A - Gun Test Webley Stingray.indd

airguns | webley
No
Strings
on
Webley
Anything can happen
in the next half hour, as
Bruce ‘Troy Tempest’ Potts
takes a look at the Webley
Stingray Mk2…
F
d and the
The Quattro trigger is very goo
-proof
fool
and
le
simp
is
ty
safe
le
resettab
76
may
2015
|
GUN MART
orgive me for
babbling on about
the old children’s
TV show Stingray,
but it was a classic and I
loved it; and I feel the same
way about the old Webley
Stingray air rifle… and I
suspect that I’m not the
only one! So I was pleased to
get a chance to test this new
Mk2 version, and I must admit
I was pleasantly surprised.
There are a lot of budgetpriced air rifles around these
days and some are better than
others, but the new Webley
Stingray Mk2 is certainly right
up there at the top of the tree.
No longer made in Birmingham,
the new Stingray Mk2 is
nevertheless a very fine looking
air rifle, shod in Turkish walnut
and finely blued along with
some snazzy looking checkering
and a threaded muzzle for a
sound moderator. Best of all is
the smooth cocking and firing
cycle from the Powr-Lok spring
system and the trigger is now
well worthy of the Webley name.
Build & barrel
The old Stingrays had a rounded
curved stock profile, whilst the
Mk2 has a fuller, more angular
look which I like. It feels very
comfortable to hold and naturally
sits in the shoulder well for an
instinctive pointing position.
The Turkish walnut is
particularly good as it gives a
good depth of colour and grain
and gives the Stingray a better
overall feel that sometimes
synthetic stocks lack (some of
them also have a very hollow
feeling). I like the way the forend
projects past the barrel hinge
joint hiding this functional but
not so pretty area. The forend
is narrow but deep and has
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webley | airguns
PELLET TEST RESULTS
There’s a very tight lock up
which is exactly what you want
on a break barrel air rifle
three panels of checkering
cut in a zig-zag pattern, again
nice looking and practical for
a multitude of grip options.
The pistol grip is full and
nicely raked and again has
simple zig-zag checkering
for extra grip. There is also a
well-profiled ambidextrous
cheekpiece too and the recoil
pad is vented and also has a
white spacer. The only thing
I would change is the matt
lacquered finish – it’s practical,
true, but oil is so much better
and would really enhance the
walnut beneath. A small gripe
but an easy fix if required.
The barrel too has a few
surprises; for a start those open
sights are very good. The rear
sight is ramped with central
adjusting wheel with clearly
defined clicks for both windage
and elevation. The twin DayGlo green dots really show up
and align perfectly with the
Pellet
Weight Grains
Webley Lazapells
Powapell
RWS Super Points
FTT
Bisley Superfield
Air Arms Field
H&N Hollow Point
Bisley Magnum
Logun Penetrator
Bisley Premier
Crosman Premier
Beeman Silver Arrow
Rabbit Magnum
Bisley Pest Control
Beeman Kodiak
RWS Hyper
Accupell
15.25
14.15
14.55
14.75
14.95
15.65
12.75
21.8
15.6
17.25
14.45
16.80
30.75
18.42
20.8
10.6
14.4
tunnel fore sight red dot. You
may never use them but they
are there if you need them.
Better still is that the
muzzle comes threaded, ½
inch UNF, so you can fit any
such threaded moderators
and not a ‘manufacturer’s
special’, which is nice. It is
also well-protected by a
knurled end cap. Overall
length of the barrel is
17.75 inches with a barrel
profile of 0.630 inch at the
muzzle and 0.633 inch at the
receiver end. The receiver
and the barrel are well-blued
and there is an adjustable
locking barrel pin to take out
any slack from this union. The
detent locking system was very
positive on this Stingray and a
good rap is needed to unlock
and expose the black rubber
o-ringed barrel breech end.
The air chamber has the
same good bluing and has
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Energy mean of
five shots Ft/lbs
11.64
10.63
9.54
10.49
10.31
11.02
9.98
10.16
11.60
9.99
10.90
10.99
7.49
9.93
10.36
10.63
11.24
Accuracy at 25
yards inches
0.65
1.45
0.95
0.85
1.55
0.95
1.25
1.50
0.95
1.65
0.95
1.75
1.35
1.0
2.25
1.25
0.85
Ambidextrous stock design and there’s a really
good walnut stock beneath that matt lacquer
dovetails of eight inches
length and 11.05mm with
a built in recoil arrestor with
several positions achievable.
