The first thing many air rifle hunters ask when they consider air rifle caliber is why accept the shorter-range disadvantages of .25-cal pellets? The answer is not obvious. It turns out when hunting furbearing varmints with air rifles, the larger calibers are more effective because their “kill zone" is so much larger than that of the smaller calibers. A direct corollary is that the larger calibers therefore require less accurate shot placement to effect a quick kill. This is because they do more damage to the target by creating a larger wound channel. Put another way, the lethal kill zone of a .177-cal pellet is the same size as the target’s brain or heart–about one inch in diameter. 5 mm and .22-cal quick- kill zones grow proportionately. But the largest effective kill zone is created by .25-caliber pellets. And finally, because of the larger kill-zone, a .25-caliber air rifle will have the farthest effective range–IF you can find one which has enough power to hurl its heavy pellet the distance. (Click here for more on Woodchuck hunting.)

The problem with .25 caliber pellets is that being big, they are also heavy, and thus have a shorter maximum range. A 21 ft-lbs rifle in .25 cal. will typically have a maximum range of 40 yards as measured by what range it can be zeroed at and still hold a maximum rise (at about 25 yards) of two inches. Thus, the air rifle hunter is faced with the caliber dilemma. He achieves a maximum theoretical range (using the 2-inch rise limit) with .177-caliber. But this is limited by the practical marksmanship he has in being reliably able to hit a smaller (one inch) kill zone--and that may not be beyond about 40 yards in the field. Moving to a larger caliber increases the kill zone size of his target. Thus a .22-cal pellet kill zone is about 2-inches in diameter–equal to perhaps 50 yards for a very good shot.

A .25 caliber slug has a 3-inch kill zone which means the same marksman could hit a target at 50 yards–except that very few air rifles can toss a .25 caliber pellet to 50 yards; they are just not powerful enough to do so under hunting trajectory restrictions. Since varmint hunting is limited by the range of a gun’s trajectory and the size of the kill-zone, and these all center at around 50 yards for woodchucks, the major advantages of the .25-cal rifle is that it results in lethal shots with less than perfect aim.

Enter the $725 Beeman Kodak “Super Magnum” air rifle, one of two Super Magnums in the single-cock, break-barrel spring-piston category. (The other is the Theoben “Eliminator,” a fine $1090 air-spring piston rifle of similar energy.)

The .25-caliber Kodiak is powerful enough to zero at 50 yards with the very deadly Crow Magnum hollow head pellet. For even greater range, pellets with a higher ballistic coefficient (BC) can be used, of the same (or lesser) weight.

Notice that by zeroing to 50 yards with a 2-inch maximum rise, one is also able to aim at targets out to 58 yards by aiming 2-inches high at that distance. Thus, the total practical range is nearly 60 yards. It is a lot easier to hit a 3-inch diameter kill zone at 60 yards, than a 1-inch kill zone. That in a nut shell, is the great advantage of the .25-caliber “Super Magnum” Kodiak.

Why use a spring-piston Super Magnum instead of one of the many PCP (Pre-charge Pneumatics)? Pre-Charged Pneumatics are air rifles that store air at high pressure (~3000 psi) in a small “Buddy Bottle” generally screwed in under the barrel of the gun. Their advantage is shots can be fired in rapid succession (useful if your often miss your first shot !) and there is no cocking of a heavy mainspring. They are very accurate and essentially recoilless. However, all the paraphernalia of scuba tanks, hardware, hoses, small little adaptors and fitments, and having to get the scuba tanks refilled, changes the clean, simple sport of varmint hunting--with a rifle and some camo--into a Big Deal. Thus, according to the pre-eminent air gun guru Dr. Robert Beeman, spring-piston rifles capture about 80% of the magnum-powered market.

The Kodiak is a gorgeous rifle. It’s no wonder that air rifle was awarded the prestigious Product Award of Merit at the 1995 SHOT Show by American Firearms Industry magazine. But make no mistake this is a MAN’S rifle in every regard. It is a half-inch longer and slightly heavier (9 lbs ) than the venerable R-1 (8.8 lbs), but it is much more powerful. The break-barrel cocking effort is high enough (48 lbs vs 42lbs for R-1 Carbine) that some slightly-built shooters won’t be able to handle it.

