Black Bunker BM8 – The Most Innovative Airgun At IWA 2023
Of course there’s many new, innovative airguns at the IWA 2023 show. But the Black Bunker BM8 is the one that really impressed me with its incredible innovation!
The BM8 is a survival airgun. It’s intended entirely for preppers and outdoor enthusiasts who want a compact, easily transported survival tool.
What is revolutionary is the physical format of the Black Bunker BM8. When not in use, it folds up into a triangular package that can be easily carried by hand, in a ruck sack or in a truck. That’s it in our heading photograph above, being demonstrated by Martin Stelling from Black Bunker.
Close-up, we see that the BM8 achieves its triangular form factor by pivoting the barrel, stock and action around a rugged storage case.
As the sections pivot out, the BM8 becomes recognizably an airgun!
And now we have it. Thanks Martin!
Action-wise, the Black Bunker BM8 is a gas ram, break barrel air rifle that’s to be available in .177 and .22 calibers. Possibly .25 cal also.
The performance specs call for up to 1,050 FPS in .177 caliber or 850 FPS in .22. Both figures are with lead pellets, Martin tells us.
“Unpacked”, the overall length is 42.7 Inches, with a weight of 7.5 Lbs.
To be available in a choice of black or tan colors, the BM8’s furniture is glass reinforced polymer. The top Picatinny rail is for scope mounting. However open sights are built-in, as you would expect for a survival gun.
And then there’s the storage case…
This opens to reveal a surprisingly-large amount of space. It’s suitable for containing – for example – a survival knife.
If required, that survival knife can be attached to the barrel for use as a bayonet!
Sure, this is not the first bayonet-equipped air rifle that we’ve seen. However it is the first one where the bayonet is intended for utility and not for show. We’re taking survival here, after all!
Martin told me that the Black Bunker BM8 samples being displayed at the IWA Show were prototypes but that production models could be available as soon as Summer 2023.
Perhaps most surprising of all is that this outstandingly-innovative air rifle is not the product of an airgun company! (However they do have a strong background in the paintball industry).
Black Bunker is a brand of Koor Outdoors Inc., based in Indiana. You will be able to find out more on the company’s web site at www.koreoutdoor.com in future.
