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Well Brocock has done it again! This time taking all those features that we have come to love in their rifle line and bringing them into a pistol for the American market.
There is nothing better in a reviewer’s life than to hear that a new product has been released.
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Check the story out on YouTube.
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Generally that means that we have something new to look forward to testing out. However this is a special day! Well like many of you, I saw the new Atomic XR pistol/carbine that was released yesterday from Brocock and Airguns of Arizona. Also like many of you, I took to my keyboard to find out as much information as possible during my lunch break at work. Then it happened, I drove home to find one of those ever so lovely brown boxes at my doorstep and inside it was the Brocock Atomic XR in .22 caliber!
What to do?
What was I to do? This beautiful new, and I do mean NEW, Brocock Atomic XR pistol was now my care. So I did what any red blooded American airgunner would do. I set it up, ran it through some preliminary testing and got the Atomic XR ready for fun.
A Little Background
Before we get too deep into this review, let’s take a look at some of the specifics. The pistol comes in .22 caliber and will be released in .177 in the near future. Power wise we are looking at an adjustable 4 – 20 ft-lbs, an overall length of 14.5”, Huma regulated air cylinder, two stage adjustable trigger, dovetail scope rail, picatinny accessory rail for a bipod,1/2×20 threaded barrel, smooth side lever action and a power adjuster on the side of the breach. Those aren’t even the best features!
There are three more features that take this offering to the next level. The first one is the newly designed magazine that has been out for a few months already, but is now included with the Atomic XR as well as a single shot tray.
The second feature is the dial it up hammer spring power adjuster on the back of the pistol. This feature is precision made by Air Superiority Products, includes an easy read window with numerical markings and built in easily repeatable clicks so you know exactly where you are dialed in to.
Saving the best for last is the transformational carbine feature. This thing includes the ability to become your next favorite backpack airgun with an AR style tube and stock. So you’re not only buying a pistol, you’re buying an air rifle too!
The Testing
With this out of the way, let’s checkout some of my preliminary testing.
First and foremost, the two stage trigger is smooth and provides no discernible creep that I could feel. It has a nice crisp break at 5.3 oz. Of course this is first stage and second stage adjustable so you can get it to your liking.
The pistol as sent, was shooting at 18 ft-lbs of energy with a standard deviation of 8.6 fps and an average speed of 669 fps using .22 caliber 18.13 grain Daystate Sovereign pellets. Remember that this can all be adjusted and easily tuned with the power adjuster so results will surely differ between pistols.
Now what I found really interesting is that when I installed the shoulder stock to make it into a carbine, the power changed. Hopefully this has you scratching your head a bit as it did me. Then I had a light bulb moment. The stock has a different hammer spring adjuster. This means that I can have two go to setups for different purposes.
Why Multiple Setups Are Important
Let’s take a second and explore why this is a valuable feature. If you are out in the yard and protecting your bird feeder from those pesky sparrows, ratting in the barn, or plinking in the backyard, 20 ft-lbs could be overkill. What if you are an avid field target shooter or just looking to get in the sport? Well this pistol would work lovely as a hunter field target rifle in .177 (upto 20 foot lbs) and then taking off the stock and replacing it with the pistol power adjuster, you would be ready for your first pistol field target event (upto 12 ft-lbs). No need for multiple guns, this one can do both providing you with both quality, precision and value.
To show what it can do as a pistol for field target purposes and to squeeze every bit of accuracy out of it that I could, I put the Hawke Optics Sidewinder 30 FFP 4-16×50 scope on the Atomic XR pistol and a 0dB moderator. With a target out to 35 yards, which most consider a reasonable distance for an air pistol, as well as the maximum distance allowed in a pistol field target match here in the United States; I hoped to establish some idea of the accuracy one could expect in near to ideal conditions as possible.
The Results
Within a few minutes at the range things were looking good! I mean really good. Solid 5 shot groups were appearing as I adjusted the settings. Then it happened, a wonderful 5 shot group measuring .615 inches CTC. This group was easily covered by a nickel.
Reloading the magazine and making sure this time to have pellets that were not nicked or bent skirts, topping off the air cylinder and grabbing an Accu-Tac bipod for stability, I wanted to see if we could squeeze a little more out of this little pistol. This preparation proved to be well worth the effort. Again at 35 yards, I produced a tight little 5 shot group that was covered by a penny! If you have to know measurements, a penny is .75 inches! This means that the CTC measurement was .53 inches CTC. WOW….. Accuracy won’t be a problem with this little pistol once it is set up properly.
As a carbine I was able to replicate these findings. Putting 4 in the same hole at 40 yards and pulling one shot a little left using a vintage 9x scope. Using these optics there is little room for error and the carbine performed flawlessly. This group measured .57 inches CTC, (Remember 4 shots went into essentially one hole!
Accuracy is also sure to remain once we convert the pistol to a carbine. I’m thinking of adding a folding stock to the AR-15 style butt and earmark the Atomic XR for my next trip into the woods. Can you say backpacking airgun?
The Summary
If you are looking at the Atomic XR and thinking “I just want a carbine,” then perhaps the just released Brocock Ranger would be a better bet. The Range comes fully tricked out with a folding stock, 0 dB moderator and an added picatinny rail.
Until next time, may your trigger pull stay smooth, your pellet fly straight and we will see you next time on American Airgunner!
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