Beeman Kodiak “Super Magnum”air rifle (above) fresh out of the box. Below it is my trusty R-1 Carbine for comparison. Note the camo covering of the R-1’s scope and barrel. The sling needs to be ragged camo’d also because when approaching a quarry, the rifle is often held out in front and the straight line of the sling is too noticeable. I have since blackened the white trim line at the base of the stock.

Both safety and receiver end block are nicely machined out of solid blocks of high tensile aircraft aluminum - both electrostatically finished with an epoxy finish that looks extremely durable. The safety is big and set perfectly at the base of the receiver. More important, it is resettable without the need to recock.

Even with the normal-length barrel, the cocking effort of the Kodiak is quite a bit more than that of the R-1 Carbine. I found that slapping the barrel near the front sight to break it open followed up by a smooth hard jerk to bring it to a latching full cock was the ticket. Yet my daughter and her 25-year old girl friend, both in good shape, required some practice before they could manage to cock the Kodiak at all.

The Kodiak blasted a 26.3 grain Crow Magnum round out at 720 fps on the first shot right out of the box. That’s 30 foot-pounds, my friends, and makes this the absolute elephant gun of break-barrel air rifles. The Kodiak shot the Crow Magnum to a 50 yard zero with a rise of just under two inches. Switching to the heavyweight Kodiak pellet (31 grains) I managed to get a zero of 48 yards with a maximum rise of just 2.1 inches (at 27 yds). How is that possible? How can a pellet that is 15% heavier achieve a trajectory nearly the same as the lighter pellet?

The answer lies in the ballistic coefficient (BC). In .25-caliber and fired out of a 30 ft-lbs gun, because of its deadly but non-rounded shape, the Crow magnum only exhibits an average 0.029 BC; due to its greater weight and smooth, round head, the Kodiak pellet achieves a BC of 0.040. This presents an interesting opportunity. A heavy, aerodynamically slick pellet can shoot as far as one that is a lighter and/or BC-impaired.

Crow Magnum, Silver Bear and H&N Match pellet trajectories compared. Note that the open front face of the Crow Magnum exhibits little practical detriment. In fact, the Crow Magnum has a slightly better BC: 0.029 vs 0.027 for the Silver Bear. Both weight about 26 grains. The much lighter H&N Match and its smooth round face exhibits a BC of 0.035.

With two very different pellets resulting in practically the same range, what is their selection criteria? And since the lighter H&N Match pellet still has plenty of energy and another 7 yards of range–why not automatically select it? The short answer: Long range accuracy and terminal ballistics. The lighter pellets are more subject to path perturbations due to wind. I found I could generally only get a 4-inch group at 60 yards with the H&N pellets on a slightly breezy day (but I did get a single 1-inch group), while the Crow Magnums reliably printed 2-1/2 groups under the same conditions. Although I did not shoot Kodiak pellets to 60 yards, when compared to Crow Magnums at 50 yards, the Kodiaks consistently bettered the Crow Magnum grouping by a small amount (1/2-inch). But at this range the H&N were also suddenly back in the competition. [15 April 06: printed 1-3/8th-inch group with Kodiak pellets at 50 yards, a personal best for me.]

But most of all, recognize the overriding advantage of this 25-cal. rifle: The Beeman Kodiak air rifle delivers more energy to its target at 60 yards than most conventional magnum air rifles produce at the muzzle!

Secondly, because of the larger greater kill-zone, it insures a higher kill rate, making up for small errors of marksmanship.

Thirdly, The larger pellets all have better BCs than the smaller ones and are thus inherently more accurate, particularly in the presence of light breezes.

Three pellets and their energy curves. The heavy Kodiak pellet and the lighter H&N maintain essentially the same energy drop, although the Kodiak–which started out with 2 ft-lbs less muzzle energy, begins–ever so slightly–to overtake the H&N at 55 yards. However, the H&N has 7 yards farther range. The velocity of the H&N at 50 yards is 673 fps vs 556 fps for the heavier Kodiak.

