Video Review of The SMK TH208

Review of SMK's Superb Flagship TH208 Air Rifle.

The Hunters Chronicles - Friday 7th September 2012

Whilst my passion for, and enjoyment of, airgunning and shooting remains, I have not been out hunting for quite a while now.

Opportunities have come and gone without regret nor mourning. I have recognised them as such and have allowed them to pass and analysed my thoughts and feelings upon each occurrence.

Whilst I had designs for the Hazelnuts that grow here and intentions to harvest them, I can see that my fears of them being completely devoured by the Squirrels with none left for me are unfounded. There are plenty to go around for us both. Times when a squirrel has shaken a branch above me, even though I have had my rifle in my hands, he has continued unmolested in his foraging. I cannot justify his death solely on the grounds of perceived 'burglary' nor can I really find motivation to honour his body fully by preparing it for consumption. Which leads me to my next realisation;

I have had a much lowered desire and hunger for meat whilst the temperatures have been mild. I recall in Winter and Early Spring a hunger and lust bordering on something almost vampirical in its magnitude.

When I compare then to now, I am reminded of Henry David Thoreau's - Walden; Or Life In The Woods. In it he made reference to hunting animals and decided that he disliked the 'mess' it caused in its processing in comparison to the other foodstuffs he had available such as beans and fish. I feel that at this time of year when I have so many vegetables, fruits and nuts available to me, I can relate to his logic, albeit temporarily.

The local rabbit population has decreased dramatically on the land I had permission to shoot over and now I have been asked to end my visits until the Pheasant season ends on the 1st of February. On the one hand, this news saddens me as the fields I have roamed for nearly nine months now have become familiar and though I may not always be successful in my hunting, I do value my time spent wandering and watching. The gains will be harvested, I hope, come February when healthy, recovered, and abundant rabbit numbers greet me. The meat will be most welcome during and after the 'hungry gap'.

Recently, Blackberries and Elderberries have been a very welcome addition to my diet. I have long awaited the arrival of the Elderberries, to the point of foregoing the delicious Elderflowers, as I intend to make cordials and tonics to combat the coughs and colds of Winter.


For now, the Armoury will undergo further tweaks and changes. My .177 HW95k and TX200 rifles are now crowned with new scopes that have vastly improved my shooting. A fair number of pellets have been sent downrange zeroing and learning the half mildot reticle and aimpoints.
The .22 SMK TH208 is the next to benefit from my attentions. This requires yet more paper punching due to the different behaviour of the calibre and sharper drop off of the pellet. I hope to utilise the hard hitting medium range capabilities of this rifle in Autumn and Winter when meat returns to being a regular on the menu.  Perhaps another reason I have abstained from gunning down the squirrels, a subconscious restraint. 

I do hope those of you who have looked forward to more regular entries are not too disappointed. It would appear that this may be a rhythm of the seasons for me. I will say that Autumn is most certainly here and I expect that my avian brothers and sisters will be as eager as I am to gather all those berries that too briefly hang from the branches. I would be most grateful if the Pigeons were to take an interest!

The neighbours seeking respite from the ravenous midges, mosquitos and horseflies. An August absent Summer.

The Hunters Chronicles - Saturday 18th August 2012

The repulsion of the nut raiders continues. The SMK TH208 is at the forefront of this battle, the close to medium ranges of the woodland perfectly suiting the .22 calibre. I have switched the rifle to a trial diet of Crosman Premier Hollow points and the accuracy appears to be excellent.

I spied my tenacious adversary as I was entertaining our one year old. I prophetically mimed aiming and shooting the creature amongst the bouncing leaves saying the words "Daddy go Bang Bang", to which little one replied, with a most earnest look on her face, "NUM NUM!"

With my dearly beloved already making preparations for dinner, I snatched up the TH208 as soon as I was able and stalked after the marked animal.

The squirrel was relocated and one near vertical shot brought it down with such a thump, I winced in sympathy.

The SMK TH208 is proving to be a very capable tool.

A neat heart and lung shot, with mud staining the side he hit the ground.

The entry of the .22 pellet in the muscle.

Passing through the body and trapped by the tough skin.

The extensive clotting on the lungs with a dark hole betrays the cause of death.

Though minimal, the 'Hollow' point does show some expansion. It appears to be open to debate as to whether these pellets truly increase impact trauma.

Deformation from possibly the rib or a vertebrae.

Later in the evening I sniped a squawking squirrel approximately 30 yards away through a clear patch of wild ground. This ground was thick with thorns and despite shedding my own blood in the attempt to retrieve him, he was obviously intended to grace the plate of the woodland gods. As Trophy Hunters say, "No Carcass, No Kill".

Once again, the SMK TH208 has disproved its critics. If a rifle that kills cleanly and accurately is not good, I fear I may need re-educating.

