Theoben Rapid MKII Deluxe Limited Edition

The Theoben Rapid MKII “Deluxe” Limited Edition air rifle in .177 calibre. This is the latest air rifle to be added to the collection. I had been thinking about buying a .177 calibre air rifle for quite some time and found this by a chance look through the classified adverts. Some of you already know that Jimmie Dee’s collection already includes a .22 Theoben Rapid and so this .177 Deluxe edition fits in very nicely.

The deluxe limited edition Rapid MKII is fitted with the latest regulator allowing the owner to simply unscrew and remove the buddy bottle without unscrewing a turn and dry firing to release the air pressure in the regulator. This makes it a dream to remove and refill. I fitted a quick fill adaptor and gauge to the older MKII Rapid just so that I did not have to remove the buddy bottle to fill it. I doubt very much that I will fit a quick fill adaptor to this air rifle. The model also includes the latest MK4 two-stage trigger unit and scalloped block to allow the owner to feed pellets into the breech by hand instead of using the 17 shot magazine.

Following a thorough run over the chronograph from full until the rifle came “off-reg”, I fitted an MTC Viper 4-16×50 illuminated reticle, side-wheel focus rifle scope with sunshade. This may or may not be the riflescope that I finally decide to use with this air rifle. One of the shortcomings of the Rapid block is that it is not possible to use the factory 17 shot magazine with side-wheel focussing rifle scopes. This is where the robust Pneumatic Ballistics slimline 20-shot magazine is exceptionally useful.

With the rifle scope fitted and adjusted correctly, I headed off to the range to group test 14 various brands and sizes of pellets at 50 yards. That’s right, 14 tins of pellets! I think I have narrowed it down to three of which I will narrow down further sometime soon. Don’t worry, all the tins that I don’t use in this air rifle will get used for air pistol shooting.

I’ll write another post soon showing the results of the group test. But for now, enjoy the luscious photographs of this iconic and legendary air rifle.