Trigger and Safety
Stingrays of old (and early
Webley Hawks) were never
known for their good triggers but
thankfully this new Stingray has
a very good unit. The Quattro
trigger is very good, adjustable
for weight and length of pull
by accessing the small Allen
keys set into the trigger blade
bottom and trigger block.
It’s a bit fiddly and you have
to trial and error it, but the trigger
broke very cleanly at 3.2lbs on
this one. The trigger blade is
gold-anodised and smooth with
a distinctive long profile initially
and then straight section for
your finger. It certainly helps
with the Stingray’s accuracy.
The safety is automatically
activated as the Stingray is
cocked. A long central bar
protrudes rearward from the
air chamber end cap when
cocked, hiding a small red dot
to indicate safe. All you need
to do is a small movement
from your firing hand’s thumb
to push it back in again with
its smooth flared end and the
Stingray is ready to shoot. You
can reset if you like by simply
pulling it out again; very handy.
Field test
I chose a selection of pellets
to test over the chronograph
and also test for accuracy at a
reasonable spring rifle hunting
distance of 25 yards. Because
the open sights are so ‘vivid’ it
was a sin not to use them and
a couple of friends all agreed
that they lined up very quickly
and instinctively. At 25 yards
Premiers grouped 1.5 inches
and was good fun knocking
down silhouette sheep!
Fitting a scope gets the
best from the Stingray and as
GUN MART
| may
2015
▲
Threaded
muzzle, end
cap and
o-ring seal
Velocity Mean of
five shots fps
586.3
581.7
543.4
565.8
557.2
563.1
593.7
458.1
578.5
511.4
582.7
542.6
331.1
492.6
473.5
671.8
592.9
77
airguns | webley
▲
always a good ‘run-in’ process
is best for any springer to get
the action running smoothly
and all the internals working in
harmony. First shots on cocking
were a bit ‘wheezy’ but after
25 or so shots the Stingray
was purring like a kitten thanks
to that Powr-Lok spring.
In fact it was smooth to
cock and the firing cycle muted
with very little spring noise.
The Quattro trigger is so much
better than the old Stingrays
and certainly contributes to the
good accuracy. Best accuracy
came from the Webley Lazapells
(which wasn`t rigged, honestly!),
sometimes it just happens
that way. Velocity was good
at 586.3fps for a very healthy
11.64 ft/lbs and the Stingray
was putting five pellets into
0.65 inches at 25 yards.
Hot on the Lazapells heals
were the FTT`s and Accupell
at 565.8fps and 592.9fps for
10.49 ft/lbs and 11.24 ft/
lbs respectively. Both shot
five pellets into the target
at 25 yards at 0.85 inches.
Highest energy were the
Logun Penetrators with
the 15.6gr pellet travelling
at 578.5fps for 11.60 ft/
lbs energy and accuracy
was good at 0.95 inches.
Highly visible rear sight elements
and precise adjustment wheels
Conclusion
Despite my soft spot for the
old Webley Stingray model, in
truth this newer version has
a lot to like about it. Firstly,
the stock is very good for the
price – walnut always looks
nice and gives this springer a
bit more heft to dampen any
recoil. The power was spot on
and accuracy with a variety
of pellets was good. Throw
into the mix some snazzy
checkering, good open sights
and the ability to screw a
sound moderator directly to the
barrel and you have yourself
a very competent, well-priced
hunting or plinking air rifle.
My thanks to C H Weston’s
of Brighton (01273 326338)
for supplying the test rifle. GM
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
Model:
Webley Stingray 2
Type:
Break barrel, spring/piston
Barrel:
17.75 inches
Weight:
7.1lbs
Overall length:
42.5 inches
Calibre:
.22 (on test) and .177 available
Sights:
Open sights fitted and cylinder
grooved for scope mounting
Stock:
Walnut sporter
Trigger:
Adjustable two-stage
Price:
SRP £230.49
Importer:
Highland Outdoors 0845 0990252
highlandoutdoors.co.uk