.
I dunno Ian he looks a little shifty to me.. some say he's a firearms dealer.. plus just look at that face! Is that a face you can trust?? Didn't think so.
Hi Dan great review, i must say i do like that gun looks like the one i just bought yesterday. I got a bsa superstar under lever in .25. Just finished putting it all together as it was in bits when I got it, what do you think about this rifle, is it any good for hunting at 11.5 ft-lbs?
Hi Luis! I haven't shot a Superstar underlever yet but the power sounds spot on, if it groups well then there's no reason why you couldn't hunt with it. The only thing to be careful of is that being a .25 it will drop off early. What I highly recommend are the JSB alloy diabolos, we tried a few through a customer's BSA Scorpion .25 and not only were they fast (550fps) but they were incredibly accurate too! Thanks Luis and let me know how she shoots.
@@bigdansairguns83 Thank you Dan i will try them this Saturday as i will be out in the field and see how it performs. I will let you know if they are good for hunting or just back yard shooting. Again thank you for the information, much appreciated 👍
I want to get the Weihrauch hw95. Does anybody know, what cal do these work better with? I have seen many owners from the USA, that had both cal versions and the all say, they didn't like the 177 for some reason. 1 said it jumps and all of them said, go for the 22 caliber! Since their version of that rifle may be slightly different (Beeman) also, I know they may be biased because they traditionaly use 22s. Could that be only for their Beeman version, or for ours version too? Please, help me choose the right cal for that rilfe. It will be a general use rifle, not only for targent shooting. I would really appriciate any advice or opinion.
The 22 shoots a little smoother they say with the HW springers, personally I'll take 22 or 177 as they're are both perfect, although with 177 there's a lot larger variation in amuntion.
Big Dan's Airguns was taking the mike , in a friendly way, bought a xs38 after watching yours and other reviews Dan , but can’t get it to group for toffee tried 4 lots of different pellets, the last tin of jsb , 5.52 head size are hard to push into the barrel , I’m not about to buy loads of different make pellets but appears to be really fussy, so I bit the bullet and bought a hw97 stainless like the one you had for your birthday should have done this in the first place ,, you will see both guns on my UA-cam if you look ,, cheers Shane uk 🇬🇧
@@shaneweightman Hi Shane, The XS38's are most definitely a Walther barrel and many highly praise the XS38's accuracy due to this. There's no mickey being taken here it's just that I quite like asking questions to my suppliers regarding certain rifles and what parts they use/if parts are shared with other rifles. If you'd like more information regarding the barrel on the XS38 get in touch with me via our contact us section on the website. Regarding being pellet fussy some Walther's can be like that (CZ are the same), in our Rotex review that was also a bit fussy depending on what you put through it. It may also be worth checking the crown to see if it has been finished correctly as you can get rough crowns no matter which brand you use. Thanks Shane and all the best.
Come on dan let's have some more reviews, 😁👍
Your wish is my command Phillip, sorry it has taken so long the weather has been impossible!!
I have had the .22 TH version for 12+ years. The action is based on the Diana Model 34 & the trigger is a T05 copy. So the mechanics are well tested. A tune kit & quality piston seal puts the FPS spread into single digits.it also helps with the FPS if you shim under the breach seal (as on the Diana model 34) The TH has a barrel weight which makes it nose heavy (too heavy). I carbined 6 inches off & use a slip-on silencer & the accuracy still mirrors your results. I apreciate these are modifications compared to your "out of the box" review. You are quite right, its an overlooked rifle & can be had (new) for £100. Thats just how much of a bargain it really is (spoter version also available in .177) Just to help you on why you can't get the safety to fail...Is because its pushed out by the slight overtavel of the piston latch rod when you cock the gun. So, as long as you pull the barrel all the way down, the safety will set every time.
"All fur coat and no knickers!" Lol, loved that Dan. Great review.
I used that the other day and got a right laugh 😂
Crikey, that's bloody accurate for a budget rifle, ideal for various applications, ratting, and general pest control, even a bit of target work I recon ... Yeah, if I were starting out, it would deffo be on my list.. Interesting vid Dan, great too have you back..
