A breath of fresh air
Paul Miller is in awe of the Skout Epoch
When we think of air rifles we often picture a timber-stocked break-action or underlever cocking firearm, where the action of opening and closing the barrel or working the underlever compresses the air ready for a shot. With PCP air rifles (Pre-Charged Pneumatic), shots are controlled by much more sophisticated mechanisms. These involve a pre-charged reservoir cylinder which usually allows about 40 consistent shots before the tank needs topped up or partially re-charged to maintain that velocity. This is as about as simply as I can describe the difference between a PCP and the standard air rifle so many of us grew up with. In reality it’s like comparing Ford to Ferrari – both get the job done but at totally different levels of power, sophistication and cost.
The PCP air rifle we’re looking at here is a Ferrari of the PCP world. The Skout Epoch has been developed over about five years by leading paintball gun manufacturer Skout and is a substantial and sophisticated affair, entirely made in the US. It looks nothing like a conventional timber-stocked rifle, rather a wholly futuristic firearm with its carbon fibre components and matt black chassis more in keeping with the tactical look we’ve become familiar with. This revolutionary air-gun has rechargeable electrical computer controls which allow tuning and a hammerless valve system. Serious air rifle geeks will undoubtedly be thrilled by the technology so let’s look at what makes this rifle so special.
Action
The Skout Epoch has a straight line (sidelever) reloading action which can be set up left or right-handed. It uses a circular magnetic magazine with capacity of 25 rounds in this 25-calibre model, more in smaller pellet sizes and less in the larger .30 and .35-cal. This magazine is held together magnetically and, when loaded, is firmly drawn into the loading port where it’s also gripped magnetically. It’s a very capable, precise and secure system and reloading is simplicity itself, just smoothly yet crisply move the lever backward and forward and you’re good to go.
Electronic functions
To use the rifle, turn on the electronics at the back of the pistol grip and you’re greeted by a female voice welcoming you to Epoch! You can change to a male voice or block it as I suspect most users will, as it would almost certainly become annoying. To fire the rifle you press the safety button in front of the electronic trigger unit (safety can be programmed to stay in operation for up to 20 minutes).
The two-stage trigger itself can be adjusted for shoe height and angle as well as pre and post-travel, though I left it as delivered. I found it amazingly light but quickly became used to its sensitivity. It’s ideal for benchrest-style target shooting but arguably too light for hunting unless you were sitting at a bench or sniping over the bonnet.
Stock
This looks very futuristic and is highly adjustable, both in its recoil pad and carbon fibre comb. It’s built around the chassis concept and has a long Picatinny rail to allow for utmost security and flexibility of scope mounting. The test rifle came with an excellent Vortex 6-24×50 and while it seems surreal to put such a large scope on an air rifle, a piece of equipment like the Epoch warrants a quality optic. Part of the pleasure in a gun like this is watching pellets hit exactly where you’re aiming (if you do your bit), especially at higher magnifications with perfect focus.
This is helped by an almost complete lack of recoil. Perfect sight alignment and cheek weld are easily achieved with this rifle, so features like this only add to the comfort of shooting and ability to reproduce results shot after shot. The M-Lok rails surrounding the forearm are perfect for mounting accessories like bipods, spotlights, stock weights or lasers. They can be ordered in a vast number of chassis and stock colours or you can have it personalized, the sky’s the limit apparently.
Power plant
As we know this is a PCP rifle, fed from a 500cc removable carbon fibre bottle and operating at 4350psi (300 Bar). You can buy spare bottles and recharge them with a scuba tank or at a scuba or paintball shop. Expect at least 40 shots at the same pressure for superb accuracy with pressure controlled by two externally adjusted regulators for high and low.
There are three integrated manometers to help determine exactly what pressure you want. This is an important feature for skilled air-gunners looking to fine-tune a rifle to extract the most from top quality target pellets. The 25-calibre Epoch I had for testing is owned by Adam from Paintball Shop, an expert air rifle shooter who’d this one set for his favourite pellets which I also used.
The rifle wasn’t set for maximum velocity (1096 fps in 25-cal) which means more shots at the desired pressure, though this also allows a determination of what speed with a particular pellet gives best accuracy. It averaged 975fps through the chronograph with Diablo Match 33.95gn pellets and there was only about 10fps between shots.
Accuracy was outstanding on targets at 25 and 50 metres. We then started shooting at little rocks on the side of a dam wall at 200 metres and, once we had our elevation and windage worked out, we never missed a shot. The rabbit patch was unusually empty so no pest control was available.
