Sig Sauer was smart when they got into airguns. They made them mimic their real firearms in look, weight, feel, and action. That way, the airguns are great training tools, making you proficient with their real firearm. A couple of years ago, I tested a lineup of airguns for Sig. I was always impressed with them. They’re the same weight and have the same features as their real firearms, so they’re a cheap way to practice.
Preparing To Shoot the SIG MCX Virtus PCP Air Rifle
Today I want to cover the Sig MCX Virtus PCP air rifle, which is a .22 cal. pellet gun. Let’s start with pulling it out of the box and getting it ready to shoot. The air tank screws into the butt end of the gun. Simply screw it in, and when it hits the end, tighten it one more ¼ turn. Next, get the butt plate and tighten it onto the end of the tank.
To fill the tank, they recommend using an air bottle or a hand pump. I assume they didn’t recommend using a compressor because they’re scared you’ll overfill it past the recommended 3,000 psi.
Filling A Pcp Air Tank
If you’re not familiar with PCP’s they are quite easy to fill. Attach an airgun hose to your power source (hand pump, portable air tank, or Umarex Ready Air Compressor). You can fill your tank with a hand pump, but to me, they’re a major pain. So I’d recommend that you get a Umarex Ready Air compressor. For power, you can plug it into a 120v wall socket or to the battery of your truck when out in the field hunting.
Hooking the air hose to your Sig MCX Virtus PCP is easy. It uses a quick connect. After filling the tank, you’ll have to bleed the pressure off the line before removing it. Some PCPs use a probe pin that sticks into the tank. I like the quick connect connection style better. So to make it clear, air the tank up to 3,000 psi, then shut off the air source, bleed off the airline, remove the hose, and you’re ready.
Loading the magazine is simple. Hit the magazine release to drop it out the magwel. Open the side flap on the magazine and remove the pellet belt. It is not connected to the white part of the belt. Pick it out, and you’ll see what I mean. Lay it on a table (metal side down) and press pellets into the openings. Push the pellets down flush. It holds 30 pellets. Replace the belt in the magazine. Or I’ve found that you can actually load it without removing the belt from the magazine. Just insert them into the end hole.
The butt plate in the handle is removable, which has some tools for use on the gun. You can use it to tighten the butt plate and adjust the peep sight. It also has a little probe to help properly seat the pellets in the belt, though I didn’t need it. You’re now ready to shoot.
It comes with a heavy-duty set of flip-up Peep sights. They appear to be a nice sight like you’d find on a real rifle. But I use my airguns for hunting small varmints/game, so I wanted a scope on the Sig MCX Virtus PCP.
I always use an Otis Technology All Caliber Elite Range Box with Universal Gun Cleaning Gear to hold my guns steady when working on them. The first step to installing a scope was to remove the peep sights. All that took was to unscrew them and pull them off the Picatinny rail. I like to have my scopes ride as low as possible. I don’t like them setting way off the barrel so I used medium-height Vortex Pro Series rings.
Since I’m shooting small animals with small kill zones, I need a scope with higher magnification, so I went with the Vortex Copperhead, which is a 4-12×44 scope. Due to the medium rings, the front bell on the scope hit the Picatinny rail. I was about to go grab a set of “high” rings, but then I thought no, it’s barely hitting so I ground down the center of the slots on the Picatinny rails that were hitting the scope just enough so the scope no longer touched (the Picatinny rail is made out of hard plastic). I was now good to go. Using a Brownell’s torque wrench, I tightened down the scope to the Vortex spec.
The Sig MCX Virtus PCP was now ready to go shoot, so I headed out to the high desert, where I do all of my shooting. To test a rifle, you must have a perfect rest, or it’s not fair to the gun company. Otherwise, what you declare as the accuracy of the gun is only determined by how well you can shoot off the side of your truck. So for this shooting, I used a Caldwell Stable Table Lite and sandbags.
Same with ammo. You must use the best ammo, or the gun review shows poorly due to using substandard ammo. So, for this test, I used my favorite go-to pellets. For precision shooting, I like the Allen targets with the orange blocks. They helped me have a pinpoint focus and immensely helped me tighten my groups.
After sighting in the Sig MCX Virtus PCP, I then shot five 3-shot groups to see what kind of groups I could obtain. I wasn’t happy with the groups I was getting, so I went home and grabbed some different pellets and went out to the gun range with various pellets and got a 1 1/8-inch group with pellets from RIFLE in their Premium Series Flat Head 18.67 gr. pellets. That’s good for a semi-auto airgun. Even though the company specs say you get the best groups with 14.5-16.6 gr. pellets, that wasn’t the case for me.
SIG MCX Virtus PCP Air Rifle Trigger
My trigger gauge doesn’t go that heavy, but I bet that it is close to 9 lbs. I think that I could have gotten better groups if it was a few lbs. lighter.
Opinion
The Sig MCX Virtus PCP is a fun airgun to shoot. I think that you’d like it for plinking and hunting small game/varmints. For a quality, cool-looking PCP, it is a good deal with an MSRP of $329.99 and as is usual, we will close with the company Specs.
Product Details:
The MCX VIRTUS PCP rifle is the latest expansion to the SIG AIR precision line of airguns and the introduction of SIG AIR products to the pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) category of airguns. The MCX VIRTUS PCP doubles the muzzle energy of classic CO2 models and uses the SIG Rapid Pellet Magazine making it a great tool for target training and defending against unwanted varmints.
Please Note:
*Results may vary based on ammo weight, temperature, and altitude.
Specification
- Action Type Semi-Auto
- Accessory Rail M1913
- Operating System PCP
- Sights Folding
- Stock Type Synthetic
- Caliber .22 cal
- Optimal Pellet Weight Range 14.5gr – 16.6gr
- Mags Included (1) 30rd Pellet Mag
- Overall Length 37.25 in
- Trigger Weight 4.25 lbs
- Muzzle Velocity up to 600 fps
- Weight 7.5 lbs
- UPC 798681587926
- Brand Sig Sauer
- Model Number GAG_AIR-VIRTUS-22-5353-0008
About Tom Claycomb
Tom Claycomb has been an avid hunter/fisherman throughout his life as well as an outdoor writer with outdoor columns in the magazine Hunt Alaska, Bass Pro Shops, Bowhunter.net, and numerous magazines and newspapers. “To properly skin your animal, you will need a sharp knife. I have an e-article on Amazon Kindle titled Knife Sharpening #ad for $.99 if you’re having trouble.”
