A Happy Surprise – The Webley Alecto
in Airguns
as Air pistol, Alecto, review, Webley
The Alecto comes in a nice foam-lined case.
This week, Dear Reader, I’m going to be telling on myself. When I first pulled the Webley Alecto out of its foam-lined black plastic case, I thought: “Oh cool, another single-stroke pneumatic air pistol.” Little did I know that I had a happy surprise in store.
The Alecto with the right hand grip.
I grabbed the Alecto, a container of Crosman Premier Light (7.9 gr.) .177 pellets, and wandered outside to punch some holes in a paper target at 10 meters. I was happily sending pellet after pellet downrange and enjoying the heck out of the Alecto when it started to sprinkle. So I packed up the gun, pellets, and pellet trap and scooted inside.
Back at my desk, I began wondering whether Airguns of Arizona had the Alecto up on its website yet. I found it at http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/webley.html and was idly scrolling down the page when the following jumped out at me: “Multi-pump Pneumatic Pistol” “1-3 Pumps.”
“HOLY SMOKES!” I thought, “this changes everything.” Right then and there, I decided maybe I should read the manual for this pistol to find out what the deal is. But manual is strangely reticent to reveal that the Alecto is, in fact, a multi-stroke pneumatic pistol. The only place that it is mentioned is in the CAUTION section on page 4. To whit: “If you require extra power, the cocking procedure can be carried out to a maximum of three times. Extra cocking strokes (presumably beyond 3 strokes – JE) will not increase power but will eventually damage the internals of the pistol.” Oh.
Clearly, the good folks at Webley have not truly grokked the significance of what they have created here, so let me lay it out for you. In the past, if you wanted a self-contained air pistol with an excellent trigger, low recoil, and worthy accuracy suitable for high-accuracy plinking or casual club competition, the obvious choice was a single stroke pneumatic pistol like HW75, HW40, FAS 604, or Daisy 747.
If you wanted a self-contained pistol capable of killing small game at very close range, you could choose pistols like the HW45 or RWS LP8 and deal with the recoil of their spring-piston powerplants. Alternatively you could choose a low-recoil pump-up pistol like the Crosman 1377 or the Benjamin HB17 or HB22 and do a lot of pumping to generate sufficient power for dispatching vermin or small game at close range.
But the Webley Alecto, it would appear, offers the promise of the best of both worlds: excellent trigger, low recoil, and excellent power (for a self-contained pistol) at only three pumps. Could it be true? We’ll find out in just a little while, but first let’s take a stroll around the Webley Alecto.
Available in .177 and .22, the Alecto stretches just 11 inches long and weighs 2.4 pounds. Shaped to look like a modern semi-automatic pistol, most of the Alecto is sculpted of a matte black engineering polymer. At the extreme back end of the pistol is a metal notch sight that is adjustable for elevation and windage. Just below the rear sight on either side of the upper cover of the Alecto is a lever. Both of these levers must be pulled upward to release the upper cover for cocking and loading. At the far end of the upper cover, near the muzzle is a blade front sight with a small red dot on it. This blade front sight can be flipped 90 degrees to reveal another front blade of lower height.
The trigger is highly adjustable, shown here with the safety in the "SAFE" position.
Underneath the muzzle, the lower half of the receiver is fitted with a Weaver rail for mounting accessories such as a flashlight or laser. Moving back, the trigger guard is molded of matte black polymer and encloses a silver metal trigger and push-pull automatic safety. The trigger is adjustable for left, right and downward movement; trigger position forward and aft; and trigger spring strength, from just under a pound to about 4 pounds. Moving back again, the Alecto features a match-style grip (available in left or right hand) with an adjustable palm shelf.
The Alecto with the upper cover in the full forward position, reading for loading.
The aft end of the barrel, where the pellet is inserted.
To get the Alecto ready for shooting, pull the levers on either side of the upper cover upward and then swing the aft end of the upper cover up and forward until the cover is completely open. Returning the upper cover to its original position charges the action, cocks the trigger, and activates the automatic safety. You can pump the Alecto up to three times, and the effort becomes stiffer with each successive stroke. Before you complete the last stroke, insert a pellet into the end of barrel prior to returning the upper cover to its original position.
Now you’re good to go. Take aim at your target, flick the safety off (you can’t help but notice the automatic safety since it blocks the trigger), and squeeze the trigger. At 1 lb. 1.4 oz., the first stage comes out. At 1 lb. 12 oz., the shot goes down range with a pop (The pop gets louder as the Alecto is charged with more pumps). At one pump, the Alecto launches 7.9 grain Crosman .177 Premier pellets at around 365 fps; at 2 pumps, about 480 fps, and at 3 pumps, about 560 fps. At three pumps, that’s very comparable to the power you would get from an HW30 rifle or the RWS LP8 pistol, and a bit more powerful than an HW45 pistol in .177.