Glad to see your OK Dan, wow looked at this model on paper before and just thought the same as most people do "more sales jargon than a car lot" but thanks to your reviews this one and the sabre are on the list, stil think I lean toward the sabre I fell in love with that stock anyways thanks for another impartial (mostly )review class as always stay healthy brother!
Good to see another lower cost springer doing so well. I was surprised by that grouping with the Express pellets.
Hi Reg!
The 208's are excellent mate, I knew it'd be a good performing rifle as we've zeroed a few for customers and they always put on a damn good show. That being said I never knew they were that good!
Those two flyers were heartbreaking though. It wouldn't even let me cheat with a second grouping.
Out of the box it shoots superbly but I am left wondering just how good it'd be with a fettle.
Hi Dan .
As always , a nice Honest revue , as for being too long - nonsense , comprehensive & Good value for the money is what I'd call it (the revue is Free ! ) so in that respect it's rather like the rifle itself. As for the gripe about the serrated lines on the front sight ramp (just like My Remington Express ) I agree entirely, after a couple of hundred pellets on a plinking day I had a nasty graze on My left palm ( not enough hard graft - I must be getting soft in My old age !) so I put a piece of gaffer tape over it the next time I used it which helped a lot , until it started to peel away and left a mess, so out with the solvent and a quick clean up later out came the hot melt glue gun , that works a treat as long as You don't get to carried away with it and smooth it level whilst its still warm enough to work . Incidentally I believe that the serrations were put on there to alleviate glare from the sun affecting the users vision on bright days . Looking forward to whatever You revue next , keep up the good work . Stay Safe & Stay Well ! .
Hi Dan, and thanks for another Informative video. That SMK certainly looks great value for money that's for sure. I'm surprised though about your comments about Weihrauch safety's not always engaging. I've had many HW rifles over the past 40 odd years and I can't remember having a single safety failure yet. In fact I've still got my first ever Weihrauch that I purchased brand new back In 1977. A HW35, and that safety had never failed to engage either.
ATB 👍
A HW35, and that safety had never failed to engage either.
Same for me and also for the 77K
Hi Mark.
Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Weihrauchs are tremendous rifles but the safeties aren't the best at least not in my experience. Even from new we've had a couple where the safety would only engage if you made sure to put extra effort in really pulling the barrel/underlever down.
I think you can see in our HW77 and HW97 videos that the safety didn't always engage and I think the HW80 was the same. Maybe different batches were better while some were worse? I know Weihrauch had issues with the bluing on some rifles (like my 97) so I'm wondering if they've had wonky safeties at some point?
I wish Weihrauch would actually revise their safeties to an extent so they are a smidge more reliable and can be reset without having to re-cock the rifle. A system like what Hatsan/Webley use or even something similar to the Express unit would be great. Their rifles are superb but in my experience at least the safety is the only weak link.
Cheers Mark and sorry for the massive reply!
My last hw95 had a safety that failed to engage don't know why as never had that problem before.
@@bigdansairguns83 As an old bastard who has over 40 years of experience with All kinds of Firearms and Air Rifles you are 100 percent correct, that said WEIRAUCH is still my Favourite air rifle. Excellent channel by the way,
Hello Dan.i purchased my 208 a couple of years back for a bargain £99.95!! It is a copy of the Diana 34, the trigger is the TO35, nice gun! It's my go to fun gun.
The trigger could do with being a fraction lighter but it is Totally creep free unit ,.first stage was a bit long but easily. Adjusted
Shame they didn't do a ..@,177. nice . I use AA5.33
I recommend this gun.
Hi Donald!
That was a cracking price mate I'd be a very happy chappy with that.
As you've said mate the trigger is good but I'm sure with a bit of polishing it'd be superb. It's not often that you find a creep free budget trigger.
I'll try those AA's if we review the whole family of 208's. I'm sure it was the pellets why we had those two high shots....
It had nothing to do with the fleshy bit with his porky hands that is pulling the trigger.. it was all those rubbish JSB's fault.
Hi Dan, I was just looking around the web when I came across the 208 at that price,did a which bit of web research which seemed to be all good, so rang the dealer first thing to double check the price,once confirmed I drove the 100 mile round trip to collect, very satisfied, far better gun than my Gamo440 especially the trigger!
