Picture the scene. It’s the early 1980s and breaktime at school. Room Two just before English and a group of schoolboys are huddled around the open pages of a magazine. They’re slightly breathless and a little furtive as they point at the pictures and pass comments in hushed tones.
Before you get the wrong idea completely, the magazine was one about airguns and the centrefold in question was the Theoben Sirocco Deluxe. At a time when our airgun experience was limited to BSA Meteors, the purposeful lines of the Sirocco seemed other worldly. It might as well have been a ray-gun.
Fast forward 40 odd years and at last I managed to realise that particular schoolboy fantasy by owning my own .22 calibre Theoben Sirocco Deluxe – an FAC rifle producing around 17 ft/lbs. It still makes me feel like the schoolboy back in Room Two every time I lay eyes on it.
Revolutionary at the time, and running a powerplant inspired by the suspension forks on a Suzuki GS1000 motorbike, the Sirocco line up comprised several models including the beech stocked Countryman, the walnut stocked Deluxe, a thumbhole Grand Prix and later, the Classic with its slightly swollen forend and 2000 with raised panels of chequering. There was even a field target variant.
Although early models had barrels and optional open sights from Webley, Theoben quickly adopted Anschutz barrels in a move that would go on to define the marque’s legendary accuracy.
Theoben called in the receivers in October 2012, but its innovative gas ram technology initiated an entire category of air rifles. In the early days, and with its innovation protected by patents, the company enjoyed a market it had created all to itself, spawning a dynasty of ‘rammers’, most of which are coveted to this day.
When the patents lapsed, other manufacturers couldn’t wait to throw their hats in the ring and today just about every company that makes a springer has a gas ram in their lineup too.
Theoben itself may be consigned to the history books – don’t confuse it with Rapid Air Weapons (RAW), its modern spiritual successor – but much of its technology lives on in the HW90, a rifle born of collaboration between Theoben and Weihrauch, that many consider to be the best example of the system currently on the market.
Formally launched in 1982, two years after the patent had been awarded, the Theoben Sirocco was the epitome of ‘British garden shed’ engineering sprit, and it’s fair to say the rifle was in an almost constant state of development. As new ideas occurred to creators Ben Taylor and Dave Theobald, they usually made their way into the lineup. So too did parts from other manufacturers – most notably barrels from Anschutz, which were superb, and triggers from Webley which weren’t.
But when it came to aesthetic appeal, the Sirocco knocked everything else out of the park. Although you could buy the beech stocked Theoben Countryman, the real prize, and the focus of schoolboy and adult admiration at the time, was the walnut Deluxe.
Weighing 3.4kg (7.5lb) and measuring 113cm (40.5 inches), there’s no disguising the Sirocco’s high-power, full-length sporting credentials. The forend tapers towards the front end, lending the rifle rakish good looks, and panels of high-quality chequering on both the forend and near vertical pistol grip are as aesthetically pleasing as they are practical.
The butt is finished with a squishy ventilated shoulder pad that is set off with thick black and thin white spacers. Available as a dedicated left or right-hander, the pronounced cheek pad rises to a rollover comb – again a design that performs as good as it looks, making the Sirocco extremely comfortable to shoulder.
Consequently, eye alignment is perfect to a scope set in the slightly raised mounts that are welded to the top of the action – a design that negates any scope creep, even if it does limit you to the one-inch tube optics we had at the time. Another slight drawback with the mounts is that you are somewhat limited in terms of objective lens size. My rifle can just about handle 40mm.
The inky black finish to the metalwork is every bit as good as the wood. As a gas ram of course, power comes from a sealed chamber of gas rather than a mainspring. To the casual observer, there’s little, if anything, to distinguish the two designs.
However, back when Theobens ruled the airgun world and those rules were less stringent, changing the power output of your Sirocco was simply a case of removing the stock and attaching a pump to a Schrader valve accessed by prising off a plastic cap at the back of the action. As an FAC rated rifle, the valve on my Sirocco is more easily accessed and visible above the stock at the rear of the action.
Around 300 psi is generally reckoned to deliver 12 ft/lb on the longer stroke early models. Later Sircoccos fitted with a high efficiency, or HE, gas strut needed closer to 800 psi to overcome the shorter stroke. However, in reality, power was largely determined by how much you wanted to pump things up, although doing so ran the risk of damaging the piston seal – a replacement for which is nigh on impossible to obtain today.
The debate as to which is better – springer or gas ram – is almost as divisive as the .22 v .177 calibre question. Rammer fans will enthuse about the fast-firing cycle. Detractors call it harsh. The reality is that a good gas ram is just as good as a good spring powered rifle. Both are capable of high levels of accuracy and demand proper shooting technique.
Even at 17 ft/lb, what little recoil my rifle has is easily managed. I’d imagine 12 ft/lb rifles would be more controllable still, and even a Sirocco pumped up to the max would be a joy to shoot. Incidentally, the same cannot be said for my 28 ft/lb Theoben Eliminator which, lovely though it is, feels like it should come with a harness and hard hat.
The Sirocco’s 510mm (20 inch) long Anshutz barrel breaks with the lightest of taps and, without a mainspring to worry about, the cocking stroke is smooth even if it does need progressively more effort as the gas inside the sealed chamber compresses.
The last inch or so of the cocking stroke results in a positive click which could give you away in the field but for the fact that you can keep the Sirocco, like any other gas ram, cocked for as long as you like – something done more safely when a safety catch was introduced.
Lock-up is just as assured and plenty of metal ensures movement in the beech block is unlikely. Should it occur over time though, nipping up a large bolt would make things right again.
The legendary Weihrauch Rekord unit aside, triggers are a weak point on many rifles of the era, especially British guns. Theobens are no exception and the trigger on most Siroccos came from Webley.
However, encased in its distinctive trigger guard, which adds to the rifle’s graceful lines, the trigger on my Sirocco is more than acceptable. I don’t know if it has been worked on, or I’m simply lucky to have got a good one. It’s certainly better than the triggers on my Webley springers and the two stages are very distinctive. The length and weight of pull are just right and so too is the let-off.
When it comes, the muzzle report is typical of most good quality gas rams. The lack of a main spring clanking up and down the chamber means the only discernible noise is that of the air escaping the muzzle with a muted thud.
As someone who hunts and controls pests, I’m not precious about my rifles. Most of them carry the scars of many a nighttime altercation with barbed wire fences and gates. However, the Theoben Sirocco Deluxe is different and the thought of whacking that gorgeous walnut stock makes me wince.
Consequently, when it does come out of its cosseted spot in my gun cabinet, it’s to visit the range where, for the purpose of this review, the Sirocco Deluxe delivered 700 feet per second (FPS) using 15.89 grain JSB Hades pellets. The spread was just nine FPS over 20 shots and at 25 yards, single hole 14mm centre-to-centre groups were easy to achieve.
All that made me confident enough to reintroduce the rifle to its natural environment – the field. Sat in a hide waiting for squirrels to arrive meant I had plenty of time to admire once again the rifle’s aesthetic appeal. And when the squirrels turned up, the Sirocco Deluxe proved it could still mix it with the younger generation, putting eight on the floor in as many shots.
Manufacturer: Theoben Engineering (closed October 2012)
Model: Sirocco Deluxe
Length: 1130mm (40.5 inches)
Weight: 3.4kg (7.5lb)
Length of pull: 355mm (14 inches)
Barrel: 510mm (20 inches) including silencer
