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A XS-B50 Review

by Randy Mitchell

In the fall of 2004 I was asked to review the XS-B50 in the field, and to give my impressions of the gun. For those of you who have not heard of this airgun, it is a Chinese clone of a popular, though no longer manufactured, Daystate airgun called the Huntsman. The model I was asked to review was in .22 caliber, an ideal caliber for small game hunting.

I received the gun from Compasseco of Bardstown, KY and immediately outfitted the gun with a scope, a 3-9x40 Techforce scope that gave an excellent field of view. I shot the B50 for two evenings in my basement range, experimenting with the muzzle brake that came with it. Apparently, the muzzlebrake was misaligned, as it made the shots erratic in their accuracy, never striking the same place twice. The pellets were obviously nicking the inside of the muzzlebrake on the way out of the barrel, causing them to shed any hope of accuracy. I removed the brake and immediately started shooting very small groups at 15 yards, essentially one-hole groups. That’s what I needed for hunting!

I tested the B50 over my chronograph to determine the power of this particular model. From a fill of 3000 psi, I shot a 10 shot string that averaged 909 fps with 14.3 gr. pellets. That works out to be about 26 fpe at the muzzle. More than adequate for small game hunting. From the same fill of 3000 psi, a 20 shot string peaked at 921 fps and ended up at 847 fps, a difference of only 74 fps. So the consistency isn’t bad at all. And let’s face it, if you shoot 20 times at a live target, something is off to begin with!

With a charge of 3000 psi and a pocketful of 14.3 gr Crosman Premiere pellets, I headed for the woods one morning. This review was to determine the B-50’s pedigree in the field. As a clone of an already well-established Daystate, I had no doubts that it would perform well as long as the Chinese did their homework. And perform it did!

In the space of just 2 _ hours, I was able to test the B-50 on my favorite small game, the squirrel. At ranges varying from 10 yards out to 40 yards, the B-50 performed very well. My first squirrel of the day was taken at just 10 yards, and the .22 pellet arrived on target with a lot of authority. My target went down very quickly and very humanely. Other squirrels were farther off during the hunt, and I was able to take them at ranges of 40 yards very easily. By the end of the hunt, five squirrels lay in my game bag, each one a testament to the accuracy of this airgun.

The finish on the B-50 is quite nice, a noticeable improvement over other Chinese-made guns that I have either owned or shot personally. The wood has a nice finish to it, though the grain of the stock is rather plain. This particular gun is also available with a thumbhole stock for those that prefer it over the standard pistol-grip style.

The trigger of the B-50 has a noticeable curve that is more drastic than other airguns I own and use. It isn’t necessarily bad, just different. The trigger pull is crisp and predictable, and I didn’t do any adjusting for this review.

The B-50 rests very comfortably in the crook of my arm while meandering through the woods and fields. It is easy to carry, solid feeling…..very much like a real firearm. During the hunt I took some ranging shots in addition to the shots taken at live game. I estimate that I shot 20-25 times with no noticeable change in impact points within a 30 yard range. The only thing that was annoying to me was that I didn’t use higher mounts for the scope. In the picture below you can see how close the eyepiece of the scope is to the grip of the gun. With the cocking lever located where it is, it made it slightly uncomfortable to cock the gun quickly. Higher scope mounts would alleviate this problem and add a degree of user-friendliness to my hunting setup.

As these models are new to the American market, only time will tell how they hold up to repeated use. My initial impression is that the gun will give very good service to the budget-minded hunter or plinker who wishes for the features of the European model without the associated cost.

So if you decide to buy the XS-B50, I believe you will be pleased with its performance. It is a handy package that will satisfy the vast majority of airgun users, both hunters and target shooters. The power is there for hunting, and the accuracy is there for the target enthusiast.

Randy Mitchell
www.adventuresinairguns.com

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