Barrel
The 25” barrel is shrouded in carbon fibre and you can order a 35” barrel and ones in other calibres which come with a kit to make them function in this rifle. I didn’t change a barrel out, though anyone can do it with the quick-release lever above and behind the pistol grip and it only takes a couple of minutes. The ability to add another calibre barrel or two for about $495 each seems a great idea, as it would increase the rifle’s versatility, especially where hunting’s concerned. A flat-shooting .177 or .22 would work, or perhaps a .35-cal if higher energy figures are need for humane dispatch of larger feral animals at relatively close ranges. Cleaning the barrel isn’t a chore and lead pellets travelling at these reasonable speeds (compared to a centrefire rifle cartridge) leave very little fowling, so the time between cleans can be extended.
Accessories
The sky’s probably the limit for the type of add-ons the Epoch encourages with its military grade M-Lok accessory rails. I was provided with an extra weight and the rifle came equipped with an excellent Skout bipod, so I can imagine shooters looking to do some night work on feral game attaching a powerful LED torch. Some of these accessories come with little spirit levels to ensure everything about the outfit is plumb in terms of vertical and horizontal alignment, especially the scope.
Anyone buying a firearm of this quality would want a seriously capable scope with all the bells and whistles, to bring out the superlative accuracy of which this rifle is capable. It comes supplied with a cased kit of accessories including a charging cable for the electronic trigger and a full set of Allen wrenches and a reseal kit.
Conclusion
Well the proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say and the Skout Epoch is a remarkable piece of US technology and manufacture. I’m not normally a fan of military-style firearms but when offered the chance to review this one I jumped at it. It’s more futuristic than military to my eye and perfectly captures the combined look of modern engineering meets Star Trek.
It’s performance absolutely lives up to its looks and I can honestly say I’ve never reviewed a more consistently accurate firearm, rimfire or centrefire let alone air rifle, which shows just how far engineers in the air rifle world have come in the past few years. The quality of construction is as good as it gets and I think will set the standard for many years to come.
It’s perfect for target shooting at the highest level and while I can see it being used in the field, its considerable weight (10lbs naked) and more so when loaded with a scope and accessories, would make it very heavy to carry around the paddock or up and down hills. Where you can drive to and set up a portable bench or shoot over the bonnet as we did, I can see it being amazingly effective on small game, feral birds and rodents out to 100m.
You must remember this pellet (34gn) at this velocity is delivering about 90ft/lb at the muzzle, almost exactly what a subsonic .22 rimfire delivers with a 40-gn projectile at 1000fps. I mention this because you need to be mindful of the limitations this sort of velocity and muzzle energy has when it comes to responsible shooting of small pests. There’s some pretty fanciful stuff online about the distances at which some air rifles are effective. The incredible accuracy of this one extends its range but nothing can extend its usefulness in terms of muzzle energy.
The price will probably restrict it to the wealthier among us and, looking on YouTube, a lot of the Americans involved are older. It’s perfect for precision shooting off the bench and those demanding 50 and 100-yard competitions they shoot. There’s some good information on the skoutairguns.com website as well the internet generally, though air rifle gurus will be more than conversant with this and, of course, there are several other manufacturers of premium PCP air rifles out there to compare.
Is the Skout Epoch worth about $4500 in Australia plus accessories and running costs? I think it is when you consider the extras and incredible quality of construction. It truly is an amazing piece of technology and the accuracy it’s capable of when driven by the right person is almost beyond belief. Very highly recommended. For more, contact Adam or Michael at Australian importers Paintball Shop on (02) 9679 0011 or visit www.paintballshop.com
SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: Skout Airguns, USA
Model: Skout Epoch PCP
Calibre: .25 reviewed (.177, .22, .30 and .35 available)
Velocity: 975fps (max 1100fps, 89ft/lb energy)
Magnetic magazine capacity: 25 pellets
Bottle: 500cc removable
Pressure: 4350psi (300 Bar)
Regulators: Dual adjustable
Trigger: Two-stage adjustable
Firing and safety: Electronic, rechargeable
Weight: 10lbs naked
Barrel length: 25” carbon fibre shroud, tool-free barrel change system, spare barrels 25” and 35” in different calibres can be ordered (approx. $495)
Sights: Bare barrel.
Stock: Synthetic with adjustable cheekpiece and butt-pad
Accessories: Plano case, reseal kit, Allen wrenches and recharge cable all included
RRP: About $4500
Distributor: Paintball Shop, NSW