The TX200-MkIII is a legendary underlever spring-piston air rifle.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
This report covers:
- The test
- Scope
- Repaired the rifle
- Sight in
- JSB Exact 8.44-grain
- Air Arms 8.44-grain dome
- Apolo Air Boss
- The verdict?
Today we back up to 25 yards, to test the accuracy of the TX200 Mark III that’s been tuned with the Tony Leach kit from there!
The test
I shot the rifle from a sandbag rest with the rifle resting directly on the bag. I shot 10-shot groups today because we are testing the accuracy of the rifle with the Tony Leach kit. The 5-shot groups I shot at 10 meters in Part 6 were more to show that I had installed the kit correctly, though we did see some amazing accuracy.
Besides the JSB Exact 8.44-grain dome that we know is accurate, I also tested the 8.44-grain Air Arms dome that JSB makes. And I also did a first test of the .177-caliber Apolo Air Boss pellets. I will have more to say about them when we get there.
Scope
As a reminder, the Meopta MeoPro Optika5 4-20X50 RD BDC3 scope is on the TX200. I did illuminate the central dot at the highest illumination for this entire test.
I also dropped the rifle before the test. I had leaned it against a chair in my living room, so it fell on a padded carpet. I didn’t hear it fall, but I wanted you to know that the scope and mounts took a whack.
Repaired the rifle
I didn’t tell you this in Part 5, but when I installed the Tony Leach kit I lost a part. It was a tiny E-clip that holds the end of a pin — in this case one on the cocking linkage that allowed me to remove the sliding compression chamber. The clip is very small and when I removed it I heard the dreaded “bink” and it was off into the fourth dimension. It will probably come back as a sock in my drier which is good because I can always use more sox.
So I ordered two more clips from T.W. Chambers in the UK. They weren’t cheap, but if I tried to find one that fit here I probably would have ended up with a hundred dollars worth of useless stuff. Do they even come in metric and U.S. sizes?
This is the pin that lacks a clip to secure it.
Thanks to T.W. Chambers, a new clip is in place.
The pin never moved from where it was, despite the rifle being cocked and shot numerous times. Still, I wanted the clip there to hold the pin in place.
Sight in
The rifle was on at 10 meters before. But the stock has been off and the rifle has fallen to the floor. I didn’t shoot up close, but I did allow a lot of room on the target in case the rifle was off. The first shot hit two inches above and one inch to the left of the aim point. Shot two came over to the centerline and I started the first group with the third shot. The pellets landed below the aim point that was the center of the bullseye. And that preserved my aim point for the entire test.
JSB Exact 8.44-grain
The group hit below the bull and centered on it, left and right. Ten JSB Exact 8.44-grain pellets went into 0.218-inches at 25 yards. If I had stopped at 5 shots the group would have probably been less than 0.15-inches. The rifle didn’t move much when it fired, so I could see the pellet going through the target. The first 4 shots went into the same hole and only on shot 5 did the group begin to grow.
At 25 yards the TX200 Mark III with the Tony Leach tune put 10 JSB 8.44-grain pellets into a group that measures 0.218-inches between centers.
I just did a quick look around the blog and I think this is one of the smallest 10-shot groups I have ever shot with a springer at 25 yards. But wait — there is more!
Air Arms 8.44-grain dome
I know that the Air Arms 8.44-grain dome is equally as accurate as the JSB pellet. I hadn’t tested it in the newly-tuned TX yet, so now seemed like the perfect time. This time 10 of them went into 0.28-inches at 25 yards.
The Leach-tuned TX put 10 Air Arms 8.44-grain domes into a 0.28-inch group at 25 yards.
Apolo Air Boss
The last pellet I tested was the .177-caliber Apolo Air Boss pellet. This pellet is a wadcutter that’s not really suited for grouping at 25 yards, but the TX is such an accurate rifle that I thought I’d give it a go. At 25 yards 10 pellets went into an open group that measures 0.57-inches between centers. It’s actually not bad for a wadcutter at 25 yards, but outclassed by the two domes I tested before.
The TX200 put 10 Air Boss wadcutters into 0.57-inches at 25 yards.
Okay, I have tried to contact the folks who import the Air Boss pellets many times since the SHOT Show. They don’t answer their email, or the contact form on their website. These might be good pellets but if you can’t buy them, who cares? I’m not going to play sleuth to hunt this company down. If they decide they want to do business in the future, maybe I’ll give them another look. For now, though, this will be the last test of them.
The verdict?
This TX200 Mark III is now my favorite spring-piston air rifle. I am confident of where it will shoot and it has a perfect trigger. The scope is also perfection and, in a rare moment of good decision making I have decided to not remove this scope from this rifle. That makes two air rifles that have dedicated Meopta scopes — the other one being my Air Arms S510 XS.