I have found it to be non twangy and it didn't diesel either! Matched it to a new BSA 3-9x40AO, nice combo.
I will try some of those JSB Express pellets,what size are you using? With AA Fields I found the 5.53 satisfactory, good old Superdomes no good so will try the JSB out of curiosity.
In the meantime I just enjoy it on the club's indoor 25yd range, Covid permitting! We had just been open for two weeks but are now locked down again!
Take care stay safe stay healthy.
Great review bud. I really wish I could use a springer. Me shoulders are shot and it keeps me with me PCPs. Speaking of PCPs. Here in the USA I just got an Air Venturi Avenger .25 cal hitting 50 FPE with a JSB Hades 26.54 grain at 2200 psi regulator setting, stock hammer spring setting and 914 FPS. Just think of it as a Nova Vista Liberty MK2 improved. Crazy accurate. Loving it for the longer shots when hunting. 299$ is hard to beat with all that you get. Can’t wait till Nova Vista makes a bull pup. Take care.God bless.
Hi Heath!
50ft-lbs... I've got to get myself to the U.S Heath. The food, the trucks and of course the guns. I'd love to shoot an M1 Garand, there's just something about them.
Sorry Heath I got a little sidetracked there haha.
The Air Venturi gear looks fantastic and the Nova rifles were top notch too. I've got no idea how they make them for the money as they were even cheaper than the Artemis/SPA rifles.
A Nova bullpup would be fantastic, they'd have stiff competition from the P-15's and P-10's but they've already got a great barrel and although the synthetic stock is a little cheap feeling if it's priced correctly nobody would really care.
I hear a lot of people praising the Hades pellets, I can't wait to try them but I don't know how well they'll be suited for 12ft-lbs.
Thanks Heath and all the best to you and your family. Look after yourself mate.
Banging the reviews out mate gives me something decent to watch in the combine
I read that and immediately the Boursin cheese advert popped into my head hahaha.
(Brrrrrt!) "Huh, that bit of ground back there was a bit rough.... red too!".
You are making great reviews with verry detailed content, rgds from Germany
Thanks ever so much for the kind comment mate it means a lot.
hab einen schönen Tag mein Freund.
(Apologies for the probably terrible German)
Sadly my brand new smk sx38 went back to the shop , after 9 wks, after discovering its power had gone down to 7.5 ft lbs ,guess a broken spring or seal , had about 350 shots, a little whisper in the ear , said they get a 50 percent return, shame really cos it did feel tough but shame the springs must be crappy steel or something, si I guess in future I’ll stick to the higher end guns , my hw 97 is still going very strong, morels of the story , you pays your money and takes your choice,, not all lost my little smk cp2 is going strong and glad I bought it cheers shane uk 🇬🇧
Dan I realise I am coming in late on these reviews, been I'll for a couple years myself and not really looking at the guns. But I have tuned a few of these guns and can tell you the trigger does improve a little bit but not a great amount because of the way they actually Latch up. Look at a schematic and you'll see what I mean. A good polish and a little drop of moly paste makes it workable for the majority. The safety actually is set by the action of the central latching rod pushing back against the working parts of the safety itself unlike the cross bar type which are reliant on a spring pushing them into place. All The SMK guns seem to have exceptional barrels when it comes to accuracy, There few that need attention to the muzzle crown or breech crown and even the little B-2 has great accuracy. Loving these real world style reviews by the way. Well Done
hi Dan ... Ive owned xs19 with ww trigger i fitted it was a dream plus xs38 superb. Also the 208 synthetic.... t05 triggers a bugger to put back if it comes apart but sweet as a nut to shoot plusdiana parts are great being that smk are terrible getting spares for. NOT that stuff goes wrong...it just doesnt!!! fab review as always
Thanks Dave!
The Supergrades are great aren't they? I'd love to test the little XS15's and XS12's one day. One of my best chrono spreads of all time was with an XS15.. we had a max spread over 10 shots of only 3fps!
That's better than all of the high end PCP's I've ever put through the chrono and it's a sub £100 rifle haha.
Thanks Dave and we'll get filming our next review ASAP.
