Air Arms Galahad Part 2

                   Air Arms Galahad Part 2
​                                     (The Return Of The Beast)

Now as many of you know I have been an Air Arms fan since 1989, the first rifle I fell in love with was the Air Arms Camague and I quite simply have not looked back since, I often review many guns weather it be a full bore rifle or shot gun or indeed an air rifle or pistol, I have so many rifles that have made it in to my collection and as you can guess most of them are Air Arms Rifles, I have models from all the other top manufacturers too, it matters not weather PCP or Springer I have them all, those that have made it in to my vast collection of both vintage and modern air rifles have earned their place, by this they have earned their stripes whilst out in the hunting field with me behind the butt.​

I just cant get away from it no matter what other rifle I use, it matters not weather its an old world springer or a modern Daystate nothing but nothing fits me so well or puts vermin in the bag like an English Made Air Arms air rifle, although I am very attached to my Walther RM8 air rifle especially for rat shooting with a NiteSite on top of her, but the Air Arms rifles are always my first choice, I don’t know what it is they just fit me like a glove or my favorite pair of slippers, for as I mount each of the Air Arms I just get that ahhhhhhh ever so comfy feeling of balance, for this is where for me man and gun become one.

I also don’t write a technical article I have said this many times, if you want one of those articles I suggest you stop reading now and bugger off and read someone else's well written piece on The Galahad, not because I cant its because they bore the living daylights out of me, the pellet weighed this the muzzle velocity that its made from this wood that metal and so on, please kick me and wake me up when you finished writing it, I am a HUNTER not a paper puncher or target basher, if that’s what floats your boat fair play to you that’s not for me, I am tighter than a ducks back side and that’s water tight, so sat there punching holes in paper and knocking down targets to me is a waste of perfectly good pellets and air and my time, that said time on the range practicing is also good so you know what you and the rifle can do so a little practice goes a long way in the field, also many of you are not hunters and neither have the want or inclination to hunt etc, so fair play like I say what floats your boat keep it going for if we were all the same the world would be boring.​

Now lets get on with why I am here, I have under titled this one The Return Of The Beast, the reason is this rifle is sheer Beauty in all her glory, as sweet on the eyes as the parlor maid coming out of the cattle house on a frosty morning carrying the milk churns for the calves morning feeds, her white blouse catching the wind as the early morning sun glistens across her amble bosoms, with her long golden locks running freely down over her shoulders, and no I am not going to tell you were this farm is before you ask, The Galahad is a thing of English beauty but holds a darker secret too, for she has a Beast inside her as deadly and accurate as the venom and strike of a rattle snake, much like the parlor maid I speak of as she is a feisty lady too.

The first hunt we go on I get called out to deal with an agricultural contract, corvids and pigeons on the silage pits and rats in the grain mill, you see as a professional pest controller I get called into all sorts of amazing and indeed quite often very interesting jobs, more often than not I get called in to deal with a pest job were others fail, it matters not weather its stock or crop protection we have it all covered over at Really Wild Pest Control, we pride ourselves in our outstanding reputation of getting the job done no matter weather Agricultural/Corporate or Domestic (www.reallywildadventures.co.uk) even when others fail we always succeed, the reason for this is we do things the old school way the way our grandfathers taught us and don’t rely on poisons or machinery or technology etc.

This first hunt was no different, the farm manager also reported a squirrel problem too, if I could give them a dose of lead that would be outstanding he said, no problem game on that I said, I pulled the Galahad out of my Jack Pyke Deluxe rifle slip, the farm manager said now that is a beautiful gun how does she mount, the look on his face said it all, WOW that's balance and beauty all in one gun he said ,I want one as he had a couple of test shots, that’s something I have always known there’s no sales pitch you can do for any Air Arms air rifle, they quite simply sell themselves for anyone who knows air rifles knows there are none better than an Air Arms, I witnessed this at The Kelmarsh show 2017 whilst watching team Air Arms HFT gallantly take the field and lead by example winning the day leagues ahead of the rest, I don’t know right then and there I had a pride beating from my chest by golly I am proud to be British.

I started off shooting from the truck in the silage pits, it was not long before the corvids and pigeons started dropping in to feed and pooh over everything, this was why I was here for its not so much all the food they eat its the disease from what they pooh over that causes more damage here, shot after shot this Galahad whispered out packing a mighty punch on target in a good wind, I would like to say I hit every one of them but alas I am human and the weak link in this man and gun chain but a 95% kill rate will do for me.

​ I snook around the cattle yard towards an oak tree were I saw a squirrel, I stalked in nice and close about 30 yards, the squirrel was sat right in the crook of a branch eating something, I dropped to my knee lined up the cross hairs and squeezed the trigger, thwack as the pellet sailed true and the sound of a cricket ball hitting the bat was heard, the farm manager came over saying I heard that I think you got him, me and the lads were watching you, I must admit that was a sweet little shot and I was rather chuffed with that shot, I finished that hunt with a pile of mixed corvids and pigeons and a bonus tree rat, Still that cocking arm irritates me though as you will see in the video you got to make sure you don’t accidentally touch it or it springs down and wont fire.

That evening I sat in the grain mills for a couple of hours too and bagged up on the rats with the NiteSite mounted on top of the Galahad, again she performed flawlessly putting the scaly tailed ratticuss in the bag.​

The next hunt I was called in on was a small orchard job, rabbits were every were and digging holes and eating all the farmers flowers and vegetables etc, I took up position on the flat bed trailer with my Jack Pyke sand bags as a rest and my Jack Pyke coat as a bed, it was not long before the rabbits started coming out, I bagged 3 when I woke up as I fell asleep in the early evening son whilst lead on the trailer, again this gun performed flawlessly , I bagged 3 nice fresh healthy rabbits and a bonus jackdaw after my snooze.

The last hunt I was called back too was at the cattle yard a month or so later, the vermin had re grouped and come back especially the magpies, I went back and crawled into the yard again with the gun out of the window of the truck, I was ready to bag a quick couple before they became wise to me, my method was correct as I bagged a magpie and a wood pigeon before I had even got half way around the vast cattle yard, The time just flew by with pigeon Corvid or collard dove falling to the Galahad, the pic does not do the bag size justice as many of the mixed corvids fell in with the bull and his ladies, so the farm manager said he will retrieve them when they clean them out later that evening.

So what are my final words to finish off this article about the Galahad, she is a beautiful English Rose that has the heart of a Beast, she is both sweet on the eyes as well as in your arms (much like the parlor maid) and she packs and almighty accurate deadly punch, I am considering buying this one for my collection she is that good and earned her stripes, well until my next humble scribbles, I bid you farewell, I hope you have enjoyed this article as much as I have enjoyed writing it, if you have to make a choice and want one air rifle that does everything, then my advice is buy an Air Arms you wont be disappointed.


By The Ole Hedge Creeper
​www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk
www.reallywildadventures.co.uk
​www.theoutpostshop.co.uk