BB,
So now the TX200 MkIII beats the Diana 27 as you favorite spring piston rifle?
Siraniko
Siraniko,
Oops! BB better watch what he says — no? 😉
BB
BB,
Best to qualify it as your favorite side lever spring piston rifle. Accuracy at par with the FWB 300s but capable of reaching farther targets.
Siraniko
Siriniko,
Correction: The TX200 is an underlever, not side lever. :^)
Michael
Michael,
Thanks for catching that. I’m really still looking for an available FWB 300s which I know exists in my part of the world. Nobody is telling of owning a TX200 in my country.
Siraniko
B.B.
I love it when a .28 ” group is considered sub par. Nice shooting with a very nice kit.
-Y
BB-
I never regarded favorite as exclusively singular. I have many favorite foods, Western movies and guns. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Retaining ring- I always knew them as e- clips due to the shape. McMaster- Carr, a favorite supplier, lists them as side mount external retaining rings in standard and metric sizes. They are available in a variety of materials- standard or heavy duty strengths. They are very economical. Accurate measuring of pin and groove size is required.
In addition to what pacoinohio says, the local big box construction store does carry e-clips but only in USA sizes in the “hardware” section. The ones I needed (retaining the camera bolt on my monopod) were in the cabinets in that hardware section. Two I think for .49. Something to keep in mind when you absolutely, positively have to have it now and as Paco says, you should measure the pin/bolt diameter the clip needs to go on.
Fred formerly of the Demokratik Peeples Republik of NJ now happily in GA
BB
It feels good, isn’t it?
I’ve only had it a few times in my life. But it’s always so refreshing to discover the perfect combination.
BTW – my HW30s is there after months of waiting. I only made the basic lube and now had that feeling too! Amazing how smooth it is right out of the box! 6.85 ft.lbs is a great feeling on this powerplant. Accurate as I like, and the trigger…
So enjoy the feeling of perfection 🙂
Tomek,
The HW30S is a nice rifle isn’t it! I find that it has a “smile factor” that is out of proportion to its cost – a lot of gun for the money.
My first airgun was a little Slavia 618 (still have it) and like many people I went through the progression from airguns to firearms only to return to airguns in my second childhood.
I do enjoy my PCPs but there is something special about the little HW30S… such a pleasant airgun to shoot!
Glad you are enjoying yours!
Hank
Yes, indeed Hank! I tryied to find out what is the core of the secret. I think not only one thing, but more combined in one small airgun. The shot cycle, the trigger – this is the first point. You know exactly what it does after you pull the trigger. It does always the same thing – and you get a short, small amount of recoil which is pleasent. Kinda feedback to the user from the system which is prefered. That’s the first point I guess, the second is the accuracy. Without this very good accuracy it all would be not enough. The last thing, secondary though, is the small cocking effort, a smooth mechanism and a very high quality close-it noise (psychoacoustically the noise is very pleasent). The energy to cocking effort ratio is also very good.
Think you are right tomek.
It’s all the small things in combination that make the HW30S a perfect little plinker – an all-day shooter that keeps on saying “just one more shot” until the tin is empty. 🙂
I put a light weight Hawke 4×32 scope on mine and use it on small reactive targets.
Do you have Post brand “Honeycomb” cereal in Europe? I hang these on a bent paperclip and string as targets – they explode nicely when hit and the birds cleanup the bits.
Hank
“It’s all the small things in combination that make the HW30S a perfect little plinker”
Hank, I concur with you and tomek on the excellence of these little jewels. 🙂
Hank – yes we have similar things 🙂
Now I understand better why some good shooting, accurate airguns are not so popular or just highly polarizing people. It’s all about it: “all together” – if one important aspect is missing or is just much weaker than the rest (like weird recoil, trigger that is not constant, etc.) the whole thing is just not so fun to shoot.
-> “an all-day shooter that keeps on saying “just one more shot” until the tin is empty. —> This is what hit me really hard! I can’t stop shooting that little piece! 🙂
I think the TX200 is something very similar, but in a larger format. He’s grown up and fun to shoot. This is something for big boys. My 8 year old probably couldn’t handle it yet. It’s a bit too heavy. He is now fully self-sufficient with his new HW30 🙂 Happy as never before. Now, after the BB series about TX I have bad, bad thoughts 🙂
Aaaaaghhhh! You guys are making FM’s airgun life difficult – in a good way; you’re making it hard for him to choose which fork on the road to take next…HW30? TX200? Another PCP? Yes, he knows it is all dependent on “what is it you want to do with your airgun?” So perhaps it will be the HW30 fork-on-the-road taken, down the road, given the shooting conditions around home and because it seems that little gem is fun and friendly enough to get the ladies around here enthused about the sport.
“When you see a fork in the road, take it.” -Yogi Berra
Pacoinohio is right on the money!
