John Whiscombe knows how to treat an airgun journalist. He mowed out a flat 70 yard range alongside his house, with my firing point shaded by a convenient tree, an observation platform for himself and a nice big target board for me to perform on. Binoculars poised, he bid me good shooting and the test began.
Seventy yards is a hell of a long way for an airgun. The JW 75 was pushing 14.3 grain .22 Premiers out at 900 fps, which translates to 26ft lbs. in real money. Wind was a factor, as always, and waiting for the right moment allowed the sun to boil the rifle and me, until scope lenses and armpits misted up a treat. After the opening salvo, I clicked around with the elevation turret, desiring a precise zero, but not getting one. Wind can do some strange numbers on downrange pellets, lifting and dropping them at will, as well as putting the traditional sideways oar in. You have to learn to read the signs, go for the constant effect, when the wind is predictable. I placed my faith in an elderberry bush behind the target when it shimmered gently I slipped the shot.
Sods law will dictate that your top performance is never witnessed. Well sod sod, I had JW himself on line, ancient eyes boosted by binocular vision, to record my moment. Three groups inside an inch at seventy yards, ten clusters just as good, apart from the odd stray pellet, which fell to the lure of a Newbury wind. I also cleared a row of metallic lollipops, the smallest only .750" across, to underline the potential of this air rifle.
John invited me to swap the .22 barrel for .177, .20, or a B.S.A. made .25. This takes a normal human 5 minutes per barrel. We had but six hours of daylight left, so I daren't attempt the job myself. I watched. This is what I was designed for. Have to admit, the barrel swappage facility is a handy item, allowing the exploration of four calibres without the hassle of using a new system each time.
I used Bisley Magnums and lightweight Premiers in .177, and Premiers only in .20. The .20 version is something else, equalling my results in .22, with incredible efficiency in the air. This would certainly be my choice *if power was unrestrained. The .25 remained untested by me, but I was shown some figures from an American customer, who quoted sub inch groupings at 50 yards, using Bisley Superfields and Rhino pellets.
Time to praise the trigger. Still the best unit available, damn near miraculous when you discover the workload placed upon it. The sear faces have a contact area of just 0.9 sq. mm, that's about equal to the end of a matchstick. This holds back 650lb, or six-hundredweight, every time the JW 75 is cocked. Through pure perfection in design and engineering, let-off pressures can be set as low as 2 oz, with no creep or danger of rogue discharges. Auto-safety is standard, should be on all guns, and although the safety button is an ugly little cube, it sits in range of your thumb and does its job faultlessly. Never did like the shape of that safety button though, should be prettier.
There are 150 Whiscombes out there somewhere, most of which are known personally to John. These are individual items, designed and built by a genuine craftsman, their appeal is obvious, but who buys them? A lot of Americans for a start, for field target and hunting. No power limits over there of course. Europe likes Whiscombe, again opting for the high-power version mostly. He has a few clients in the far-east as well, and looks forward to the opening of German market places. The domestic demand alone has filled the order books since production began in 1987, John has yet to catch up. Waiting time now stands at four months, and it's pointless to try to hurry the man. He needs a solid week to build each ritle, with overtime tacked on for calibration, testing and fine-tuning. You neither own, use or fully appreciate a Whiscombe quickly. A system to be savoured, as much a tribute to efficiency, as pellet launcher.