Air Gun Home :: View topic - Hol-ee Hatsan!

Mentolio · Veteran Member

Hatsan Striker Edge with Centerpoint 3-9 IR scope.

I mostly hunt with my Mrod, but I like to have a springer in the car in case my Mrod stops working (which hasn't happened, but you never know). I also like to hunt with springers from time to time, so I bought my Umarex/Browning Leverage .22 with these duties in mind. While the Browning is plenty accurate and powerful, that rifle feels like it weighs a ton after carrying it around in the woods all day. Also, it's super front-heavy, due to it's under-lever design. Another thing about the Browning is that while it's not overly hold or pellet sensitive, I have several tins of pellets that it does not shoot accurately enough for me to feel comfortable hunting with them (H&N, RWS, Crosman/Benjamin). What to do....?

I took delivery of a brand new Hatsan Striker Edge combo yesterday. It cost $114.00 (including shipping), and got some pretty impressive reviews, so I figured I'd give it a try. First off, I'll start with the negatives: the plastic stock while comfortable and light, is a little flimsy feeling. I guess that is to be expected from a gun that claims to weigh only 6.6 lbs. Looking down at it with the action and barrel removed, the inside of the stock looks precise and well made, though it's very hollow sounding. After 75 shots, the screws have remained tight, though I plan on putting some LocTite on them. The scope is also a bit disappointing. It's a 3-9x30-something with a duplex reticle. I like that it's a 3-9, and didn't expect it to have adjustable objective, but I hate duplex reticles and it is a little "junky" feeling. Also as others have pointed out, the factory scope stop puts the scope too far forward to be of any use, so I just removed it. The fiber optic sights are bright, but like all sights of this type that I've seen, are too thick and heavy for any long distance shooting. The bluing on the metal is about as good as my Chinese guns, meaning: not bad but not great. Also the trigger pull is pretty long and a little heavy, but not nearly as awful as my Crosman. Lastly, it's a little on the loud side of the noise scale. It has a bit of a report, and a lot of spring twang, probably magnified by the hollow stock. Ok, that's all for the bad (so far).

And now for the good: looking at the construction and design, this rifle appears very well made and precise. There are no sloppy machine marks, and while the action/function is a little rough, it feels tighter and more precise than my Chinese guns. In comparison, both my Browning and my Crosman Vantage NP were downright gritty and rough when new, until I took them apart and rebuilt them. Their insides were both filthy, and were full of grit and metal shavings. I doubt this gun's insides will look as bad as them.
It is a light gun, though the stock itself is so light, the weight bias is pretty far forward. It has an automatic safety, which I have come to like. The length of this rifle is about 44 inches, making it about 4 inches shorter than my Leverage, and easier to handle (I'm hoping) in the woods. "And how does it shoot already?" You might be wondering. Pretty well.

This Striker Edge seems to prefer pellets that fit snugly in the breech, requiring a good push to seat the pellet. This means that the Striker seems to shoot pretty well all the pellets my other guns don't like. Of particular note is the JSB Jumbo Monster 25.39gr pellets. This rifle really seems to like them. They are a really tight fit in the breech, and when fired it recoils harder and "reports" louder, but with practice will be putting these pellets on top of each at 30 yards, I think. I haven't Chrony'd this rifle yet, but this platform is also used to sling .25 caliber pellets, so I'm confident that I'll be getting good numbers out of this gun. I'll post more info as I can.

Mentolio · Veteran Member

Here are some Chrony results for the Hatsan Striker Edge: Note: the manufacturer's claimed muzzle velocity is 800 fps. Hatsan rates their rifles using lead pellets, as opposed to those crappy hobby pellets.

Benjamin 14.2gr hollow points: Hi-783.2, Low-756.5, Avg-775, Extreme spread-26.73, Standard deviation-8.06

H&N Field Target Trophy 14.66gr Domed: Hi-773.4, Low-749.9, Avg-762, ES-23.58, SD-6 (for the sake of comparison, here are the Chrony results for my Browning Leverage .22, which also has a claimed muzzle velocity of 800fps. Results are using same H&N pellets, and after a rebuild:Hi-719.7, Low-694.8, Avg-707.7, ES-24.88, SD-6.7).

JSB Exact 15.89gr Domed: Hi-726.4, Low-683.5, Avg-698.6, ES-42.87, SD-12.48

....and now for something unexpected, the most accurate pellet (for now) is...

JSB Exact Jumbo Monster 25.39gr Domed: Hi-529.2, Low-519.7, Avg-524.2, ES-9.48, SD-3.46...surprisingly, these pellets fly just as far and as straight as the lighter 15.89gr pellets, AND group quite a bit tighter.

While the consistency of the Jumbo Monsters is impressive, the velocity doesn't meet my state's minimum muzzle velocity requirement of 600fps or more to hunt with. But, I am hopeful for some of the other pellets, and have a few more as yet untested potentials enroute from Pyramyd. Also of note, this gun has only 115 shots through it, and is not yet broken in. I'm certain it will gain some more velocity, close up the extreme spread, and smooth out after another 100 shots or so.