Good to see you back Dan, and what a great review mate, as always good honest down to earth review, as for the rifle what more could you want for that price, what a great bargain in any bodies language, great stuff, Cheers mate
Dan, where did you go? Haven't seen anything new for over 8 months! Hope all is well!
Hey mate!
I'm baaaaack! Hahaha.
Great review. Looks like a fun cheap rifle. That crono was worrying but jsb's sorted that.
Hey Smedz,
that was more than a bit concerning wasn't it? I knew the spring had to be fine as it was still shooting on point with no more noticeable drop (although the pellets did impact low on two bottlecaps..) I'm wondering if the high numbers with the first testing was simply due to the rifle still dieseling? Makes you wonder what power the JSB's would've been doing at point though..
If the heat didn't make me sweat enough then that sure would've!
Thanks Smedz
My .22 Artemis P15 loves the JSB Express pellets. Ideal for hunting with the lighter weight and flatter trajectory.
With the plain white caps you could write the distance on them with a sharpie pen when you place them.
That's something that a smart person would do mate, unfortunately for us we both know that I'm incapable of that kind of thought.
@@bigdansairguns83 That's why I told you 😂
I've fired the rws pointed and found them deadly accurate
A surprising verdict. Interesting! I didn't think it would be quite that good for the money. Dan, I know we are in lockdown again and you may well be treading water just trying to stay afloat. However, when it comes to your next review would you please consider a very affordable PCP the Beeman Commander in .22 cal? Thanks.
Dan - cheers for another great review.
I would have to assume that the front sight ramp is serrated to prevent glare. However, as I would suspect that the front sight unit is molded from matt black plastic, I doubt that glare would really be a problem.
Hi Stephen,
it's matte black so I wouldn't imagine it was for glare. My only reasoning is that it has been done for added traction but I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about their hands slipping off their barrel when cocking.
It's only a minor complaint but it'll be a bit annoying should it find its way onto other rifles.
Hey Dan , I hope Your OK ? I'm really missing Your revues ! ,it's Ok if life is being a pain , things Will improve ! in the mean time ,Shoot Straight , Stay Safe & Stay Well .
I’m not sure if crowning on the barrel makes a gun pellet fussy. The reason being is that the Nova Vista Alpha/Liberty and the Air Venturi/Nova Vista Avengers are all Un-crowned barrels and they are not pellet fussy at all. In fact they have proven themselves to be some of the most accurate budget guns I own and hold their own against several guns I have paid a thousand or so dollars more. Maybe it has to do with the type of rifling imho. I really don’t know for-sure but I noticed that the NV barrels have a similar rifling to a Marlin Micro-Grove rimfire’s do.🤷♂️ Some have 16 groves and others 21 groves. Not pronounced but there.
Cracking rifle dan had 4 all have been very accurate still have the black stock version going off to be glided and tuned triggers can be tuned to be more than capable with a little fettling shot many rabbits with mine 45 yards no problems when conditions are perfect, not that i shoot at that distance regularly most 15/30yards but as you say they are a cracking rifle.
It would be great if you did some reviews of the air rifles that were raved about in the 1980s.
Probably be difficult to get them as they were when new, but it would still be a nice comparison.
I paid over £ 80 for my Original 45 in 1980 or 81.
Work that out in pounds and pence today.
How would these 80s springers stack up today?
Nice video again, keep up the good work, Springer's not for me , back injury makes them a no no ,mor pcp's please, 😁👍
Hi Phillip!
Hopefully it'll be a PCP that we look at next. Fingers crossed the Zbroia Sapsan. That being said if you'd be interested in something more affordable there's also a few new Artemis rifles..
It's also a travesty that we haven't reviewed an S410 or S200 yet.
Thanks Phillip!
@@bigdansairguns83 i have a s400 and a s200 now both in. 177 , both are what i whoud class as budget rifles, come on dan get your finger out, 😂😂👍
Gosh theres alot of good rifles for cheap these days. £90=Hatsan 900x, £105=Remington Pest Controller, £130= SMK XS208, £140 SMK XS38/SMK XS20/Remington Express/, £150= Remington Express XP, £170=Remington Sabre, £180=Cometa 220, £190=Cometa 300 £200=Remington Warhawk, £230=Weihrauch HW99S, £250=Diana 430L and so on. And thats not mentioning all other brands or the used bargains.
