The Show Must Go On!

John Milewski backs a winner at the Epsom Arms Fair

- John Milewski

I had intended to continue the Haenel bolt-action airgun story this month, but have reported on the Epsom Arms fair instead, for reasons that will soon become apparent. The well-established Kempton Park Fair was booked to take place at Bisley, but with barely a week to go, the NRA pulled the plug on the event.

Peter and Liz Binfield had no intention of letting the trade or public down and were able to move the outdoor event to Epsom in Surrey – the home of the Derby. I’m not going to go into the reasons behind the NRA’s decision, beyond commenting that Britain’s premier shooting organisation was established to promote shooting sports and collect subs from clubs and individuals to do so. Conversely, Peter and Liz Binfield paid for the grounds out of their own pockets to prevent cancellation.

Rather than a general overview of the event, I’m going to break from my usual reporting format and focus on a couple of airguns I was shown; one new and one old.

Tim Dyson brought hundreds with him as usual, and showed me a very nice RWS C225 in its original deluxe case, complete with a range of original accessories. This pistol was made on the successful Umarex rotary pellet magazine principle and is a copy of the SIG 225. Unlike the Walther CP88, 1911 and Beretta 92FS, the C225 had a short production run and is therefore harder to find today.