Supplemental Results: Hatsan AT-P1 Air Pistol

I wanted to supplement my initial review of the AT-P1 .22 due to the deplorable conditions that we had in central Florida a few weeks ago. With Hurricane Sandy rotating just off the east coast, winds on my test day were blowing steady in the mid-twenties and gusting into the mid-thirties. But to my chagrin that day, the AT-P1 performed very well despite the strong aerial influence. In the weeks to follow curiosity got the better of me and I pondered, “How well might this pistol have performed had the wind not been blowing?" I already knew that the AT-P1 was very accurate... what I didn't know was how tight it could group and how accurate it could be at longer ranges. As I began a few weeks ago, I got on paper at the 45' range. This time though, I rested the gun itself on the bag and was able to hold it quite steady. I also adjusted the trigger's first stage to be longer, which eliminated some the second stage creep... and found this adjustment to be helpful in producing repeatable accuracy. The BSA 2 power scope did its job very well but was somewhat underpowered at 25 yards and was certainly underpowered at 50 yards... but I made the best of it. Today, the Hatsan upped its game with lots of neat little groups of five bundled sub half inch packages. Crosman's Premier Domed in the cardboard box grouped at .35", RWS's Meisterkugeln at .36", H&N's Field Target trophy at .38", JSB's Exact Jumbo Express at .39, and RWS's Super H Point at .49". I'm very pleased to report that this pistol shoots exceptionally straight and would make a wicked, compact hunting PCP. What's more, it quickly gained the respect of onlookers at the range today. Having gotten excited about the tighter groups, I hurriedly made my way over to the 25 yard bench. I couldn't wait to see if things improved there too with the diminished wind. To my great anticipation and pleasure, they did! The better performing pellets grouped all the way down to between 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch. JSB's Jumbo Exact Express grouped at .56", H&N's Field Target Trophy at .66", and JSB's Jumbo Exact Heavy at .76". Give the pistol the flier with the Exact Express and Wow! Have a look... Bathing in the aftermath of the AT-P1's stellar performance, I gazed long down range at the 50 yard target. I wondered if it was even worth attempting with the 2 power BSA Scope. I had a peek through the reticle and was able to fairly clearly make out the target's silhouette... it wasn't very large though. Poor judgment got the better of me, curiosity kicked in, and I went for it. I waited for the cease fire and made my way down there with a few targets in hand. An old timer chuckled as a walked past him, uttering; “might as well forget it son... that's a long way off for an air pistol... the breeze is starting to kick up too." Granted, the wind was gently puffing at 5-6 mph, but compared to a few weeks ago, it was nothing. At this juncture, I was feeling pretty damn good about things so I set up with a 2700 psi charge and loaded the magazine with ten hand selected JSB Jumbo Exact Express pellets. Just above the target, I placed a black dot for a point of aim... the BSA does not have a mill dot reticle. After releasing a few pellets down range, that old timer walked over and had a good hard look at the AT-P1. He shook his head and commented, “That damn thing shoots better than my .22." Have a look at these results... I was quite surprised. Impressed with the results, I made one more pass at 50 Yards before packing up for the day. I split the target in half, shooting the JSB Jumbo Exact Express at the upper portion and the H&N Field Target Trophy at the lower. Aiming just above the black dot the Expresses printed a 1.53" group of five (.84" without the flier) and aiming at the red dot, the H&N's, a 2.07" (1.62" without the flier). This little pistol is seriously accurate and would certainly benefit from a more powerful scope at longer ranges. I realize that a pistol isn't designed for long range accuracy but if you ever wanted a compact hunter to take into the woods, this would be it! So there you have it. Hatsan's AT-P1 PCP pistol is bad to the bone. It is cool looking, stellar performing excellence crammed into a subcompact package. Like I said... Hatsan outdid themselves with this one.