Haenel Jaeger 10 synthetic Sporter

With a synthetic stock and smooth, light handling the Haenel Jaeger 10 synthetic Sporter is a pure sporting rifle, says Bruce Potts

Bruce Potts tested the Haenel Jaeger 10 synthetic Sporter back in 2017. In April 2021 Charles Smith Jones revisited the gun for Sporting Gun magazine. He described it as: “a rifle of high quality that remains sensibly priced even when new. Haenel rifles are robust, well made, a pleasure to handle and reliable, so if you come across one on the used racks in a calibre that suits it will certainly merit closer examination. Such a rifle is likely to meet the needs of most pest controllers and deerstalkers admirably.”

Features of the updated Haenel Jaeger 10 Synthetic Sporter

There is a set trigger option that breaks at around 1.5lb

With its lighter barrel and profile this is a true Sporter

The Jaeger 10 rifle is rugged yet elegant

The robust 3+1 magazine is detachable

Original review by Bruce Potts

Barrel and action

Overall finish is a tough and weather-resilient matt blued with a ridged surface that repels mud, blood and grime. Its non-reflective finish blends in with the environment. Due to the configuration 
of the bolt locking into the chamber end 
of the barrel, the action length is designed to accommodate this. It is 9.25in long with a nice scalloped left face with the Haenel name. On top is a full-length picatinny rail of 6.25in, so perfect for any scope length or night-vision kit as appropriate. The bolt is well machined with few tool marks and is long at 8.25in. You have the popular triple locking-lug arrangement that allows the bolt to lift only by 60° to unlock and thus 
is faster, has a lower profile in travel and with three lugs is very strong.

In the tests, the Haenel’s bolt was smooth and, due to the low profile, avoids a low-mounted or large-eyepiece scope with its large, round, synthetic bolt knob. Cartridge manipulation was equally good because the standard sprung plunger-type ejector, in conjunction with the large claw extractor, fed and ejected the cases forcibly. It had me grovelling in the mud 
for the cases to reload. The bolt shroud 
has a clear red indicator as a visual aid 
to tell you that the rifle is cocked.

The good balance of this model is partially due to the slender barrel profile 
of 0.632in-diameter muzzle, with a 15mm/
1 metric muzzle thread for a sound moderator. It is 22in long, which can prove a little short for the .243 Win cartridge 
(see field test results). Just as important is that the barrel is free-floated within the fore-end for optimum accuracy and, despite its slim girth, allowed the barrel to cool and avoid heat build-up 
that would string your shots. This barrel remained remarkably cool throughout 
the tests.

Trigger, safety and magazine

This is where a lot of rifles fall down. While testing on the bench with the target test and out in the field, you need a light trigger to ensure minimal delay between squeezing the trigger and the round leaving the barrel. But it must be safe to use in the field when your fingers are cold. This Haenel has a direct trigger mechanism with a set option, which lightens the trigger-pull to 1.5lb, but take care with cold fingers. With the factory trigger setting 
it was 2.55lb on this test model — good, crisp and positive with zero creep.

The safety has a two-lever system rather than the customary one. The larger outer one (bronze coloured) disengages the sear and locks the bolt solid in the rear position. This exposes a smaller lever, which can be depressed to allow the bolt to move freely to extract a round while still having the rifle on safe. It is a nice feature and I could easily feel it on and off with a gloved hand so it is a good extra to have.

The magazine arrangement is certainly different. It has positive engagement that only allows deliberate removal, so it won’t fall out while stalking, for example. The release mechanism is in front of the trigger-guard and uses a double-sided spade lever that, when pushed downward, releases the three-capacity magazine, which has a plastic base but steel sides. 
It is a fiddle, to be honest, though I can see where Haenel is coming from. The twin spade release needs to be fully forward to release the magazine, otherwise it hangs up on the frontal spur that locks it in place.

Stock

I like the stock because it is functional, looks good and is configured so that left-handed shooters can use it too, which 
is handy because there is no left-hand version at present. It has a low comb especially for a scoped rifle-only option 
but the non-cheekpiece nature of the 
butt section allows many differing cheek positions. When shooting, say, uphill 
or down you can re-adjust to get correct eye alignment.

You have a solid black recoil pad, which is nice and soft and grips a jacket well for 
a good, stable hold. The fore-end is deeply scalloped to accommodate your fingers for a secure grip. This fore-end and pistol grip is further enhanced with panels of stippling. The whole stock is synthetic, moulded in two halves (a walnut version is available). It has a light but very solid feel, and out and about this certainly helps because any flexing would ruin accuracy. Best of all is the soft-touch green finish that feels “warm” — some plastic stocks are horrible — but you do have to take care as it can scratch off 
to reveal the black gel coat beneath.  (Update: current versions also come in black and a camouflage print is also available.) Annoyingly, the sling swivels were the fixed type and not quick-detach to leave 
a stud to fit a bipod. I feel the latter would be a more sensible option.

Best factory load was the Hornady 750-gr SST

Best reload was the Sierra 85-gr softpoints

Conclusion