Mod 95 Vortex .25 Cal – Part 3

So this will wrap up my review of the Mod 95 Vortex .25 caliber.   This product has impressed me from the moment that I took it out of the box and put the first pellet down range. It has been handled by many folks, all of whom have walked away liking the rifle, its accuracy, and its ease of use. I’m not sure that you could ask for much more.

Hatsan Mod 95 Vortex .25 Caliber

Scope it…

I’ve been shooting my Mod 95 Vortex with open sights up to this point. Now it’s time to go ahead and mount the scope. Hatsan bundles a 3-9×32 scope and a set of mounts with this rifle. This is a “budget conscience” scope and rings. With that said, if you mount it properly and use it correctly, it does perform rather well. I’m going to walk you through the process.

While these mounts look like they have fasteners that are meant to be tightened by hand, they are not. You need to make sure that the scope base is securely attached to the receiver of the rifle or you’ll never get the gun sighted in. I use a large screwdriver and tighten it down about as far as I dare. This has generally worked pretty well, even on the big Hatsan Mod 125 variants.

Hatsan’s Standard Optima 3-9×32 Scope

From there, I will remove the top rings from the mounts and remove the scope. Occasionally I’ll need to carefully remove the scope tape from the scope and replace it back into the mounts, being careful to not let it bunch up. Now I can re-mount the scope, making sure that it’s properly lined up and square to the receiver. I replace the top of the scope rings and secure them as tightly as practical.

Getting on paper.

I’ve worked with this setup many, many times and I can sight one of these guns in pretty quickly. Here’s my shot card with a couple of “sight–in shots” and then two 5 shot groups at 10 yards. The bottom left was my first group and the top right was my last group which measured .408″ CTC.

Hatsan Mod 95 Vortex .25 Getting on paper at 10 yards.

The Optima 3-9×32 scope does not have an adjustable objective. This means that I’ll have to keep it on 3x power when shooting at close range. As I move out to 20 yards, I can start to use a bit more of the magnification. If I know that I’m going to be always shooting at a fixed distance, I can manually set the parallax, i.e. “focus,” for lack of a better explanation, for that given range. Doing so instantly voids the manufacturer’s warranty however as it’s possible to create a leak that would allow condensation and contaminants to get into the scope. If you want to roll the dice on making the adjustment, the payoff is the ability to utilize the full range of magnification at the specified range. It’s not like having a scope with a true adjustable objective, but it’s a nice to know that you can manually set it, as long as you are OK with letting the warranty go by the wayside.

Shooting past 10 yards.

With everything hitting right where I want at 10 yards, it is time to stretch things out a bit to see what I can do at 20. Having shot this class airgun in .25 Cal in the past, I know that 20 to 25 yards is about its maximum range. If it can maintain hunting accuracy at 20 yards, then I’m going to be very happy.

When you take a look at this card, you’ll see that I’m very happy. Here’s what I love about this rifle. I took it out to my range still sighted for 10 yards. Now it’s tipping 114 degrees today, so I’m not really inclined to spend all afternoon out in the sun. I adjusted my scope about 12 clicks, moving the point of impact downward. My first shot was to the right, but pretty good on the vertical. I simply took the next 3 shots to walk it in, moving the point POI left a little each time. The top right target was my first and only 5 shot group for accuracy. Using the Hatsan Vortex Supreme .25 caliber pellets, and the scope set to 5x magnification, (I have not adjusted the scope for parallax) it measures .62″ CTC. Given that hunting accuracy for this rifle is about 1″ + / – , I don’t need to spend any more time out in the heat. I’m sure with a little work, I could get .5″ or better groups. But, dead is dead whether I’m shooting .62″ CTC or .5″ CTC.

Top left is the 5 shot group. The bottom right was walking in the point of impact after changing from 10 to 20 yards.

Perhaps the best airgun for under $200?

As I call this a wrap, I’m thinking about my quest to find the best airgun for under $200. At the time of this article, the Mod 95 Vortex .25 Cal combo is just barely under $200. It’s the best that I’ve found so far for that price point. This is a wonderful shooting airgun for target or varmint.