It would be easy to consider night-time rat shooting around the farmyard to be the preserve of the multishot PCP – but there are many who wouldn’t advocate such expensive, luxurious kit for this type of pest control work. This arena is not conducive to keeping luxurious walnut and sparkling metalwork in pristine condition – and rat targets at close-quarters simply do not demand either the full-power or precision equipment that other quarry species require.
So enter the affordable, no-nonsense N2 Adventure A550 from Latin-America’s largest military and ammunition manufacturers, MagTech. This new break-barrel air rifle features a 9 to 10ft/lb power output – ideal for close- to midrange ratting, where the last thing you want is a full-powered rifle with a load of ‘overkill’.
Though futuristic looking, the N2’s synthetic stock provides all the ergonomic handling the shooter needs to inspire confidence against a target that is both nimble and formidable enough to set his pulse racing. It’s also rugged enough to handle the rigours of farmyard shooting.
A height-adjustable cheekpiece aids gun fit and, with it, handling – and the drop-down and scalloped pistol grip combines with the well-formed forend to help keep the N2 as pointable as a true ratting rifl e needs to be. There’s no call for the fibre-optic sights in such campaigns, but the receiver’s grooved to take a scope – and the two-stage, adjustable trigger sports an integral safety catch to maintain the reactive shooting style a night-time rat hunter needs to possess; a gentle nudge of the back of the trigger finger is all that’s needed to arm the rifle in a jiffy, without taking your eye off the target area.
Supplied in .22 only – the bigger bore being ideal for the clinical despatch of rats – the N2 Adventure returns a healthily-powered, but recoil-friendly, fi ring cycle courtesy of MagTech’s gas-ram internals. As your ‘follow-through’ is all-important when snap-shooting rats, the action’s extra-smooth shot-release characteristics make for a very capable ratting rig indeed.
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