Gun test: Norica Marvic 2.0 Luxe

It’s been a while since we’ve had a springer on the cover of Air Gunner, or indeed gone all ‘Big Test’ on one. So, I’m more than happy to reveal to you the rather magnificent Marvic 2.0 Luxe from Spanish manufacturer Norica. Costing a little under £300, it’s a real contender in the mid-priced springer market. Here’s why…

Norica Marvic 2.0 Luxe features

This rifle is packed full of great features, most of which you can see as soon as you take it out of the box. Perhaps the most obvious is the adjustable cheekpiece – which for someone like me makes all the difference when attaching a scope to the rail and customising gun fit. Yes, there’s a 11mm dovetail rail on top for those who want to dive straight in with a scope, but I would ask you to have a play with the provided open sights first – they are absolutely superb, and very easily and finely adjustable.

There’s a vented buttpad, which helps absorb the recoil, of which there is a fair amount from this rifle, thanks to the powerful German steel spring. Talking of which, there is a scope arrestor block fitted at the rear of the dovetail, which is most definitely needed if you want to put a scope on top.

Everything about this rifle says quality. Norica prides itself on their quality of manufacturing, using the best material available and still managing to keep costs down. For instance, the solid steel breech is machined from a single bar of the best quality steel available. They also house the front fibreoptic post in a steel shroud to prevent damage, and it’s little things like this that make the Marvic what it is – a fantastic hunting tool.

The vaporized beech stock is solid and helps balance the inner workings beautifully. It’s a long rifle, but the centre point of balance is exactly where they have etched the chequering on the fore grip. I really like the grips, both fore and on the pistol grip – there’ll be no problems here in the wet.

Norica Marvic 2.0 Luxe trigger

This rifle features the NATS system – Norica Adjustable Trigger System. It allows you to easily adjust the first and stage travel length, as well as the pull weight, which comes set at around a pound from the factory. I also found the two pre-set stages to need no adjustment, with a reasonably long first stage that comes to an abrupt halt, before the final squeeze of the second stage that gives a clean, crisp release with no creep. It’s a very easy trigger to get used to.

Inside the trigger guard is where you’ll also find the automatic safety lever. This is reset each time the rifle is cock, and the lever moves back towards the trigger to be in the ‘safe’ position, so you have to manually push it forwards with your trigger finger before taking your shot. If you take the safety off and then don’t want to make a shot, you can simply pull it back again to make the rifle safe.

Shooting the Norica Marvic 2.0 Luxe

You may have noticed from the photos that I’m now able to shoot a little from the kneeling position – even though it’s a right old job getting back up onto my feet again. It’s all part of my rehabilitation plan after three months of inactivity due to my bad back, and it seems to be working. I was actually shocked last month at how much my shooting skills had slipped from not firing a single shot in over 11 weeks, which really drives home the importance of weekly shooting training, just to ‘keep your eye in’. You don’t have to go mad, just 30 or 40 shots once or twice a week is enough to keep things fresh in your mind and keep your already honed skills from wavering.

I had hoped to be able to drive again by now, or at least be able to make longer treks in the car as a passenger, but that too is something that I’m continuing to work on, so this month I spent an hour or two per day in my back garden range testing this particular rifle. I also had a few friends over to shoot it too, as well as my eldest daughter, Mia.

Cocking the rifle was my first concern because this is a full power springer, and its brand new, which usually means a fair few cocking cycles before it begins to loosen up slightly and settle down, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to cock for such a high powered rifle. As usual, it’s the initial break that requires the most effort, but the long barrel and added grip at the end of the barrel makes drawing it back and cocking a doddle. Pushing the barrel back up requires minimal effort, as does pushing it all shut to close the breech.

I spent a couple of days messing about with the open sights, mostly because that’s always a good indication of consistent accuracy and because my daughter Mia prefers to shoot open sights. The fibreoptics at the rear are that really bright green/yellow colour and they really stand out, even in low light, whilst the shrouded post at the forend is a red fibreoptic dot. Both front and rear sights are adjustable, with minute increments for both, allowing you to really tune this rifle in to make it super accurate. For close-ish range out to maybe 25 yards you can get some really tight groups.

Incidentally, the rifle I have here is a .22 model, and after wading through a few brands of pellets I settled on H&N Field Target Trophy, which this particular rifle really likes. I was knocking over spinners and resetters in no time at all, and even on paper the Marvic 2.0 performed really well.

After a couple of days with open sights I slapped a 3-9 x 40 scope on top of the 11mm dovetail rail, which also has a rather nice arrestor block fitted to prevent the mounts from slipping – a more common problem on powerful springers than you might think! Once dialled in I was really surprised at just how accurate this rifle is, and with just a 22fps deviation through a bunch of 20-shot strings, I’d be more than happy to take this rifle out into the field in search of a few rabbits or pigeons. I love the fact that it has an adjustable cheekpiece too. Not only is this really functional, it sets the aesthetics off a treat and makes the Marvik 2.0 really look the part.  

Test conslusion

For the money - less than £300 - this is a great addition to any collection, or a ‘step-up’ rifle for those wishing to add a touch more refinement, power and capability to their hunting. It’s also a great first rifle for those wishing to start off seriously in the world of airgunning. This is a very powerful springer, kicking out a consistent 11.4 ft.lbs during my testing. It also ‘shouts’ each time you shoot it, with a hefty ‘crack’ at the muzzle – I love it!

Tech Specs

Model: Marvic 2.0 Luxe
Manufacturer: Norica
Distributor: Edgar Brothers
Type: Spring-piston, single shot
Stock Material: Vaporized beech wood
Cocking: Break-barrel
Trigger: Two-stage, adjustable
Safety: Automatic
Calibres: .177 and .22
Overall Length: 1180mm (46.4in)
Barrel Length: 484mm (19.1in)
Weight: 3.3kg (7.2lbs)
Sights: Open fibreoptic, plus dovetail rail
Energy of Test Rifle: Avg 11.4 ft.lbs. over 20 shots Variation (10 shots): 22fps
Website: www.edgarbrothers.com
PRICE: £299