Wednesday, October 7, 2009

BAM B40 Air Rifle, surprise! Its very nice.

The B40 is not a new US Air Force bomber or weapon of war.  It’s not a new miracle whitener in your toothpaste nor will it grow hair on a bowling ball. It is however very nearly a clone.  A sort of copy of something else admired and well regarded, yet also different. Of course it's an air rifle.   And if you are having visions of knock off, fake and counterfeit premium watches and hand bags stop right now.


B40
The B40 is a product of BAM which is an acronym for Best Airgun Company.    And even though the B40 resembles an Air Arms TX200 it is a different animal, it doesn't have a shrouded barrel and the stock is “Asian hardwood”. The barrel is rigidly fixed to the receiver for the sake of accuracy. The stock is optimized for right handed shooters. It does have a fit and finish that separates it from cheap Chinese air guns. The safety is automatic and positive in its action, it is reminiscent of the safeties on Beeman and Weihrauch rifles.  The trigger is a little long in take up but otherwise smooth without a discernible second stage.  Cocking effort is moderate and the “anti-bear trap mechanism” is effective.  The loading port is large and easy to access if not obstructed by an overly long scope.


The B40 I have for review is a .22 (.218) and shoots with a satisfying thunk!  It exhibits little vibration and is reasonably quiet.  I believe that all guns are target guns (we shoot at targets whatever they are) and in .22 the B40 is quite accurate! I used a wide selection of pellets during my testing.  RWS Hobbies tripped the lights at 741 feet per second (fps).  The well regarded Polymag Predator posted 633 fps. And the venerable Beeman Kodiak ran 566. All for about 14.5 foot pounds of energy.


5 RWS Hobbies at 10M freehand!
I was a pleasantly surprised by the level of refinement, also pleasing is the listed price; less than $260!  Add a decent scope and mounts and I think you will find this a more than adequate all around air rifle.  I like it and I'm picky!

Rick Klages

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