I’ve spent more time than is healthy trying to understand the family tree behind Theoben and Rapid Air Worx (RAW).
Both are part of Auto-Numatic Group, a US concern with several airgun brands, and both are distributed in the UK by International Sports Brands (ISB), which is relatively new to the airgun market but has a wealth of experience in the shotgun and broader shooting sports field.
The two brands have separate websites, but the rifles carry both the RAW and Theoben names. All that is a little confusing but let’s be honest, no one really cares. All we want to know is whether the rifles are any good.
I’ve had my eye on something light and handy to use around the farm and the RAW Theoben HM 1000 Micro Hunter has been on my wanted list for a long time.
Normally I’ll wait until I’ve had a chance to shoot or at least handle a rifle before putting my money down. And like you, I’ll trawl through YouTube looking for reviews. However, when it came to the HM1000 Micro Hunter, other than a few from the US and several on the older HM1000X, I couldn’t find many. And there’s good reason for that – the rifle you see here is a new model.
I should qualify that; the HW1000 Micro Hunter has been available for some time in the US as a high power model. But the rifle sold in the UK is an altogether different beast and although made in the US and based on the RAW HM1000 sporting rifle, the Micro Hunter model has been re-worked with new components to a sub-12 ft/lb specification. This is not a de-tuned high-power US rifle; each one is set up upon arrival for optimum UK legal limit performance.
Interestingly, power output can be tuned via an adjustable hammer spring accessed via a small slot at the back of the action. Remember though that it is your responsibility to ensure your rifle is within the 12ft/lb UK legal limit. The paperwork showed my rifle is set to produce 11.4 ft/lb with a variance over five shots of just 1.4 feet per second.
Below: The RAW Theoben HM 1000 Micro Hunter has been designed as a dedicated hunting and pest control rifle
Priced at £1,699, there’s no doubt the Micro Hunter is aimed at those who like a tactical design. Having said that, Form designed green, black, blue, red and orange laminate options are available at the same price.
In tactical mode though, the Micro Hunter tips the scales at just 2.5 kgs (5.5lbs) and measures between 756mm and 835mm depending how far you extend the telescopic butt section – an AR15 style item made by DLG Tactical. Not only is it well made, pushing a couple of buttons raises the cheek support by as much as 40mm in six lockable positions. A lever on the underside allows a further six options for overall length. The combination ensures that no matter what optic you choose, perfect eye alignment and relief is possible.
As is typical on just about every telescopic AR style rifle I’ve ever used, there is some movement. It’s never bothered me and with a PCP rifle and I doubt it has even the tiniest impact on performance.
The pistol grip is basic with panels of chequering on either side and vertical lines at the back to aid grip. It does the job admirably but if you want something a little more eye-catching, an upgrade can be attached in minutes with the removal of an Allen bolt.
Below top: The AR15 butt is made by DLG Tactical and is adjustable for both cheek riser height and length of pull
Below bottom: The pistol grip is basic but works well and can be swapped out for an after-market AR15 alternative
Adorned with M-LOK slots to accept accessories, the forend is relatively short, offering just 130mm of space for your lead hand, though to be honest, I’ve found that to be plenty. And if you need more, the 210cc steel air bottle is comfortable to hold as well.
One of the RAW Theoben HM1000 Micro Hunter’s more striking features is the octagonal rear-venting barrel shroud. Made by Lothar Walther, the barrel itself is short at just 305mm (12 inches), but the shroud and an adjustable air stripper take its overall length to 375mm.
Unscrewing a protector on the muzzle reveals a ½-inch UNF thread to accept a silencer; Huggett has designed one specially for the Micro Hunter that is not only gorgeous to look at, but extremely effective at reducing muzzle report to the barest whisper.
Below top: The octagonal shroud vents at the rear and conceals a 12-inch Lothar Walther barrel and adjustable air stripper
Below bottom: The Huggett Micro Hunter moderator reduces muzzle crack to a whisper and looks good too
The rifle comes with a high-quality hard case. You also get a hand towel, the usual bits and bobs – spare ‘o’ rings, Allen keys and the like – and a folder containing a chrono report and 25 metre accuracy check target.
Also included are two polymer magazines that insert into the breech from the left. Unusually, you don’t get a single shot loader, possibly because the breech is easily wide enough for you to push a pellet in by hand.
The magazine’s front cover rotates by nearly 360 degrees anticlockwise to give access to the chambers within. Starting from the top, pellets are dropped in nose first into each chamber as they are revealed by returning the plate clockwise.
