AVANTI

This new series of competition airguns from Daisy is designed specifically for shooters who aspire to test their mettle and their skill against other shooters. AVANTI offers the quality, craftsmanship and accuracy to move your marksmanship to the head of the competitive class ... right where you belong.

Features:
1) True 3-position Sporter rifle
2) Refillable 2.5 Oz C02 cylinder provides over 300 shots when properly filled
3) Consistently shoots 10 shot, one-hole groupings
4) Lothar Walther' rifled high-grade steel barrel
5) Full-length, Sporter-style hardwood laminate stock with adjustable length of adjustable pull
6) Adjustable positioning sling
7) Adjustable trigger to 2 lbs. pull
8) Crossbolt trigger lock.

TECHNICAL DATA

Action:	CO2 Single Shot Bolt
Caliber:	.177(4.5mm) pellet
Sights:	Hooded front sight with changeable aperture insert; Microadjustable rear peep sight
Trigger Pull Length:	(Adjustable from per second) 12" to 13.5"
Weight:	6.9 lbs.
Length:	38.5"
Barrel:	Lothar Walther rifled highgrade steel, crowned, 12 lands and grooves, right hand twist. Precision bore size for match grade pellets
Muzzle Velocity:	500 fps(152 m per sec.)
Muzzel energy:	4.28 flb(5.81 Joules)
Model Number:	888

10-meter rifle issue

Following a trend that has been developing for the past two years, the current crop of 10- meter rifles are all engineered to be ergonomically adaptive to the fussiest shooter. Three years ago it was a compensated recoil damper that had everyone talking, but now your gun's not hip unless the pistol grip and butt are separate pieces.
Perhaps leading the pack in this rush to the perfect fit is Walther's new Alutek 300, a full "system" rifle with a completely modular stock and a 300-bar fill limit. The Alutek (a German buzzword meaning aluminum technology) features just about every adjustment a person could conceivably want in an air rifle. It is, in fact, the complete antithesis of the Tyrolean Zimmerstutzen, which was made to fit just one person. By the time you have all the levers and screws tightened down on the Alutek, it's hard to imagine not getting a perfect fit. The other leaders are rushing their offers to market to keep pace with what looks like the wave of the next several years. FWB already has a very modular systems rifle built on the P70 action, though standard-stocked models have still been available throughout this year. I imagine the makers will continue to offer both with the high-tech models commanding a premium, until the market softens for the more conventional stocks.
For those who buy used guns, there will be a potlatch of modem 10-meter rifles in the coming months while the new guns infiltrate the ranks of competitors. Some of these recently "obsoleted" guns are still near the state of the art in all ways except the stock, so look for some good buys to come soon.
The other feature of the Walther rifle,---the 300-bar pressure-fill limit--will bear some watching. No matter how many cubic feet of air are in your aluminum dive tank, it still will not put 300 bar into the onboard tank of the new Walther. If you want to top her off, you should invest in new support technology. Heck, it hasn't been that many years since regular PCP (precharged pneumatic) rifles were upgraded from 180 bar to 200, so perhaps some of you have already been down this road.
Don't look for the manual pumps to bail you out, either. The current crop (and there are only two-both from Sweden) of manual pumps are being all they can be just to get to 3,000 psi/200 bar. Try to push them to 4,500 psi/300 bar and you will break them. 'Mat's assuming they don't break YOU, first!
So if you buy a Walther Alutek 300, plan on buying the air compressor that goes with it. It's made just to fill the small rifle tank-not a scuba tank or buddy bottle. And we can already hear the wheels grinding out there. If this tank holds a third more air (the Alutek 300 gets 600 shots per fill), what kind of field target rifle would it make-like the AnschUtz 2025 and the FWB P70 Fr before it? No doubt we will hear the answer someday, but remember this: everything else in the gun-the valves, hammers, hammer springs, port sizes and regulators--will have to be reworked to operate at the new pressure level. These are not overnight issues; they will take months to resolve.
That said, it is an exciting time for I 0-meter rifle shooters. There have never been more models to choose from, and today's prices are the best they've ever been. You could win gold with a rifle two generation old, so the selection today is pretty exceptional. Maybe it's time to add one of these quiet shooters to your inventory.

