Hatsan Factor Sniper Long.
This report covers:
- Many features
- Description
- Fill
- Calibers
- Shots per fill
- Power
- Action
- Adjustable power
- Summary
Today we will look at a type of air rifle that I never tested. It’s a style that’s becoming quite popular, though the high prices have kept the total number of sales in check. But the Hatsan Factor Sniper Long PCP air rifle I’ve selected to test is priced at the bottom end of this class of air rifle. It sells for $1,300 at the time this report is published. Similar rifles from Skout, FX and Karma are hundreds more.
Many features
The Factor Sniper Long has many features airgunners are asking for these days. Because of that my description will take more than one report.
From this point on I’m calling this rifle the Factor, though it is specifically the Factor Sniper Long. There is a Factor Sniper Short rifle that has a shorter barrel, but this one is the Long.
Description
The test rifle is 46.5-inches long with the adjustable stock collapsed and 49.6-inches with the stock extended. It has a 30-inch free-floated barrel. The barrel is shrouded but there are no baffles. Can an aftermarket silencer be fitted? A quick search did not reveal anything but I’ll keep looking. If you know of anything please comment.
The Factor weighs 13 pounds so it is pretty much a benchrest rifle. This class of air rifles (benchrest) is too heavy to carry far. Firearm shooters with rifles this heavy will pack them to a convenient place then sit or lay on the ground and use a quality bipod to shoot pests like prairie dogs.
Can it be also used for general hunting? Sure—by the Nephilim. If you’re smaller than Goliath of Gath, plan to shoot it from a bench
The pistol grip is beautiful Turkish walnut. It’s stippled for a better grip.
Fill
The Factor is filled to 4,351 psi/300 bar and the detatchable carbon fiber tank is 700 CC in size. It is regulated and the reg is externally adjustable. You know you’re going to get a lot of shots from all that!
To adjust the reg. higher or lower the air tank must be removed. The internal air in the firing plenum must also be exhausted.
There is a gauge for the tank pressure and a separate gauge for the regulator pressure. Obviously if you drop the reg. pressure you will get more shots at a lower power level.
The two gauges are located on the right side of the receiver and are labeled well.
Calibers
The Factor Long comes in four calibers—.22, .25. .30 and .357. They are all the same price. This is a repeater and the two magazines that come with it hold:
.22 caliber—21
.25 caliber—19
.30 caliber—16
.357 caliber—13
I got the .25 caliber for testing. That caliber will work for long-range benchrest competition, though the .30 caliber is usually preferred.
Shots per fill
.22 caliber—100
.25 caliber—80
.30 caliber—70
.357 caliber—70
The description on the Pyramyd AIR website says this shot count is the number of shots that stay within 85 percent of the optimum. I’m not sure whether that is at the maximum power or not, but it would almost have to be—because of what I’m about to tell you next. Naturally I’ll test all of this for you.
Power
The Factor Long is a powerhouse. It gets up to:
22 caliber—82 foot-pounds
.25 caliber—115 foot-pounds
.30 caliber—157 foot-pounds
.357 caliber—169 foot-pounds
Power like this can give accuracy at 100 yards, so what we have in the Factor Long is a serious contender for long-range benchrest competition. And it’s priced right so more shooters can get into the race. We know that there is serious prize money in these competitions and the Factor Long will get you into the running.
Action
The Factor is a sidelever. The power of the rifle makes the lever a little stiff to retract, but at least it is smooth
Adjustable power
The Factor has an adjustment for the hammer spring. Coupled with the adjustable regulator, that makes this rifle very tunable. Of course that’s not for power, but for accuracy. Think benchrest. As far as slugs go since they aren’t legal in most benchrest matches yet I doubt the barrel of this rifle was made for them.
Summary
We aren’t anywhere near finished with the introduction and description of this rifle yet. There is a lot to consider, guys. Heck—it will take a lot of time just to address the highly-adjustable buttstock! And there is a lot more than that to see.
I won’t run the next report right away, but I also won’t drag my feet.
B.B.
After you are finished testing the bottom price range of long distance PCP’s, hopefully after you will test the top of the price range of the lang distance PCP’s? Like to see that extra bucks buys you….
What is the most powerful bolt action cocking lever rifle that you can think of? Seems they have all become side-levers.
Best,
Yogi
PS please test these long range rifles with slugs not just pellets.
