Winchester 1250 CS Air Rifle Combo

My very first bb gun was a Daisy lever-action tilt feeder. I would take cans out into the desert across the street from my parents house and shoot old soda cans. You could pump it one time and it would be at max power. I would get jealous of my buddies who had the bb guns that you could pump 10 times and blast anything feathered or small furry things into oblivion. My aluminum can slayer was the catalyst to my obsession with firing projectiles at long distances with precision. I got the opportunity to test and review the Winchester 1250 CS. Looks like I got the last laugh over my childhood friends.

Features

The 1250 CS is a single shot break barrel action pellet rifle. It has bolt on bipod legs and an ambidextrous thumb hole stock. The buttstock pad is made of a soft rubber and the stock is finished in a Mossy Oak Break Up Infinity pattern. The rifle does not have any open sights, it comes with a grooved 11mm dove tail and 3-9×32 scope with an included yellow sun shade. The barrel has a muzzle break that acts as a suppressor and provides more leverage for the break action. The rifle fires a .177 pellet and boasts a 1250 fps out of the muzzle on alloy pellets.

Whoops!

I received this rifle and was extremely excited to break it out and go plinking. I unboxed it and mounted the scope to the rifle. The weekend rolled around and I cruised out to my spot in the desert about 5 minutes from the house. My good buddy Daniel came out with me. We put out a box with an MOA target on it and started shooting. This rifle was hyper-inaccurate. We could not zero the scope to save our lives. I have shot rifle virtually my entire life. I have shot all kinds of rifles and for work am required to shoot two qualifications annually in order for me to continue doing my job. I believe I have a reasonable proficiency with shooting them. Prior to heading out, I read about how to shoot spring-piston air rifles. I learned about shooting using the artillery grip and that keeping minimal human resistance ensured accuracy out of these rifles. I tried every way possible to shoot this rifle and could not get it to shoot a good grouping. I contacted our representative from Air Gun Depot, Dustin, and had a conversation about the issues with the 1250 CS I had received. He immediately had a new one on the way to me.

Round 2

The new rifle arrived and I eagerly unboxed it and affixed the scope. I took it out and started plinking. I instantly noticed a night and day difference. I punched groups in the target and stacked pellet holes on top of each other. I did notice a wild pellet from time to time but it is difficult to tell if those are due to my inexperience with the artillery grip or the rifle just not being a precision shooter. I noticed a big difference when I compare shooting it like I would my .308 and when I would use the artillery grip. The artillery grip yields a much more accurate grouping. Inspecting the two rifles and their difference it appears as though there is a fitment issue in the first with how pellets are inserted and how they seat when loading. The second rifle seems to seat them much more loosely with less resistance.

When you break the barrel open to insert the pellet, the rifle automatically actuates the safety device. The safety is similar to the hammer on a normal revolver or lever action rifle. A quick flip of the mechanism and the trigger is ready launch high speed projectiles down range. On the topic of the trigger, it feels very stiff. There is a considerable amount of slack and then a long pull before the spring piston mechanism looses the pellet. This may also contribute to the variables in accuracy.

Aesthetics

The rifle has a great look about it. The thumbhole stock is extremely ergonomic and coupled with the texture of the grip, it feels good in the hand. The sling is composed of a quality webbing type material and doesn’t slip once adjusted to preferred length. At 8.7 pounds, it’s a pretty weighty air rifle. The bipod legs adjust from 9 to 13.5 inches and can fold either way along the frame of the rifle.

The barrel of the 1250 CS is rifled to enhance accuracy. At the end of the barrel, the muzzle break/suppressor does a reasonable job of deadening the sound generated by the rifle. This yields a moderate amount of noise once the rifle is fired. I noticed no difference in accuracy or noise when using different styles and quality grade pellets. I used three types of pellets through this rifle, Diabolo 8.4gr and 16.2gr as well as Gamo 7.8gr.

Last Thoughts

After testing this rifle thoroughly, the lasting impression that I walk away with is that this is a high quality, well built air rifle. There was a lot of attention to detail put into this rifle. For all of the features put into the rifle and how well it feels in the hand, I just wish that it was as precise as to what it looks. I would say that it does shoot well but it is not what I would call a precision air rifle. I think a higher quality, lighter trigger would make the artillery style grip with this rifle much easier. The stiff trigger yields the need for more human contact with the rifle, this is the opposite of the idea behind the artillery grip.

Alright, let’s rate this thing!

Cost: 5/5

At $199.99, Its not going to break the budget and it comes with a lot of high quality features that would expect to see in much higher end air rifles.

Aesthetics: 5/5

It’s pretty. One glimpse and you know that you are looking at an air rife that was well designed and well built.

Weight: 3/5

It is heavy. The weight of it implies that it will be a very precise shooter. With it not being precise, the weight ends up feeling unnecessary

Durability: 3/5

The first rifle I received functioned improperly out of the box. The second was much better.

Functionality: 3/5

The stiff trigger and lack of precision accuracy just leaves me wanting so much more out this rifle. There is so much potential here. Driving away from a day of plinking with it, I had the overwhelming feeling that it should have gone so much better.  

Overall Rating: 3.8/5

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Material Disclosure

I received this product as a courtesy from the manufacturer via Spotter Up so I could test it and give my honest feedback. I am not bound by any written, verbal, or implied contract to give this product a good review. All opinions are my own and are based off my personal experience with the product.

*The views and opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Spotter Up Magazine, the administrative staff, and/or any/all contributors to this site.