It’s been a long time coming, but I can tell you all right now it has certainly been worth the wait. BSA has just launched their new R12 CLX Pro, and it’s going to be an absolutely massive seller for them.
There are only three things on this rifle that have been used in previous BSA PCPs, those being the excellent trigger system, the famous cold-hammer forged barrel and the air bottle – everything else has been designed, developed and manufactured from scratch! Available in both standard and carbine lengths in both .177 and .22 (more calibres are planned), let’s see what all the fuss is about.
NEW REGULATOR!
The first thing of note is that BSA has developed a completely new regulator for this rifle. It delivers lower internal stress loading, greater stability and in turn reduced wear. It’s no secret that a few of the old BSA regulators had minor problems, but this new design is going to change all that.
The 280cc bottle is nothing new, and there are plans afoot for a 400cc bottle too. I’ve seen a lot of comments on social media asking for a carbon-fibre bottle - it seems that’s what a lot of shooters want these days. For me, I can do without the aesthetics and couple of grams weight that a carbon bottle saves, my main criterion is that the rifle performs, and boy does this rifle perform!
Using the BSA Goldstar pellets provided, I was putting pellet on pellet at 30 yards with the .22 rifle I was sent for review. It usually takes me a great deal of testing time to find a pellet that each particular review rifle I test likes, so I was chuffed to bits when I started hitting my mark with pinpoint accuracy with the tin supplied.
I did, of course, try some different brands down the barrel, but there was little deviation in accuracy, which is testament to just how good this rifle actually is.
NEW BLOCK AND SIDELEVER
One of the key design features is the new ‘mono-block’ platform, which the entire gun is based around. Using a single piece of machined alloy has allowed BSA to reduce the number of components required to build this rifle, which in turn reduces its complexity and helps improve reliability and performance.
On one side of the block you’ll find the loading port for BSA’s rather excellent 12-shot CLX magazine, which incidentally provides 12 shots for both .177 and .22 calibres. These self-indexing mag’s are really easy to load and they feature a large ‘countdown’ window that is clearly visible, telling you how many shots you have left in the mag’
On the other side of the mono-block is the final piece of the puzzle, the sidelever.
With the huge success of the Ultra CLX, it was clear that more BSA customers wanted a sidelever cocking mechanism, so BSA listened and has delivered.
It’s a short-stroke lever, barely pulling back past 90 degrees, and the operation is silky smooth as well as being near silent. The 30mm-long drop handle rotates freely on the lever, and has a stippling effect for added grip, and although I’m a bit of a bolt-action purist, I absolutely love this new sidelever.
On the very rear of the block you’ll find the new manual safety lever. In the upright position it’s in ‘safe’ mode, but a quick flick to the left and you’re ready to fire. I was expecting a ‘click’ as I switched from ‘safe’ to ‘fire’, but there wasn’t one. It’s got some sort of dampener in there that makes it almost silent. It’s very positive though, and very easy to operate.
NEW FORE END
I’m the proud owner of an R10se Super Carbine and an R10TH, and they are superb rifles, with one minor niggle – the fill port is slightly too close to the pre-fitted sling stud. This means that when you attach a bipod you have to take it off again to fill the rifle. That’s really not too much of a problem because you get so many shots per fill, but yet again BSA listened to feedback and they have shifted the fill port a little further back from the sling stud on the R12. Not only that, they’ve designed a completely new fill port cover. It’s a rather ingenious little rubberised plastic disc that fits over the fill gauge and covers the fill port. It’s held on with three strong magnets and is slightly recessed when attached, so there’s no chance of you knocking it off out in the field. It’s the subtle design tweaks like this that make the R12 stand out from all previous incarnations.
I’ll quickly mention the trigger here. It doesn’t really need any introduction, but it is three-way-adjustable for pull length, lateral and radial positions. The blade is nice and wide, and it comes set with a long first stage, with a very crisp release and absolutely no creep whatsoever. It’s one of my favourite hunting triggers, for sure.
SEXY, ADJUSTABLE STOCK
The new R12 is available with either a walnut stock or a rather sexy ‘Black Pepper’ laminate, both of which are crafted by Minelli in Italy. Who doesn’t like a thumbhole stock? It’s sleek, feels great and looks the part to boot. The pistol grip has also been ergonomically designed to fit all hand sizes - everyone I have shown the rifle to has commented on how comfortable it is to hold. I think the ‘honeycomb’ stippling throughout also adds to the feel of this rifle, it’s very grippy indeed.
Then there’s the soft-touch, adjustable cheekpiece/comb, which feels really nice up against your cheek. Having the option to raise and lower the cheek piece is a brilliant addition to the stock, and it means you can use either low or high mounts depending on the scope you choose.
These rifles feature BSA’s CCS (Customer Configurable Shroud) system. Because the barrel is shrouded, you may well have to use high mounts for scopes with a 50mm lens, or you can simply remove the shroud. It’s extremely easy to do, and it’s just another level of customisation that can be performed by the user.
The same goes for the multi-adjustable butt pad. Not only does it move in the vertical plane, like most other rifles, but it can also move in the horizontal plane, all by unscrewing a single Allen bolt with the key provided.
This means that the R12 stocks can be completely customised to suit just about every body shape – in effect, you can fine-tune this rifle to give you the perfect fit.
I’ve already mentioned the addition of a 400cc bottle, and the fore end of both stocks has been designed in such a way to accommodate these larger bottles with no modifications required.
WOULD I BUY ONE?
I’ve been really lucky to have had this rifle a month prior to the launch, and I’ve spent countless hours on the range with it. Anyone who knows me will also know that I have a soft spot for BSA R10s, and including those, nearly all the rifles that I own are .177s, which is my preferred hunting calibre.
However, the guys at BSA know this and sent me a .22 on purpose to take me out of my comfort zone! I’m really glad they did, because having put a fair few thousand shots through this rifle already, I’m more than confident that I can use it in place of my trusty .177 when out hunting. I’ve long been an advocate of .177 for hunting, mostly due to the increased accuracy at varying ranges, but I’m finding this .22 R12 to be just as consistent. I may well revisit this rifle in a future issue in a hunting scenario, but for now I can’t wait to get out on the rabbits with this new .22 model.
If you’ve been toying with the idea of buying a new rifle, then I really can’t recommend this new R12 CLX Pro enough. It really does tick all the boxes for me, it’s got the looks, functional design and performance that you’d expect from a top-notch British manufacturer.
A massive ‘Well Done’ to the BSA R&D team, engineers and of course the bigwigs in head office. You’ve done us all proud with the R12.
Tech specs
Model: R12 CLX Pro (Standard)
Manufacturer: BSA
Type: PCP, multi-shot rotary mag’
Stock Material: Ambidextrous, Walnut or Black Pepper laminate
Cocking: Sidelever
Trigger: Two-stage, adjustable
Safety: Manual
Calibres: .177 and .22
Overall Length: 1020mm (40in)
Barrel Length: 390mm (15.5in)
Weight: 3.78kg (8.3lbs) without scope
Fill Pressure: 230 bar
Shots Per Fill: 250 (.177), 280 (.22)
Energy of Test Rifle: Avg 11.4 ft.lbs. over 20 shots
Variation (20 shots): 6fps
Website: www.bsaguns.co.uk
RRP: Walnut £1,215; Black Pepper £1,265