Testing the Daystate AirWolf MCT

2009 AIRGUN WORLD 19

Reality Check!

Daystate models offered more, and morewonderful, electronic features, I continuedto be far too wrapped up in the latesttechno-doings and continued to downplaythe rifles’ roles as shooting machines. Fromthe many conversations I’ve had aboutthese guns, I was certainly not alone inputting too much emphasis on theelectronics, and not enough on the gun. Thisis entirely wrong, and I mean to put itentirely right.

My plan, like its source, was simple. Iwould leave the Air Wolf’s nine-stage setupoptions exactly as the factory intended, andjust shoot the granny out of the test gun

My job is an odd one at times.I’ve spent the last monthshooting possibly theworld’s most technicallyadvanced sporter, and

trying as hard as I can to avoid its mosttechnical advancements. I succeeded, too,sort of, and I’m glad I made the effort. I’llnow explain why I went to all the trouble ofshooting the new Daystate Air Wolf MCTas though it were any other top sporter.

I’ve tested Daystate’s electronically-controlled pre-charged pneumatic riflessince the first model, the MK3, waslaunched way back in December 2002. Atthe time, that MK3 had me shaking myhead at the sheer technicality of it, and Iimmediately began to concentrate far toomuch on the wonders unveiled by the gun’selectronics. This diversion had me treatingthe actual shooting functions – which arethe entire point of having any rifle – assomething of a side issue. As subsequent

The editor has a wordwith himself and rejoins

the real world

Reality Check!

until I knew it inside-out as a sporting rifle.Basically, I needed to test it as I would anyother rifle, with a practical exploration ofthe electronic features after the realevaluation was completed. As you youngfolk say – sounds like a plan.

The test rifle was in .22 calibre, and likeall of its kind, it comes complete with a 10-shot magazine, a single-shot pellet tray, asnap-on air-charging adaptor, an electricalcharger to re-charge the rifle’s internalbatteries, a pair of keys to switch the actionon and off, and a manual in the form of aCD. Having plugged the rifle into the mainsfor a couple of hours to charge its on-board

particular device extensively throughout thistest. But there’s more…

MIND THE GAPNext, something I’ve never even considered,namely the effect on the rifle’s torsionalstrength of installing a huge gap in the actionblock where the magazine fits. Think about it;the action block houses the barrel and thescope mounting rail, and any movement fromeither could cause inconsistent accuracy, orlack of it, if that movement isn’t perfectlyequal for both. Now, think about this need fortotal solidity against the need to chop out alarge lump of action to house the mag’.Finally, factor the fact that our pre-chargedpneumatic rifles need to remainimmaculately on-line during countlesscharges and discharges of high-pressure air,plus they need to take the rough andoccasional tumble of life as a sporter, andyou’ll see how removing a great chunk fromthe action isn’t exactly ideal when you’retrying to ensure perfect solidity.

The manufacturers manage it, though,and they do so in a variety of ways. Daystatebuild in a

steel bar to reclaim any lost rigidity, otherdesigns go for a solid scope rail to ‘bridge’ thegap, and no doubt everyone else has designed-in their own solutions to this requirement I’dnever previously considered. As I say, there’smore to this autoload lark than meets theuntrained eye.

LOADING THE MAG’Airgun World readers regularly ask me aboutthe ‘complication’ of loading multishot pelletmagazines, and while it’s fair to say thatanyone seriously thinking about buying an AirWolf MCT will probably have no fear ofloading it, these tests aren’t intended purelyfor prospective buyers. The fact is there is aright way, and therefore many wrong ways, to

batteries (which still feelsodd, it has to be said) my first

proper job was to fill it withair, and I went for the

recommended 232-bar charge, which entersvia the click-on adaptor. That charge willprovide over 500, perfectly regulated shots atover 11 ft.lbs., or well over 400 from the .177version, provided you take your time andactually charge the Air Wolf properly. Thatmeans ‘trickling’ in the charge over ten

seconds or so, rather than giving it ahefty squirt. Fast charging meansheat and that means expansion,which means your PCP isn’t gettingits full charge once everything coolsdown. A push-fit inlet valve covergave protection from dirt, theelements and general muck, and anunhurried ten seconds later I was aloading choice away from startingshooting.

