RWS 350 Magnum: Power for the Hunt
Recently I've been doing some shooting with the RWS 350 Magnum, one of the more powerful spring-piston air rifles available today. It comes in a variety of setups, with the standard wood stock, a synthetic stock version that features fiber-optic sights, and a carbine version with a straight, truly ambidextrous stock (the Feuerkraft Pro version). For this blog entry, I'll focus on the brief hunt I did with the standard version.
The RWS 350 weighs just over 8 lbs. without a scope, but the length of the gun balances nicely. The bluing is rich and uniform, and the logo shows the Goddess of the Hunt, Diana, throwing her bow and arrow down to take up the airgun! The barrel is right at 19.5" long, giving you some leverage for cocking such a powerful spring-piston airgun.
The forearm and pistol grip area feature pressed checkering, and on the model I reviewed, the 350 Magnum logo was branded into the wood on the right side. The safety is re-settable, so if you don't shoot immediately, you can reset the safety. You can also uncock the gun by breaking the barrel like you are going to cock it once again and pulling the trigger while maintaining a firm grip on the barrel. Ease the barrel back to the firing position, and you've uncocked it!
The fit and finish of the buttpad is excellent, giving the entire package a quality feel. You have a sense of solidness when you heft this rifle, and it gives you confidence when aiming at your quarry. The standard model features all-metal sights, with a hood over the standard front sight blade. It's very easy to aim with this gun's open sights, but if you prefer a scope, an 11mm rail is provided on the gun, complete with double stop pin holes already installed.
In .22 caliber, I was able to easily take squirrels with no problems as the pellets were heading down range at over 840+ fps. The factory rating for velocity is 900+, and with certain lighter pellets, this is easily within the power range for this air gun. I was shooting mid-weight pellets of 14-16 grains, and accuracy proved excellent. with most velocities coming in from 815 fps up to 865 fps. This will vary from pellet to pellet, especially with the differences in the skirts of the pellets. I've noticed that lighter-skirted pellets that fit snugly actually give higher velocities, I think in part due to the "flaring" effect of the skirt when the pulse of air hits the rear of the pellet.In any event, you are generating over 20 fpe with standard pellets, and some of the heavier ones will raise that to the mid-to-high 20's.
Now, on to the hunt. I got out for a brief morning this past week, and was able to sneak up on a big Eastern fox squirrel. These squirrels are much larger than the Eastern grey squirrel, and they can soak up some pellets if you don't hit them correctly. So I was trying my best to get as close as possible, but the cover was sparse between my target and my shooting position. I had to quit trying to play super-sneak at nearly 40 yards, so when I did "drop the hammer" on this squirrel, I did so with a body-shot in mind. Aiming at the front left leg, I touched off my shot. A loud "whap" told me I had made contact, but with open sights I wasn't sure just where. The squirrel turned in place and tried a magnificent leap to a distant branch, but never made it.
I had apparently hit the boiler room with my one shot, and the pellet made its way through the vitals to lodge near the rear of the squirrel. The power of this RWS 350 made the difference on this squirrel, as I have lost squirrels before to better-placed shots such as the head. But when a .22 pellet hits with the force generated by this airgun, unless you totally missed the vitals, the target is going down!
There are some very fine rifles available for today's air gun hunter, but the RWS 350 ranks near the top of the selection in my book. Reasonably priced for the quality of package you receive, this gun will give years of satisfaction in the field and woods, and the RWS warranty is second-to-none on their merchandise. You can feel certain of the quality rifle you will receive when choosing the Model 350, and the service that comes with it will keep you happy for years to come!
Check out the RWS Model 350 at Airgun Depot today!
