Hatsan AT44W Review

This is a Community Review of the Hatsan AT44W air rifle by Steve Scialli. The author of the following review are in no way affiliated with Airgun Depot. The views expressed below are personal opinion only.

Overall Reviewer Rating

Accuracy Ergonomics Quietness Power Trigger

What's made in Turkey, gets over 50 shots per fill, utilizes swappable air reservoirs & multiple magazines, and strikes with over 32 foot pounds of energy? Have no idea? ... You're not alone. New in the States, Hatsan's agile performer has somehow managed to slip under most enthusiasts' radar. With all the worthy PCP air rifles floating about the market enjoying a cult following, is it so surprising? Recently, I took the initiative to investigate this mysterious little newcomer and was rewarded with some startling findings. So come along and join me as we explore Hatsan's stubbier offering. You may be pleased with what you find... I was. At a glance, the AT44 is very well put together. The attractive Turkish walnut stock sports fine checkering on the grip, the bluing is deep and even, and everything fits together with a clear pursuit of quality. Unscrew the removable reservoir or remove the magazine, and you'll reveal more quality pieces. Even the barrel slips right out with relative speed. All in all, the gun seems intended to be very user friendly... and it is. Holding the Hatsan is a pleasure. A lot of PCP air rifles are on the larger side but this one feels a bit less cumbersome. It's not heavy either... that is until you add a scope. So when you do, it may be best to keep things simple with a leaner 3-9 or similar. Only for the purpose of exploring long-range accuracy did I fix a larger 4-16 x 44 Leapers... for hunting, I might have gone another way. At first the recoil pad on the Hatsan appeared unusually long that is until you realize it's adjustable for height. I found this to be a plus at the range when benching the rifle higher than my natural shooting position. I might also utilize this feature when out squirrel hunting or any other time I would be aiming high up into the trees. Hatsan's Quatro Trigger deserves more than a mention. It's seriously nice... adjustable for first stage length, second stage weight, and first stage resistance, it allows the shooter to customize things to his/her liking. It breaks darn clean too and without any creep. The fact that it's all metal and looks good is just icing on the cake... even the guard is metal (albeit painted). Bottom line, the Quatro Trigger can be adjusted to be light and crisp, and positively contributes to this rifle's accuracy and overall greatness. The two rotary magazines that Hatsan supplies are compact, of good quality, and are really easy to use. A word of caution though... if you don't seat the pellets all the way forward into the magazine, they may not fly straight. To get the most out of your groups, lay the magazine face down and on a flat surface as you press in each pellet. Allow a flat backstop to stop each pellet as you insert them and use a pen to pop them past the magazine's rubber o-ring. Once you've filled the magazine, loading it into the rifle is simple. Retract the side lever, push the magazine bolt forward, and slide the magazine into place. Allow the magazine bolt to fall back into place, close the side lever and you're ready to go. The safety is also of good design, automatically engaging with each cycling of the action. Positioned just above the thumb of your trigger hand, it's simple to depress. The action is very smooth is this rifle. The little metallic clicks and snicks are very satisfying to the senses, and opening & closing the side lever is comfortable and light. The large air reservoir unscrews with ease and even comes with a screw-on valve protector that doubles as a tank purging apparatus. If one was to venture out to spend a day in the woods, I think it would be a convenient benefit to keep multiple air cylinders in the backpack. On the nose of the tank is an accurate monometer that is an easy read making filling the reservoir simple. The revolving fill port cover is a clever idea to keep debris out of the cylinder and it rotates with a tight, quality feel. Inserting the male foster fitting probe is effortless and the cylinder can be filled on and off the gun. Up to 200 Bar or 2,900 PSI is permitted and will yield about 50 good shots. Here is a shot-string representing the velocity associated with each shot, using the 14.3 grain Crossman Premier Domed pellet. In all, I tested over thirty different types of pellets and most of them grouped tight enough at 25 yards. A few runners up worth mentioning are the JSB Exact Monsters which printed a .66" group, the JSB Exact Express which printed a .65" group, the H&N Barracuda Matches which printed a .65" group, the H&N Hollow Points which printed a .59" group, Crosman Premier Domed which printed a .46" group, the Benjamin Discovery PCP which printed a .39" group, and the Beeman Field Target Specials Copper Coated which printed a .69" group Outside of that, most everything else grouped out at around an inch to an inch and three quarters... and was fairly inconsistent. As the day wore on, I discovered that the rifle's clear preference was toward JSB's Jumbo and Jumbo Heavy pellets. These pellets flew consistently straight out to 100 yards and shot more consistently at 25 and 50 yards. The range I use is set up for 25, 50, 75, and 100 yard shooting and here are some photographs of the better choices for this gun. At 25 yards, a few came dangerously close to sub quarter inch groups if you mulligan the flyer/shooter error. Out on the 50 yard range, things got a bit more interesting. Most of those decent grouping pellets from 25 yards stopped performing... even the Crosman Premier Domed and Benjamin Discovery PCP. Winds that day were blowing from my three o'clock at a steady 7-8mph and started to open things up a bit. Nonetheless, the AT-44 continued to perform with a few preferred pellets and amazingly, one group came dangerously close to .33" had I not blown it. Here is the weather during the session and the groups that ensued at 50 yards. With the AT-44 performing so well at distance, curiosity got the better of me and I made my way over to the 100 yard range. Admittedly, I felt a little embarrassed lined up with twenty plus guys with high powered rifles, but what the heck... I was curious and had to investigate. Now this was my first time trying to fly a pellet 100 yards towards a two and three quarter inch Shoot-N-C Target so until I got the hang of the holdover and dope, things got a little loose. The wind remained an irritation and I could see it moving the pellets about, but that's just part of the game trying to navigate an 18.13 grain JSB Jumbo Heavy through 300 feet of changing conditions. At this juncture I discovered that being accurate was an art as much it was a calculation, but once I figured things out... it was game on and groups patterned in the 2 to 2.5" range. The group of gathering onlookers nosily watching through their spotter scopes was gratifying enough, but the blotches of yellow spatter appearing on the little black discs were over the top. Have a look at these results: Hatsan's AT-44 has proven itself to be a worthy contender in the PCP carbine arena. It has a sleek look, a great trigger, and it performs at a high level. If you are thinking about a fine choice for the woods, range, or for plinking fun... this rifle shouldn't disappoint. Steve Scialli
October 30, 2012

Helpful Links:

• Hatsan AT44W Air Rifle
• Hatsan Airguns
• Airgun Reviews