It strikes me that the Webley Alecto delivers a whole lot to like in a handsome package: a virtually recoilless pistol suitable for high-precision plinking, casual target competition, or pest control at close range.
Til next time, aim true and shoot straight,
- Jock Elliott
The Ultimate Can Mangler – the Marocchi SM45
A BB gun for adults. It's on steroids!
There have been times when I’ve wondered if I would ever discover an air rifle that would be as much pure fun as my very first BB gun.
With the Marocchi SM45 HP, I’ve found a strong candidate. Think of the SM45 as a BB gun for adults or perhaps a BB gun on steroids.
The SM45 stretches 37.5 inches from end to end and weighs 4.4 lbs. empty. There are two versions, the synthetic and the wood look. I tested the synthetic. At the aft end of the buttstock you’ll find a soft rubber butt pad. Moving forward, the ambidextrous butt stock has a slight cheek piece on either side. The pistol grip has a soft rubber gripping surface, and the Marocchi emblem is displayed in silver on the end of the pistol grip.
The forestock opens to insert an 88-gram CO2 cartridge.
Moving forward, the trigger guard is molded of the same synthetic as the stock and houses a black plastic trigger. Forward of the trigger guard is a knurled wheel that can be unscrewed to open a hatch in the forestock that houses an 88-gram CO2 cartridge. Forward of the forestock is the .177 caliber Lothar-Walther barrel.
This shows where the forward end of the magazine fits into the muzzle brake.
At the end of the barrel is a plastic fitting that serves as a mount for the red fiber-optic front sight and also has a fitting into which the magazine snaps. Moving rearward along the barrel, there is a barrel band, the rear notch sight, and the receiver proper which has an 11mm dovetail. (When I tried to mount a scope on the SM45, I found the rail a bit flimsy. I would suggest using only the lightest scope if you think you really need one.) The rear end of the magazine, which runs the length of the right side of the barrel, snaps into the receiver on the right side. On the right side of the receiver at the rear is a slide safety. Move it right to safe the SM34. Move it to the left position to allow the gun to fire. Finally, at the rear of the SM45 receiver is a knob that can be used for adjusting the power.
To ready the SM45 for shooting, first put the gun on SAFE, then unscrew the knurled knob just forward of the trigger guard. The hatch will automatically open. You can then insert an 88-gram CO2 cartridge into the hatch with the threaded end toward the trigger guard. Screw it in until it is snug.
A partially loaded magazine in position. On the left end, the magazine fits into the magazine housing on the receiver. On the right side, the BB follow provides tension to feed BBS into the SM45.
Next remove the magazine by pulling the knob at the muzzle end of the magazine back toward the receiver until the muzzle end of the magazine can be slipped out the muzzle fitting. Pull the free end of the magazine toward the muzzle, and the other end of the magazine will slip out of the magazine housing on the receiver. Next, push the knob – the BB follower – at the receiver end of the magazine forward in the long slot on the side of the magazine until it can be hooked into the notch at the far end of the slot.
Next, point the muzzle end of the magazine toward the floor and inert up to 80 Marocchi copper-coated lead balls into the magazine. With the muzzle of the SM45 pointed toward the ground, slide the receiver end of the magazine back into the magazine housing on the receiver. Snap the muzzle end of the magazine back into the fitting on the muzzle. Now all that remains is to unhook the BB follower the notch so that it can put tension on the BBs in the magazine.
To fire the SM45, take aim at your target, slide the safety to FIRE, and squeeze the trigger. The trigger pull is long and rolling and tops out at more than 10 pounds, put it feels like the trigger pull in a revolver and is very predictable.
The SM45 launches lead BBs at nearly 650 fps on high power and at around 500 fps on low power. At 88 gram CO2 cartridge will deliver around 200 shots, or about 2.5 magazines full of BBs. With open sights, I found I could easily keep shots inside a 1.5 inch circle at 10 yards.
I went to war on this can with the SM45.
- It was wounded in action.
But the real fun came with out-and-out plinking. I dropped a tomato sauce on the ground and absolutely shredded it. The first few shots passed completely through the can. Then it fell over, and I bounced it this way and that, spinning it left and right until it looked like something that been through a war. I suppose in a way it had!
Would I recommend the Marocchi SM45? Absolutely – but only if you want to let the little kid in you out for some can-busting fun.
Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.