Pellet Penetration

Wow--here's a surprise: The penetration of the .25-cal. Kodiak pellet at 50 yards was more than twice that of other pellets when shot into my flesh simulator--bars of Ivory soap.

None of the pellets deformed in this soft medium, not even the Crow Magnum. This penetration superiority of the heavyweight Kodiak pellet is such a surprise that I will have to reconsider my opinion that the Crow magnum pellet is the best for hunting woodchucks. Recall, too, that the Kodiak has always had the best ballistic coefficient, and is the most accurate (probably due to its excellent BC). The puzzle remaining is why is the Kodiak so much better than the H&N--which has nearly identical (~22 ft-lbs) downrange energy? Clearly some more work needs to be done to clear up this apparent anomaly.

[Note Oct 06: Took a few squirrels using the Kodiak pellet--and what an effect! Two squirrels were shot through! (What's the difference between that and using a .22LR?) All of them were knocked flat with a single round--something I rarely accomplish with .22-cal pellet.]

Hunting small game with the Kodiak air rifle

As soon as the ballistics were completed, I mounted a sling on the Kodiak and a 3-9X 40mm Weaver scope and headed out into the woods. Or actually, out to the 10-acre common back lots of a half-dozen southern Maine homes. These home owners are delighted to have some one keep the woodchuck infestation in check. Woodchucks abound in this area which is bordered by a tidal pond on one side and dense woods on another. Woodchucks (like crows) tend to live on the fringes of human habitats because these areas are ringed with vegetable gardens and plenty of mowed grass. This combination of fodder, water and cover make an ideal nesting ground for these villainous varmints.

In the field I carry both Crow Magnum and H&N Match pellets, using the one that is best suited to the situation. These chucks had been hunted on-and-off by me, and the only ones remaining–the smart ones–were now very wary. At the chuck village where the maximum range from my cover is 50 yards, I use the Crow Magnum pellet. At another location I used the H&N. This latter location had shots as long as 70 yards, and it was thrilling to realize that I could finally reach put and touch those chucks that had so cleverly kept 60 yards from my nearest hide–in other words, just outside my previous range.

The Kodiak is heavy enough that I found shooting from the standing position was best achieved by using the biathlon stance, that is, propping the stock up with my hand near the trigger guard, the wrist held straight in line with the vertical forearm, with the elbow resting on the extended hip bone. This stance transmits the rifle’s weight bone-on-bone to the hip and relieves the muscles of carrying the gun’s weight. Once a sight picture has been achieved the mass of the gun aides in reducing target jitter more prevalent with lighter rifles. However, because of the recoil of the Kodiak, if you zero it in the seated position, it will probably hit at a different spot when you shoot in the offhand position. So zero with the same position you will be hunting with. Otherwise, learn the offset of your two positions. I found that in the offhand (standing) position, my shots were about 3/4 of an inch higher than when sitting.

“Tschank” is the sound of the Kodiaks’ discharge. The sound is soft enough that if you miss your target, it is often not alarmed and will hang around for you to give it another try. The recoil of the Kodiak is considerable–much like shooting a 30-30, except it is smoother–more of a push than a jolt. It is easy to momentarily lose the sight picture through the scope. If a second shot is required, you must re-cock by placing the butt of gun on your thigh or the ground, and give the barrel a hard pull. This is a disadvantage with all spring-piston rifles because if you are well camouflaged, holding still behind some leafy frond will make you invisible to your prey, which is staring intently in the direction of the discharge. But it will not wait around forever and, unless done V-E-R-Y slowly, moving to recock tends to give your position away. The trick is to move back out of sight V-E-R-Y slowly. Properly camouflaged, the critter may not recognize you as a threat.

My Kodiak "Shot of the Year.”

I have been hunting a particularly wary woodchuck–-code named “Wilbur"--for two years. The “challenge” is that he munches with a clear view of the exit from the rear of the house by which I leave to go hunting. There is essentially no cover between the house and him.

The Orange line shows the 150-yard distance over which Wilbur the Woodchuck keeps a close tab, to see anyone leaving the back of the garage. If that person is suspicious, Wilbur dives into his hole, where he may remain for 15 minutes to an hour or more.

