XS208 (12ft-lbs) .22 review!-Big Dan's Airguns. 

I used that the other day and got a right laugh 😂

Thanks ever so much for the kind comment mate it means a lot. hab einen schönen Tag mein Freund. (Apologies for the probably terrible German)

Your wish is my command Phillip, sorry it has taken so long the weather has been impossible!!

I read that and immediately the Boursin cheese advert popped into my head hahaha. (Brrrrrt!) "Huh, that bit of ground back there was a bit rough.... red too!".

Hi Reg! The 208's are excellent mate, I knew it'd be a good performing rifle as we've zeroed a few for customers and they always put on a damn good show. That being said I never knew they were that good! Those two flyers were heartbreaking though. It wouldn't even let me cheat with a second grouping. Out of the box it shoots superbly but I am left wondering just how good it'd be with a fettle.

Cheers Alan!

A HW35, and that safety had never failed to engage either. Same for me and also for the 77K

Hi Mark. Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Weihrauchs are tremendous rifles but the safeties aren't the best at least not in my experience. Even from new we've had a couple where the safety would only engage if you made sure to put extra effort in really pulling the barrel/underlever down. I think you can see in our HW77 and HW97 videos that the safety didn't always engage and I think the HW80 was the same. Maybe different batches were better while some were worse? I know Weihrauch had issues with the bluing on some rifles (like my 97) so I'm wondering if they've had wonky safeties at some point? I wish Weihrauch would actually revise their safeties to an extent so they are a smidge more reliable and can be reset without having to re-cock the rifle. A system like what Hatsan/Webley use or even something similar to the Express unit would be great. Their rifles are superb but in my experience at least the safety is the only weak link. Cheers Mark and sorry for the massive reply!

My last hw95 had a safety that failed to engage don't know why as never had that problem before.

@@bigdansairguns83 As an old bastard who has over 40 years of experience with All kinds of Firearms and Air Rifles you are 100 percent correct, that said WEIRAUCH is still my Favourite air rifle. Excellent channel by the way,

Hey Smedz, that was more than a bit concerning wasn't it? I knew the spring had to be fine as it was still shooting on point with no more noticeable drop (although the pellets did impact low on two bottlecaps..) I'm wondering if the high numbers with the first testing was simply due to the rifle still dieseling? Makes you wonder what power the JSB's would've been doing at point though.. If the heat didn't make me sweat enough then that sure would've! Thanks Smedz

Thanks Ian!

Hi Heath! 50ft-lbs... I've got to get myself to the U.S Heath. The food, the trucks and of course the guns. I'd love to shoot an M1 Garand, there's just something about them. Sorry Heath I got a little sidetracked there haha. The Air Venturi gear looks fantastic and the Nova rifles were top notch too. I've got no idea how they make them for the money as they were even cheaper than the Artemis/SPA rifles. A Nova bullpup would be fantastic, they'd have stiff competition from the P-15's and P-10's but they've already got a great barrel and although the synthetic stock is a little cheap feeling if it's priced correctly nobody would really care. I hear a lot of people praising the Hades pellets, I can't wait to try them but I don't know how well they'll be suited for 12ft-lbs. Thanks Heath and all the best to you and your family. Look after yourself mate.

Thanks Dave! The Supergrades are great aren't they? I'd love to test the little XS15's and XS12's one day. One of my best chrono spreads of all time was with an XS15.. we had a max spread over 10 shots of only 3fps! That's better than all of the high end PCP's I've ever put through the chrono and it's a sub £100 rifle haha. Thanks Dave and we'll get filming our next review ASAP.

Hi Stephen, it's matte black so I wouldn't imagine it was for glare. My only reasoning is that it has been done for added traction but I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about their hands slipping off their barrel when cocking. It's only a minor complaint but it'll be a bit annoying should it find its way onto other rifles.

Hi Donald! That was a cracking price mate I'd be a very happy chappy with that. As you've said mate the trigger is good but I'm sure with a bit of polishing it'd be superb. It's not often that you find a creep free budget trigger. I'll try those AA's if we review the whole family of 208's. I'm sure it was the pellets why we had those two high shots.... It had nothing to do with the fleshy bit with his porky hands that is pulling the trigger.. it was all those rubbish JSB's fault.

Hi Dan, I was just looking around the web when I came across the 208 at that price,did a which bit of web research which seemed to be all good, so rang the dealer first thing to double check the price,once confirmed I drove the 100 mile round trip to collect, very satisfied, far better gun than my Gamo440 especially the trigger! I have found it to be non twangy and it didn't diesel either! Matched it to a new BSA 3-9x40AO, nice combo. I will try some of those JSB Express pellets,what size are you using? With AA Fields I found the 5.53 satisfactory, good old Superdomes no good so will try the JSB out of curiosity. In the meantime I just enjoy it on the club's indoor 25yd range, Covid permitting! We had just been open for two weeks but are now locked down again! Take care stay safe stay healthy.

