NEW Brocock Atomic XR Pistol

There is nothing better in a reviewers life than to hear that a new product has been released. Generally that means that we have something new to look forward to testing out. However this is a special day! Well like many of you, I saw the new Atomic XR pistol/carbine that was released yesterday from Brocock and Airguns of Arizona. Also like many of you, I took to my keyboard to find out as much information as possible during my lunch break at work. Then it happened, I drove home to find one of those ever so lovely brown boxes at my doorstep and inside it was the Brocock Atomic XR in .22 caliber! What was I to do? This beautiful new, and I do mean NEW, Brocock Atomic XR pistol was now my care. So I did what any red blooded American airgunner would do. I set it up, ran it through some preliminary testing and got the Atomic XR ready for fun. Before we get too deep into this review, let’s take a look at some of the specifics. The pistol comes in .22 caliber and will be released in .177 in the near future. Power wise we are looking at an adjustable 4 - 20 ft-lbs, an overall length of 14.5”, Huma regulated air cylinder, two stage adjustable trigger, dovetail scope rail, picatinny accessory rail for a bipod,1/2x20 threaded barrel, smooth side lever action and a power adjuster on the side of the breach. Those aren't even the best features! There are three more features that take this offering to the next level. The first one is the newly designed magazine that has been out for a few months already, but is now included with the Atomic XR as well as a single shot tray. The second feature is the dial it up hammer spring power adjuster on the back of the pistol. This feature is precision made by Air Superiority Products, includes an easy read window with numerical markings and built in easily repeatable clicks so you know exactly where you are dialed in to. Saving the best for last is the transformational carbine feature. This thing includes the ability to become your next favorite backpack airgun with an AR style tube and stock. So you're not only buying a pistol, you're buying an air rifle too! With this out of the way, let's checkout some of my preliminary testing. First and foremost, the two stage trigger is smooth and provides no discernible creep that I could feel. It has a nice crisp break at 5.3 oz. Of course this is first stage and second stage adjustable so you can get it to your liking. The pistol as sent, was shooting at 18 ft-lbs of energy with a standard deviation of 8.6 fps and an average speed of 669 fps using .22 caliber 18.13 grain Daystate Sovereign pellets. Remember that this can all be adjusted and easily tuned with the power adjuster so results will surely differ between pistols. Now what I found really interesting is that when I installed the shoulder stock to make it into a carbine, the power changed. Hopefully this has you scratching your head a bit as it did me. Then I had a light bulb moment. The stock has a different hammer spring adjuster. This means that I can have two go to setups for different purposes. Let’s take a second and explore why this is a valuable feature. If you are out in the yard and protecting your bird feeder from those pesky sparrows, ratting in the barn, or plinking in the backyard, 20 ft-lbs could be overkill overkill. What if you are an avid field target shooter or just looking to get in the sport? Well this pistol would work lovely as a hunter field target rifle in .177 (upto 20 foot lbs) and then taking off the stock and replacing it with the pistol power adjuster, you would be ready for your first pistol field target event (upto 12 ft-lbs). No need for multiple guns, this one can do both providing you with both quality, precision and value. Talking about this is killing me as I have yet to take it to the range and shoot. So without further ado, that is exactly what I am off to do. So we are going to pause here, and hit the range. When I return next time you will get to see it’s accuracy and just how fun this Atomic pistol, or should I say cabine really is. Until next time, may your trigger pull stay smooth, your pellet fly straight and we will see you next time on the airgun advisor.