I am very happy indeed with it.

A Hunters Review of the SMK TH208 .22

I am a simple man living a simple life, snippets of which I publish on my blog www.1nomad.blogspot.com.

The meat I and my family eat is procured from the wild, and I choose to hunt it with an air rifle. Recently, I found myself in the market for a new rifle and not wishing to dice with the uncertainties of the second hand market, I desired a brand new one. But which one? The market place is awash with offerings but very few within my budget of £250. I went direct to SMK on the strength of their 40 year reputation for affordable rifles, and put my plight to them in writing describing my situation and my needs. The recommendation from them was their flagship model, the SMK TH208 .22, and shortly after, I had one in my possession.

Upon inspection it was quite apparent that here was a rifle that was loaded with the sorts of features I had only seen on those costing nearly twice the £199.95 price tag of the TH208. The first to jump out of course is that thumbhole in the hardwood stock. I am a big fan of this feature due to the way it enables the shooter to comfortably tuck the rifle butt into the shoulder and gain a secure hold.

The Thumbhole Stock is both comfortable and practical.

The light chequering on the foregrip is a welcome bonus and added to my overall impression that this was most certainly an outdoor hunting rifle.

Chequering aids grip in wet conditions.

 

At the rear of the action, sits an automatic resettable safety. This, for me, is exceptional. I cannot tell you how valuable the ability to reset the safety is in the field and many hunters will attest to the piece of mind gained by being able to make your rifle safe if your quarry evades you.

Moving forward along the action of the TH208, you have a scope arrestor plate fixed to the sight rail. Evidence again of attention to the hunting shooters needs, after all, accuracy is paramount and ensuring your optic doesn't creep and constantly re-checking zero saves a lot of pellets!

The TH208 is finished off at the business end with a barrel weight intended to reduce muzzle flip and enhance accuracy. Yet another feature with the shooter in mind.

Needless to say I was itching to get this equipment out into the field, but as is my habit after only being able to afford second hand rifles, I stripped the gun down and gave the internals a cursory clean and regrease. By doing this, I was able to fully acquaint myself with the essence of the rifle and was most impressed by its simplicity and the workmanship I discovered.

Next, the SMK 3-9x40 mildot scope was mounted on solid Sportsmatch mounts. Now I had an excellent sight picture right out to the limits of my hunting range in a very sturdy looking optic.

I'll admit I struggled at first to get consistent groups until I realised my over exuberant 'breaking' of the barrel had knocked the barrel weight loose. This was quickly remedied by simply tightening the two grubs screws located on the underside and the resultant accuracy was staggeringly good. I later removed the barrel weight in favour of a silencer, but found it needless as it added considerably to the length and muted a muzzle report that was already acceptably low.

I found the factory setting of the trigger to be just a little too far back for my personal taste, but as the trigger is fully adjustable, I had it exactly how I liked it within seconds thanks to the easily accessible screw and found the trigger release to be fast and crisp.

Among the many features, deep blueing like this makes the SMK TH208 exceptional value for money.

The TH208 punched consistently tight groups from 10 yards zero out to 25 yards (the limit of my woodland 'range') with the phenomenal ThUnderBolt .22 zinc pellets that had been supplied. This performance bodes very well as the rifle has yet to settle down and 'bed in' and, hopefully, this shooter will improve too!

The ThUnderbolt .22 Pellets were not only accurate and consistent, they packed a punch too!

The SMK TH208 is capable of putting the pellet exactly where you want it.

Results were equally encouraging over the chronograph with the ThUnderBolts giving low (18fps) fps variation at 10.7 ft/lbs. Ample power for hunting that usually rises over time and with use, therefore, investing in a small chronograph is highly advisable for all airgun owners.

Interestingly the TH208 did not seem to mind which pellets were used unlike some that can be very pellet fussy.

AA Field Diabolos, Bisley Superfields, RWS Superdomes, RWS Superfields, Norica Apaches and SMK Spitfires all grouped very well. I did find that the pellets with smaller heads and thinner skirts fared best and the ThUnderBolts appeared overall to be the perfect match.

The TH208 truly is a pleasure and a joy to shoot. I confess that I probably got carried away with my accuracy, pellet, and power tests, but I firmly blame the TH208 for the enjoyment it imparted, willing me to fire just one more pellet. Be warned, this feeling does not appear to wear off and firing nearly a whole tin of pellets and making small ragged holes in at least one packet of paper targets happens far sooner than you would expect!

I set out to buy a capable hunting rifle. Weight wise, the TH208 is heavy enough to keep the effects of recoil minimised, but still light enough not to wear out your arms and this makes target acquisition very quick and easy indeed. It is sturdy enough to take the numerous knocks and bangs any gun that lives outside of the cabinet can expect to receive and, for me, therein lies its beauty.

