It took a long time, and finally the British manufacturer Daystate has proposed the 7.5 joule version of the Huntsman Revere PCP air rifle. The 7.5 joule version of the Huntsman Revere was specially developed for some European markets (Germany, in particular) and is quite worthwhile in my opinion. Here I'm going to explain why.
The Huntsman is a PCP air rifle that works with a fill pressure of 250 bar. The gun is regulated and you can get more than 200 good shots out of the 132 cubic centimetre cylinder. Of course, this is a regulated gun, in which the air pressure does not come directly from the large cylinder, but is regulated down to a consistent level. The regulator comes from Huma Air in the Netherlands, probably the world's most popular manufacturer of such regulators. You can see from the regulator setting that the Huntsman Revere is not a carelessly throttled, powerful model. This works reliably at 80-85 bar.
Another indication of the perfect adaptation of the action to the 7.5 joule power is the Lothar Walther barrel specially manufactured for this gun. In fact, Daystate had special match-grade barrels made especially for the Huntsman Revere by barrel professional Lothar Walther in Königsbronn, Germany. The 43-cm long barrel is shrouded and has a 1/2" UNF thread at the end for attaching a silencer. I used an 0dB 160S silencer in my test.
These harmonise incredibly well with the Huma air regulator and the rest of the gun's action: as already revealed, I achieved the best results I had ever had with an air rifle. I would have to give it an 11 out of 10 in the "Accuracy" category. This would make the rifle the best air rifle of all time in that category.
The Daystate Huntsman Revere air rifle and its 13-round rotary magazine
Daystate also sets standards with the magazine, as the Huntsman Revere is a side-lever air rifle with a 13-round rotary magazine – one for 4.5 mm pellets is included. The magazine is made of metal with outstanding precision and is spring-loaded. You turn the drum clockwise and let the first pellet fall in head first. It acts as a catch, holding the drum in position. Now you can load the remaining 12 rounds into the magazine in any order you like. You can then close the magazine cover. This is held in place magnetically.
The magazine also has a second magnet. This pulls the magazine into the correct position in the rifle and holds it perfectly in the exact position. The single-shot tray included in the scope of delivery also has magnets to hold it in the rifle. I am not aware of any higher quality magazines.
The walnut stock of the Daystate Huntsman Revere air rifle comes from Italy
The stock is also an absolute dream. I shot the right-handed version of the gun featuring a walnut stock. The Revere stocks are all made by the renowned stock manufacturer Minelli in Italy. These have a beautiful hallmark in the forend and also in the grip area. The cheek piece is raised and the butt plate is ventilated.
Dear left-handers! Don't worry... there is also a version for you that you can use. The Daystate Huntsman Revere is also available as a Safari version. This is suitable for both left- and right-handed shooters and you also have a height-adjustable cheek piece as an additional feature. The Safari version also allows you to swap the sidelever to the left. Both stock variants are incredibly attractive and of the highest quality.
Daystate Huntsman Revere technical specifications
| Caliber: | .177/4.5 mm |
| Overall Length: | 92.8 cm |
| Barrel Length (Lothar Walther Matchgrade Barrel - Silenced): | 43 cm |
| Stock: | Walnut, right-hand, with rubber recoil plate |
| Weight: | 2.8 kg |
| Fill Pressure: | 250 bar |
| Cylinder Volume: | 132 cc |
| Trigger: | Two-stage mechanical release, adjustable pull weight and length of stage |
| Silencer Thread: | 1/2" UNF |
| Air Regulator: | Huma Air |
| Magazine: | 13-round rotary magazine and single-shot tray included |
Shooting test with the Daystate Huntsman Revere
Now we come to the highlight, the shooting test. My jaw had already dropped onto the table during training: never before in my life have I achieved such outstanding results so quickly. Of course, I kept the targets that showed the incredible groupings. But of course I couldn't prove that I had fired 5 or 10 shots at each of them. The groupings all looked like 1-3 shots. I was all the happier when I was able to reproduce these results on camera.
The trigger of the Daystate Huntsman Revere helps immensely here, of course. This is a two-stage trigger, which can be adjusted both in terms of length of stage and pull weight. The trigger on my gun was set to an outstanding 250 grams at the factory. The trigger blade is set far to the rear. This makes it easy to operate the trigger with both smaller and larger hands. I got to grips with it perfectly from the very first second.
As usual, quality comes at a prices, though: depending on the country where you live, expect to pay between 1,300-1,500 euros for the standard model, and something more for the Safari version.
My conclusion on the Daystate Huntsman Revere
I am absolutely thrilled with the gun and couldn't sleep at all on the day of the test because I was rubbing my eyes in amazement the whole time and wondering whether I was just imagining this shooting behaviour and accuracy. One thing I can say: if someone asks me which is the best air rifle on the market, I will name the Daystate Huntsman Revere as a possible candidate.
