It was great meeting all the folks at the Shot show, but I was most excited to sit down and spend some time with the CEO of Hatsan USA.  We had a great talk and today I received my first sample from their new inventory here in the states.  It is the Hatsan Mod 125 Sniper in .25 cal.

Hatsan Mod 125 Sniper .25 cal

Somewhere, somebody is saying “I love it when a plan comes together.”  I think I hear it coming from the Hatsan factory over in Turkey and maybe a little from their new facility here in the US.

There are a few things that you need to know about Hatsan Products.

1. They are Family Owned and Operated
2. Hatsan controls all the production & manufacturing in-house.  Raw materials go in… Guns go out…  This is a huge benefit when keeping a close eye on quality control
3. They utilize German Steel in their components

Their are a lot of other things I learned about their process, but we’ll save that for later.  I want to get back to the Mod 125 Sniper in .25.

Our sample arrived early this morning and I immediately started by opening the gun and just checking it out.  It had a layer of packing oil on it that came off pretty easily.  I did not bother with the scope, I just wanted to put some pellets through it.  So I headed to the shop and shot with open sights.

Hatsan Mod 125 Sniper .25 cal - Front Fiber Optic Sight

I did not touch the sights and I was hitting a little left of center, with all the shots grouping in the same spot.  This was a very good sign.  I spent the next several hours working with the rifle.  I mounted the factory included scope, sampled all the .25 cal pellets that I had left over from my last review of a .25 cal rifle, and then settled in to see what our Mod 125 could really do.

Hatsan Mod 125 Sniper .25 cal - Rear Fiber Optic Sight

The Rifle likes a few pellets; the H&N Field Target Trophies, the Beeman Silver Bear / H&N Hollow point, and finally the JSB Match Diabolo Exact King which have shown to be the best so far.

The rifle posted an impressive 803 FPS average with the Field Target Trophies that weigh in at 20.6 grain.  To see a .25 springer post velocities over 800 fps is really something.  Our best pellet, the JSB Exact Kings weigh 25.4 grains and averaged out to 713 FPS.  What’s more impressive is the amazing consistency that I’m getting.  Here are the specs on the JSB pellets: High – 717, Low – 711, Average – 713, Extreme Spread – 6, Standard Deviation – 2.  The Average Energy was 27.72 foot pounds.

Hatsan Mod 125 Sniper .25 cal - Adjustable Stock

The adjustable ambidextrous stock is very nice, and the addition of a rifle sling is great for hunters.  Shooting the Mod 125 Sniper is an interesting experience.  It does not take as much effort as I thought it would to cock the gun.  The trigger is pretty sweet which is to be expected from the Quatro trigger.   The recoil… Let’s talk about the recoil for a moment here.  This may be the 300 Winchester Mag of airguns.   This thing is a beast.  The recoil is simply massive.  What’s interesting however, is that it still stays pretty much on target.  I don’t know how they do it, but they’ve done it.

Hatsan Mod 125 Sniper .25 cal - 3-9x32 Factory Scope

The Bundled scope is what you’d expect from a freebee scope.  It works, but not well at 10 yards.  It makes shooting accurately more difficult.  I’ll be changing the scope as soon as pratical.  While the included rings don’t look nearly robust enough, they’ve held perfectly and I’ve got about 200 +/- shots down range so far.

Hatsan Mod 125 Sniper .25 cal - 10 Yard Shot Cards

I’ve got a couple of shot cards to post.  These are shot at a fraction more than 10 yards from a bench.  The scope is giving me a fit so I expect to get better results once I swap it out.   The shot card on the left measures .433″ ctc.  The shot card on the right measures a fraction better at .423″ ctc.  Given the massive recoil, the completely deficient scope, and my current level of experience with this rifle, I’m thrilled with these results.

Hatsan Mod 125 Sniper .25 cal - 20 Yard Shot Card

Given that it was simply beautiful outside today, I decided to take a chance and try a 20 yard shot test even though I’m not completely familiar with this rifle.  I setup at 20 yards and put a couple of shots down range.  After a bit of practice, I decided to put up my Gamo target and just see what I could get.  I’ve not adjusted the scope from my 10 yard zero, so the shots are going to be high at 20 yards, but the group was actually better than I was getting at 10 yards.  The additional distance let me use the scope a bit more effectively.  This group, shot at 20 yards with the JSB Match Diabolo Exact King pellets, measured a mere .411 ctc.  I’m more impressed than ever with this gun.

Hatsan Mod 125 Sniper .25 cal - Muzzle Break Noise Dapener

Perhaps the most impressive feature of the Mod 125 for me was the permanently fixed muzzle break & silencer.  When I tested the DB level of this gun it came in at only 98 DB while shooting indoors.  Given that I just tested a Gamo Silent Stalker Whisper IGT which tested at 100 DB, this was big news.  To have a gun this massive only come in at 98 DB is really something

I hope this is a sign good things to come from Hatsan USA.  Once the new inventory arrives I expect to be getting other samples in for testing and of course for our video channel on youtube.

I really want to thank the folks over at Hatsan USA for all their efforts to bring us these great guns and for letting us give them a try.  You can purchase the Mod 125 Sniper in .25 at PyramydAir.com now.

Written By:
Rick Eutsler, Jr.