Hey mate! I'm baaaaack! Hahaha.

That's something that a smart person would do mate, unfortunately for us we both know that I'm incapable of that kind of thought.

@@bigdansairguns83 That's why I told you 😂

Hi Michael. It'll be uploaded as soon as possible mate as hopefully we're back on schedule now. Thanks Michael!

Hey mate! Yeah that was really odd, it was a major "UH OH" moment during that second test.What did pop into my mind however was if it was doing 10+ft-lbs using Rifles then what would it have been doing using JSB? That's a tad concerning considering our power limits! Thankfully she settled down nicely so that's more than a relief! You probably can get SMK's in Canada but they'll be badged as BAM, Westlake or XISICO. It's worth taking a look as you may see some very familiar looking rifles ;) Thanks mate and I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

@@bigdansairguns83 Only place I know that even remotely sell anything Xisico is a military surplus store that sell airguns. I bought an Xisico/Norinco (says Norinco Made for Canada on the receiver) BAM B3-2 .22 underlever. I put almost 1000 pellets through that gun in the first 4 days I had it home. I refinished the stock with cut in finger grooves, tuned it and topped it with a budget 3-9x40AO. Shoots fantastic! but it's the only SMK derivative I can find here.

@@injairgun The B-3's aren't a bad rifle. and yours defnitely sounds like an interesting specimen now. What also impressed me the other day was an SMK DB5 that we ordered in for a customer, it had a nice trigger and the customer had sent me pictures of his groups and at near 20 yards he's practically getting 5p groups with it. That's at only 9ft-lbs. If you're interested in the 208 take a look at the BAM B25 I think it might be just what you're looking for. Cheers mate and I hope this helps, they're a very sweet rifle for sure.

@@bigdansairguns83 Thanks Dan! I will have a look to see if I can get any of these guns imported.

Dan, I found an online store here in Canada that carry Xisico break barrels! WIll have the XS25SFB (bamboo stock I love the look of it!) hopefully next week! Next will be the XS28 and they have it too!

Hey 99 ron. I say to all of my customers it's a minefield out there. There's not many "bad" rifles on the market these days thankfully. Regarding springers some might twang more than others and have a smidge more kick but I've not come across one that wouldn't group. ...yet..

Hey John! They're not bad at all are they? The TH208 is my pick of the litter but they all shoot nicely. Thanks John!

I will have to wait and see what my birthday brings now maybe a new mountain bike or one of these 😀

Hi Hendrick! I've had my eyes on one of these for a while so I'll see what I can do. It's an interesting looking thing that's for sure but the spec that they come with looks great for the price. I'll see if I can get my filthy mitts on one.

I dunno Ian he looks a little shifty to me.. some say he's a firearms dealer.. plus just look at that face! Is that a face you can trust?? Didn't think so.

Thanks OOTAH!

Hi Run ZZ. I suffer mate so you don't have to. Suffer being the correct word as that heat was ridiculous. If I weren't sweating enough then we had that misfire that was the second chrono test. I've heard of sweating bullets but that was sweating hand grenades!

Hi Stephen! I have no idea as we stopped stocking SMK products a while back. It's a shame if so as they're a cracking rifle.

Naaah sounds like fake news to me. Just kidding! They're a nice rifle the 208 and you can definitely see the inspiration with it. They do shoot well too it must be said.

Hi Luis! I haven't shot a Superstar underlever yet but the power sounds spot on, if it groups well then there's no reason why you couldn't hunt with it. The only thing to be careful of is that being a .25 it will drop off early. What I highly recommend are the JSB alloy diabolos, we tried a few through a customer's BSA Scorpion .25 and not only were they fast (550fps) but they were incredibly accurate too! Thanks Luis and let me know how she shoots.

@@bigdansairguns83 Thank you Dan i will try them this Saturday as i will be out in the field and see how it performs. I will let you know if they are good for hunting or just back yard shooting. Again thank you for the information, much appreciated 👍

He don't like it

Hi Phillip! Hopefully it'll be a PCP that we look at next. Fingers crossed the Zbroia Sapsan. That being said if you'd be interested in something more affordable there's also a few new Artemis rifles.. It's also a travesty that we haven't reviewed an S410 or S200 yet. Thanks Phillip!