Currently available only in .177 calibre, the Micro Hunter magazine takes 17 shots and is designed to accept slugs as well. According to ISB, a .22 Micro Hunter with a 12-shot magazine will be released just a soon as the company has perfected the barrel as the one in the US high-power rifle is not conducive to sub-12ft/lb.
As you’d expect, the side lever, which can be swapped to either side of the rifle, is silky smooth and easy to locate and operate thanks to a large drop-down biathlon style handle. It operates in two distinct stages to ensure you know the rifle is properly cocked. And when returned, the handle locks into place with a muted click although the pellet probe will fall forward under gravity if you hold the muzzle down at a steep enough angle.
Once in place, the magazine sits proud of the action. As a result, the Picatinny scope rail is split in two, with a 40mm front section and 110mm at the rear – plenty of room to accept most scopes, although you are likely to need medium or high mounts.
Somewhat counter to the current trend for high-end rifles, even those intended for use in the field rather than on the range, the Micro Hunter’s trigger is a simple blade rather than a post and shoe.
It’s a beauty though. The two stages are adjustable via a couple of screws located behind the blade. Out of the box, the first stage was quite long and although there was a clear stop, the second stage was light and short. A few minutes with an Allen key soon had everything set just to my liking.
Below top: You get two magazines that take 17 pellets in .177 and are deep enough to take slugs too
Below bottom: The HM1000 trigger blade may look basic but its two-stage mechanism is excellent
I paired my Micro Hunter with an MTC Optics Copperhead 3-12x scope; its compact dimensions suiting the rifle perfectly. The first time shooting a new rifle is always a voyage of discovery, the thrill of anticipation tempered by the potential for it to not live up to expectation.
Midweek, I had the range at Reading Air Target Shooting Club to myself and placed a target at my usual 20 metres for the initial zero before moving out to 30 metres to fine tune it.
The test card that came with the rifle indicated 4.52 JSB Exact pellets had been used, which was handy as I had some to hand. However, although you couldn’t call the group at 20 metres bad by any stretch of the imagination, neither could you call it great, especially shooting rested on a bench.
I realised that in my haste to get started I hadn’t cleaned the barrel. A couple of pull throughs later showed a barrel that was in fact as clean as a whistle, so I shot several more magazines.
Results at 30m with the Exacts continued to underwhelm with flyers occurring too frequently for my liking. The Micro Hunter takes a 200-bar fill, which is achieved by removing a cap on the right behind the air bottle and connecting an airline directly to the fill valve.
I decided to run the bottle down to 100 bar – the regulator is apparently set at 90 bar – both to see how many shots I could get out of the rifle and to see if the JSB Exacts grouped a little tighter once the rifle had settled.
Around 100 shots later, the capacity from the 210cc bottle was more than acceptable but the accuracy continued to disappoint.
I had a few more pellet options to try – some H&N Baracuda 8 and 9.56 grain QYS Streamlined. I tried the latter pellets first simply because they were nearer to hand. Let’s just say I didn’t even bother opening the Baracudas.
All of a sudden, the Micro Hunter was delivering the kind of accuracy I’d hoped it would. Better in fact as I was able to put all 17 pellets through the same hole at 30 metres and even had to aim a few inches off just to satisfy myself the pellets were indeed going through the same hole and weren’t missing the target completely.
Even when I pushed the range out to 40m, the results were hugely gratifying with full magazine groups measuring within 20mm centre-to-centre.
Below: Match it with the right pellet and the RAW Micro Hunter will shoot with pinpoint accuracy
Say the word Theoben and airgunners of a certain age go weak at the knees. It’s a brand of near mythical reputation, spawned by the Sirocco gas ram back in the 1980s and continued on with a succession of Hall of Fame rifles.
The DNA may have been watered down since those heady early days, but even so, tinged with nostalgic hope, I realise the expectation I’d placed on the Micro Hunter was unfair, and my initial disappointment was founded on a sense of ‘too good to be true.’
But with the right pellet – and I only tried two, remember – the level of performance more than does this rifle’s heritage proud.
I won’t lie, I’ve got far more rifles than I need, but since getting the RAW Theoben HM1000 Micro Hunter, it’s the only one I want to take out with me. Not only is it supremely accurate, it handles like a dream and, with a sling fitted, is comfortable to carry mile after mile.
Article first published 20th October 2025