- Jock Elliott
Field Target at EFTCC
in Airguns
as air rifle, Benjamin, break barrel, Daystate, Field Target, Marauder, pcp, RWS
If you have never tried field target competition, you really owe it to yourself, as an airgun enthusiast, to give it a go. It’s a lot of fun.
On May 1, 2011, I attended and competed in a field target match put on by the Eastern Field Target Competitors Club (EFTCC) at the Dutchess County Pistol Association in Wappingers Falls, NY.
Field target is the fine art of shooting at metallic silhouettes of squirrels, rabbits, birds, and the like. These silhouettes are generally 4-12 inches high. There is a hole, called the kill zone, in the silhouette, and behind the hole is a paddle. If you put a pellet cleanly through the hole, it hits the paddle, and the target falls down. If you hit the face plate of the target or split a pellet on the edge of the kill zone, the target stays upright. What makes field target challenging is that the range to the target can vary from 7 to 55 yards, and the size of the kill zone can range from .25 inches to 1.875 inches. Further – and this is key – there is no correlation between the range to the target and the size of the kill zone. A one-inch kill zone at 10 yards is fairly easy to hit, but a one-inch kill zone at 50 yards can be downright challenging.
Normally, you score one point for each target you knock down (and no points if you fail to drop the target), but the May 1 EFTCC match was scored on a risk/reward system: you got one point if you knocked the target down from a sitting, prone, or kneeling position, but you scored two points if you dropped the target from a standing position.
The catch in all this is that it is harder to shoot from a standing – or offhand – position. Most lanes had two targets, and you could take two shots at each, four shots in all in each lane. If you were successful with all four shots from, say, a sitting position, you would get four points for that lane, but if you were successful with all four shots from a standing position, you would get eight points. So, is it worth the risk to attempt the more difficult by higher scoring standing shots? That was the question facing the competitors.
Six classes were available for competition at EFTCC: Hunter, WFTF (World Field Target Federation), Pistol, PCP, Spring Gun, and Junior. There were entrants in all classes but Pistol.
Below is my attempt to capture the day in pictures.
The day was gorgeous: mid-70s and low wind. It started with signing up for a class to compete in.
The shooting lanes are along the left edge of the photo, the check-in table on the right.
A couple of typical field targets. Hit the yellow kill zone, and the target goes down.
Can you spot the field target on the tree?
Here it is up close.
You could spot just about any type of air rifle in the competition.
Tom Holland took first in the WFTF class with this Steyr LG110FT.
Michael Arroyo finished second in Hunter with this Beeman R11.
Glenn Thomas campaigned a Gamo CFX.
Hector Medina took second in Spring Gun Division with a Diana 54.
Veronica Ruf competed with an HW95.
Brian Williams goes prone in Hunter class with his .20 caliber Daystate Air Wolf.
In Hunter class, Greg Shirhall reloads his custom-stocked Marauder.
Robert Bidwell shot a QB78PCP in Junior Class.
Paul Bishop won Spring Gun Division with this custom-stocked HW98.
Jerry LaRocca won Hunter class with his .22 caliber Diana 56TH.
Ron Zeman shot an Air Arms S300 in PCP Division.
Art Deuel finished second in the PCP Division with this customized Marauder.
Nathan Thomas sights in a Marauder. He won the PCP Division with it.
Your Humble Correspondent with his trusty FWB150.
Match Director and Team Crosman member Ray Apelles shot a Marauder Hybrid bullpup that was specially built for ease of transportation to the FT World Champsionship in Italy.
Ray's father Hans is co-Match Director and the other half of Team Crosman. Here he is shooting his lefthanded Marauder Hybrid Bullpup.
And a good time was had by all!
The FT match was a lot of fun. You get to meet a lot of nice people, enjoy shooting for half a day, and see some interesting equipment. What’s not to like?
Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.
- Jock Elliott
Diana 470 Target Hunter
in Airguns
as air rifle, RWS, spring piston, Target Hunter
You might call the Diana 470 Target Hunter the big brother of the Model 460 Magnum that I tested a while back. The 470 TH stretches 45 inches from end to end and weighs 9.4 lbs. Available in .177 and .22, it has an ambidextrous hardwood thumbhole stock. Starting at the aft end of the [...]
A walk on the weird side – a fifty caliber Benjamin??!
Okay, I’ll admit it: in addition to my love of airguns, I have a serious infatuation with exotic weapons. Over the years, I’ve messed around with stick bows, wheel bows, atlatls (spear throwing sticks), slingshots, and blowguns. (If you want to read one of my writings about blowguns, check out: http://www.africanarcher.com/blowgun.html ) Basically, I like [...]
