Many AoA customers know Lauren Parsons. Apart from working at the store, she is a familiar figure on the U.S. airgun competition circuit. For benchrest shooting, she uses a customized Daystate Red Wolf HP air rifle in .22 caliber.
Today she’s going to tell us more about it…
This particular Red Wolf is customized specifically for benchrest competition. Lauren has a completely different gun – the Red Wolf LPR for Field Target shooting. You can read all about that one in a previous AoA blog post from 2020. Hey, it’s a tough life…
Lauren shoots benchrest at all ranges from 25 to 100 Yards using this gun. It started-out as a standard Red Wolf HP model with laminated wood stock back in 2018. Now it looks very different and both shooter and gun make a very accurate combination, as was proved when Lauren took sixth place overall in the 2021 Extreme Benchrest competition.
But before we hear all about Lauren’s customized Daystate Red Wolf HP, its surprising to hear what has NOT been customized!
While the gun was tuned to her preferences when new, Lauren explained that – since that time – it has never been re-tuned, Neither has it been re-sealed. It just keeps-on shooting and she shoots it the way it is. It still has the original 480cc carbon fiber HPA bottle. So the basic action is completely un-changed.
Lauren always shoots 25.39 Grain JSB Jumbo Monster Redesigned pellets through this gun at 950 FPS. It loves them, she says and always shoots these pellets straight from the tin. The results are so good that she doesn’t find the need to sort, weigh, lube or head-size her pellets.
That’s a huge compliment to the quality of both the basic Red Wolf action and the Redesigned Jumbo Monsters!
The main obvious upgrade to this customized Daystate Red Wolf HP is the PRS chassis. Lauren explained that she loves the adaptability this chassis provides. She has it set-up perfectly for her own requirements: pull length, cheek piece, height, cast and so on…
The PRS chassis also provides convenient, waterproof, storage for the battery. The exceptionally-long lower rail provides huge potential to re-position the Accu-Tac FC5 bipod, if required for a specific shooting bench.
Lauren also likes the capability of being add additional weights to the M-LOK slots in the forend. However – it has to be said – that at an all-up weight (including scope) of 15.35 Lbs, this is not exactly a lightweight rig!
So what’s the difference between the Red Wolf with laminated wood stock and the PRS chassis?
Lauren explained that the Aluminum chassis is much stronger than wood. This gives her a more solid and secure feeling when shooting. The strength is also a bonus when traveling as there’s less chance of damage to that customized Daystate Red Wolf HP through airline baggage-handling, for example.
The rubber-bedded PRS chassis has different harmonics from a wood stock. Lauren feels that it makes for a somewhat more “dead feeling” when shooting. Interestingly, she also feels that it’s rather less hold-sensitive than the wood stock. The MDT pistol grip helps with a consistent grip.
That custom red Accu-Tac bipod has a wide body for stability and Lauren has the legs set to a 45-degree angle. She says that it’s easy to adjust for height, pan and can’t when shooting from the bench.
The scope is her favorite Kahles K1050, mounted in Sportsmatch rings. The rings fit onto an Air Superiority Products top rail with built-in 20 MOA droop. These even have matching red scope mount screws for that extra touch of class!
Mounted on the scope itself is a Long Range Arms electronic level. Lauren says “don’t leave home without a scope level”. She feels they are an essential accessory for the competition shooter in just about any discipline.
Up-front this customized Daystate Red Wolf HP air rifle is fitted with a 0dB 110C silencer. Why to a longer model? Lauren says that the gun is quiet enough already and that a longer silencer would require a longer case for travel.
And besides, Lauren is adamant that her Red Wolf shoots more accurately with the 0dB slender in place!
Even the trigger is customized on this gun! There’s a button trigger from Rowan Engineering that Lauren feels gives an even crisper feeling to the trigger release. In fact the button trigger is actually a type of trigger shoe that fits simply onto the factory trigger blade.
Finally, you’ll see that Lauren shoots from a single-shot tray. Again she feels that this improves accuracy and eliminates the possibility of becoming confused about the number of shots remaining in a magazine. But, she tells me that she’s aiming to use magazine-feed more in the coming year.
Does it matter that Lauren’s gun is beautiful as well as functional? “Absolutely!” she says. “I have so much confidence in this beautiful gun and that undoubtedly makes me shoot better too!”
As you may expect, just about all of the accessories on this customized Daystate Red Wolf HP air rifle are available from Airguns of Arizona. Maybe there’s something there that will appeal to you, too!
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