limited edition rifle

The Daystate Buckmaster
Mega-Buck!
H
ands up – who wouldn’t
want
the
Daystate
Buckmaster in their airgun
collection? If you now have
your hand up, you’re even
sillier than I am, and you’re also telling
monstrous great fibs to yourself. The
inescapable fact is, if you’re a shooter, you
want this rifle. Being willing to pay a scary
£1100 for it is another thing entirely, but
as far as wanting it – trust me, you do.
What you’re looking at is more than
just a limited edition air rifle which has
been kitted out with luxury features. The
Daystate Buckmaster is actually proof
that, these days, airguns are worth doing
stuff like this to. That’s a big deal, you
know, and this particular one comes on the
back of another big deal, when the Italian
shotgun manufacturer, Marocchi, bought
Daystate over a year ago. Mauro Marocchi,
the company owner, has taken a personal
interest in Daystate and he’s fast-tracked a
modernisation
program
for
the
Staffordshire factory, which includes
bringing in all manner of computer design,
plus shotgun manufacturing techniques
and expertise. Several of these have been
applied to the Buckmaster, and there’s no
denying that it looks the better for it.
There’s more to it than looks, though, as
you’re about to find out.
STRENGTH IN DEPTH
Thanks to input from the
Marocchi technicians, the
Buckmaster’s
action
block is an amazing
80% stronger than the
standard item. This
extra sturdiness comes
from using a special
grade of alloy which
incorporates zinc and
titanium. The result is
harder to machine and
requires a seriously specialised process
which applies a titanium coating to the
block, but along with that increased
strength comes the visual benefit of
shotgun standard engraving. Now, airguns
have been engraved for decades, but not
like this. The Buckmaster’s engraving is far
deeper and more sharply defined than the
standard version, and from my
impressively technical perspective, I think
it looks the nuts, and anyone who isn’t
impressed by that gold rabbit in full flight
just hasn’t got a soul.
Further upgrading has taken place on
the Buckmaster’s barrel, but unusually for
Daystate, I’m not allowed to report on this
in any detail. Ben Taylor was always doing
this to me – showing me how fantastic
some new development was, then
forbidding to tell anyone about it – and
Daystate’s director Tony Belas is a mate of
Ben’s, so I imagine a bit of the classic
Taylor ‘secret squirrel’ attitude may have
rubbed off somewhere. All I’m allowed to
say is that ‘some new rifling technology’
has been used on the Buckmaster.
Marvellous.
I particularly like the new on-board
pressure guage, which is altogether more
classy and refined, and I’m told Tony Belas
himself designed that feature. He must
burst with pride whenever he looks at it.
Tony even insisted on a more discrete
stock fixing bolt for the Buckmaster, and
it’s obvious that this rifle enjoys a
quite extraordinary degree of
attention to detail.
For more evidence of this I
was directed to the shaft of
the Buckmaster’s bolt, where
the rifle’s calibre is
The editor explores a
limited edition rifle with
unlimited appeal
Flawlessly laser
cut chequering
an ‘se’ flourish,
and all capped
in rosewood.
Once the butt
pad is fitted
and the sling
swivel stud
screwed in,
out comes the
polishing gear.
I shot it and I even
hunted with it, but the
Buckmaster is a serious
worry in the field.
2010 AIRGUN WORLD 19
Capped for a
silencer, of course.
engraved. Apparently, those in charge
of the Buckmaster’s final design weren’t
happy with the calibre being engraved on
the block, so they chose a somewhat more
intimate location. No, I haven’t a clue why
they put it on the bolt shaft either, but I’m
sure it matters greatly.
INDEX LINKED
The Buckmaster’s magazine has had itself a
tiny tweak or two, and I’m assured that the
indexing of the auto-load system is even
smoother and more reliable, now. While I
fully appreciate the benefits of any rolling
development program, I do wonder if some
improvements are applied ‘because they
can’, rather than out of need. I say this
purely because my own Daystates have
magazines on them that must be at least
five tweaks behind the Buckmaster’s stateof-the-art job, and I’ve never had a problem
with any of them. Perhaps it’s down to my
mania for keeping crud out of my
magazines, being careful about how I load
my pellets, and being picky about which
pellets I use.
STOCK IN TRADE
Moving on, it’s time to visit the Daystate
Buckmaster’s most glorious feature; that
fantastic looking stock. As impressive as it
looks, the woodwork on this rifle tells an
even more remarkable tale…once you look
beneath the surface. Fortunately, I have
privileged access to what lies beneath and I
think you’ll find the story of the
Buckmaster’s stock every bit as fascinating
as I do. Here goes.
rifle, but
This may be a designer
n sense
mo
com
ic
bas
t’s
tha
you’re reading.
That stock begins as a Grade 3 piece of
walnut (Daystate specify Grade 2.5 for
standard stocks) and another Italian
influence, this time Minelli the master
stockmakers, is brought to bear. Minelli
creates the stock, with its decidedly sporter
lines, rollover cheek piece and elegantly
raked pistol grip, after which it’s ready for
the embellishment phase. Next, in comes a
rosewood grip cap and contrasting maple
spacer, as the computer-controlled Minelli
chequering technology is made ready. At
the fore end and grip, the chequering lasers
cut their clinical way through each panel,
following the contours of the stock and
applying the required design with perfect
precision. The base of the grip panels are
given an initial flourish, and those initials
are ‘SE’, which stands for Special Edition,
as they should. The ventilated recoil pad is
then attached, before the really clever stuff
gets under way.