Yogi,
I have a slug gun test coming. AirForce has just released one that is as powerful as a .22 long rifle.
BB
Tom,
The Hatsan, and the Skout, FX Karma are all slug guns!
The Hatsan in .25 is as powerful as a .22 LR.
-Yogi
Yogi,
Okay.
BB
Tom,
Is the front of the barrel threaded? If not I don’t think a suppressor (straight from the factory) will ever be fitted to this.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
There apparently is a threaded muzzle, though the cap was too hard to remove. I’ll get to it.
BB
B.B.,
Strap Wrench.
Polymer strap is best.
Leather belt or poly rope can be made to work (can be assisted by a Vice Grip™ properly applied to the strap substitute) as a substitution tool.
shootski
PS: Vise Grip™ deals in direct damage to parts with no additional beneficial effect ;^)
BB
“Can an aftermarket silencer be fitted?”
Your quick search obviously didn’t include PA’s description. The UNF thread is mentioned there, although I believe it’s quite obvious if you just look at the barrel.
By the way Hatsan’s own charts show that the power of the 5.5mm/.22 model is quite higher and close to the 6.35/.22. That being the truth it seems that the most efficient calibers, powerwise, are the.22 and the.30.
It’s a very interesting gun in paper.
B.B.,
From the P AIR description: “It also provides quiet accuracy because of its QuietEnergy fully-shrouded barrel with integrated moderator, which is precision rifled and choked, and the 1/2″ UNF threads for adding an external moderator.”
The above statement makes it easy to mount almost any aftermarket airgun suppressor.
It also casts some doubt on shooting bullets (slugs) since the barrel is claimed to be choked…how much it is choked will play into that fact.
That same description has this: “Removable 700cc carbon fiber bottle, plus 100cc pre-air chamber”
Pre-air chamber must be the same as a plenum…but IF the same size is used for each of the four available calibers it won’t be optimal and certainly require some regulator and hammer spring adjustment when the caliber is changed.
Lots of questions to be answered on this beast.
shootski
A pre-air chamber? Something was lost in the translation. I’m sure they meant a pre-charged regulated air chamber or plenum. Seems to be a standard item with powerful PCP’s that need regulated air … right now.
A no brainer with a full-auto PCP to keep it from running out of regulated air with a restrictive regulator in use.
What this rifle needs is an optional tethered air bottle setup carried in a hip mounted pouch. They could use an aviation type quick disconnect that closes off the air before it fully disengages. Might be a lawyer problem with that much air pressure in play.
That grip is very nice but totally out of place here. Needs the black ergonomic AR pistol grip.
Please, someone come out with a stackable mag that mounts along the side, or someplace, and doesn’t stick out too far. A more integrated setup.
I don’t see the need for a big high-capacity mag considering it’s intended use, might help keep the weight down a little. So would a smaller capacity ‘air tube’ option. Just my opinion.
Bob,
Yes, that “pre chamber” is a plenum.
The large mag and air tank are for the benchrest rules.
BB
BB,
So I guess that qualifies it as a Plumbers Nightmare. Tac-T-Cool, well, except for that wooden bit hanging off the bottom.
Probably had Ridge Runner in mind with that addition, a bit more tempting, but evidently not enough 😉
Bob M,
Not even. They would have to drop that price to something a bit more reasonable. I am not a bench rester either, except to zero the airgun.
I like the RTI and the Zelos, but the RTI line is way too expensive and the Zelos is made in China. It looks like my “modern” airgun line is sorta kinda filled out. I might make room for an “old gal”, but since I can only shoot so many at a time even that is probably limited.
We looked at that model at SHOT SHOW.
I was impressed with what was shown
I am glad it has become a reality!
Like the Avenge X this could probably be one of the guns that will be a long term test in progress.
Ian.
The price tag is one of the reasons these beasts will never likely show up at the door of RidgeRunner’s Home For Wayward Airguns. A used one of these monsters is just not worth it for me to adopt. I have allowed a couple of these high-priced beasts to show up here, only to have them move on rather quickly. Unless you are willing to spend a small fortune to travel and enter these long-range bench competitions, most people like myself are not likely to spend that kind of money on such things.
I was pretty excited several years ago that FX was going to produce an affordable air rifle. Then they came out with one that was priced at a grand. Really? Affordable? For whom? Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
RR
Count me in too. But yeah, different folks for different folks. I do like to read about these long rangers.
