Webley Patriot \ Beeman Kodiak - Part 2

Part One

Shooting.

I have an old Beeman quiet trap that included ballistic putty which is much more durable than the duct seal that is popular now. It is actually tough enough to contain a standard .22 LR round out of a pistol. But at the time I do not know that. I take extreme precautions half expecting the Patriot to blow through the trap and cinder block wall behind it.

This is a big rifle. Certainly if you have buddies that rib you because you are an adult and still play with “BB” guns, hand them this. I know it works because I did it. Cocking the Kodiak takes a sharp smack to the barrel just to break it open, not knowing this they will look like 9 year old girls trying to open a pickle jar. At that point, you can advise them to stick with their firearms.

Beeman  \ Williams sight added

At least until they are man enough.

Holding the Patriot it becomes clear where the power comes from. While not as heavy as even the stubby HW97K, it is a big rifle. The receiver tube is huge; it feels like it is built to a 125 % scale.

It likes a middle weight pellet in .25 caliber for producing the best sustainable energy, which is not uncommon in most springers. It is also not accurate with the perfect rounds; I even try making it a shotgun loading 2 and 3 of them at a time. Interestingly the total energy remains about the same, which is lower than pellets at just over 24 ft lbs. It comes close with some pellets, but falls shy of the magical 30 ft lb number. I mark the best, as you can see from my notes on the pellet tins. (The 26.4 gr averaged about 702 fps)

Scoping the rifle proves short lived, as it sends the 18x Bushy to an early grave in no time. Rather than challenge it with another scope to devourer, I put a Beeman aperture sight on it. This makes for a much better match in my mind, also keeping a scope out of the way when muscling the 50 + lb cocking effort and reducing the bigness feel. I believe Tom Gaylord said it best when he one time likened holding the Patriot to feeling like a kid shooting his father’s gun.

Classic good looks

Accuracy is on par with the R1, which means excellent.

So what's the conclusion? I think the pellet tins tell the story, after about 5 years I still had pellets from my original order left. I just never found it to be “the one” when I reached for a rifle, and this was long before I started buying and selling airguns just to test drive them. I had bought the Patriot to use, but when? It was without a doubt not a plinker like the R7. Long range went to the flatter shooting HW97K and my R1 and I were such good buddies, it always went hunting with me. The Patriot seldom left the gun safe; I dare say the same thing happened too many of those Smith and Wesson 44 magnums.

Smack the end of the barrel to open it

Conclusion,

You would not use a sports car to haul a load of mulch home, you would want a truck. Personally I would have it delivered. The point is the Patriot was made with very specific uses in mind for which it excels.

About 1/2 my .25 caliber pellets

Now if you are in an area that makes firearm ownership difficult or perhaps you must have more power and only a Springer will work, it would fill the bill nicely. Or maybe you're a 320 lb football player that finds smaller rifles unsuitable. It certainly is a wonderful niche air rifle. But for me, it would be the first air rifle I ever sold. With PCP's becoming common place and now the Crosman Marauder offering over 45 ft lbs in .25 caliber the niche for it seems even smaller.

For clarity, it is important to point out that my Patriot was made in the UK, and that the latest versions were made in Turkey. The reports on the Turkish guns have been all over the board, so buyers beware.

With my usual good timing I sold the Patriot in the photos just before Webley closed their doors, so I asked $395.00 for it which seemed reasonable at the time. They are easily selling for $200 to $300 more now for a UK version.
In any case, eventually I would turn those funds into my first PCP, which I’ll cover soon.