Review: Hatsan 125 Sniper Vortex Airgun Rifle
Pat Cascio 06.15.16
Most of us had BB guns when we were kids. Well I’m here to tell you the Hatsan Model 125 Sniper Vortex pellet rifle is no child’s toy. Here’s a quick rundown of the specs:
- Available in several calibers (I tested the 22)
- .177 = 1250 fps rated
- .22 = 1000 fps rated
- .25 = 750 fps rated
- Single shot
- Break-barrel design
- Vortex Gas Piston technology
- Monte Carlo stock with cheek rest
- Length: 48.8″
- Barrel Length: 19.6″
- Rear Sight: 0.35″ green Truglo fiber optic
- Front Sight: 0.60″ red Truglo fiber optic
- Sling
- Bipod
- Optima 3-9×32 Scope
- Dual safety
- Quattro trigger
The Sniper 125 model is fitted with Hatsan’s Shock Absorber System (SAS), which significantly reduces vibration. There’s an integrated sound moderator fitted to the muzzle–sort of a sound suppressor (silencer).
There is also Hatsan’s Triopad butt system, which utilizes a heavy-duty rubber recoil pad and three stock spacers, so you can fit the stock to you (and to manage recoil). When firing the gun, it sounds like a 22 caliber rifle with a silencer on it. Cool!
The Quattro two-stage fully adjustable trigger allows you to adjust take-up as well as the trigger pull weight. The gun was set up perfectly for me just as it was, so I didn’t see any sense in playing around with the trigger pull.
We also have soft rubber inlays on the forearm and grip of the stock providing a great feel and better control of the rifle in all weather conditions. There is also a scope rail mount, and a nice 3x-9x 32mm scope comes with the gun. The rear sight is micro adjustable with two small green Truglo fiber optic inserts, and the front sight has a red fiber optic. These sights are very fast to pick up because your eye is just drawn instinctively to them.
You also get a nice sling and a polymer bipod. The barrel is precision rifled, and there is a manual safety as well as an automatic safety, so no fears of the gun firing as you are cocking it. I also got a container of 500 pellets, so this gun was ready to fire out of the box.
My biggest complaint is that this rifle weighs around 9 pounds, which is heavier than many big-game hunting rifles.
I was anxious to test this rifle, and since I live in the country and it’s quiet, I tested it right at home. I set up a target at 25 yards, rested the gun on its bipod, and let loose. I pulled the first shot to the right, but the other 9 shots I fired grouped well inside an inch. I feel like I could do better than that with more practice.
Cocking this gun takes a lot of strength, and I mean a LOT. After all, that power to propel pellets at 1,000 feet per second has to come from some place. To be honest, I wouldn’t want to fire more than 50 pellets through this rifle in one sitting because it was too much work cocking the gun.
I also wanted to see what this rifle would do to a full aluminum soda can. In my finite “wisdom” I placed the can just 25 feet away and I shook it up first. My first shot was perfect and the can exploded and sprayed soda on me.
As you can see from the picture, the can looks like it was hit with a pretty powerful round instead of a small .22 caliber pellet. I was more than a little impressed with the accuracy and the power of the Sniper 125 model.
I have moles in my yard, and sometimes I’ll sit on my front deck and wait to see a mole mound come up, so I can shoot the little bugger as his head appears. Now I can shoot ’em with the “silenced” Hatsan Sniper 125 pellet rifle without disturbing the neighbors with a gun shot.
If you are in the market for a new rifle and want something just a little bit different for your collection or pest control or even small game hunting, you might want to take a look at the Hatsan 125 Sniper rifle. With an MSRP of $418 (though seen as low as $250 on Amazon), it isn’t “cheap” by a long shot, but you do get extras, and some benefits over a 22 rimfire rifle.
As a survival rifle for taking small game without bothering the neighbors (or to keep from drawing attention to yourself in a SHTF situation), for home pest control, or just for target practice, I think this is a good air rifle.
When this pellet rifle arrived, I figured it would be just another child’s toy. Boy was I wrong. This is a big boy toy that can give you hours of shooting pleasure.
