I’ve mentioned several times over the years, that a major bonus of my job is meeting remarkable people. Every one of these, uniquely talented men, who I won’t list for fear of leaving at least one out, has left me with memories and takeaway points, and my latest encounter produced exactly that.
I have known this particular remarkable person for over 25 years, as a clubmate and friend, and I always knew he was ‘a bit clever’ when it came to fettling airguns. What I didn’t know, was just how deep his talents ran, but that was all corrected when I went to his home, recently.
Paul O’Donnell is a quietly-spoken, entirely amiable, and helpful chap, with a ready grin and a schoolboy’s sense of humour. Just my sort of chap, really, and we’ve always swapped a bit of banter during our visits to our club at Bisley, or at the various Kempton Park militaria shows we’ve attended. When I learned that Paul had been a bit poorly, I gathered a couple of guns I wanted him to look at for me, and made an appointment for a consultation at his house.
On The Mend
The good news was, Paul was on the mend. He’d been through the mill a bit, to say the least, but the road to recovery was open, and he was on it. We swapped tales of our various medical traumas, as gentlemen of our vintage so often do, and after explaining what I wanted doing with the rifles I’d brought along, I went to say my goodbyes. Paul then said, “Before you go, I’ve got a couple of guns you might be interested in.” The next hour told me far more about my friend Paul, than I’d learned in the previous quarter of a century.
Organised Chaos
Paul’s gun rooms are home to a chaotic collection of airguns, gear and ‘projects in development’, and as rifle after rifle was produced, my head began to spin a bit. I soon knew I had to do a feature on these guns, and after getting Paul’s permission to do that, I scooted out to my car and grabbed my camera from the boot. When I returned, Paul had propped two rifles on a chair for my consideration.
C-Gripped
The first was a totally re-vamped, CO2-powered, Crosman Ratcatcher, complete with a full-length silencer, a PHW - Paul’s Home Workshop – breech block, a brass pellet loading trough, one of Paul’s trigger units, where the sears are replaced with ball-bearings, a modified transfer port, and a stained beech stock mounted on what Paul refers to as a ‘C-grip’ frame. In ‘comfortable’ temperatures, this handy little .22 sporter produces around 35 shots per 12-gramme CO2 capsule, at an extremely healthy 10.2 ft.lbs., and those shots are delivered in an entirely precise, and accuracy-friendly way.
Next to the pimped-out Ratcatcher was another C-gripped carbine, which turned out to have a connection to me, although I’d never have guessed it in a million years. A decade or so ago, I gave Paul a non-functioning, shamefully rusty, Brocock Atomic PCP pistol, rather than consign it to the bin. Paul had used the Brocock as the framework for the development of another anti-rat carbine, and by the time he’d reached the stage of development I was looking at, virtually all of the original Atomic had been replaced.
What evolved from that Brocock DNA, was a PCP carbine, with a fluted barrel shroud – Paul likes those, as we’ll see – an oiled walnut rifle stock, and the super-accurate delivery of pellets that leave the muzzle at a consistent 9 ft.lbs. For reference, the fluted shrouds Paul fits to his specials accommodate reflex silencers that cover around 5 inches of the muzzle end, and channel a large amount of the blast from each shot back into the void of the shroud. It's an amazing system and Paul didn’t want to reveal all at this point, so the rifles are shown sans moderator.
Having A Ball
Several of Paul’s rifles are blessed with a ‘4B’ – Ball-Bearing Breech Bolt’ – an ingenious device that Paul came up with after being annoyed when his conventional bolt handles kept getting snagged in the undergrowth when he was out hunting. The 4B not only rotates if a branch, twig, or clump of vegetation contacts it, the ball has a spring-assisted location system that keeps it in place until the user needs to use it. I may have been a late starter, but I was quickly learning that simple, sturdy, practical ingenuity, is the trademark that runs through the PHW developments.
Rapid Progression
Next up was a mutual favourite, a remarkable Theoben Rapid 12, which Paul had kitted out with a fluted barrel shroud that hid another of his ‘hush-hush’ developments. Inside the shroud was a barrel that had been slimmed down from 16mm to 12mm, and stabilised by an anti-vibrate mechanism Paul has developed, for which his only elaboration was, ‘it stiffens the barrel, and stops it wobbling about, but leaves it free-floating’. The Rapid had also been short-stroked, and Paul’s brother, Mark, himself a talented chap as we’ll see later, had supplied a custom trigger blade.
Ultra Productive
When Paul propped the next rifle on his technical display chair, it took me a while to work out that it was, or at least had been, a BSA Ultra. Now, it was fitted with a 200cc buddy bottle, which produces over 150 shots per charge, at 11.4 ft.lbs., in Paul’s favourite .20 calibre. Inside the rifle, Paul fitted a Tench regulator, and he replaced the Ultra’s MMC cocking device, with his own 4B system.
