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RWS Model 54 Recoilles Air Rifle in .22 Cal.
Report by Tom Holzel
Rev 15 Apr 09
After years of successful hunting with the .22-cal side-lever RWS Model 48, I finally decided to try its recoil-free variation—the Model 54. I had resisted because the M-54 anti-recoil mechanism seemed like a needless complication. One of the most notable qualities of RWS air rifles is their legendary reliability; why complicate that, I wondered, with a gimmick?
Boy, was I wrong!! The instant after the first shot I discovered an amazing fact: my sight-picture of the target remained throughout the shot—and it remained rock-steady! With my RWS M-48, the sight picture would momentarily black out due to recoil. Maintaining the sight picture had two immediate beneficial effects.
First, it let me see where I had hit (or missed) my target. With the M-48 (and all other magnum powered spring-piston air rifles) the recoil causes the rifle to move enough to result in image black-out. (And what a surprise at that first shot to keep seeing my target!)
And second, by being able to view the target uninterruptedly, I was able to notice my post-shot barrel motion. I noticed I was sometimes waving the barrel right after the shot; was I also waving it during the shot? (I was—thus answering the question of why, sometimes, I just couldn’t get on target.)
Air gunners who use PCP (pre-charged pneumatic) rifles are used to this advantage. The mass of the compressed air that squirts out their pellet is too low to cause much of an “equal reaction” (recoil). The mass of the piston and spring of a springer are enough to cause a significant recoil. Because the exit pupil of a telescopic sight (the shaft of image light coming out of the scope) is quite small—usually only about 5 mm—it doesn’t take much movement to misalign the exit pupil with your eye pupil, resulting in loss of the sight picture.
But PCP rifles require a lot of supporting equipment—a scuba tank of compressed air, fittings, tubes, etc. And leaks are a problem. The big advantage of spring piston rifles is they sit quietly in the back of the closet. When you are ready to shoot, you pull then out, cock them—and shoot. Nothing could be simpler.
The Model 54 is one big gun. You really must have a sling to carry it around. A big gun deserves a big scope, and I used the RWS 4-12X 50 telescopic sight with one- piece rings. The ring has two anti-creep pins—a real necessity for most springers (but not needed for this one!) The wider 50mm aperture gives a larger exit pupil meaning it is easier to get a site picture when you bring the gun to the ready, e.g., 6.5mm at 8X magnification—30% greater than 5mm at 8X for a 40mmm aperture scope.
And it’s a powerful magnum. I measured 22 ft-lbs out of the box using RWS Superdome pellets. This results in delivering a whopping 8 ft-lbs to the target at 50 yards. (see first chart "ENERGY") Eight ft-lbs is more than enough to humanely take most small game--crows, rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, etc., with well-placed shots.
The “natural” zero range (within ±2-inch rise/drop) is a little over 50-yards, with a maximum effective range of 57-yards. (see second chart "RANGE")
The RWS scope has military (marked) stadia, giving you reference points for how much to aim lower or higher at distances different than your zero range.
Many air gunners focus on air rifle velocity, believing this to be a measure of air rifle power; it is not. Velocity is proportional to energy and inversely proportional to pellet mass. The heavier the pellet, the lower the velocity from the same rifle. Here is the velocity graph of the .22-ca. Superdome pellet—846 fps at the muzzle, coasting to 500 fps at 50 yards. (see third chart "VELOCITY")
Because of the “velocity race,” manufacturers usually use the lightest pellet in order to achieve the highest muzzle velocity. And it is true that light pellets usually post impressive muzzle velocities, but they shed energy and velocity rapidly. Many rifles (particularly in .177-cal.) obtain higher energy from a heavier pellet than a light one. A heavier pellet (like the Superdome) will lose energy and velocity more slowly. By 25-yards they will generally exceed their lighter brethren in both factors. And heavier pellets almost always have superior ballistic coefficients, thus being less affected by crosswind.
Shown below (see fourth chart "Velocity of 5 mm Pellets in Three Weights") are the velocities of three pellets of different weights fired out of the same gun. Note how the fastest pellet out of the blocks is the lightest one. But by 30 yards it is already the slowest pellet! At 50 yards, the pellet with the slowest muzzle velocity has held on to it and is now the fastest at that range. Energy at range follows a similar pattern except that in many rifles, the heaviest pellet often produces the most energy at all ranges—and loses it the least quickly as well. That is why air rifle hunters tend to select pellets beginning with the heaviest one, and backing off of weight to find the compromise that gives the best combination of sight-in (±2-inch) range and downrange energy.
Cocking the side-lever of the M-54 requires a hefty pull. As with all magnum-powered springers (and particularly with air-spring rifles) you should be sure you have the strength to manage the cocking effort. (A little practice goes a long way to making it easier.) Towards the end of the cocking stroke, one can sense the anti-recoil mechanism being engaged. The safety sits at the base of the receiver, handy to the thumb. It is resettable without re-cocking.
The trigger is adjustable, and I backed-off the factory setting just a tad so that the M-54 fired when I thought it right to do so; not when I jerked the trigger to make it do so.
The discharge sound is solid grunt -–“kruck”-- rather than a bark. Missing a woodchuck on a windy day, I saw for the first time by the dirt the pellet kicked up how much Kentucky windage I had to apply for the next shot. A continuous sight-picture--what a boon to improving my yield of hits to misses!
Shooting the Model 54 has completely changed my mind about its anti-recoil feature. It is not a gimmick, it is a splendid improvement that lets the varmint hunter really improve his shooting—and right away. He also immediately gets a much better chance of “bringing home the bacon,” instead of bringing home stories about “the one that got away.”
Click here to get pricing or more information on the RWS Model 54.
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