Product Description:

The HATSAN NovaStar most certainly is an eye-catching, impressive-looking air rifle, featuring a detailed grainline Turkish Wallnut stock w/ fine polished details. Each NovaStar therefore, will have a unique stock appearance and no two models have the same character on the stock - these characteristics are clearly evident in the hue variation from lighter through to shades of darker brown, which is further characterized by the laser etching identifying the rifle by make and model on two separate areas. The handle itself has a generous thumbhole, allowing one's hand to properly reach around the three cut-out finger grooves. The trigger itself is HATSAN proprietary QUATTRO TRIGGER, three point adjustable match-grade, to allow one to fine-tune the shot discharge breaking-point to one's personal preference and ergonomy, which in high stress situations (blazing sun, pouring rain, awkward shooting position) does assist in making the shooting exercise easier. All of this can be adjusted for through the lopside of the trigger guard.

Taking aim:

The cheek comb on the stock is steplessly adjustable via the two large flat drive screws on the rear of the stock which is ambidextrous. The buttplate can extend outward for longer limbed shooters w/ greater upper bodily proportions.

The rifle is not equiped out of the box w/ open sights of any kind, but does feature a picatinny / broken dovetail rail. The rear section measures in 125mm whereas the frontal part measures 50mm. The magazine breech splits the top part of the action, separating the rail as indicated. It is not usually recommended to use the picatinny portion of the rail, as not all picatinny mount rings fit. Since the rifle features no recoil, making use of the dovetail mounts are recommended. Thanks to the 23" barrel, you'll be able to get the sort of long, albeit loopy ballistic trajectory that works well w/ high scope mount rings. The adjustable cheekpiece as well as the ample rail space behind the breech will be your friend here.

The scallop trigger is thinly gold plated (not yellow passivated or zinc) and has a refreshingly crisp pull to it, but does not break cleanly (atleast the model we had a look at), so adjustment once the scope is zeroed and settled in, is highly recommended, especially for shooting from midly distracting positions where the artificial rest might be a hassle.

Shooting, Our opinion:

Out of the box this rifle fires very hot, meaning you'll have to deal with loud thwacking after each loaded trigger pull. The barrel shroud does a fair deal to muffle the noise emission, however, we positively recommend a good silencer for this rifle. As the barrel is 23" free floating, care should be taken not to hastily opt for a cheap, beefy-looking silencer weighing 300 grams, that is the size of a soft drink can, as with a little more, one could invest in a proper DONNYFL SUMO .25 that is slightly smaller than the aforementioned, doesn't weigh as much and will do the job better (not to mention the catching geometric aesthetics on the tube bosy). For this rifle and one's budget, silence should definitely be a priority.

Just beware that, since the barrel is free floating and the rifle shoots 1/3 of its usable shots (from fully filled) in excess of 200 BAR of pressure at supersonic speeds, that the ammunition used will not necessarily group as good as they can. For that reason, we suggest de-tuning the hammer spring, until the muzzle velocity chronographs in at about 920. This rifle should then be able to fire pellets and print them close together on a bullseye.

Otherwise, we recommend shooting only slugs at supersonic speeds, as the diabolo / skirted shape of the pellets are inherently unsuited for breaking the sound barrier, as doing so destabilizes their flight trajectory. Slugs are bullet-shaped and will fly considerably more stable, not to mention higher ballistic coeffiency which translates to heftier striking force, that compliments the hydrostatic shock payload delivery that slugs are so famous for. 

Handling:

This rifle sports a triple-slot polymer Picatinny rail under the frontal end of the stock for mounting a bipod, which comes highly recommended for shooting prone. We would suggest a 6-9" (short bipod) type for this purpose, as the mount rail towers about 40mm over the buttplate. This would just be to ensure that you don't shoot off of your elbows, so to say, unless you are shooting uphill / at an upward inclination.

Perhaps for consideration, HATSAN should have added stippling on the primary handling areas of the stock are at the very least, deep etched checkering such as found on the AT44-10. However, since the rifle is lightweight and since this rifle isn't exactly a tactical rifle insomuch as it is a bench shooter, this is not of cardinal importance and can be counterbalanced by wearing gloves w/ stiff EVA and rubberizing on the grip areas.

The magazine slot embedded into the stock behind the handle also adds a fun feel to the rifle - in the field, you'll need to transition the rifle to your left hand (if you are right-handed) w/ the barrel pointed upward, withdraw the magazine from the breech, swop it with the one drawn out from the stock and insert it right to left into the breech. You could also perform this with the rifle pointed outward, with the buttplate close to your right shoulder.

 Filling:

This rifle features a 480cc bottle, filled up to 250 BAR of pressure. On factory setting in .22 w/ 15 gr pellets, this will yield about 100 good shots. The filling port is just beneath the start of the barrel, which has a plug inserted to keep dust and related ingress out. The bottle (Korean manufactured by INOCOM, 0.48l, 450g, MAX 310 BAR w/ clear inspection dates and unremovable certification labeled on) fills to its SWP (Safe Working Pressure) up to 250 BAR and from completely empty, just for reference, this equates to about one hour's worth of pumping w/ a 3 stage PCP Handpump. Please do cock the lever prior to filling your rifle up from empty and keep your rifle minimum charged at 1000 PSI / 70 BAR. The supplied brass filling probe will nudge the protective plug straight out the filling port, however, to use the supplied filling probe in "quick coupler" configuration (which we recommend), you'll need to purchase a 1/8" BSP female to male quick coupler bit and thread this on, using a 1/8" BSP dowty / bonded washer (normally R30) which will have the best aesthetic and repeatability of usage, or just PTFE tape. The problem with the latter is that, by overdoing the amount of loops on the threading, you might end up buggering the brass threads, as PTFE can become quite rigid when when compounded.

The guage is situated at the lopside of the stock and as such, you do not need to have the muzzle pointed at your forehead when observing the pressure left available for the rifle, which is always a welcome feature to a PCP rifle.

Summary:

• Pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) air rifle
• Enhanced side-lever action
• Precision choked and rifled barrel
• 480 cc carbon fiber air cylinder for around 110 consistent shots per fill
• Ergonomic Turkish walnut thumbhole stock. Has pronounced finger grooves.
• Elevation-adjustable cheek comb and triangularly ventilatd rubber butt pad
• Detachable rotary magazine magazine w/ 12-shot capacity
• Short under-stock weaver rail for mounting bipod or optics. Top dovetail railing for mounting scope
• Barrel shroud protects and stabilizes barrel for maximum durability and accuracy
• Spare magazine storage slotted into stock
• Patented Anti-Knock System prevents gas wastage when rifle is knocked or bounced
• Quattro Trigger: Two-stage, fully adjustable match trigger is adjustable for travel and load
• Velocity: 1125 FPS (.22)
• Maximum muzzle energy: 47 ft.lbs
• Shots at optimal velocity: 100 (.22)
• Maximum fill pressure: 250 BAR (3625 PSI)
• 23" barrel
• 43.5" overall length
• Includesd in package: two magazines, single-shot tray, fill probe and spare seals. All of this packaged in a carton box lined out w/ medium density eggtray foam.

Technical Specifications:

* Velocity results may vary as much as 20% due to pellet weight, pellet shape, temperature, elevation, as well as other factors.