In these price-conscious times, how little can you get away with spending to get a good gun? Mark Camoccio puts two sub-£150 break-barrels under the spotlight…

HEADCOMETA 220: WEBLEY VALUEMAX

HEAD!HEADHEADHEAD HEAD!HEAD!toHEADHEADHEADHEADMARK CAMOCCIO’S

G iven the extraordinary turmoil being played out on a daily basis in the economy at present,

it’s unsurprising that many hard-pressed shooting enthusiasts are keeping one eye out for a bargain. So just what is the bare minimum outlay for a rifl e that will serve beginners and shooters on a budget, while still offering half-decent quality and features? It’s a debatable point, but one thing’s for sure – my two head-to-head rivals here are prime candidates, both coming in comfortably under the £150 mark.

The Cometa 220 hails from Spain and offers a traditional break-barrel design in a highly compact format. Pitched against its established rival comes the brand new ValueMax from Webley – a new budget rifl e with a surprisingly high spec.

FIRST IMPRESSIONSBoth these rifl es really look the part. The Cometa has a far more traditional look about it, with graceful, attractive woodwork which is pleasing to the eye, reminiscent of my old faithful Webley Vulcan. In stark contrast, the ValueMax looks trendier, given the camo pattern applied to its polymer stock. Both rifl es look fairly well fi nished, with plenty of blueing on show – and with the addition of fi bre optic sights, the basics have clearly not been overlooked.

My initial reaction looking at them is one of amazement at how their respective manufacturers can, on the face of it, produce such slick looking offerings for the money.

Advertisements for the ValueMax sum it up by stating it’s ‘Webley’s answer to the credit crunch’ – and closer inspection of the new rifl e, alongside the Cometa, will reveal just how good a buy each represents.Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

TAKING STOCKAs something of a traditionalist, I’ve always been a fan of good old timber. While beech is looked upon as the basic, entry-level gunstock material, the subtle light brown fi nish applied

AIRGUN SHOOTER 55

COMETA 220V

WEBLEYVALUEMAX

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to the Cometa’s woodwork allows for some pleasant grain to show through. A nicely curved forend and slimmed grip feels good on aim, although the rubber butt pad is, perhaps, a little too solid. Even though the stock is confi gured for use with the opens, the cheek is reasonably well positioned with a scope in place.

Webley fi t polymer synthetic stocks to the ValueMax, and they’re available in three colours: black, green or the Mossy Oak Break-Up Infi nity camo design of my test model. Polymer moulding presumably helps to keep the cost down, yet this style of stock is also ultra trendy in today’s fashion conscious marketplace. With 75mm more forestock, the ValueMax

56 AIRGUN SHOOTER

Above: Both stocks belie the guns’ cost, and of-fer a good mix of the traditional and the modern

Below: Fibre-optic opens adorn both rifl es, with Cometa opting for a hooded foresight (bottom)

certainly caters for the larger shooter, yet with a fairly vague cheek piece and ambidextrous grip, it lacks the subtlety of the Cometa. Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

OPEN SIGHTSBoth guns sport fi bre-optic open sights. These use tiny, brightly coloured fl uorescent fi laments which appear to light up as they make use of all available ambient light. Cometa fi t their foresight’s red dot fi lament into a moulded plastic assembly that sits over the muzzle, which certainly lends a futuristic look, and a metal hood then protects the fragile insert. Its rearsight is micro-click adjustable, and worked extremely well on the test sample, giving a crisp sight picture and plenty of adjustment.

Webley take a similar approach, fi tting an even slicker looking forsesight muzzle assembly onto the ValueMax, with an equally good rear to complete the package. Open sights can be very satisfying to use, and where newcomers to target shooting are concerned, they help to teach many of the basic principles of marksmanship. Many novices miss out on some vital groundwork in the rush to fi t glassware, and bearing that in mind, both these rifl es come with excellent ‘irons’ that deserve respect… and good marks.Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

SCOPING UPSpring-powered air rifl es generate and deliver a two-way ‘snap’ recoil, which can be quite destructive to inferior scopes. That said, this pair is fairly well mannered, though the issue of scope ‘creep’ still needs to be borne in mind. Creep is when recoil causes either the scope mounts to move backwards along the rails, or the scope to move within its mounts. Either way, the result is a shift of zero, so creep needs to be eliminated.

