AOA Blog

Yes, an animal uncommon in the U.S. is poised to become a lot more familiar to those who hunt with

Bushbuck on the range

air rifles and want more knockdown power. In its natural environment, the Bushbuck is the smallest member of the spiral-horned antelope found in sub-Sahara Africa.  It is also the .45 caliber PCP brainchild of Western Big Bores airguns; so now we have a Bushbuck “native” to the U.S.  It is a long, dark beauty capable of driving a 405 grain soft lead bullet to 600fpe, enough power to take any North American game animal.  The bolt-action, single shot Bushbuck comes to us from the great state of Arizona, which has a progressive and liberal airgun hunting mindset.  The need for a powerful, production air rifle was recognized by the folks behind WBB and they made it happen.  This 10 pound (w/o optics), 49 ½ inch long rifle is completely made in the U.S.A. down to the screws used in assembly.  The receiver is milled from a solid block of aluminum and incorporates a picatinny rail.  It is finished all in black and mated to a dark grey laminated wood stock.  The stock is stippled in all the right places, aiding gripping, has an adjustable cheekpiece, thick rubber buttpad and is equipped with studs for mounting a sling and a bipod should you so choose.  The stippling on both sides of the pistol grip forms the image of its namesake, a classy touch.

A 285cc reservoir holding 4500psi gives the shooter a capability of two full power shots of 800+ fps.  A lower power can be selected by only pulling the bolt back to the first cocking position for those shots that don’t require all of that knockdown power (around 400+ fps with a 240gr bullet).  A shooter always needs to practice safe gun-handling and this is especially so with adult airguns as they are not required to have a mechanical safety.  Some companies choose to incorporate a safety but WBB has chosen not to on the Bushbuck.  Having a trigger pull out of the box of around 3 pounds means there can be no lapses once this baby is loaded up.

Damage to a phone book backstop at 100 yds.

The Bushbuck loaned to me came with an MTC Genesis LR 5-20×50 scope sporting an AMD illuminated reticle.  It also provided for parallax adjustment.  An awesome scope that allows the shooter to easily compensate for the drop that will occur once the pressure decreases on each subsequent shot.  A scope is not included in the $1895 MSRP on the Bushbuck, but the quality and accuracy of the rifle demand a quality scope as well.

Stippling & MTC scope

The Bushbuck will also appeal to the long range/benchrest shooter as that area of recreational shooting is picking up momentum as well.  However, its main claim-to-fame will be with hunters, especially if you are fortunate enough to live in one of the 9 states that allow for hunting up to deer sized game with air rifles.  If you are not fortunate enough to live in one of those 9 states, check with your state’s game and wildlife management bureau to find out if taking wild hogs is legal with an air rifle.  The hog over-population problem has led some states to allow for just about any method for reducing the number of hogs.

Obviously there is much more to this American production air rifle than I can cover in this short blog and there is more on the horizon for WBB (i.e. a big bore pistol!).  The idea was to give readers a taste of what’s new on the “range” and whet your interest.  To find out more, please reach out to www.airgunsofarizona.com and they can fill you in on anything you want to know about this powerful new air rifle on the market or MTC scopes.  They also like to hear from folks so you can give them a call at: (480) 461-1113.