Here are some metric e-clips that might fit and they’re dirt cheap. https://www.mcmaster.com/e-clips/side-mount-external-retaining-rings-6/system-of-measurement~metric/for-od~5-to-7-mm/
BB
Congratulations!
What is the best group with this rifle prior to installing this kit? Does the Meopta scope make this too subjective?
Deck
Deck,
Maybe someone can find that for me?
BB
B.B.,
I think the best group you posted for this rifle previously is in this report:
/article/The_Air_Arms_Fabulous_TX200_November_2007/44
Another pic of the group from this report can be seen below.
Take care & God bless,
dave
Dave
Traveling today and just saw this.
Meopta vs another scope, 40 yards vs 25, groups were 5 shots vs 10. Hard to declare a winner. BB’s rifle was accurate then and still is.
Thanks.
Deck
Deck,
There could be another group I missed; I got off to a late start today, and that search was done before my morning caffeine, hahaha! 😉
Still, that ol’ gal is a keeper, for sure.
Good shootin’ to you,
dave
OK, now you have done it BB!
Going to have to put a 12 fpe kit in my TX200, you are having much too much fun with yours. 🙂
Impressive groups, great shooting! Thanks for posting!
Hank
BB, congratulations on getting your rifle to shoot so well. Is this the same TX200 you have been shooting for 10 years or so? It is much more satisfying to get a springer to shoot like this rifle is than to get a PCP to shoot that well. It takes getting everything right to shoot a springer well, hold, trigger pull, follow through, plus the gun has to be in top shape.
David,
Yepper, this is that same rifle. I actually competed in field target with this rifle in the 1990s, so it’s over 20 years old. The beech stock is pretty rough from handling, and I’m considering getting a nice walnut stock for it.
BB
“At 25 yards the TX200 Mark III with the Tony Leach tune put 10 JSB 8.44-grain pellets into a group that measures 0.218-inches between centers.”
B.B.,
The picture accompanying that text says it all; I think it a very wise decision on your part to leave the scope on this gal; for a spring piston rifle, that is excellent performance. 🙂
Wishing you years of happy shooting with this combo,
dave
Tom, have you ever done an article on slugs vs. diabolo pellets? I’m seeing more and more manufacturers offering slugs, but I’m not sure what all the fuss is about? I’ve used pellets for the 30+ years that I’ve been an air gunner and I’m not sure what more I need. If you’ve already touched this subject, I apologize. I read your blog pretty much daily. Must have just missed it.
Motorman
St. Louis, MO
Motorman,
No, I really haven’t. I also don’t know what all the fuss is about. Diabolos work just fine for me.
BB
BB
“I also don’t know what all the fuss is about.”
Exactly my point 🙂
Motorman,
You asked three questions I’ll try to answer two of them and B.B. gets to answer if he has written about slug (bullet) vs diabolo pellets.
“…I’ve used pellets for the 30+ years that I’ve been an air gunner and I’m not sure what more I need.” Answering this one is easiest: you really don’t need bullets (slugs) since you have been happy with pellets for more than 30 years!
Now for the harder one to answer. “I’m not sure what all the fuss is about?” The fuss is that affordable smallbore PCPs have recently gained enough power to shoot heavy projectiles out to well beyond 100 meters/yards! IF you want to shoot FAR accurately you need to minimize Time Of Flight (TOF) for two main reasons. The first is to flatten the external Balistic trajectory and the second is to reduce the effect of the WIND. Bullets (slugs) by design have better BCs and improved sectional distribution of Mass. Both of those factors give bullets a big advantage over pellets out beyond about 40 meters/yards.
Also a FREEBIE, if you are an airgun hunter the typical vastly improved terminal Ballistics give the chance for more humane harvesting of game.
Other reasons you might run across are just herd and trend following in my opinion!
shootski
I have had 3 different Tx 200’s and tuned them different ways. Slower velocity has always been better in many ways.
And I remember when BB always said that the Tx 200 was great out of the box. He was right of course. But they are even greater when tuned. Well mine have been anyway. 🙂
GF1,
I have to agree with that. They are better when tuned, and in my opinion, this is the best tune for them.
BB
“I also dropped the rifle before the test. I had leaned it against a chair in my living room, so it fell on a padded carpet. I didn’t hear it fall, but I wanted you to know that the scope and mounts took a whack.”
So, if a rifle falls in Tom’s house and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound? ;P
BB
You say that you will be keeping this scope on this rifle. Does this mean that an additional Meopta scope is in your future.
It seems you may be enabling yourself.
Ed
Ed,
I seem to do that a lot! 🙂
BB
I think that when you find something that works, you stick with it. Meopta’s fine focus and parallax adjustment make it great for so many platforms.
again JSB and air arms pellets that JSB makes win the smallest group award. yawn….zzzzz lol