Logun Solo air rifle review

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On first handling the Solo, you immediately get the feeling of a rugged and robustly built rifle.

By Pete Wadeson

Thursday, 19 July 2007

Single-shot air rifles are not everyones' first choice, but this award winning Logun Solo will leave you more than satisfied.

Logun Solo
Calibres: .22 and .177
Price £299

The company that brought us the highly praised Logun Professional Air Rifle (a luxury class multi-shot), now goes back to basics with a single-shot pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) sporter.

However, this is Logun, so don't expect a cheap and cheerful one-shot potter.

It's already won a coveted title of Best Air Rifle at the 2005 Shooting Industry Awards. Hardly surprising, as it's a reasonably priced, practical, accurate and appealing gun.

How does it look?
A dark, rich brown stain has been applied to the hardwood, with an application of lacquering to protect the wood from knocks and scrapes. The stock has an ambidextrous well-proportioned cheek piece, with a deeply curved, shoulder-hugging ventilated rubber butt pad. The pistol grip drops quite steeply, but it compromises nicely by being full enough to fill the hand, yet slim enough of neck to afford a comfortable and assured hold. There are two well-cut chequered panels on either side of the handhold to further aid grip.

Rugged, reliable and practical
On first handling the Solo, you immediately get the feeling of a rugged and robustly built rifle. Thanks to the rifle being manufactured almost exclusively from aircraft-grade aluminium, with certain parts of quality stainless steel and brass, Logun has all but eliminated the problem of rust - a curse suffered by many other airguns.

The cocking and loading mechanism and procedure couldn't be more straightforward and, for fieldwork, it's practical. The large blacked-steel cocking bolt is quite chunky and operates with a very precise feel. The rifle comes with a plastic friction-fit loading tray that fits into the breech area making loading all the easier, especially for small calibre fans.

The front of the air reservoir takes a push-in double "O" ring sealed insert probe. The recommended fill of 200-bar gives approximately 70 full-power shots in .22 and 50 in the .177 calibre. Another standout feature is the IVAR system. This stands for Integrated Valve and Receiver, a very clever system that employs a facility to allow the air reservoir to be removable and, as it's self-contained - including all valving and serviceable internals of the rifle - this means if anything should need repair or service, you simply unscrew the air reservoir from the action and send this to the Logun service centre.

The Logun Solo's barrel doesn't seem pellet fussy and produced similarly impressive groups with all the qualities of ammunition I used, including Crosman Accupells, Webley Lazadome, Air Arms Field and Daystate FT, proving the barrel to be of good quality.

With the .177 calibre rifle here on test, I was soon producing ragged 1/2in groups at 30 yards and kill-zone accuracy can be achieved up to 50 yards and beyond if conditions allow and your shooting is of a high enough standard.

Conclusion
As a hunter, I like multi-shots. The ease with which I can access another shot and the fact the magazine system negates the need to load a pellet by hand is a luxury I certainly prefer. Having said this, single-shot rifles still have a place in my gun rack. I still choose one when the situation is such that the shot results in a clean kill or the quarry flying away at the sound of the pellet striking nearby. These situations occur most often when sniping at birds in trees or when shots taken are opportunistic ones at a quarry that is ready to bolt almost as soon as you draw a bead on it.

In that respect, the ease with which you can drop another pellet in the loading tray and place it directly into the breech is one facet of this rifle that didn't have me complaining. With a pellet ready to go, just snick the bolt back to drop it in the rear keeper slot for safety. The rifle comes quickly to the shoulder and holds steadily and easily on aim.

The Logun Solo has everything a single-shot PCP air rifle needs, with styling and performance that far outweigh its wallet-friendly price tag. It's built to withstand a lot of use while at the same time being as workmanlike as it is cosmetically attractive.