A LOAD MORE TO ITHere’s where it gets a bit complicated,and it’s also where I learned a bit about

how seemingly simple things areactually amazingly hi-tech. In thiscase, it’s the loading of our airguns,and pellet magazines in particular.I’ve been using autoload pelletmagazines since the early 1990s,and I’ve done so ever since withoutthinking about it that much. Iprefer to get on with my shootingand let the clever people sort outthings like magazines andelectronic actions…and everythingelse, really. Yet, we should be awareof the sheer precision demandedby those taken-for-granted pelletmagazines. For instance, if thealignment of the pellet-carrying

chamber and the bore is out bymore than a few thou’, all manner ofaccuracies can take place as thepellets find themselves ‘clipped’ onloading. As far as pure accuracy isconcerned, it’s heartening to learnthat the standard issue thumbremains the finest pellet loadinggizmo ever invented, and I used that

Grip withconfidence,and style.

The human digit still rules

when it comes to loading.

Security iskey with theDaystateAirWolf MCT.

20 AIRGUN WORLD 2009

The new Reflex silencer adds supression without sacrificing style.

It’s more than a supergun - it’s oneof the finest sporters on the

planet.

Autoloador single-shot, thechoice isyours.

load a magazine. Inthis case, it’s a simplematter of insertingpellets via the chamfered

loading bay, manuallyindexing the mag’s internal pellet carrier eachtime until the magazine is fully loaded. Themagazine can only be loaded the correct way,unless a mallet and extreme determinationare involved (not completely out of thequestion – read this month’s news section) sothere’s nothing to fear at all, really.

Mind you, the wrong way of loading thismagazine does exist and I’m going tohighlight them here. First, not all pellets areideal for use in autoload magazines, especiallythose used in CO2-powered pistols, whichwill often snarl up when loaded with pointedor over-long pellets. Secondly, while noshooter who expects the best from his airgunshould ever load damaged, malformed or sub-standard pellets, these are especiallytroublesome when used in autoloadmagazines. Use the closest thing to perfectpellets you can get your hands on, and loadeach pellet correctly into its chamber so thatno damage occurs as the magazine rotates.Finally, keep your magazines clean and freefrom grit. Mags’ are too often stowed ingrubby pockets among all sorts of creepingcrud, and that’s exactly the sort of crud thatwill infiltrate your magazine and stop itworking as it should.

In short, there’s absolutely nothing to fearfrom autoload airguns, or pre-chargedpneumatics, or any other airgun for thatmatter, as long as you read the manual, useyour common sense and don’t take anythingto bits that you don’t understand. Right, let’skick on with my real world test.

SHOOTING THE WOLFI have a Daystate Air Ranger, which, with itsbuddy-bottle air reservoir, shrouded barreland obvious other similarities, could bedescribed as a ‘mechanical’ version of the AirWolf. I reveal this purely to put myself in anideal comparison position, and frankly I wasexpecting little more that a slightly sterile

edition of theRanger. I wasmore thanslightly wrongon that one, asit turned out.

Yes, the Air Wolf isvirtually effortless to shoot,partly due to the bolt being merely aswitch which activates the magazinerather than cocks a hammer spring, butthat’s not what makes this rifle so stress-free to shoot. The trigger, although notthe most attractive looking component,can be set to break almostsubconsciously, while still offering fullcontrol. I realise how arty-farty that mayseem to some, but it’s absolutely true,and only comes into play when you’retotally tuned into a gun and you’vemoved past the basic stuff. During thistest, I left the basic stuff behind within50 shots.