The Cometa comes with nicely machined dovetails, giving around 120mm of clamping space, but no provision for combatting scope creep; you’ll have to use a one-piece mount or fi t an arrestor block.

Webley, on the other hand, supply the ValueMax with over 150mm of rail, arrestor stud holes in the receiver and – the pièce de résistance – a small arrestor block. An impressive package indeed.Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

COCKING CYCLEBoth these break-barrels take a similar amount of effort to cock the action, which isn’t altogether surprising given their near-identical barrel lengths. The Cometa is particularly sweet to cock, with an extremely smooth stroke followed by an impressively muted action. It can also be de-cocked (by holding the barrel down against spring pressure, pressing off the safety and then slowly allowing the barrel to come back up) – a handy feature.

By contrast, the Webley, while requiring no more effort, is rather more ‘graunchy’ to cock, but that’s probably because it comes complete with

Left: The camo-dressed polymer stock keeps costs down and satisfi es the modern trend for synthetic bodies

Above: The ValueMax (left) features a manual safety, while the Cometa is fi tted an automatic one and can be de-cocked

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a meaty Powr-Lok spring inside. The fi ring cycle is rather twangy too, yet recoil is, all importantly, still highly manageable. As it incorporates an anti-beartrap, the ValueMax can’t be de-cocked; you have to fi re it.

Incidentally, both guns feature a threaded bolt around which the breech pivots, allowing for adjustments to be made for wear. There’s even a locking screw which, given their SRPs, is impressive and unexpected attention to detail.Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

TRIGGERBear in mind that signifi cant costs are apportioned to the trigger area in top-fl ight air rifl es, and it stands to reason that budget rifl es will come supplied with somewhat more basic designs. As long as you rememeber we’re in the £140 region for our pairing here, a fairer assessment should be possible.

In use, the Cometa just edges this section, since the basic pseudo-two-stage unit is crisper than its rival’s. The let-off pressure is reasonable, with only minimal creep. Where it slips up is with that fairly narrow, concave blade. A broader, fl at-surfaced blade would help to spread the load and improve its feel, adding little to production costs.

Similarly, the ValueMax’s trigger would benefi t from a broader, fl atter blade – and its rather vague, creepy action doesn’t help. Yet bearing in mind the asking price, and the fact that it is immeasurably more pleasant to use than my comparable Webley Vulcan of yesteryear, I have to concede that both rifl es are wholly adequate in this area.Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

HANDLINGPick up this petite Cometa and its neat stock just feels right. A delightfully slimmed down grip, dedicated cheekpiece and palm-fi lling forend combine to give the model 220 a comfortable and functional handle in a variety of situations. The diminutive proportions make this gun more suitable for juniors, too – and with balance (largely a matter of personal taste) nicely towards the muzzle, it sits well on target.

COMETA 220: WEBLEY VALUEMAX

AIRGUN SHOOTER 57

Left: The triggers are more than

adequate, though both would

benefi t from a wider blade. It’s

the Cometa’s (right) that

performs best

Above: The Cometa’s smaller dimensions make

it a good choice as a ‘junior’ rifl e

Right: Both the Valuemax (top)

and Cometa have fi bre-optic opens

and require a similar amount of

effort on the cocking stroke

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COMETA 220: WEBLEY VALUEMAX

58 AIRGUN SHOOTER

The ValueMax concedes little in the handling stakes, despite sporting plastic in place of graceful

woodwork. Its straightforward styling just seems to fi t the rifl e’s no-nonsense image. In short, both rifl es handle

extremely well, especially so given their entry-level status.Cometa 220

Webley ValueMax

OVERALL BUILDCometa are traditionally manufactured in Spain, and they certainly feel well made. The highly attractive beech stock is treated to an even coating of varnish, and the wood-to-metal fi t is exemplary. All the metalwork is fi nished with a rich chemical blue, too. The end result is a solidly made rifl e which anyone would be proud to own.

