It’s a .22 caliber carbine PCP stocked in beautifully executed Black Walnut made by Daystate. For those familiar with the brand, that is all I’d have to say and could end the blog right there. Just in case some reading this might, possibly, somehow not know about this 40-plus year-old airgun manufacturer’s products out of Staffordshire, England, please read on.
Daystate was one of the early manufacturers to bring back pre-charged pneumatics to the marketplace. I say bring back since airguns using highly compressed air go back hundreds of years. A documented fact is that Lewis & Clark took one on their Corps of Discovery Expedition in 1804-1806.
Sporting the Hunstman badge with a lineage back to the early Daystate lineup, this Revere lives up to its heritage. The sample rifle is a right-handed model in .22 with .177 or .25 calibers also available. An export version, avoiding the power limitations imposed in the U.K. forcing a 12 foot-pounds of energy limit, it is the first in the Huntsman line to incorporate the side-lever cocking mechanism. The breech has also been optimized to handle a new magazine designed by Daystate. This Revere was non-regulated, meaning there is no separate regulator controlling an exact amount of air being released per shot. For those shooting in competitions or longer distances, where shot-to-shot consistency comes into play, a regulated version utilizing the well-respected Huma regulator is offered. Additional included items were: a single-shot pellet tray, a Best Fittings brand quick connect coupler, a thread protector cap for the ½ x 20tpi muzzle and one of the new magazines. This magazine has a pivoting gate to ease loading and is self-indexing. Once its drum is rotated clockwise as far as it will go and the pellets have been dropped in nose first, the gate is closed and the magazine is ready to go.
The gorgeous walnut stock is finely checkered at the fore-end and pistol grip. A large script “R” on either side of the grip stands proud of the checkering and the grip is capped by a contrasting piece of Rosewood. Incorporating a Monte-Carlo style cheekpiece, a true left-hand version (at additional cost) is available. The butt is capped with a red rubber pad to provide additional comfort. There is just something about holding a fine, hand-rubbed walnut stock and the elegance it provides to the highly crafted Daystate components. In this age of polymers it is so nice to handle modern works of craftsmanship that bring back the classic look and feel of high quality guns as they were made “back in the good ole days”.
A trigger-blocking safety, located at the rear of the receiver, is easily manipulated by the thumb of the shooting hand without changing grip. The trigger is a two-stage adjustable match grade, adjustable for pull weight and length of the first stage. At an out-of-the-box pull weight of one pound, seven-tenths ounce; almost too light for hunting, but for my needs there was no adjustment necessary. The trigger trips the mechanical “Slingshot Hammer System” designed by Daystate and this system provides for the incredibly easy and smooth cocking of the Revere that is practically effortless.
Its match-grade barrel is German made, 17 inches long and fully shrouded. While not terribly loud in .22, I opted to add a DonnyFL “Koi” suppressor and expect it will make the Revere even more pleasurable to shoot.
At an overall length of 36.5 inches, it is more a carbine and the weight without optics is 6.17 pounds. As Daystate is part of the corporate family that owns MTC Optics, naturally their scopes are recommended. My go-to scope is the MTC Mamba-Lite 4-16x42mm and so that is what I went with. Using Sports Match rings, I mounted the scope with the unloaded magazine in place to make sure everything had the proper clearance. Total weight with the scope and suppressor came to 8.25 pounds.
Daystate provides a full-color “Official Handbook” (in English only) on quality heavy stock covering the care and feeding of your new rifle, along with an exploded parts diagram and warranty information. There is a disclaimer related to errors or omissions that can creep into these manuals and an example is the manual showing filling the rifle with a probe when the sample rifle, made for export, has a male Foster quick disconnect nipple covered by removeable cap. Additionally, the non-transferable warranty is listed as three years in the handbook but is five years for U.S. customers. Additional paperwork included with each airgun is a factory Quality Control checklist and a completed Test Sheet showing a five-shot average of a specified pellet and the resulting energy statistics. AofA also typically includes a target showing accuracy results when they prep a gun for shipment.
The MSRP on the AofA website lists the non-regulated version at $1365 and the regulated version at $1450. As mentioned earlier, a left-handed version is available for an additional charge and there is also an option to purchase an upgraded stock.
As I received the Revere a few days prior to my scheduled posting date, there was no time to get behind the gun. Please stay tuned for those results coming next month. In the meantime, should you be looking to add this newest Daystate to your collection, or to purchase your first Daystate, who ya gonna call? AofA at 480-461-1113 of course; they are the exclusive distributor for Daystate in the U.S.
Leave a Reply