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airgun articles By Rada Plesinger
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airgun articles By Rada Plesinger
......(
LOV-21)
By Rada Plesinger.
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(Article
on the LOV-21 )
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TGAG
has another first! Not long ago TGAG was first to import the Aeron PCP 10 meter
pistol to the States. Now it is importing the LOV-21 from the Czech Republic.
Price wise it is on the opposite end to the 10 meter PCP pistols. I am not sure
of the pricing but it is available from TGAG, Pyramid air guns and Airguns of
Arizona as of this writing. All I know the pistol retails for less then $150.00
so pay attention IHMSA shooter in production class. Before I get into the pistol
lets take a look at its background. Company was established in 1902 by Master
gun makers. No, not air guns but rifles, drilling, combination guns, and were
manufactured only for the aristocracy of Europe. These were the high of the high
end. Select woods, engravings, hand made and fitted. When WWI came they produced
rifles for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Some of the artistry was lost due to
various reasons and production was concentrated on the "run of the mill" rifles.
After the war some of the masters started to produce the rifles again. Just to
be interrupted by WWII. After the second war and being true masters of rifle
production they came together again, what was left of their number that is. They
produced fine rifles till the year 1954 when the communist regime turned the
factory into a conglomerate or Drustvo. But since the communist government does
not have an elite class, at least in theory. Production of fine firearms ceased
only the name stayed. Word Lov in Czech means hunt. The conglomerate made high
quality springs and variety of other products. Thanks to Mr. Uhrincak the very
same person who designed the Tau-7, Du-10 and others also came up with the
Lov-21. So the factory produced the Lov-21 for quite some time. In 2002 the
Czech Republic had some of the worst flooding in its history. And you guessed
it, the company was flooded out of existence. And again luck saved at least the
pistol. Drulov in a different town holds the product rights. So how did the
pistol come to the States? This is where I come in. I go to the Czech Republic
on business trips and to see friends as much as I can. And I will admit I seen
the pistol in gun stores years ago. But until I seen the pistol in one of the
Czech gun magazines I did not even pay attention. The article I was reading was
highlighting 10 meter pistols and the Lov-21 was included. Naturally they were
not comparing it with the top end products but the article was calling it a very
nice pistol to start the youngster with. It has light weight, easy to operate,
accurate and a nice trigger, not to mention price tag only a small fraction of
the high end 10m pistols. This made me look for the pistol. It was not long
before I found it in Prague gun store. In fact it is a gun store that CZ (Ceska
Zbrojovka) owns. Seems like I find myself there almost every time I am in
country. The gentlemen in the store luckily pointed out the pistol was set up to
accept 8 gram caplets. Not knowing where I could find a regular supply I passed
up on the sale. However, he did point out there are caps that will accept the 12
gram caplets but he was out of them. We did discuss the thread on the caps and
we both thought it just may take Tau or Drulov caps but he had none of them
either. The Lov comes as standard equipment only one cap either for 8 gram or a
12 gram caplet. So after seeing a Lov-21 up close and personal and seeing a
large potential. I suggested to TGAG it may be a nice addition to their line of
imports little less expensive then what they carry now. TGAG figured out where
they were made in the Czech Republic and ordered a sample quantity. Now larger
orders are to follow, and that is how the Lov-21 came to the States. Lets take a
look at the pistol. Pistol frame is a clam shell plastic that holds the metal
parts together. The two halves are held together by six screws. Barrel is of
high quality rifled steel. In fact all the internal parts are solidly made.
There is no pot metal nothing is sintered to wear in time. Internally the system
is very simple including the trigger. Trigger pull by the way is amazingly light
and crisp but is not adjustable in any way. To use it cock the pistol, insert a
caplet tighten the piercing cap, shoot the pistol in a safe direction without a
pellet. Pull back the push/pull bold under the rear sight, load a pellet cock
the pistol and fire. That is all there is. Velocity for a 8.1 grain pellet gave
me 420 fps, I thought that was respectable. A 12 gram CO2 caplet will yield 80
shots. The manual will say 50 or so but I think that is when using a 8
gram CO2 caplet. Then I proceeded to try a variety of pellets to see what it
preferred. Premier light shot well but that was it for round nose pellets. It is
obvious the chamber is made for flat head pellets or simply the velocity is
geared to the wadcutter type pellet. I found the JSB Green label (7.3 grains) to
shoot the best out of the one I tested, then the 8.1 grain pellets shot well.
Group size was .495 or around 12 millimeters center to center. Lov-21 will
not win on the 10 meter line with the top of the competition. I would also
point out I did not have time to really test out all the options as to pellets.
But lets put the group in perspective a little. The top of the line 10
meter pistols will shoot less then 5 mm c.t.c. groups. But then again they
do run from about $800.00 to just over a thousand dollars Also the sights
could be better but then again not. Especially if the price is to be kept
so low. However, in Junior class it may do very well and it certainly is
more then a contender on the silhouette line. It looks like a IHMSA production
class would be a nice entry as would NRA open sight class. In one of our club
shoots a gentlemen shot the pistol not ever seeing it and placed second.
At the moment I know the pistol is being sold by Top Gun Air Guns (TGAG),
Pyramid Air, and Air guns of Arizona. By this writing there may be more
dealers. At least I hope so this is one fine fun pistol. This pistol is
just fun any way you look at it. My son seen me shoot the pistol so much
his comment was. "Dad you have so many nice toys and you are playing with
’that.’ Sorry Junior but it is simply just fun.
Thanks
Rada...
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