When I left off in Part I, I discussed the features of, and details about the Western Airguns Sidewinder. Now for some results of my informal shooting of the Sidewinder both at my home range and at the 100 yard range at my shooting club.
As mentioned in Part I, the trigger is not adjustable, however, it was light at just under two pounds. Also, the buttstock is not adjustable, so to gain as much accuracy advantage as possible, I swapped the mil-spec angled grip for my Long Shot Precision Vertical Grip. Being a loaner airgun, there is only so much I feel comfortable doing to modify a test gun. I also heeded the User Guide and avoided adjusting the regulator from the factory setting of approximately 160psi although the manual indicates the Sidewinder will work properly as long as the regulator pressure is between 140 and 190psi should you want to tweak the regulator. Given that, all of the following results were made with the gun at that factory setting. I did make adjustments to the Power Adjuster knob when switching from pellets to slugs.
Accuracy results with pellets were very good at short ranges up to 50 yards. Pellets under 15.89 grains flew over 1100fps and did not produce good groupings although I’m sure if you experimented with the power adjuster more, a “sweet spot” for those pellets might be found. However, when shooting pellets in the 15.89 to 18.1 grain range, the Sidewinder was producing excellent results for me at 50 yards. In fact, the 18.1 grain JTS Dead Center pellets even landed 11 of 12 rounds in a 3-inch bull on full-auto! JSB Exact Jumbos (15.89 grains) yielded a five round single ragged hole when I did my part.
The Dead Center pellets averaged 1053fps with a high SD of 25.5fps yet the accuracy was good enough for hunting, target and plinking even so. I’m certain more experimentation on my part could have evened the fps spread somewhat. Speaking of hunting uses, those 18.1 grianers were producing an average energy of 44.5 foot-pounds of energy. The Exact Jumbos averaged 1077fps with a SD of only 3.7fps. They produced an average slightly over 40fpe. Again, more tweaking of the power adjuster or even the regulator could give even better results in your shooting.
I attempted shooting the heavy (33.96 grain) JSB Exact Jumbo Beasts out to 100 yards thinking their long skirt and more cylindrical shape might do well at longer ranges, but they did not. So, switching to slugs, of which I only had two brands available that day at my club range, here are my results: Daystate Howler slugs in 20.3 grains with a hollow-point nose, screamed out of the Sidewinder at an average of 1094fps and only had a SD of 2.0fps but they didn’t group well at that speed. They were hitting hard though, yielding an average of 54fpe. Again, with more time at the 100 yard range on a less windy day I’m confident that slowing down a slug that light would have given better accuracy. On the flip side, JSB Knock Out slugs of 25.39 grains, also a hollow-point, averaged 991fps with a SD of only 7.1fps. They kicked out a 55fpe average and five rounds grouped within two inches on a hot, windy day. Just for grins I emptied the magazine on full-auto because this gun is capable of doing it and it is a lot of fun! The group opened up, as could be expected, although the rounds still landed within a six-inch circle.
The Sidewinder gave an excellent shot count with pellets in that six full magazines could be fired before needing a top off. Slugs, of course, used more air and still an average of five full mags and still be in the green zone of the air reservoir.
The Western Sidewinder fills a niche for those looking for a bullpup style accurate and hard-hitting hunting and target air rifle that also offers full-auto capability. Along with that comes a caveat. As mentioned in Part I, there is no cocking lever or charging handle on the Sidewinder. Once both safeties are off, there is no way to de-cock the mechanism. If the semi/full safety is not fully seated in position and the trigger is tripped, the gun doesn’t fire, and if the semi/auto selector is then moved, the gun can fire. To make sure the Sidewinder is empty and completely safe, the magazine must be removed and the gun fired several times in a safe direction.
I had good results with only a handful of heavier pellets and limited choice of slugs showing the potential of this unique air rifle. It was easy to load and fun to shoot and definitely worth pursuing if you are in the market for another airgun (and who isn’t???) To get your hands on one simply contact the good folks at AofA.
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