Mentolio · Veteran Member

Just thought I'd post some new numbers for the Striker Edge. I picked up some new pellets to try: H&N Barracuda Hunter 18.21gr hollow points and H&N Terminator 16.3gr hollow points. The third pellet is my "go-to" for this gun, the JSB Exact Jumbo 15.89gr domed.

JSB: Hi-741.9, Low-715.9, Average-728, Extreme spread-25.93=18.7 Ftlbs!
Increase of 1.48 foot pounds over my original test. This demonstrates the increase one can expect from the gun breaking-in, I suppose. I wonder if it will get even faster in time?

H&N Barracuda Hunter: Hi-672.8, Low-646.7, Average-659.6, ES-26.1=17.6 Ftlbs.
Of particular note: I shoot thru approximately 4 inches of some kind of "ballistic gel" that someone abandoned at the range where I sometimes shoot. Behind the gel is a stack of several (usually 8-10) magazines taped together, backed-up by a thick piece of wood. Most pellets go right through the gel, then imbed in varying depths in the magazine stack. Most of these Barracuda Hunter HPs went through the gel, showed a LOT of expansion, and basically bounced off the magazines. This demonstrates that these pellets really do what they are supposed to do. They enter "soft tissue," expand as they pass through it, and transfer the majority of their energy to the soft tissue. Pellets that just pass through, by comparison, are transferring much less energy to the target. I haven't accuracy tested this pellet yet, but if it groups well, I'll definitely be hunting with these!

Lastly, H&N Terminator HPs: Hi-730.7, Low-710.1, Average-721.1, ES-20.58=18.82 Ftlbs! The most powerful pellet of the three. My Vantage/Venom loves these pellets in .177 (7.25gr, 15.65ftlbs!), so I figured I'd try them in this gun...if the numbers are any indication of their performance, I'll be glad I did.
Regarding the Striker: I'm very happy with this gun's over-all performance, especially since I installed the Welsh Willie trigger, which while a bit lighter than I'd like, makes the gun much easier to shoot well. It's smoothed out a bit, and hopefully will smooth out a bit more as a I continue to shoot it.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

This seems to be about the most positive Hatsan springer I have ever heard of (they are usually far too large/heavy for their power output) and often 'gritty' like Chinese products. Maybe they are finally starting to get it together...

Mentolio · Veteran Member

I am familiar with the grit (often called "crunchiness) of which you speak. This gun really doesn't have any of that. It's my third "springer," but is the first of them that I didn't feel it necessary to disassemble and clean out. The blueing isn't perfect (or even really great), the trigger was really inconsistent, and the scope was crap, but otherwise seems like a well made gun (which seems kinda funny now that I see it in print). Maybe I should say "it seems like a well made gun for the price."

RinCG · New Member

Seems like you got a good'n there.
the SD numbers for the FTT- I'm thinking you should look into the H&N FTT. It may be the better performer given a good shake despite the slightly lower fpe #. 1-2 fpe is fairly inconsequential imho. Accuracy is king and lower SD's *typically* will give slightly better groups in most cases. There are exceptions. Although you didn't list the SD for the Terminators they may be just as good. Give them both a good wring out and report back.

Mentolio · Veteran Member

AirGunEric: I neglected to mention regarding size: this gun is lightweight, compact, and powerful...all reasons why I decided to buy it. It is significantly shorter and lighter than my Leverage (46-48 inches, as I recall), which I carried for many miles in the woods last year. For comparison, here is a picture of the Hatsan (right) leaning next to my Crosman Vantage/Venom NP. The Crosman measures 44 inches long, an weighs in at 9 lbs(!). The Striker measures 43 1/4 inches long, and weighs 8.8 lbs with a full-size scope. Both guns have UTG 3-12 SWAT scopes. The Crosman has the lighter and smaller compact version, the Hatsan has the full-sized version. My Leverage (which is visiting with a friend) weighed all of 10 lbs (as I recall), with a small, 3-9x non-AO, light weight scope.

Hatsan Striker Edge...I am a fan!

Mentolio · Veteran Member

So I've had the Striker out squirrel hunting a bit this year. I've taken several shots, all misses...? I also noticed it starting to really "twang" a lot. Today I decided to pull it apart and see if I couldn't give it a little "lube tune" in the hopes of quieting it down, and maybe easing the harsh recoil a bit. I was unable to find any hard info online regarding the disassembly, or even an exploded parts view, but decided to go for it anyway (doesn't Hatsan make guns under another name/line? Webley, maybe?) What a PITA! Long story short, I figured out the "step by step" disassembly procedure by doing it completely WRONG. Once apart, I found the rifle to be really well designed and built, and almost completely devoid of any real lube. There was some oil, but exactly ZERO grease on the spring. During disassembly I noticed damage to the seal, but decided to reuse it as I didn't have a replacement. The Chrony revealed a slight loss in velocity with two pellets the gun has liked in the past, but that could be all the thick grease I packed onto the spring ends. Frankly, it's not such a loss that I'll be overly worried about it' as long as the gun shoots/groups ok. Lastly, I cleaned-up the spring ends with 400grit sandpaper. When I get another seal, I'll take it apart again and take photos in the hopes of helping someone else with the same gun (Striker, 1000S, etc).