The reigning king in the budget PCP airgun arena has been the Benjamin Marauder. Well, there’s a new contender that’s stepped up to the plate to compete for the crown. The Hatsan Quiet Energy series of airguns consists of 4 new models; AT44S-10 QE, AT44S-10 QE Long, BT65SB QE, and the Galatian QE. All of the QE guns are available in .177, .22, and .25 calibers. In this article we’ll be taking a first look at the AT44S-10 QE in .22 caliber.
Hatsan AT44S-10 Quiet Energy Air Rifle
Available in 0.177, 0.22 & 0.25 Caliber
All the basics plus a couple nice add-ons
The AT44 QE sports a lightweight ambidextrous stock with some nice features. The butt of the rifle is adjustable so that you can get just the right angle and eye relief. It also has sling mounts front and back and includes a Hatsan rifle sling as standard equipment. Under the forearm you’ll find a weaver rail where you can mount any manner of accessories such as a bi-pod, light, laser, etc.
Hatsan Quiet Energy Adjustable Butt Hatsan Quiet Energy Front Rail and Sling Mount
The new Quiet Energy models utilize a fully shrouded barrel with integrated suppressor. This is what the whole Quiet Energy series is all about. The original AT44 had a bit of a bark and was certainly NOT suitable for back yard shooting in most areas. The new AT44S-10 QE has completely eliminated the bark of the old AT44 making it one of the quietest airguns on the market.
Hatsan Quiet Energy Shrouded Barrel and Suppressor.
With the newly designed barrel shroud and suppressor, Hatsan removed the traditional open sights. So, you’ll need to add an optic right off the bat. I’m using a Hawke Sidewinder 30 3-12×50 1/2 Mil-Dot illuminated reticle scope. While some may say that this scope is overkill for an entry level PCP, that opinion may change once you start putting lead downrange. Despite the entry level price, the AT44S-10 QE is one of the most accurate airguns I’ve ever tested, and certainly worthy of such a high end scope.
The rifle ships with 2 magazines, a fill probe, sling, and some extra o-rings. The magazines, for our .22 caliber test rifle, each hold 10 pellets. They are somewhat narrow so it’s important to only use pellets that fit properly. If the pellets are too long, they will have a tendency to jam during the cocking cycle and could cause you some problems. I’ve found that the JSB 15.89 and the JSB 18.13 grain pellets fit and shoot very well. Some pellets to avoid are the H&N Baracuda Match, Predator Polymags, and any of the Eun Jun pellets. If you stick to pellets that fit properly, you won’t have any issues.
The side lever action is smooth and easy to operate, eventually.
The AT44 Quiet Energy operates exactly as the original AT44. When you pull back the side lever it will rotate the cylinder and load the next pellet as well as set the automatic safety located at the rear of the receiver. At first this action seems a bit labored, but quickly smoothes out with use. I’d say that after 10 or 15 magazines, things were running very smoothly.
Hatsan Quiet Energy Receiver, Magazine, and Cocking Lever
Power to the rifle is supplied by a 180CC removable air cylinder. The cylinder is designed to operate at a maximum pressure of 200 bar and provides usable shots down to 100 bar. On average I get 30 good shots from a full fill. I tend to rely on my Air Venturi 90 cubic inch regulated fill system for quick top offs in the field. You can expect to get quite a few fills if your thank is at its full 4500PSI capacity. I’m averaging about 7 to 8 top offs with mine.
Hatsan is using the same Quattro Trigger that they’ve been using on all their AT44 and BT65 Variants. It is a fully adjustable trigger that easily adjusted down to just over a 1 pound trigger pull, with a light first stage and a very short and distinct 2nd stage break. It’s nice to find such a nice trigger on an entry level airgun.
What’s next?
Now that we have the basics, it’s almost time to start really shooting and working with our AT44S-10 Quiet Energy Series PCP. But, before we get to all the fun stuff, we’ll jump a bit more into the mechanics and basic performance. Just before the SHOT show in January I had the chance to work with this rifle and produced a short video for the show. For now, I’ll leave you with a link to the video. Have questions or comments? Please be sure to use the comments section on the blog to send them our way. We love hearing from our readers!