His visual acuity was the bane of my existence. No matter how I tried to disguise my intentions and my Kodiak rifle, if Wilbur spotted me–and he always did if he was out and about--he would go on full alert and scamper away if any move was made in his direction.

I finally hit upon a stratagem. I left the house going towards the front (Blue line), passed in front of the neighbors, in front of their garage, and to a tree-sized shrub. Cautiously, I edged out from behind it and could see Wilbur munching away. Nearly in a direct line with him was a doubled-trunked tree–together about 3-feet wide.

Lining Wilbur up with the tree, I carefully paced the entire 90-yard distance between him and it–and arrived behind it with Wilbur totally unaware. Backing away in order to get into the off-hand position shooting stance, I then leaned out six inches, sighted Wilbur, made a clicking sound with my tongue to get his attention (and cause him to stand up), aimed for his head and pulled the trigger. A “put” sound a third of a second later told the story–my hollow-head Crow Magnum pellet had hit the target in the chest, two inches lower than the aim point. Fifty-one yards off-hand--what shot!

But–-and this is the fly in the ointment of all air rifle woodchuck hunters–-after getting knocked off his feet by a heart shot, Wilbur still managed to scamper the three feet to his hole. The only objection evidence I have that his wound was fatal is that he has not been seen for the last week chomping on the neighbor’s garden. But that is cold comfort to a varmint hunter who wants to see the immediate and unequivocal result of his handiwork.

The .25-caliber Kodiak has been such an unvarnished joy to use because of its greatly increased range (an extra 18 yards) and much higher terminal ballistics–-shorthand for saying it packs a mean wallop at a distance that .177-cal air rifles too often tend to annoy game rather than kill it.

But the shock of getting hit hard with a .25-caliber hollow-head slug may disguise the fact that you have not made a lethal hit. The Woodchuck can lie there motionless while you all-too-casually re-cock and reload. It can then suddenly wake-up to limp off to its hole. Thus, if you are not certain of your shot placement, an immediate second shot may be a valuable way to guarantee that a quick kill has indeed been achieved.

(BTW: Another shock may be the one you experience when you zero your Kodiak in the sitting position--and then try to shoot game in the standing (offhand) position. You suddenly find you can't hit a thing. The reason for this annoying anomaly is partially the added difficulty of shooting off-hand, but a significant contributing factor be may be that you are holding the Kodiak in a different way standing than sitting. High-powered spring-piston air rifles are particularly sensitive to hold consistency. See Diagram 11 at this fascinating site for the explanation.)

During my tramp through the brush, I noticed that the barrel clamp swivel of the Kodiak must be offset 15-degrees to one side in order to avoid (as I did not) scratching the cocking lever.

The safety was very handy–a large sliding button directly at the back of the receiver--easy and natural to use with the thumb of lefties and righties.

The trigger is a two-stage version. Pull back against a slight back-pressure until you feel a noticeable detent. That’s the end of Stage 1 (and is the adjustable part). Then, with your finger tip (not the crook), apply pressure while the crosshairs dance in small ovals over the target. At some point the rifle will fire. And if you were holding it so that its small motions were continuously maintained within the kill zone of the target, you will always make your shot. This unavoidable motion (for a hand-held gun) is the same for all guns. But, because your kill zone is much larger with a .25-cal pellet, your freedom to be less than perfect–-to describe larger ovals-- is always greater with that caliber. Of course the trick is to practice, practice, practice, until the big crosshair motions become small crosshair motions–and remain within the clean kill zone. Shooting from the off-hand position (i.e., standing) is the most difficult, with the most unwanted rifle motion. (Thus the thrill at my 51-yard shot.)

Overall Impression

The first impression of the Beeman Kodiak air rifle is the one that remains with you. This is a large, powerful gun of exquisite quality. Nothing detracts from this first impression as time goes on, from the smooth shooting right out of the box, to the unsurpassed degree of practical accuracy down range. Be sure to use a solid one-piece scope mount and a high-quality telescopic sight. With that outfit, you’ll be assured of years of long-range, flat-trajectory, high-impact hunting that is as close to center-fire shooting as you can find. And you’ll nail a lot of varmints in the process.