The New Ataman BP17 And Other New Products at IWA 2017.

Another highlight of the 2017 IWA Show was the appearance of a prototype Ataman BP17 air rifle. At least that’s what it may be called, when the gun finally reaches volume production!

In our heading photograph, above, Ataman’s Dealer Network Director, Rustam Nadyrov, shows us the appearance of this exciting new bullpup PCP air rifle. Here’s a close-up…

The Ataman BP17 has a side lever cocking mechanism mounted at the front of the gun. This ambidextrous cocking system is linked back to the receiver of previous Ataman air pistols, locate at the rear of the stock. Rustam tells HAM that the plan is for the Ataman BP17 to be available in .22 caliber and, possibly, also .25 caliber.

The barrel is approximately 15-inches long and there’s a built-in silencer. A Weaver/Picatinny rail is provided up-front to attach a scope. Muzzle Energy will be around 30 Ft/Lbs, says Rustam.

He also says that the regulated action will provide about 30 shots per fill of the 4,350 PSI High Pressure Air tank.

At least from my perspective, the Ataman BP17 prototype looks like it will be one mean-looking air rifle! No pricing is available at the present time, but this gun is not likely to be cheap. The aim date for shipping is towards the end of 2017. But it is possible that one will be traveling to the Pyramid Air Cup this Summer with Rustam. I’m planning to meet him there…

Above. A new introduction from Weihrauch at the 2017 IWA Show was the HW 44 PCP air pistol. This side lever-cocking air pistol will be available in both .177 and .22 calibers. There’s an integrated 10-shot magazine and a two-stage adjustable match trigger.

Around 20 shots at full power are claimed for the US-spec, full power version.

The Weihrauch HW 44 is a large air pistol. But it’s also remarkably compact considering the complexity of the action. By using a synthetic receiver – much like the HW 110 air rifle, Herr Weihrauch told me that his company has been able to keep the weight of this new air pistol down, yet retain structural strength.

Below, Michael Sick of Weihrauch shows us the HW 44 air pistol.

Also new from Weihrauch in 2017 is a high power version of the HW 110 air rifle that was first announced at IWA last year. This model – the HW 110 ST – gives around a claimed 35 shots per fill at 970 FPS in .22 caliber. As well as the expected .177 caliber, this new air rifle is also to be available in a .20 caliber version.

Availability dates are likely to be around mid-year for the HW 110ST air rifle and later in the year for the HW 44 air pistol.

Talking of airgun pellets for a moment, H&N always has a large presence at the IWA Show, as you can see below.

Although there’s no new pellet designs from H&N this year – there’s plenty enough already, after all – the company is changing the design of its pellet tin labels. Now different color highlights rapidly and clearly indicate the caliber to the shooter, as we can see below.

And lurking quietly on the booth of Chinese OEM manufacturer Snowpeak was this interesting black box.

Although details were difficult to establish (largely due to communication issues – hey my Chinese is not very good!) – this is a prototype for a small, low cost High Pressure Air compressor. It is designed to be attached to a car battery and is designed to top-up the tank of a PCP air rifle, rather than  filling a large “SCUBA-type” tank.

And there seems to be a dessicant system built into the connector to provide that all-important dry air into a PCP airgun. That’s the black cylindrical thing between the black and silver boxes.

This compressor is just one example of some of the innovative thought that’s being displayed by some Chinese airgun manufacturers.

In the next HAM report from IWA 2017, we’ll cover a very interesting and innovative new Chinese PCP air rifle. This is the American Tactical HP-M1000 air rifle, powered by Nova Vista. This gun incorporates no less than 10 patent pending technologies, including some that are a first for an airgun, so far as I know.

Check back tomorrow for more details…