BRK Brocock Ranger XR Test Review
BRK Brocock Ranger XR Test Review
Mark Camoccio of GunMart Magazine gets to grips with a particularly small airgun from Brocock.
"It's an exercise in miniaturization!"
New Baby
The Ranger XR is Brocock’s new baby. Quite literally a ‘baby’ in fact! With its telescopic stock and dinky dimensions, it’ll fit into a small rucksack.
First impressions
My test rifle came in the usual boldly emblazoned protective box. And I did a double-take on first sight. The Ranger XR comes without a silencer and, at just 27.3 in (adjustable) in length, looks pretty small. So, should we feel short-changed from its £1,244 asking price? Yes, that’s a significant amount, but look closer and this model has a raft of features aimed at a particular sector of the market.
Feature-laden
For a start, we get that slick side-lever action, their new style of magazine (11 shot mags in .22 caliber and 13 shots in .177), manometer, threaded muzzle, regulated action and variable power. Build quality is impressive overall too, and whilst practical non-glare metal finishes may lack the panache of chemical bluing, who can argue with their practicality?
BRK Brocock Ranger XR Test
BRK Brocock Ranger XR Test: Airgun World editor, Terry Doe, evaluates this compact new PCP air rifle with telescopic butt and power adjuster
Compact and Light
If you want a tactical rifle, how about one that fits into a rucksack? And one that is so light, you hardly know it’s there?
Then what about adding proven performance? And a regulated action, silenced discharge, multi-shot, sidelever pellet delivery. Let’s throw in an adjustable stock while we’re at it. Sounds good, eh? It certainly would be a fine thing, especially when the whole deal is built into a super-tough, matt-black chassis, designed for practicality in the field. Oh… and how about a mega-affordable price tag, too?
Well, we can’t have everything, I guess. But the new Brocock Ranger XR is all of the above – and also quite a bit more – apart from a budget price. This rifle comes in at £1,244, without the silencer and Dual Side Rail Picatinny scope mounting platform fitted to my test rifle.
The package
The company that owns BRK Brocock also owns Daystate. Yet Brocock is no ‘Daystate lite’. These rifles are high-spec’, precision items, with their own identity, and they carry a price tag to match. Let’s see what else is contained within the Ranger XR package…
First, let’s deal with the rifle’s name. That was inspired, in part, by the input of well-known Red Squirrel Ranger, Jerry Moss. He works to preserve our native red squirrel population via the Penrith & District Red Squirrel Group. Part of Jerry’s duties involve controlling the numbers of invasive grey squirrels that have taken over the native reds’ habitat. The greys also carry a virus that is deadly to the red squirrels. So removing greys is a vital task.
Jerry walks miles through woodland, often over rough ground, to visit and top up feeding stations. So Jerry needs a convenient, lightweight rifle that can be carried in a backpack. This leaves his hands free to fill, service and repair the feeders.
Jerry’s ideal rifle had to be easily transportable and also practical. Ready to go in seconds, and totally accurate when deployed. As he shoots from hides, confined spaces and vehicles, Jerry’s rifle also needs to be super-compact rifle. Does such a rifle exist?
Yes – enter the Brocock Ranger XR…
Jerry Moss and the Brocock Ranger XR
Jerry Moss and the Brocock Ranger XR: I've been involved in the BRK Brocock Ranger XR project for months. And in that time, I've used a prototype rifle to control grey squirrel numbers over my areas around Cumbria.
In chats over the years with Tony at Brocock, we have often talked about a small compact rifle, so when Tony contacted me to say let’s see what we can do I was delighted to be involved.
There are numerous reasons why I was looking for that compact rifle. In my work as a red squirrel conservation ranger, I walk miles. Through woods and forests in search of the grey pests. So, having a lightweight compact rifle would be helpful. Also, the rifle fits in a small backpack with its stock folded. Other reasons are shooting greys at feeding areas using either a hide or from my pick up, the small short rifle is a bonus in confined spaces.
The ranger I have been using is in sub12 .177 and with a shot count of around 35 thanks to the onboard Huma reg is more than enough for me and my daily work in fact sometimes that’s fine for over a week.
Why control Grey Squirrels in the UK?
Long ago, red squirrels were all over Great Britain. Nowadays, they are only seen in a few wooded areas in:
- The North of England
- West Wales
- Many parts of Scotland.
- Anglesey
- The Isle of Wight
- Brownsea Island
- Thetford Forest in Norfolk
Red squirrels have been found in England since the end of the last Ice Age and are part of our native fauna. The non-native grey squirrel was introduced to England in the late 1870s from America and is the primary cause of the decline of the red squirrel.
It does so by out-competing red squirrels for food in deciduous and mixed woodlands and by transmitting a disease ‘squirrel pox, the squirrel Parapoxvirus, which is lethal to red squirrels.
Who is Jerry Moss?
Jerry Moss is a professional pest controller and a member of the Penrith and district red squirrel group in Cumbria UK. For the last 18 years, he has been working to support the Red Squirrel populations in the Whinfell Forest area of Cumbria. An area of outstanding natural beauty.