Get this; Minelli have a scanning
system which goes roving over the surface
of the stock ‘looking’ for grain patterns and
figuring and suchlike. When it finds a bit of
slightly more raunchy looking timber, it
zaps it with a laser to enhance whatever it’s
found. I’m told that this is an eyewateringly expensive process, not least
because every stock must be assessed,
scanned and enhanced individually, before
the treatment is complete. Even then,
although we’re entering the home
straight, the Buckmaster stock is still
several stages from completion.
The Daystate logo is lasered into the
woodwork before final smoothing and
‘...Minelli have a scanning system which goes
roving over the surface of the stock ‘looking’ for
grain patterns and figuring and suchlike...’
20 AIRGUN WORLD 2010
The Buckmaster’s ma
gazine has
had the compulsory upg
rade.
m
I’ve never had a proble
but
with a Daystate mag’
ut
then I’m a bit OCD abo
keeping them clean.
No finer bolting rabbit
can be
found in the airgun wo
rld.
The Daystate Buckmaster
The laid back, set bac
k trigger.
some expert hand fettling is applied, and
then the stock is coated in a multi-layer
mix (a secret formula, obviously) of
designer lacquer until it absolutely gleams
like the bespoke rifle furniture it has
become. A rear sling swivel stud is expertly
fitted and the final polishing takes the
stock to the level you see here. Sadly,
there’s no way the photos you’re looking at
could do this woodwork justice but they
give an idea of the opulence you get when
you lavish £1100 on a Daystate
Buckmaster. I took those photos in bright
sunlight, and that rifle positively beamed.
As much as the sunlight brought out the
stock’s finer features, it completely failed
to highlight any flaws in the finish of the
metalwork. That could well be because
there aren’t any.
INSIDE THE BUCKMASTER
Having covered the externals, it’s time to
delve deeply into the Daystate doings and
find out how, and why, it shoots as it does.
Make no mistake, this rifle is no mere
ornament, as I discovered when I took it
very carefully out across the muddy fields
and shot a rabbit with it. And a
woodpigeon. And a feral. Oh, and I missed
a squirrel because I wasn’t prepared to go
lumbering through a copse with this rifle.
Had it been a normal test rifle, I’d have
bashed my way through the shrubbery and
nailed that squirrel, but the Buckmaster
isn’t for that, is it? The question is, what is
it for? As soon as I’ve opened up its innards
Time for a re-charge.
Even
a pressure gauge can
be
made more stylish.
for you, I’ll answer that.
The Buckmaster runs the very latest
Harper Slingshot hammer and superefficient micro-valve, from which is
conjured 80, full-power shots in .22 and an
applaudable 70 in .177. These shots
achieve a consistency level bordering on
single figures, resulting in true, hunting
standard accuracy and then some. During
my brief, fair-weather mooch over the
fields with the Buckmaster, I saw it shoot
to the highest level, and a brief bench rest
session returned three single-hole groups
at 35 yards before the clouds went all dark
and broody and I couldn’t concentrate
through worrying about the rifle being
rained on. I’d already spread a fluffy towel
(a pink one – the shame!) over my rifle
support to protect the stock, so things
were getting silly.
I shot the rabbit within five minutes of
climbing the field gate, and even this was
more down to luck because I was totally
fixed on getting the Buckmaster over
without a blemish and I just happened to
spot the rabbit before it sussed me. A
clinical 27-yard head shot took care of
matters and I was free to worry about the
rifle once more. The woodie and the feral
came from a derelict barn, both with head
shots at around 20 yards, with me daring
to risk bracing my aim by leaning on a
post. Of course the rifle itself got nowhere
near the post, but it came close enough to
concern me. Can you see a bit of a theme
developing, here? Let’s be honest, you’d
have to be raving mad to use a Buckmaster
as a full-on hunting rifle, which veers us
neatly toward the ‘why have one, then?’
question.
ng
I’m not exactly swooni
ety
over the bright red saf
r it.
button, but I’ll get ove
Fine engraving on
a very fine rifle.
HERE’S WHY
The Daystate Buckmaster has been
produced in a strictly limited run of 100,
which immediately gives it rarity value. It’s
made from the very finest components,
which gives it an intrinsic value, and it’s an
extremely attractive rifle whichever way
you look at it, so that contributes to the
value, too. Most importantly, though, it’s a
highly collectable Daystate and this
company’s loyal fans are keen to own a
piece of its history. Speaking as a fan of all
quality airguns, I can see why someone
would pay so much for a Daystate
Buckmaster. I would enjoy owning this
rifle for the rest of my life, and I know my
sons would treasure it once I’d shuffled off
to the great zeroing range in the sky. The
Daystate Buckmaster isn’t just a 1 in 100
rifle, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime one, and if
you want one you’d better
contact your dealer and get
your order in now.
The Daystate
Buckmaster.
Desired by all owned by just
one hundred.
2010 AIRGUN WORLD 21