DAISY'S AVANTI 888 MEDALIST
I was pleased to receive one of the first production model 888 Daisy 10-meter rifles from the new Avanti line. With the introduction of this latest model, Daisy has grouped all its 10-meter guns into a special line under the Avanti name.
You may remember we reported on the new 888 bulk-fill CO, rifle in the SHOT Show report earlier this year. Once formal production began, they wasted no time sending us a rifle to test. I had the air rifle for about six months, so there was plenty of opportunity to become familiar with its operation, handling and characteristics.
Is the Daisy better than the new Crosman Challenger? I won't answer that directly, because I don't believe there is a single correct answer. Both guns have features never before seen in youth-market target guns. I will try to point out the Daisy's features for coaches and parents, so they can make a reasonable choice between two fine target rifles.
The first technical feature is perhaps the biggest difference between the two. Where the Crosman uses 12.5-gram powerlets, the Avanti888 is a bulk-filled gun, operating from a screw-in 2.5-ounce tank. The difference bunk-filling makes is measured in the total number of useful shots, plus shot-to-shot velocity variation. Where the Crosman gets enough shots from a single powerlet for a single match, the Daisy has hundreds! And, to my great surprise, it's a powerful 10-metr gun! It is fully as fast as a top-of-the-line 10-meter Olympic rifle. That's pretty incredible when you consider the power source. I expected 100 f.p.s. less and would have been happy with that, but this gun is a screamer, in 10-meter circles.
Not only is the velocity high, the shot-to-shot consistency is quite remarkable. It's as good as a top precharged target rifle with a good regulator. And these shots were chrono'ed well into the charge, so there is no special effect being derived from the first few shots after the fill. This, plus the pinpoint accuracy with H&N pellets was quite a surprise.
Daisy's web site says the gun shoots 500 f.p.s., so perhaps ours was a bit hot. Still, I liked the extra speed and would hope it was there on any gun I owned.

The muzzle weight on the 888 is functional, adding a slight forward weight distribution to an otherwise neutral balance.

The 888 is built on the 853 action, and, indeed, the model number still says 853 on our sample gun. This will prevail until Daisy invests a bundle in new models for the casting. A long skinny gas reservoir fits where the 853 pump lever and compression tube would be, and it unscrews for filling, so Daisy sent a wrench to loosen it.
The fill device is a commercial part Daisy The fill device is commercial part Daisy bought. It works but is a bit much for the rest of the gun. You can achieve the same results with a simple adaptor a few inches long, and Daisy officials admit they will be looking into changes in the future.

RIfle shown with 2.5-ounce gas reservoir tube removed and Daisy-supplied filter device.The latter can be greatly simplified with just a plain coupling.

Because of the narrow diameter of the separate CO, reservoir, an hour's prechill in the freezer helped introduce more liquid C02 into the tank, though I never got close to the rated 2.5 ounces. Even so, the 1.6 ounces that did go in were enough for hundreds of shots.
Daisy sells the rifle with the same aperture rear sight that comes standard on the 853, but I would assume most buyers will upgrade to the better unit made by Gamo. The Daisy sight requires three adjustment clicks in the direction you want to move to take out the slack. Of course, if you have to move it more in the same direction, there's no more slack.
The stock is laminated wood and has a solid feel. Together with a most functional muzzle weight, the rifle balances well, with a slight but noticeable muzzle-heaviness. Only the length of pull is adjustable at this time, but Daisy says they will be making changes to accommodate the recent change in youth 10-meter equipment rules.
The laminate stock does add some weight .The 888 weighs about 6.9 lbs., so coaches and parents should consider that. By comparison, the 853 pneumatic is about 1.5 lbs. less.
Along the bottom of the stock is a functional accessory rail for a sling mount. It's indexed so the rifle can be quickly returned to any setting--- always a plus when many shooters have to share equipment.

The accesory rail is indexed for easy retun to any adjustment- just what a club needs.

The trigger will be a welcome change to those who now compete with an 853. It's lighter and crisper than the pneumatic. No doubt there will be some popular mods for it in a short time, because it is not adjustable, as far as I can tell.

The 853 receiver is used, but cocking is easier and the trigger seems crisper. Note the attractive rainbow-colored laminate stock, which does add weight to the rifle.

Another happy point is the cocking effort. The 853 is a real bear in this department, but the 888 is a dream. That will keep young shooters fresher during a match-to say nothing of the huge advantage of not having to pump the gun for every shot. Heavy or not, the 888 is better-suited than the 853 for young shooters. I foresee an eventual shift among shooters to this new system, once the advantages are fully appreciated.
The pellet trough is still a bit small for adult fingers because this is an 853 action. It helps place the pellet on the right side of the receiver, where it is flat, and roll the pellet into the trough. Once there, the bolt pushes it smoothly into the breech.