Hey 99 ron.
I say to all of my customers it's a minefield out there. There's not many "bad" rifles on the market these days thankfully. Regarding springers some might twang more than others and have a smidge more kick but I've not come across one that wouldn't group.
...yet..
Thanks for your videos. Please, what is your opinion comparing the XS208 and the Comet Fenix 400, in terms of trigger and accuracy?
If you have the money for a cometa fenix 400, you might as well get the Weihrauch HW99S,it has the best trigger of any springer, and with a half decent 3-9-40 scope it is very accurate.then you can stick a upgrade kit in it and it's pinpoint accurate 👍
Hi Jose!
Out of the two I'd go Fenix all day, no offense to the SMK as it's still a great rifle but the Fenix has the more refined action and superior trigger/barrel.
The HW99S is also a good shout and is on par with the Fenix, the 99S has a marginally better trigger and a metal one at that but the Fenix is a lot less twangy to shoot. It's neck and neck for accuracy and it mainly comes down to preference.
Thanks Jose!
@@bigdansairguns83 Thank you for your reply, I have been clarified.
Great review Dan👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😎
Cheers Alan!
Great video Dan! I was worried there as well! I said to meself, self I think the spring may be broken lol. I wish I could get these guns from SMK here in Canada! You have reviewed quite a few decent budget rifles. Yes, I own Weihrauch and Walther springers but I love the budget-minded guns as well.
Hey mate!
Yeah that was really odd, it was a major "UH OH" moment during that second test.What did pop into my mind however was if it was doing 10+ft-lbs using Rifles then what would it have been doing using JSB? That's a tad concerning considering our power limits!
Thankfully she settled down nicely so that's more than a relief!
You probably can get SMK's in Canada but they'll be badged as BAM, Westlake or XISICO. It's worth taking a look as you may see some very familiar looking rifles ;)
Thanks mate and I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
@@bigdansairguns83 Only place I know that even remotely sell anything Xisico is a military surplus store that sell airguns. I bought an Xisico/Norinco (says Norinco Made for Canada on the receiver) BAM B3-2 .22 underlever. I put almost 1000 pellets through that gun in the first 4 days I had it home. I refinished the stock with cut in finger grooves, tuned it and topped it with a budget 3-9x40AO. Shoots fantastic! but it's the only SMK derivative I can find here.
@@injairgun The B-3's aren't a bad rifle. and yours defnitely sounds like an interesting specimen now. What also impressed me the other day was an SMK DB5 that we ordered in for a customer, it had a nice trigger and the customer had sent me pictures of his groups and at near 20 yards he's practically getting 5p groups with it. That's at only 9ft-lbs.
If you're interested in the 208 take a look at the BAM B25 I think it might be just what you're looking for.
Cheers mate and I hope this helps, they're a very sweet rifle for sure.
@@bigdansairguns83 Thanks Dan! I will have a look to see if I can get any of these guns imported.
Dan, I found an online store here in Canada that carry Xisico break barrels! WIll have the XS25SFB (bamboo stock I love the look of it!) hopefully next week! Next will be the XS28 and they have it too!
It looks like a Daisy, Winchester 1000 (made in Turkey) or the Winchester 1100 (made in China). In the air gun world it seems the same basic floor plan is duplicated over and over again, with a new name and slight changes here and there. For a pellet rifle to be worth anything it has to shoot good groups, consistently, at least 30 yards with open sights.
Hi handygent!
A lot of budget rifles (and PCP's lately) have been swapping badges.
30 yards with open sights?! That's just cruel haha.
@@bigdansairguns83 Hey, my best shot and/or limit with open sights is at 65 yards hitting soda cans. It depends on three primary factors. The gun, the sights and the shooter.
I have many, many pellet guns, in all sizes, price ranges, shapes and configurations. Only a few of my break barrel riles are accurate with open sights beyond 30 yards.
The Daisy, Winchester 1100S (made in China), using cheep Crosman 10.5 grain domed pellets is fantastic. ( I was so impressed I bought three more.)
The earlier Winchester (made in Turkey) can barely keep up at 25 yards consistently. At present I have three of them.
My definition of a good pellet rifle is shooting golf balls at 30 yards with open sights.
