Airgunning

     Theoben MFR .177      

Introduction

Well, to be honest, I never really liked buddy bottle guns because of the looks of these guns. Things started to change for the better when the Rapid Mk II was launched a few years ago. A modest attempt was made to integrate the buddy bottle into the stock design which made the gun look much better, at least in my eyes. 

When Theoben recently launched the MFR, I really was struck by the appearance of the gun.  This was how I always wanted my Rapid to look like.  I really liked how the buddy bottle was integrated in the stock design, I really liked the barrel shroud, I really liked the single/multi shot option and I was really impressed by the number of shots available from one fill.  As you probably already understood by now, I really like the MFR's specifications.

Thinking of myself as a smart guy (don't laugh), I decided to wait a little longer for the opinion of the first owners to see how they would rate the gun.  So after a while I contacted a few brave men who had bought a MFR (thanks Lee, Andrew, Lloyd) and they all gave positive feed-back about the MFR.  So that's when I decided to sell my S400 (I have far too many guns, at least that's what my wife says and she's always right...when she's around) and buy a MFR.  Remembering my favourite airgun shop, an order was sent to Blackpool Air Rifles.

BAR didn't have any MFR's in stock, so I had to wait several weeks before a new shipment of  MFR's arrived at BAR.  Unfortunately, my MFR wasn't with this shipment.  Simon of BAR told me he would ring Theoben to see what he could do.  One day later, my MFR was at BAR (thank you Simon) and somewhat later it was on its way to me, together with a Pro Sport (but that's another story).   For some reason (Christmas time ?) Parcel Force directed the shipment to Heathrow where is was stuck at Customs for almost a week, so it took almost 2 weeks before the gun arrived at my office door.  You can't have it all, can you ;-).

First impressions

When I took the gun out of the box, the first thing I noticed how light and compact the MFR actually was.  And in real it's even prettier than I expected. The stock had nice figuring in it and the blueing of the metal is very nice and deep.  This gun oozes quality.

Getting ready

The MFR is supposed to become my all-round gun, so it has to be suitable for FT, HFT, plinking,... That's why I decided the top it with a Deben Mil Pro 6.5-26x52 (and not the 8.5-34x52).  I needed scope raisers to mount this scope on the MFR.  To be honest, the scope is a bit too high now.  It's not really a problem at low magnification, but on 26x, the eye positioning is rather critical to get a good view through the scope.  So I think a 40 mm scope is better suited for the MFR.  I also tried a Varmint II 6-24x44 but the front bell is also too big to use without the scope raisers.  Another option is to find a way to raise the cheek piece of the stock.  I still have to look into this to see what solution I am going to go for as I do like the Mil Pro scope.

One thing I always liked about buddy bottle guns, is the removable air tank.  So when filling the tank, the rifle remains safe and well.  I find it much more comfortable to attach a buddy bottle to the Scuba tank, than to attach a complete gun to it. 

I attached the fill adapter of the MFR to a male Air Arms filling connector.  By doing so, I can use my filling set-up (originally set-up for my S400) for all my PCP's.

Now that I have my combo together and filled the gun, I just need to load the magazine for some action.

Operation

Since the MFR is quite a light gun, I was afraid it would be too light for my taste.  However with the rather heavy Mil Pro on top of it, the weight is about perfect. The MFR balances near perfection but the combination with the Mil Pro makes shouldering a bit fussy, at least when the gun is on maximum magnification. However, I think this is a non-issue if you mount a smaller scope on it.

The stock feels very nice and the vertical pistol grip gives a very comfortable hold.  On top of the pistol grip, there's a groove for those (like me) who prefer to shoot with the thumb up.  I think the gun could do with an adjustable butt pad so I will probably fit one later on.

Loading and cocking the gun is a one-step proces when using the magazine.  Just pull the bolt completely backwards and push it back to the front. Done ! The bolt feels very firm and the cocking and loading process is very smooth.  This again illustrates the quality and attention to detail of this gun.