Like many others, I wanted a rifle that delivered benefits and features far exceeding its price tag. If you are one of them, you need look no further as I have certainly found it in the SMK TH208.

This time, the proof isn't in the pudding, it is in my dinner!

This is a Hunting Rifle that delivers performance far exceeding the asking price.

Self Reliant Airgunning - Pellet Production, Ballistic Co-Efficients

This evening I've undertaken some long overdue ballistic coefficient calculations on my "Tomahawk" Homemade pellets.

The results were interesting, though not exactly too encouraging. The pellets are a tight fit down the 97kt barrel as well as the Th208. However the .22's are very loose in my chums HW100! bizarre.

Thankfully accuracy was very good but range is limited with the 97 showing severe drop off over just 15 yards. Here are the chairgun results. (Click to Enlarge)

As you can see by the graphs, the drop off is most pronounced in the .177 through the HW97kt, I may perform further trials using the tx200 tomorrow out of curiosity. I've reported the findings to the chap who makes them to help him refine and modify his future products.

It doesn't help that both guns are still rather new. The 97 may benefit from a strip down, the TH208 from a tuning kit. My conclusion is therefore that these pellets at present are best suited to FAC rated air rifles. Though should the proverbial poop hit the fan I'd still be happy to sling these at some pigeons! Boy they would pack a punch i'm sure.

The Hunters Chronicles - Wednesday 1st August 2012

Since the 21st May 2012, I have been employed on the renovation of a cottage in the local village. This has not only removed me from my woodland habitat and tending to a very mini 'smallholding' but has also greatly reduced the time available for me to procure meat by hunting. 

I have missed this time greatly.

I have not, however, failed to notice some disconcerting warnings in nature. As I pruned an overgrown Hazel tree in the grounds of the cottage in the middle of July, I was surprised to find rather developed though not yet ripe hazelnuts. Nuts, in general are an autumn harvest. The hazelnut, according to Richard Mabey's "Food For Free" should not start to be seen until early August and not be ripe until the husks have dried in mid-September-October.
Elderberries, out since the beginning of July and already many being stolen by the song birds. I say 'stolen' because I and my partner specifically went easy on the flowers so we could make some elderberry cordial to stave off the coughs and colds of Winter. A month early in fruition.
Hawthorn berries, from which I like to make very nutritious fruit leathers, again, a month at least ahead of schedule.
Black berries, some ripening in the middle of July when according to Mabey they are supposed to just begin to develop now in August.

Squirrel activity has risen noticeably in the past month and I know that they are after my long awaited crop of hazelnuts. I purposely skipped coppicing them last winter as they take 3-5 years to recover.

In the mornings and evenings there are at least two nut raiders leaping from branch to branch. The one that fell to the BSA Scorpion T10 clearly forgotten and the warning unheeded.
Now I'm sure it is not unheard of for squirrels to be making preparations for winter in July/August but combined with my other observations I must admit I am ever so slightly fearful of what Boreas and Pan may have planned for this year.

I pondered my misgivings, unable to yet divine what the warnings message may be. A dry yet very cold winter?
An extreme, prolonged winter possibly even early, in contrast to the last?
Or perhaps just another dry warm one that never seems to properly arrive before it leaves?

As I sought for answers to the clues the Gods were giving, the two nut nickers returned. This time the SMK TH208 was quickly unwrapped and awake. They played a double act that kept me guessing and made full use of the thick foliage and cover.
I half ran, half crept from trunk to trunk. They paused once each and allowed a shot however, with range and and often acute angles hard to judge then compute into hold under/over, I missed both. I did not miss the third. Just as this male thought he had evaded me, he dithered too long in a Hazel and Zeus struck him down. A dull thud with not even a flicker. He simply fell to Earth like a leaf should in Autumn.
As you can see in the picture, some of those have fallen earlier than expected too!

The SMK TH208 has been very impressive and I can see it earning a permanent place in my stable for this very purpose. Watch this space for an in-depth review.

TH208 Scope Cam Hunting

Got this after going out 'hunting' straight after getting in from work at 17:00.

Didn't get to eat. (See vid) 

Some woman brought her dog for walkies right in front of the warren I'd been sitting at for 2 hours (turns out she's the landowners horse training assistant). 

 The only shot I got was this one an hour later, 

5x Magnification, he emerged slightly closer than the lasered 10 yard marker making him about 8 yards away. The shot should have impacted just below the crosshairs into the heart/lung region. That scoot he did was adrenaline before the lungs gave out of course, he expired behind nettles, thistles and an impenetrable barbed wire fence.
I should have gone for a Head shot as I always do but I was unsure of the lightweight Thunderbolt Pellets and penetration so elected for the softer tissue. The state of my metal funnel pellet trap should have assured me they were more than up for the job.