Air Venturi Comp 10 PCP Match Air Pistol Review .177 Caliber

VALUE FOR MONEY

While the Air Venturi Comp 10’s Street Price of $600 may seem high when compared to the average air pistol, it’s actually very appealing for a match-grade PCP target pistol with a regulated action. In comparison, many pistols of this type sell for $2,000 – $2,500 at the time of writing.

So, is the Comp 10 a bargain entry-level match pistol?

We can start with the excellent accuracy, ultra-adjustable nature of the gun, good quality sights, balance and “meaty” grip. These are all features that will endear it to match air pistol shooters.

In addition, the gun is supplied in an useful hard synthetic case.

So in value for money terms, the Air Venturi Comp 10 scores highly.

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Air Venturi Comp10 Match PCP Air Pistol 0.177

SPEED AND ACCURACY

As you would expect for a target pistol, the whole gun is about precision and accuracy. Let’s make that precision at 10 Meters shooting lead wadcutter pellets at bullseye targets.

High Muzzle Velocity has no place is the requirements for this type of air pistol. Instead, there’s much emphasis on – for example – the pistol grip.

Of course, the sole purpose of a match pistol is accuracy. Here the Air Venturi Comp 10 did not disappoint. Of course some pellets worked better than others, however the general level of accuracy was very good – 10 shots counting in the “9 ring” or better on a 10 Meter target.

Best accuracy was achieved with the RWS R10 Match pellets. The target below demonstrates the ability of the Air Venturi Comp 10 to achieve a “possible” score with 10 shots at 10 Meters. (If the sights were to be adjusted just a little).

That’s also outstanding shooting by HAM Tester Doug Wall! For comparison, it’s a slightly tighter group than Doug shot with the Air Venturi AV-46M and the same RWS R10 pellets in our HAM test back in 2021.

TRIGGER AND COCKING EFFORT

As expected for a match pistol, the two-stage trigger of the Air Venturi Comp 10 is adjustable in a multitude of ways using the built-in setscrews. There’s adjustments for the first stage weight and travel. Also sear engagement and trigger overtravel.

However – as always – HAM tested the pistol with the trigger set as we received it. This gave a pull weight averaging 1 Lb 5 Oz. HAM Tester Doug Wall loved the trigger, although some shooters may prefer the pull weight at a slightly lower figure.

In addition, the location of the trigger blade itself can be changed For example, it can be moved forward or back, up or down. Basically, all the adjustments that a knowledgeable 10 M competition air pistol shooter could require are included here.

Because of the huge amount of practice required for successful 10 Meter match competition, the Air Venturi Comp 10 PCP match pistol is fitted with a dry-fire capability. This allows the gun to be “fired” in every respect except for launching a pellet downrange.

The small lever shown below is the dry-fire control switch.

Cocking is undertaken using the vertical-operating lever. It’s a simple, smooth, low-effort action.

As with most dedicated target pistols, there is no built-in safety. The gun must not be cocked and loaded until at the firing point on the range.

100% safe gun handling is mandatory with the Air Venturi Comp 10!

COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS

Air Venturi lists a maximum Muzzle Velocity of 510 FPS for the Comp 10. In HAM testing, the maximum recorded in our test targets was 469 FPS shooting H&N Finale Match Heavy pellets.

But – for 10 M target shooting – this is completely irrelevant. So, frankly we don’t care that the Muzzle Velocity was a little slow. It won’t matter for on-target performance.

However, as we will see below, the test gun showed signs of having been set with a lower-than-ideal hammer spring tension at the factory. Increasing that would probably also increase the Muzzle Velocity too.

Pyramyd lists the Air Venturi Comp 10 PCP match pistol being good for “about 200 shots between fills”. As we will see below, the gun tested by HAM far exceeded that with no less than 348 shots before the regulator set pressure was reached.

CONSISTENCY

Consistency is an essential aspect of any target airgun. However this is where the Air Venturi Comp 10 tested by HAM displayed somewhat erratic performance.

Firstly, the average Standard Deviation across the range of HAM test pellets was 14.6 FPS. This is a much higher figure than we expected, even considering that the pellets were not washed and sorted but shot “straight from the tin.”

Air Venturi specs call for about 200 shots per fill of the 65 cc HPA cylinder to its maximum 3,625 psi (250 Bar) pressure. As mentioned above, HAM testing achieved 348 shots from a full fill to the regulator set point, as can be seen from the graph below.

However – as is also immediately apparent – those 348 shots produced some very different Muzzle Velocities. In the Comp 10 tested by HAM, these ranged from 420 FPS for the first shot to a peak of 564 FPS as the regulator set point was reached.

Below we see the same graph, with approximate HPA pressures added. This shows that there’s a clear 150 “good” shots, between about shot 130 and shot 280. That would be between about 180 and 100 bar pressures, according to our testing.