The gun is also supplied with a single shot adapter but I find it easier to load the pellet directly into the barrel when shooting in single shot mode.  Once you get used to feeding the pellet manually into the barrel, it's very easy and I don't feel the need to use the single shot adapter. Just pull the bold backwards and secure it in the rear slot, load a pellet in the barrel or single shot adapter, and push the bolt back to the front.  The gun is now ready to fire.

This MFR has the curved trigger, not the straight one. The trigger has 2 adjustment screws but I still have to find out how they work.  I haven't felt the need yet to adjust the trigger. The trigger comes as a crisp unit without even the faintest sign of creep.  Actually, the trigger is about perfect as it is with a very predictable let-off.  Those who know my fussiness to triggers, know it's quite remarkable when I like a trigger as it comes. Alright, I admit, the weight of pull is just a very tiny bit on the heavy side but as all my friends find my triggers way too light, it's probably a non-issue ... again ;-). 

When I fired the MFR for the first time, I was really impressed by how quiet it is.  My S400 with Logun was very quiet, but I think the MFR is even more quiet.  The muzzle report is in both guns about non-existing but the MFR operates this smooth that there's hardly any mechanical noise from the hammer hitting the valve.  Very impressive.

However, during the first test, it became clear that the gun didn't group well.  It didn't like FTT's, Baracuda's nor Accupells and with JSB Exacts or AA Fields it would group hardly under half an inch at 25 m (27.5 yards) and even keeping it under 1 " was not always possible. Using the magazines made things far worse. Needless to say I was very disappointed with this kind of performance. After discussing this problem with Lloyd (and Theoben), I found out that the pellets were damaged when fed into the barrel.  So we decided to ship the gun back to Theoben.  Theoben took care of the problems and installed a new barrel and probe, and kept me informed about the progress.  Although I have read reports about bad customer service from Theoben, this was not my experience, on the contrary.  I was treated very nicely by Theoben (thanks Tracey).  However they could have given me a free Theoben cap for the inconvenience (I'm just trying to get a free cap here, don't tell them ;-)). Although these things shouldn't be happening with a gun of this class, one can never prevent these kind of things from happening once in a while.  Bad luck I guess.  But if the problems are solved in the way BAR and Theoben did, there's little left to complain about.

Two weeks later, I had my gun back and I was anxious to see how it would perform. Boy, was I in for a surprise.  I loaded the magazine with FTT's and shot a group at 25 m in windy conditions. The result was a very tiny cloverleaf, about 0.25" ctc.  This looked very promising. A couple of days later, the weather got calmer and I could test the gun more thoroughly.  The FTT's performed very well but the JSB Exacts 4.52 (= AA Fields) were even better.  The gun shoots consistantly around and below 0.2" groups at 25 m.  I am very pleased now with how the gun performs.

  5 shot group at 25 m (27.5 yard) with JSB Exacts

  5 shot group at 25 m (27.5 yard) with H&N FTT

The MFR shoots JSB's at about 776 fps or 11.3 fpe.  When filling to 230 bar, I get over 220 shots.  I still have to determine the velocity spread of the shots but as the gun is regulated, it should be excellent.

Conclusion

Despite the initial problems with the MFR, I am really impressed by the gun.  The gun is very well build, good looking and it's a real performer with outstanding accuracy and loads of shots available from one fill.  The trigger is about as good as it gets in a sporter type gun.  Although quite expensive, I think they are worth every penny. I know some people question the price of the Theoben Rapids, but I tend to say they are worth the price.  I know you can buy e.g. an S410 for about half the price and I know the S400/S410 is a very good gun, but the MFR has some appeal which I don't find in other guns.  So for me, it's worth the extra money, but that's a personal opinion. If you're lookin for the ultimate sporter PCP, the MFR might be the gun you're looking for.

February 22, 2004 by Mario Severi