@@bigdansairguns83 i have a s400 and a s200 now both in. 177 , both are what i whoud class as budget rifles, come on dan get your finger out, 😂😂👍

Hi handygent! A lot of budget rifles (and PCP's lately) have been swapping badges. 30 yards with open sights?! That's just cruel haha.

@@bigdansairguns83 Hey, my best shot and/or limit with open sights is at 65 yards hitting soda cans. It depends on three primary factors. The gun, the sights and the shooter. I have many, many pellet guns, in all sizes, price ranges, shapes and configurations. Only a few of my break barrel riles are accurate with open sights beyond 30 yards. The Daisy, Winchester 1100S (made in China), using cheep Crosman 10.5 grain domed pellets is fantastic. ( I was so impressed I bought three more.) The earlier Winchester (made in Turkey) can barely keep up at 25 yards consistently. At present I have three of them. My definition of a good pellet rifle is shooting golf balls at 30 yards with open sights. I do not like fiber optic glow sights. I'm 67 years old and my eyes are good and I don't have the shakes. Former military. Years ago I bought a lot of 15 Shanghai B3-1 under lever pellet guns in .177. (With non-removeable rear sight mounted on the breech block.) They were taken apart, new seals, deburred, tuned, crowned and so on. Only one is dead accurate at 30 yards with open sights using cheap Crosman 7.9 domed pellets. Another accurate break barrel rifle I have is the QB-25, in .177. (Actually I have two.) I have a third, in .22 and that one is not accurate beyond 10 yards. I also have a large collection of scopes. But still I prefer open sights, with a numbered degree wheel for the elevation knob. At present my favorite, long range pellet rifle is the Hatsan Bull Boss, in .22 Using a quality scope (under $600 price range) I can hit golf balls at 125 yards consistently. Except when necessary I use cheep Crosman domed pellets as my standard or basic pellets.

Hi Dave, the 208TH is my personal favourite it's a lovely rifle to shoulder and that barrel weight calms what little recoil there is. We don't have a .177 at the moment I'm afraid and our suppliers are also out of the 208's at the moment but I believe they've got a new shipment coming in hopefully this month. If interested mate contact us at bigdansairguns.co.uk and I'll let you know as soon as they're in. Regarding the Air Venturi's I haven't got anything on those I'm afraid, that being said should I hear anything I'll be in touch. Also well played to your daughter the LGV's are lovely rifles! I'd also be willing to bet that she's naturally better than both me and you with it as women and kids are unfairly talented when it comes to shooting for some reason... Thanks Dave and all the best to you and your family.

If you have the money for a cometa fenix 400, you might as well get the Weihrauch HW99S,it has the best trigger of any springer, and with a half decent 3-9-40 scope it is very accurate.then you can stick a upgrade kit in it and it's pinpoint accurate 👍

Hi Jose! Out of the two I'd go Fenix all day, no offense to the SMK as it's still a great rifle but the Fenix has the more refined action and superior trigger/barrel. The HW99S is also a good shout and is on par with the Fenix, the 99S has a marginally better trigger and a metal one at that but the Fenix is a lot less twangy to shoot. It's neck and neck for accuracy and it mainly comes down to preference. Thanks Jose!

@@bigdansairguns83 Thank you for your reply, I have been clarified.

The 22 shoots a little smoother they say with the HW springers, personally I'll take 22 or 177 as they're are both perfect, although with 177 there's a lot larger variation in amuntion.

Grub screw moderators around twenty quid for this or a 16mm I think to 1/2"unf adapter

Hi Shane. The XS208 uses a standard Chinese barrel unlike the XS38. Quite a good one though apparently!

Big Dan's Airguns was taking the mike , in a friendly way, bought a xs38 after watching yours and other reviews Dan , but can’t get it to group for toffee tried 4 lots of different pellets, the last tin of jsb , 5.52 head size are hard to push into the barrel , I’m not about to buy loads of different make pellets but appears to be really fussy, so I bit the bullet and bought a hw97 stainless like the one you had for your birthday should have done this in the first place ,, you will see both guns on my RU-vid if you look ,, cheers Shane uk 🇬🇧

@@shaneweightman Hi Shane, The XS38's are most definitely a Walther barrel and many highly praise the XS38's accuracy due to this. There's no mickey being taken here it's just that I quite like asking questions to my suppliers regarding certain rifles and what parts they use/if parts are shared with other rifles. If you'd like more information regarding the barrel on the XS38 get in touch with me via our contact us section on the website. Regarding being pellet fussy some Walther's can be like that (CZ are the same), in our Rotex review that was also a bit fussy depending on what you put through it. It may also be worth checking the crown to see if it has been finished correctly as you can get rough crowns no matter which brand you use. Thanks Shane and all the best.

Have you ever shot an XS208 Will?