The result of this is another ultra-handy, incredibly accurate, carbine sporter, that produces more consistent shots than most hunters will ever need for even the most prolific session. Paul loves a technical development as much as any of his clever kind, but his goal is always to make every upgrade earn its keep in terms of practicality and real-world advantage.
Elan-tastic
The Theoben Rapid Elan was, and remains, one of the best-looking, high-performance PCPs ever produced, and Paul loved his one from the moment he added it to his collection. That didn’t stop him making a few significant changes to it, though, so in came a 12mm diameter, .25 barrel, stabilised within another of those fluted shrouds, and moderated to near-silence by one of his PHW ‘cans’, as he calls them.
Having carried out extensive tests of the Elan, in its pre-production and factory issued forms, I can confirm that Paul has definitely improved the handling of a rifle I thought was beyond such tweaks. I can also confirm that I’m going to do my best to get a selection of Paul’s guns on the test range, and experience their benefits for myself. Look out for that feature as soon as I can sort it.
Double Bubble
The next rifle Paul showed me was revealed with one of his self-effacing grins, followed by the totally unnecessary disclaimer, “This isn’t the prettiest rifle I’ve come up with, but it shoots a treat!” Introducing the ‘intriguingly styled’ creation known as ‘Stumpy Two-Tubes’, What began life as a Titan PCP pistol, has been completely re-manufactured as a twin-reservoir carbine, fitted with a Theoben Rapid stock, and capable of over 120, incredibly quiet shots at 11-plus in .22 calibre. “It’s a great little ratter”, offered Paul, in the manner of describing someone as, ‘not very attractive, but with a great personality.’
Of course I took the Mickey out of Stumpy, as you would, but I had a strange desire to see if Paul’s ugly ducking became a rat-blatting swan when it mattered most. That’s another facet of these PHW guns; they generate a tremendous desire to shoot them.
Pistol Pairing
With Stumpy consigned once more to his home in a gun rack, Paul set a pair of pistols on the techno-chair, and I soon found out that I was studying something truly ingenious, times two.
The larger of the pistols was a copy of a Titan PCP pistol, which Paul had made from aluminium and fitted with an Air Arms match grade barrel. The real innovation on this model is its main firing valve, which Paul told me is, “still being balanced for optimal performance, but as it stands, in its 5.5 ft.lbs. mode, you absolutely won’t believe how many shots it does.” Actually, I would believe it, because I now know what Paul O’Donnell can do with an airgun, and the smaller of those pistols is the perfect example.
Paul took a standard Crosman 2250 CO2 pistol and re-barrelled it to .25 calibre, then totally re-invented it to produce over 36 shots at 5.5ft.lbs. from each capsule. Paul told me that this pistol amazed even him, and in Paul’s modest world, being amazed at his own achievements isn’t something he’ll allow to happen very often.
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M-Cat Purr-fection
The last development Paul showed me was one I’d seen at the club around 20 years ago, and it’s a tribute to it that everything about it still holds up to this day. This is the M-Cat, with the ‘M’ Paul’s brother Mark’s initial, and the ‘Cat’ standing for ‘Concealed air tube’. Mark O’Donnell let me try his creation several times at our club, and everything about it impressed me. Paul said, he “made a few bits and bobs” for the M-Cat, but modest to a fault, he gave the full credit to his brother.
What a wonderful sporter this is, on just about every level that matters. Its Theoben Rapid, .22 barrel and Mark’s refined valving system extracts over 70, full-power, laser-accurate shots from the rifle’s tiny Titan air reservoir, all launched with just a purposeful ‘sssst!’ at the muzzle, and maximum confidence of hitting the target. I say again, this is a fantastic sporter, and a fitting tribute to Mark O’Donnell, and his big brother.
Production Needed
The M-Cat is Mark’s brainchild and he wasn’t present at the time I spoke to Paul about the technicalities of the rifle, so I can’t reveal too much about it without Mark’s permission. I’ll sum up my thoughts about it with a statement, though. The M-Cat should be turned into a production rifle. Fitted with a multi-shot magazine and a sleek sporter stock, this lightweight hunting rifle could offer something entirely different – and seriously special.
The same goes for Paul’s various developments. PHW is an entirely hobby-based enterprise, but so were some of the finest developments in our sport, and now that I finally know who Paul O’Donnell really is and what he can produce, I know beyond a doubt that he belongs right alongside those remarkable people it’s been my privilege to meet during a happy lifetime of discovery.
Well-done, Paul; you’ll hate me saying it, but you’re an absolute star, mate, and I can’t wait to enjoy that range day with your airguns I’ve invited myself to!