Deck
Deck,
I used to peruse the various reviewer sites, but more and more they seem to be testing these top enders used for benchrest competitions, so they lost me along the way. I do occasionally search and find some of the more reasonable airgun reviews and watch/read those, but more often than not the companies are promoting their top shelf stuff.
This is why I like reading BB’s blog. He will sometimes go into these types, but more often than not he reviews what his true audience is likely to buy.
RR,
EVERYTHING is expensive these days and it’s rapidly getting worse!
Relatively, airgun prices have been pretty reasonable all considered.
There seems the be a lucrative market for high end airguns. Just did a quick check of the Pyramyd Air web site and they list 131 PCPs over $1000, (some over 3,000) by various manufacturers. FX products seem to be competitively priced compared to similar models.
IMHO, airgunning is a relatively inexpensive hobby/sport in comparison to other common activities. Golf, skiing and stuff like that are worse and don’t get me started about the cost of my fishing gear!
Just saying that I look at an airgun as an investment, a one time cost that provides hundreds of hours of cheap entertainment. Costed off over the years it’s not expensive at all.
Cheers!
And then there’s the Diana spring piston line made in China that has been hovering between $100 and <$200 for a long time. The "two forty" is one of the great values in airgunning, IMHO (in my humble opinion, Tomek).
Then there is the used market, where great deals can be had. I just picked up a Diana 24D for less than $100 with fees, taxes, and shipping. I will be working on a guest blog on that one comparing it to the Diana 24J (especially the trigger) among other projects. If there is interest, I may even write a supplement guest blog on it.
Write away my friend!
Hank,
My problem is here in Appalachia the pay scale is a bit lower than out in California. The sad part is we are slowly becoming “gentrified”. It will not be too much longer until it is just as stupid around here as elsewhere.
Fortunately, with the “gentrification” movement comes the “latest and greatest” movement. As Roamin Greco has pointed out, some pretty good deals can be had on some pretty nice used airguns. It is well known that I prefer the “old gals”. Some may be surprised to discover that with the modern pellets, some of these “old gals” will shoot with the best of them.
The FMs went visiting with good old friends couple of days ago – they live in what USED to be mostly rural country in S Dade County FL – lotsa farms back in the day. FM and friends, including the ones visited used to roam in those parts and do a lot of free-range shooting and small-game hunting. Now the double threats of Concrete Cancer and overpopulation are threatening that whole area and farms are becoming housing developments. Don’t know what all those newcomers are gonna eat when all the agriculture is gone. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing. Thank God FM hopefully won’t be around to see the last plot of land concreted-up. 🙁
Basil,
Your rant reminded me of the song “They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4VkzfikFv0&t=108s
BB
The version for these times should be titled “They Paved Paradise, Put Up a Parking Lot and They Don’t Let Me Shoot There Anymore.”
RR-
Yep, I’m with you on ‘affordability’.
Especially for something with half the power of a .22 Win mag rimfire (WMR). But punching holes in paper is a big thing, so there will be a market for this. Not my thing, but that’s why they make chocolate and vanilla.
Bingo!
Listen folks, this air rifle has a number of things not going for it as far as I am concerned. One thing is the price tag. For someone on a fixed income this thing is pretty expensive. I might find a used one at a reasonable price, maybe.
Another thing is the weight of this thing. It is way too heavy for an old, fat, bald-headed geezer like me to carry around much.
Something else to think about is caliber. I have bb, .177, .22 and even .457 covered pretty good. I have dabbled with .25 and .357 a bit and was not really impressed. I really do not need anything in that range.
I am not a benchrest shooter. Do I like reading about what is going on with these things? A bit. Does my interest center around these beasts? Not even. Though I do not do such anymore, I am more of the hunter type. I do on occasion enjoy carrying an air rifle or pistol around on the place and shooting at “targets of opportunity” such as mushrooms that are popping up at various ranges.
There are a few relatively expensive airguns around here. It is just that I enjoy chocolate while some others like vanilla.
RR
I see that you don’t mention a.30 cal in your post. I may be wrong and I can’t explain it but it seems to me that 30 cal in airguns is a quite balanced platform. They do have power and require much less air than bigger bores.
Have you ever tried one? You may like it.
I did forget to mention that I now have the .20 caliber covered pretty good now. No, I do not have a Sheridan, but I do have an AirForce Condor sitting here. 🙂