I do not like fiber optic glow sights. I'm 67 years old and my eyes are good and I don't have the shakes. Former military.
Years ago I bought a lot of 15 Shanghai B3-1 under lever pellet guns in .177. (With non-removeable rear sight mounted on the breech block.) They were taken apart, new seals, deburred, tuned, crowned and so on. Only one is dead accurate at 30 yards with open sights using cheap Crosman 7.9 domed pellets.
Another accurate break barrel rifle I have is the QB-25, in .177. (Actually I have two.) I have a third, in .22 and that one is not accurate beyond 10 yards.
I also have a large collection of scopes. But still I prefer open sights, with a numbered degree wheel for the elevation knob.
At present my favorite, long range pellet rifle is the Hatsan Bull Boss, in .22 Using a quality scope (under $600 price range) I can hit golf balls at 125 yards consistently.
Except when necessary I use cheep Crosman domed pellets as my standard or basic pellets.
Great review as usual! Personally, no shooting and cocking for me when it’s 37 outside..!
Hi Run ZZ.
I suffer mate so you don't have to. Suffer being the correct word as that heat was ridiculous.
If I weren't sweating enough then we had that misfire that was the second chrono test. I've heard of sweating bullets but that was sweating hand grenades!
Hi
I was just wondering when the review of the zbroia Sapsan will be uploaded as im sure I've seen on the shop site that this will be coming soon. I am very interested in seeing more of the UK version rather than watching the other variations.
Thanks
Hi Michael.
It'll be uploaded as soon as possible mate as hopefully we're back on schedule now.
Thanks Michael!
Its a copy of the Diama RWS/34 i have one and its a good knockabout springer the .177 i have has no twang Its really designed for 18ft/lb and they have detuned it for the UK market . Mine had an issue with the breech seal recess which was milled a bit to deep which i fixed with some thin washers/packers i made .This was a common problem on some of these guns apparently .
Naaah sounds like fake news to me.
Just kidding! They're a nice rifle the 208 and you can definitely see the inspiration with it. They do shoot well too it must be said.
First timer to you channel and a great review. Only one thing, you do tend to repeat yourself a few times.
THX Dan. What about getting your hands on a Lee Enfield SENTRY ?
Hi Hendrick!
I've had my eyes on one of these for a while so I'll see what I can do. It's an interesting looking thing that's for sure but the spec that they come with looks great for the price.
I'll see if I can get my filthy mitts on one.
Hi Dan, did you clean the barrel before this review? I just got a 208 and it's running 8.5-9 ft lb. Pellpax has told me to clean the barrel and it should right itself! 😂
Dan could you review the SKL208 Skeleton Hunter in 177 please
He don't like it
Hi BD, I have a number of spring and PCP rifles but the 208 TH looked interesting , as my daughter snagged my Walther LGV for furlough fun in the garden! Do you have a .177 in stock. I could buy from my local RFD but a: He's become a bit of a **** recently, and b: I fancy the 100 mile drive to pick up. Do you have any goss on the Air Venturi PCP , looks great for the ££ ?
Hi Dave,
the 208TH is my personal favourite it's a lovely rifle to shoulder and that barrel weight calms what little recoil there is.
We don't have a .177 at the moment I'm afraid and our suppliers are also out of the 208's at the moment but I believe they've got a new shipment coming in hopefully this month.
If interested mate contact us at bigdansairguns.co.uk and I'll let you know as soon as they're in.
Regarding the Air Venturi's I haven't got anything on those I'm afraid, that being said should I hear anything I'll be in touch.
Also well played to your daughter the LGV's are lovely rifles! I'd also be willing to bet that she's naturally better than both me and you with it as women and kids are unfairly talented when it comes to shooting for some reason...
Thanks Dave and all the best to you and your family.
That does look nice Dan
Hey John!
They're not bad at all are they? The TH208 is my pick of the litter but they all shoot nicely.
Thanks John!
I will have to wait and see what my birthday brings now maybe a new mountain bike or one of these 😀
Awesome vid dan
Thanks Ian!
I've checked the SMK website and the XS208 and the XS20 are not there, so I'm wondering have they stopped manufacturing these rifles?
Hi Stephen!