We should note here that we normally undertake this shootdown test after the target testing when testing PCP airguns.

For his test targets, Doug Wall very reasonably filled the Comp 10 to 200 bar before shooting. Unfortunately that corresponded with the most “ragged” section of velocity, as we can see from the graph. Hence the high Standard Deviations recorded for most of the test targets.

In addition, the trigger pull weight varied by +3 to -2 Ounces either side of its 1 Lb 5 Oz average figure. Again, that’s more variability than we were expecting from the Comp 10.

To put these comments into perspective, it’s clear that the test gun demonstrated excellent accuracy with a number of our test pellets. However successful match shooting depends on controlling tiny, tiny variables – for both shooter and equipment.

Possibly Doug Wall’s test targets could have been even better with improved consistency of trigger pull and pellet velocity!

NOISE LEVEL

With such a low power level, it’s not surprising that noise level is extremely low. There’s a minor “pop” when the pistol is fired. In fact, the impact of the pellet hitting the duct seal in our target was louder…

Of course, if the Comp 10 is dry-fired for practice, there’s just about no noise at all. Just a faint click as the trigger sear releases.

SIGHTS AND SCOPE

The open rear sight of the Air Venturi Comp 10 is windage and elevation-adjustable. The rear sight itself can be moved back or forward along the action if required, too. The front sight is a fixed, square section post.

As with many match pistols, the width of the rear sight notch can also be made wider or narrower for shooter preference. This is done using the screw on the left side of the rear sight.

Sight adjustments are made using a flat-bladed screwdriver. This is to avoid them being altered by chance in competition.

The position of the rear sight assembly itself also can be changed, if required. This will give up to an additional 1.5 cm (0.6 Inches) in sight radius. However the potential for improved accuracy that provides needs to be matched with the capabilities of the shooter’s eyes!

SHOOTABILITY

At 16.5 Inches overall, the Air Venturi Comp 10 is a long air pistol. It’s also quite muzzle heavy. However this is considered beneficial by most match pistol shooters as it tends to dampen the shooter’s natural trembles…

One point to note is that the HAM testers found it best to seat the pellet into the rear of the barrel with a fingernail. With a pellet being just placed on the loading tray, closing the bolt to push the pellet forward would not consistently chamber the pellet correctly.

The weight of 2.4 Lbs is fair for this type of airgun and the sculpted laminated grip has an adjustable palm shelf for addition support when shooting.

Although already very comfortable, there’s clearly enough “meat” in the grip to accept some filing and other minor adjustments to suit the individual shooter’s hand contours.

As Doug Wall commented in his test notes, “This is a very shootable target pistol”.

The Air Venturi Comp 10 has horizontal “rails” machined into the frame that completely surrounds it.

Typically such side rails can be used to attach weights that subtly alter the balance of the gun to individual preference. This may very well be possible with the Comp 10. However – not having any suitable weights – the HAM Team could not confirm this.

As can be seen from the photograph above, the pressure gauge is in about the worst possible position. Close to the muzzle and practically in line with it, it’s close to impossible to take a good read of the gauge without pointing the gun at your face. Thank goodness the high shot count means that that’s not necessary to check the HPA pressure often!

There’s also three curious “scallops” carefully machined into the top surface of the frame. Unfortunately the HAM Testers are not sure of the the functionality of these. Maybe HAM Community members can enlighten us!

APPEARANCE AND FINISH

Overall, the HAM Team felt the Comp 10 to be a good-looking air pistol.

The external finish of the gun is good. The quality of machining on the metal parts is high and the surface finish consistent and even.

As previously mentioned, the grips are deliberately “semi rough” both to provide grip and because most owners will want to customize the grips to match their own hand.

BUYING AND OWNING

As a specialist product, the Air Venturi Comp 10 is most likely to be purchased from online Air Venturi dealers such as Pyramyd Air and Airgun Depot.

The gun is supplied in a hard synthetic case. As is expected with match pistols, this is a single-shot .177 caliber model that requires the HPA tube to be removed for filling.

In addition to a set of O rings, the Comp 10 is supplied with two charging adapters. The smaller one allows it to be connected to a standard “Foster” quick disconnect 1/8-Inch NPT fitting. The larger, brass, part is a DIN-type adapter.

Most US shooters will fill using the quick disconnect adapter…

The instruction manual for the Comp 10 is generally well-written and illustrated. It covers most of the features and adjustments well. However it is in English only.

Air Venturi offers a 12 month limited warranty for the Comp 10.

This is way below the new norm for airgun warranty periods, now that even some $100 breakbarrels are covered by 5-year warranty coverage. However, it is mitigated to some extent by the unusual 60-day money back guarantee that’s also provided for the product by Pyramyd.

TEST TARGETS

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Air Venturi Comp10 Match PCP Air Pistol 0.177

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