We've waiting ages & the barra is finally here
It has been a long time coming and we weren’t even sure if we could add this to our range but we were delighted when we heard that Barra airguns (a US company) were importing their replicas to the UK. Almost a year later we finally got our hands on 2 examples and put them out on the Wild West Experience for our customers to enjoy.
After a fair amount of use Adam (who is now obsessed with this rifle) filmed a review for YouTube to discuss the good, the bad, and of course the ugly points about this rifle.
Honestly he has shot this so much, I doubt that there’s anything that he doesn’t know about it! You can go straight in and watch the video below or carry on reading about our findings.
what is it?
This replica air gun is powered by 2x CO2 capsules and comes as a smooth bore (with an optional rifled barrel upgrade) suitable for either 3.5mm steel BBs or .177 lead pellets. This is a fun replica designed for hitting tin cans and therefore not as powerful as a regular air rifle and shouldn’t be used as such.
The design is a tribute to the Winchester underlever rifle produced in 1866 which originally was a black powder cartridge rifle with a brass frame which gave it the nickname “The Yellow Boy”. This replica has a beautiful octagonal barrel which is a little closer to the later 1873 model but let’s not let that get in the way! The rest of the rifle is quite accurate to the original.
design
This rifle is an all metal design and as you pick it up your first impressions are that it is solid, well made and with a good weight behind it. The main internals we suspect are the same as the Umarex “Cowboy rifle” which is an equivalent but that’s about where the crossovers end.
The brass frame isn’t actually brass though it is metal and the lever action is very solid and definite as you rack it.
The faux wood stock is beautifully made and you would at first glance easily be fooled into thinking it is real wood rather than plastic. However the stock hides the CO2 and closes with a lovely hinged metal butt plate inscribed with “1866”.
The trigger is 2-stage and has a nice pull on it. The hammer cocks as you use the lever and the built in safety switch between the lever and the stock works reasonably well to ensure the rifle isn’t accidentally discharged. We say “reasonably” as you do have to squeeze the lever quite firmly against the stock as this takes some getting used to.
The sights, front and rear, are fixed and open however the rear sight has a lovely flip up design true to the original to allow for longer distances. The rifle is supplied with a short picatinny rail suitable for a red-dot or similar sight but I think you’ll agree such a modern tool has no place on a lovely historic rifle such as this! Fortunately it is removeable via two little screens. The standard sights are perfect for about 10m which is what we shoot at during the experience days here in Essex. We estimate the lower of the two upper sights to be good for up to around 30m and we have yet to try the top one which will add some serious elevation to your shooting!
The format as with the other replicas we use is utilising the imitation “bullets” where you load the BB or pellet into the back of the shells. These are exactly the same as the shells supplied with the pellet Schofield pistols.
Function
The rifle loads the same as the real counter part holding 10 rounds in the magazine. The magazine is accessed via the loading gate on the right hand side and the shells are inserted one by one. We recommend that you load them almost 90 degrees against the rifle to allow them to find their way into the centre. Leaving each one sticking out ever so slightly to allow the next to push it through into the magazine is the best way as the lever mechanism can sometimes jam the loading gate.
Each round is cycled into the chamber by use of the all metal under lever. Once spent, just like the real firearm, the empty shell is ejected out the top of the frame and onto the floor adding a wonderful realistic effect to the over all experience. You have to be quite forceful and definite in your movement or the round might not get chambered correctly or the empty won’t get ejected. If we had to choose we would say that the Umarex version is smoother to use however the Barra is absolutely true to the original design and based on a much earlier model.
The sights are fairly easy to use and index well, you have to pay close attention to lining up the front site in the bottom notch of the rear sight which is a mini-buckhorn style. The flip up rear sight is in keeping to the original and has two sight settings for distance shooting. Though this is for the back yard market, we were quite impressed with how well the Barra shot at distance! We’d love to see a ladder sight conversion at some point as this would be a lot of fun to shoot with.
Performance
Barra claim you will get 60 shots out of a full quota of gas. You can half gas the rifle if you want to and use an empty cannister as a spacer. Despite having half of the gas, the internals regulate the pressure so you still receive full power for half the shots. For our tests we half gassed it so each test started on a fresh cannister for fair results.
Shooting in fairly warm spring conditions with no wind, we found that you get slightly more shots than claimed which was a nice bonus with around 40 accurate hits.
Using a tripod rest and shooting at a nice easy 10m Adam put 20 BBs into the target with his point of aim consistently right on the centre of the target. Being a smooth bore and with the very nature of BBs it is fair to say that they performed to an acceptable level with all shots on target but BBs certainly proved a challenge for consistency. The first couple of shots were right on point of aim but they gradually spread out over the next 18 shots. Of course the human element can be a big factor and fluctuations in the power as the CO2 cools down the internals can all be considered. But if you are shooting tin cans and aren’t worried about ricochets then there’s nothing wrong with using it as a BB gun.
Moving onto .177 pellets (Excite Hammer) Adam proceeded to repeat the same test with 20 shots with point of aim directly in the centre. As you can see from the picture below, pellets proved significantly more consistent than BBs. If you want to be able to accurately cut a can in half without any bounce backs then clearly pellets are the way forward.
Finally for a bit of fun, Adam tried out the flip up sight and loaded with the same pellets. Placing the target out at 25m and using the lower of the two sights he was able to land plenty of shots on the target by aiming slightly below. Out of all the tests we did this one impressed us the most both in accuracy and consistency. Given that the target was extremely small within the stock sights, we were blown away with how many actually hit dead centre which is a true testament to this rifle.
overall finish
This particular rifle is very well shot now from being front line on our main Cowboy Experience therefore it has had a fair amount of ware and tear. The overall condition is still excellent with the black paintwork holding up well and the faux wood still relatively unscathed.
The only negative is we have noticed that the gold finish on the receiver is actively wearing off and exposing the bare metal underneath. Now on one hand it doesn’t look too bad, given that the original brass versions would have dulled through use. However if you purchase this rifle because you like the look fresh out of the box then be aware that the finish won’t be forever if you handle it. The gold is definitely rubbing off through being handled and given that this is one of the more expensive replicas on the market it is a shame that this has happened so quickly.
There is however an alternative black finished version which no doubt won’t wear quite as dramatically.
You can see how much the golden colour has faded in the picture below comparing the used one on top with one fresh out of a box below
Conclusion
Retailing for £399 here in the UK, the Barra 1866 CO2 replica shell ejecting rifle is a fair investment however one that we certainly do not regret making. This is a very well built and thought out replica airgun and despite the wear previously mentioned, the performance of this rifle really is fantastic, far exceeding expectations for a replica.
If you are wondering whether you should invest in this or the Umarex version, then why not come and compare for yourself on our Wild West Experience!
