Well, I bit the pellet on Saturday morning and drove up to Redbeck's.
I thought I'd give them a crack at my rifle rather than go direct to the factory (45 minutes each way rather than 90 was an influencing factor).
I've not been to Redbeck's before (having bought my gun from their stand at the South Yorkshire Shooting Show) and I was impressed by their set up. They've got a decent, little shop (plenty of things to browse and a decent selection of guns) and their outdoor range is good for such a business.
When I got my gun at the show I liked the manner and service of the guy who served me and the young lady who served me on Saturday was equally pleasant and helpful.
I explained my problem (appalling groups when using a silencer) so she took me and my gun out to the range to do some testing.
Without a silencer she shot a group of JSBs and a group AAFs and then she put a Hugget silencer on the dangerous end and shot another group.
Without the silencer her groups were about 10p piece size and with the silencer they were dinner plate size.
"There's definitely a problem," she says. "I'd expect to get groups about the size of a 5p piece so I reckon there's an issue even without the silencer."
She then shot it through their chronograph to make sure that the power was consistent.
It was.
This leads me to conclude that:
- There's a problem with the gun and
- I might be a better shot than I thought.
The lady also thought that the magazine was a little "tricky" to index a couple of times when she was loading it.
Soooooo........... The Bantam has been sent back to Brocock with requests to address the accuracy and magazine ishoos.
It could be in gun hospital for a few weeks (which is disappointing and distressing) but Squaddie has gone back to Catterick and has returned my Terrus and Hatsan so I can still shoot while I wait for the Bantam's return.
I'll keep y'all posted on how things progress.