I have no idea as we stopped stocking SMK products a while back. It's a shame if so as they're a cracking rifle.
I have a question.
When you say a lighter pellet is better in a springer. Do you mean it's more accurate or has a higher FTB rating? Something people need to think about when staying within the legal limit.
You gotta trust dan he's a proper moody geezer 😎
I dunno Ian he looks a little shifty to me.. some say he's a firearms dealer..
plus just look at that face! Is that a face you can trust?? Didn't think so.
Hi Dan great review, i must say i do like that gun looks like the one i just bought yesterday. I got a bsa superstar under lever in .25. Just finished putting it all together as it was in bits when I got it, what do you think about this rifle, is it any good for hunting at 11.5 ft-lbs?
Hi Luis!
I haven't shot a Superstar underlever yet but the power sounds spot on, if it groups well then there's no reason why you couldn't hunt with it. The only thing to be careful of is that being a .25 it will drop off early.
What I highly recommend are the JSB alloy diabolos, we tried a few through a customer's BSA Scorpion .25 and not only were they fast (550fps) but they were incredibly accurate too!
Thanks Luis and let me know how she shoots.
@@bigdansairguns83 Thank you Dan i will try them this Saturday as i will be out in the field and see how it performs.
I will let you know if they are good for hunting or just back yard shooting.
Again thank you for the information, much appreciated 👍
Come on dan lets have some more reviews, air arms s200 whoud be nice, only been asking for a year, 😂😂👍
I want to get the Weihrauch hw95. Does anybody know, what cal do these work better with? I have seen many owners from the USA, that had both cal versions and the all say, they didn't like the 177 for some reason. 1 said it jumps and all of them said, go for the 22 caliber! Since their version of that rifle may be slightly different (Beeman) also, I know they may be biased because they traditionaly use 22s. Could that be only for their Beeman version, or for ours version too? Please, help me choose the right cal for that rilfe. It will be a general use rifle, not only for targent shooting. I would really appriciate any advice or opinion.
The 22 shoots a little smoother they say with the HW springers, personally I'll take 22 or 177 as they're are both perfect, although with 177 there's a lot larger variation in amuntion.
Good review, subbed😁
Hi dan. Can you give me your honest opinion. Which gun is the better buy??? This x208 or the Remington Sabre?? Comment back on here please.
Is the th208 better than the standard sporter having the muzzle weight on the end of the barrel?. Also are they still good in 177 cal Dan?.
Can you do a review on the webley vmx d-ram?
Could any body tell me where Dan’s shop is.
Thanks
🔥🔥
Thanks OOTAH!
Has this one got a Waltha barrel Dan ,? Like the xs38 ,, l o l
Hi Shane.
The XS208 uses a standard Chinese barrel unlike the XS38. Quite a good one though apparently!
Big Dan's Airguns was taking the mike , in a friendly way, bought a xs38 after watching yours and other reviews Dan , but can’t get it to group for toffee tried 4 lots of different pellets, the last tin of jsb , 5.52 head size are hard to push into the barrel , I’m not about to buy loads of different make pellets but appears to be really fussy, so I bit the bullet and bought a hw97 stainless like the one you had for your birthday should have done this in the first place ,, you will see both guns on my UA-cam if you look ,, cheers Shane uk 🇬🇧
@@shaneweightman Hi Shane,
The XS38's are most definitely a Walther barrel and many highly praise the XS38's accuracy due to this. There's no mickey being taken here it's just that I quite like asking questions to my suppliers regarding certain rifles and what parts they use/if parts are shared with other rifles.
If you'd like more information regarding the barrel on the XS38 get in touch with me via our contact us section on the website.
Regarding being pellet fussy some Walther's can be like that (CZ are the same), in our Rotex review that was also a bit fussy depending on what you put through it.
It may also be worth checking the crown to see if it has been finished correctly as you can get rough crowns no matter which brand you use.
Thanks Shane and all the best.
What about silencing options?
Grub screw moderators around twenty quid for this or a 16mm I think to 1/2"unf adapter
You should rename your channel "Big Dan's cooperate yes man reviews"!!
Have you ever shot an XS208 Will?
That’s nothing but a ruger air hawk
There is no twang nothing