ACCURACY REPORTUsing the .22 pellets and MTC Viper ScopeDaystate supplied with the rifle, plus theIdleback shooting chair as my all-terrain riflerest, I produced group after group on my 35-yard test target. George Stevens was shootingbeside me and he used my main test card tozero the Webley Tomahawk he’s reviewed inthis issue, which made a pleasant change butruined a seriously special target card whichincluded several single-holers. I didn’t moan atGeorge, because he still winds me up aboutthe framed one-hole group I have in my officeat home, but that target card was definitely a‘cut-out-and-keep’ job. Pushing the targetback to 45 yards kept me safe from George –he doesn’t bother shooting much past hishunting ranges – and I managed a couple ofthumbnail-sized groups on that. One-inchspinners at 50 yards were at my mercy, andeven George was impressed once or twice.Possibly.

As my pellets hit their marks, I settled intothe session more and more, and within twohours there was absolutely nothing left toprove as far as the accuracy of the DaystateAir Wolf MCT was concerned. Conventiondictates that my next step would be toexplore the eight-phase electronic options thisrifle allows. Not this time. This time I washeading off to pastures real, to do some

hunting with it.

Choose your scope with care.

I think a rifle ofthis standard

should have anadjustable

butt-pad, butthis one does afine job as it is.

Easy, quick and clean air injection.

2009 AIRGUN WORLD 21

Ready-threadedto take theReflex.

IN THE FIELDI know George Stevens normally does theaprès-test hunting bit, but his knee isknackered at the moment, so I thought I’dgive it a go. As it turned out, I got rained on abit too much and I spent most of my time notbeing able to resist plinking at things from thestability of the Idleback. I made holes in leaves(squirrel head shot simulation), I splattereddandelions (max-range rabbits) out to 40yards and exploded a series of windfalls,including acorns, crab apples and walnuts,which gave confirmed potential kills on everytype of vermin we can go for.

Testing the Daystate AirWolf MCT

After three sessions of this ‘hunting’,during which I actually did bag a few rabbits,crows, squirrels and a pigeon, I was forced toconcede that shooting an Air Wolf really isn’tthe same as, or even closely related to,shooting my Air Ranger. Desperately tryingto remain practical, here, I can sum up thedifference by stating that shooting to a highstandard with the Air Wolf is easier thandoing so with my Ranger. Again, this appearsprecious and pretentious, because that .177Ranger of mine will put pellets on top of eachother at 50 yards, but I now know that theAir Wolf lets me shoot to the limit of mytalent that much easier. Does it make aworthwhile difference in this real world I’mstruggling to remain part of? Well, yes it does,because once you’ve reached a level ofcommitment where you want the absolutebest, then only the absolute best will do.Would I swap my Ranger for a Wolf? Yes Iwould. Will I be doing so? I’m not saying,because my good lady wife often reads thisstuff. What I’ll probably do, is to claim ‘I gaveDaystate a tenner for one of those little tellyscreens to stick on my Ranger, dear’. Sorted.

THOSE ELECTRONICFUNCTIONSJust before I go all technical with those oh-so-essential functions, it’s essential to know thatthe Air Wolf MCT has a digital regulationsystem inside it which responds to everychange of pressure that takes place within therifle. These changes may come about due to

22 AIRGUN WORLD 2009

On the MCT, the bolt isflicked not pulled.

shots being fired, the rifle being charged withair, or fluctuations in temperature, but theimportant thing to know is that the MCTaction will react to them for each and everyshot. That’s right; each shot is set up by the AirWolf’s computer-controlled internals inresponse to what’s happening inside the rifleat that very moment. That reaction is instant,too, and it means there’s no power curve,sweet spot, or anything else to worry about.

Finally, the Air Wolf is designed to be fullycapable of high power FAC-ratedperformance, so blipping out shots at 11-plusft.lbs. leaves it supremely under stressed, and itpasses on that happy state to its users. Okay,there’s no avoiding it; I’ve got to run throughthe things this rifle lets you mess about with, viathe interaction of its screen, trigger, safety catchand the Mapped Compensated Technologygubbins that runs its every vital function.

