Daystate Wolverine R HP .25 Field Review/Hunt

Several weeks ago I received the Daystate Wolverine R High Powered .25 PCP Airgun from Airguns Of Arizona. This is an exciting new rifle they were kind enough to sponsor me to field review. Over the past year I have been lucky enough to shoot several Daystate Models but this would be my first time doing a true full field review. My goal for these reviews is to show how these rifles function under heavy field conditions and to find out things about them never found from the bench. My first impression of the Wolverine out of the box was “WOW” stunning looking rifle.

DAYSTATE WOLVERINE R HP .25

The Daystate Wolverine 2 Huma side lever represents a new direction by Daystate to give the USA shooters features and models we require . Daystate has engineered the side lever system into the new Wolverine 2 breech block. This side lever reduces the cocking effort and adds speed to the loading cycle. The lever can be positioned on the right or left hand side to make a true ambidextrous rifle. Daystate has listened to the demands of the shooter to incorporate a regulated firing system . The design team at Daystate has chosen to work in partnership with the HUMA company and use a OEM regulator for the Wolverine application. Huma is well known as one of the finest regulators for sporting and target air rifles. When firing the Wolverine HUMA the pressure in the plenum chamber is a constant throughout the rifles air supply until the pressure in the rifles  is at or below the regulator pressure setting. This setting is adjustable by the shooter to tune the rifle to a desired performance level. The factory settings give a combination of maximum power and consistent shots per fill of the rifle. The regulator and air supply pressure is displayed by individual gauges. The patented sling shot hammer makes sure every last bit of air is used efficiently with no waste for maximum accuracy. The Daystate Wolverine 2 is available with two stock options a beautifully finished select walnut or a sporty laminate. Both stock choices are ambidextrous with a thumb up or through feature with finger grooves and shooter inspired stippling panels. The but pad is adjustable to provide the best head position according to the shooters style of shooting and physical requirements. The Wolverine has been accuracy tested to give benchrest and target grade as well has long range hunting or pest control performance.  The new Wolverine 2 HUMA will inspire pride of ownership and years of shooting satisfaction all backed by a 5 year transferable warranty.

STATS

Our first step after looking over the rifle was to clean the barrel and to get familiar with the various features. First I took a look at the sidelever that is one of the more obvious features and one of the smoothest I’ve ever encountered on a PCP Airgun.

This sidelever is able to be switched over from the right to the left side so it fits well with left or right handed shooters. I was able to cock the rifle with one finger, very smooth with very well designed leverage system. The other unique feature to look at while we’re here is the 10 shot rotary magazine. This magazine has a pin in it that will engage when a pellet is in the chamber making it impossible to accidentally double load. This is a key feature of making a great field rifle! Moving on I took a look at the 11mm dovetail rail that’s pretty standard and has nice clean grooves and metal finish.

Moving along I took a look at the match two stage trigger that’s adjustable in just about every way, can even adjust the camber on the trigger shoe for a more customizable feel.

This trigger is no doubt one of the best that I have seen on a rifle. Moving back behind the breech is where the manual switch safety is located, very straight forward design and works well with my thumb.

The but pad is adjustable up and down with some camber adjustment to really fine tune how the rifle shoulders, for me it was great out of the box.

The Daystate Wolverine is equipped with two gauges located on the right side of the rifle just behind the 480cc carbon fiber bottle. The first gauge is the fill pressure, this rifle can fill to 250 bar or 3,625psi and is capable of about 50 shots in .25 caliber.

Next to the fill pressure is the HUMA regulator pressure gauge that’s set just over 150 bar. This is a great location for both these gauges as it makes it easy to keep check on the health of the rifle.

Moving forward of the Wolverine I took a look at the shroud that’s fitted with 1/2″UNF threads allowing a wide variety of moderators to be fitted. Airguns Of Arizona outfitted me with a 0db moderator that had a tan cerakote and adds 6.3″ to the length. Underneath the shroud is the 23″ LW Polygonal barrel, a beautifully machined one at that.

These barrels are from my experience very accurate and fit well into the high powered models. Through testing I have found these barrels like to be shot fast and therefore work well with both pellets and slugs.

The overall length of the Wolverine with the moderator is 50″ so it’s not short at all, the carbon bottle keeps things balanced out very well though. Considering it’s length the gun shoulders very well and has great balance. The stock shoulders wonderfully and has a very burly robust feel to it. It’s not often you see such strength put into laminate stocks, this looks to be a winner. The following day I drove several hours into the mountains where I would put the rifle to work on some targets, and to get familiar with how it shoots in windy conditions.

The scope that Airguns Of Arizona outfitted me with was an MTC Optics Viper Pro 5-30×50 FFP scope with side focus. This in all honesty was a bit more than I needed for hunting situations but works well for most all target shooting applications. The scope has lockable turrets and very noticeably smooth magnification adjustment, easier than most scopes I’ve used. For the 100 yard shooting I never had is set beyond 13 power and did much enjoy the SCB2 Christmas Tree styled reticle. I tried several pellets and found that most in the 25gr weight range worked well. The JSB Exact Kings 25.39’s shot fabulous but unfortunately I had forgotten a new tin at home so finished up with the Air Arms Diabolo Field 25.4gr that shot just about the same.

Fill Pressure: 250 BAR, Pellet: JSB 25.39gr averaged 48 fpe over 50 shots through the chronograph. The Wolverine shoots very well off bags, the stock handles a front and rear bag very well. The buttstock of the rifle has a small indentation that fits a rear bag very well. I zeroed the rifle at 50 yards and proceeded to get comfortable with the rifle out to 100.

I was very pleased with the 100 yard 10 shot group, the HUMA regulator worked well to keep the speed close. I think with some more practice I could have definitely improved my groups but was more than pleased with my results. This gun shoots so well and was happy that I had a little time to spend before heading out to hunt.

• Very good fit and finish
• Smooth Sidelever (Best I’ve Used)
• Great trigger, highly adjustable
• Accurate
• Great Shot Count
• Very Strong Stock
• Anti Double Load
• Quiet
• Easy to fill
• Easy to read gauges
• 5 Year Warranty

        CONS

• Weight (Bit heavy)
• Internally Adjustable