When Webley outsourced much of their manufacturing operation to Turkey a few years back, quality initially went off the boil – yet this ValueMax is different. Of course, some hollow resonance in the polymer stocks lends a slightly cheap feel, yet there’s enough solid engineering to convey what this rifl e is all about. Sharp, accurate machining, coupled with modern materials where possible, gives Webley’s new budget buster a swagger which belies the asking price.Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

ACCURACY AND PERFORMANCEThis section was frankly a surprise. Uncharacteristically, the Cometa proved a little wanting in the accuracy department, while the Webley completely surpassed my expectations.

At this stage, I should point out that I’m a huge fan of Cometa, having tested several rifl es of theirs over the years and they’ve always proved highly accurate. While this Cometa 220 was a dream to handle, with by far the smoothest and slickest action of the two guns, tight groupings just proved elusive, despite working my way through a variety of pellets.

The best groups recorded around 11/2in at 30 yards, and I strongly suspect that pellets were clipping the rim of the muzzle fi tting. Almost certainly, other examples of the same rifl e would perform differently – yet for the purposes of this test, the results stand. Energy levels were a tad low

Cometa 220 78/100 Webley ValueMax 79/100As is so often the case with these comparison exercises, this head-to-head challenge put little distance between the candidates. Either rifl e should represent an ideal choice for any newcomer to the sport who’s keen to keep costs down, yet wants to avoid ‘bargain basement’ fare.

Before the test, I’d have probably estimated that the minimum outlay in today’s market would be nearer £200 – but each of these rifl es, and the Webley ValueMax in particular, demonstrate that I’m miles off the mark.

As is so often the case with these comparison exercises, As is so often the case with these comparison exercises, As is so often the case with these comparison exercises,

FINALVERDICT

with the Cometa, too, being around 10ft/lb, although they are offi cially quoted to be nearer the 11ft/lb mark.

The Webley subsequently ran away with this section, posting regular 3/4in groups with RWS Super Field pellets with ease. If my test is anything to go by, in this price bracket the Webley ValueMax will have little opposition to worry about.Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

VALUE FOR MONEYWhichever way you look at it, both these rifl es are stonking good value for money! The Cometa offers respected engineering from an established name in airguns, and given the generally impressive level of fi nish and build quality, it feels like a pedigree for the money. Reminiscent of my fi rst-ever spring-powered air rifl e, this Cometa will surely give many years of service to a whole new generation of shooters.

Webley’s tag line regarding the credit crunch appears to be spot on, with the ValueMax hard to beat in this price bracket. The combination of great performance and full specifi cation, give it a head start over many higher priced rivals. The various polymer stock options have great appeal to many, if not me. But whatever your take on them, if they help to keep costs down and enable that stunningly low asking price, then so be it.Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

candidates. Either rifl e should represent an ideal choice for any newcomer to the sport who’s keen to keep costs down, yet wants to avoid ‘bargain basement’ fare.

Before the test, I’d have probably estimated that the minimum outlay in today’s market would be nearer £200 – but each of these rifl es, and the Webley ValueMax in particular, demonstrate that I’m miles off the mark.

58 AIRGUN SHOOTER

demonstrate that I’m miles off the mark.

VELOCITY DATA (RWS Super Field – 10-shot string)RIFLE High (fps) Low (fps) Average (fps)

COMETA 220 533 522 525

WEBLEY VALUEMAX 580 571 575

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONSMODEL Cometa 220 Webley ValueMax

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN Spain Turkey

ACTION Spring and piston Spring and piston

TYPE Break-barrel Break-barrel

CALIBRE .22 only .22 (.177 available)

WEIGHT 2.82kg 2.95kg

OVERALL LENGTH 1,060mm 1,092mm

BARREL LENGTH 405mm 420mm

STOCK Beech sporter Polymer/synthetic

TRIGGER 2-stage adjustable 2-stage adjustable

ENERGY 9.7ft/lb 11.7ft/lb

SRP £139.99 £124.99 (black/green)

£179.99 (Carbine and silencer) £134.99 (camo)

DISTRIBUTOR John Rothery Wholesale Highland Outdoors

www.bisley-uk.com www.highlandoutdoors.co.uk

Below: Even on the beech stock, there is some attractive grain showing through on the Cometa 220

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