THE DAYSTATE GREAT EIGHTThe Daystate Air Wolf allows you tocustomise the following functions:

1. Magazine counter reset. This gives ableep after the 10th shot is fired, telling youthe magazine needs to be reloaded/replaced.

2. Reset the overall shot counter. This letsyou see how many shots your rifle has firedsince the last reset, say when it was re-chargedwith air.

3. Active pressure. This gives you areadout on the pressure in the air reservoir,and updates itself after every shot or everytemperature-induced fluctuation. This systemis so sensitive that heat from placing yourhand on the buddy-bottle causes the readingto change.

4. Power settings. Two levels are available,11-plus and slightly lower.

5. Safety-catch settings. This lets you turnon/off the red l.e.d. in the safety catch. Anobvious essential, I trust you’ll agree.

6. Magazine counter. Spookily, this countsthe number of magazines you’ve shot yourway through.

7. Single shot mode. This is recommendedfor competition use, and requires you to resetthe safety catch between shots.

8. Pressure warning. This causes the rifle toblow a little electronic raspberry when itsinternal pressure reaches a preset level, so youcan re-charge before you run out.

9. Default reset. This is the MCT get outof jail free card, which resets the rifle’s systemto its factory default, should you wish to wipethe slate clean and start again. This functionalso displays the firmware code, so you knowwhich version your rifle is running.

Yes, of course there can be more wherethat scary lot came from, and if you let

Daystate know what you want, they’llthink seriously about installing it in thenext update. Meanwhile, I’m going to carryon shooting this one and let the Daystatecrew take care of the rest.

CONCLUSIONThe Daystate Air Wolf MCT is better used asa hunting rifle than an electronically inspiredand aspirated shooting platform. It workssuperbly as a sporter, thanks to propergunsmithing and design skills, which havecombined to give us a well-balanced rifle, astock with positive handling as standard, and atop grade Lothar Walther barrel. Its magazinehas now passed no fewer than five revisionstages, and the tolerances have been tightenedevery time. The mag’s aluminium pelletcarrier sits inside an acetyl casing which is nowlower in profile to assist scope mounting, andevery rifle is accuracy tested with themagazine supplied with it.

These are all basic, fundamental, practicalmeasures that have been sorting the bestfrom the rest for the thick end of a centuryof airgunmaking. The incredible computersmarts may be unique, but what really setsthis rifle apart is that it does the jobmagnificantly, and in my real world thatcounts more than anything.

Model: Air Wolf MCT Manufacturer: Daystate.Country of Origin: U.K.Contact: 01782 791755.Type: Fully electronic, pre-charged, multi-shot/single shot sporter.Calibre: .22 or .177Cocking: Bolt-actionLoading: Removable, rotary magazine, or singleshot pellet tray. Shots-per-charge: 500-plus from 230-bar in.22. 450-plus in .22.Trigger: Two-stage, adjustable.Sights: Scope rail onlyStock Type: Walnut, right-hand, thumbholesporter. Sporter configuration available.Weight: 3.44 k. (7.5 lbs. unscoped).Length: 1030mm (40.5 inches). Barrel: 430 mm (16.8 inches).Price: £1200 includes, 10 shot magazine, singleshot pellet tray, mains charger, two keys and CDRom instructions/handbook.Options: Reflex silencer £55, matte-blackcocking/loading bolt £25 or no-charge whenspecified with new rifle, sling swivel studs £10fitted when ordered with rifle. FAC option£1250 (up to 40 ft.lbs.) and left-hand (includinghand-made bolt) £1230.

A visual gauge backs up the techno’ pressure warning.

This screen guides youthrough the AirWolf’samazing range of options.

Testing the Daystate AirWolf MCT