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Had a long chat with an old friend about air rifle shooting this weekend and I fancy giving it a go.
Before I get drawn in, how much would it cost for a reasonable gun and sight for a 50m range? Not after something crazy expensive, just one that will do the job.
I thought the same and realised that a decent one would be crazy expensive. It also seems that all of the old brands that were any good just don't exist any more. Gamo seems to have the cheaper end, with Stoeger in there as well. Weirach(?) still exists though and they used to make good rifles.
I fancy giving it a go
Aye,give it a shot.
I have always loved Air Rifles (and Knifes).
In our village we were feral free range kids ,most of us wandered around with a gun or a knife, usually both.
I still have a tin of .22 slugs in the shed,no idea why I am holding on to them.
#changeddays an all dat
Pick a price!...
https://www.theairguncentre.com/uk/combination-packages/?sort_order=_sfm__price+asc+num
...depends on how important accuracy and consistency of shot is to you. Just for plinking at tin cans pretty much anything will do.
If you want to hit (and knock down!) a proper field-target at 50m then you'd need to be into Weihrauch money £600 ish - and fixed barrel over break barrel.
Personally I'd get involved with a field-target club. They'll no doubt have ones you can use on their range and there's always someone flogging decent kit.
I recently did some air rifle shooting and archery. The air rifle shooting was okay, but the archery was really good fun – there's much more feel and feedback from it.
50m is pushing it - especially for something cheap and cheerful.
If you are happy with the slight hassle* of a PCP (pre-charged pneumatic), then a good second hand rifle with nice scope would be perfectly do-able for ~£700 (something like a BSA R10, or Weihrauch HW100).
Nice spring guns (eg. Air Arms TX200, Weihrauch HW97) are slightly cheaper, but not a huge amount. Lots of budget rifles from China/Turkey on the market. If intending to use in your garden, then big advantage of PCP is they can be essentially silent.
*you need to get air into it somehow, so either dive cylinder (needs refilling), compressor (expensive), pump (f-ing backbreaking).
Got an air brush compressor with schraeder fitting. What pressure do they run at?
Depends on model, but up around 200-250 bar. Air also needs to be completely dry to avoid corrosion. I don't think it's a job for a compressor not designed for the job (or for filling dive cylinders). There are cheap Chinese ones now, but given the pressures/risks involved, it's not a route I'd go down.
Yeah, It can't do that sort of pressure.
Yeah, It can't do that sort of pressure.
About 240 bar g short 😀
Ask at your local club, my local had a loner/rental gun for those wanting a taster.
I had Weihrauch HW90 and visited my local range a few times, not for me though, I liked the idea of it but I found it quite boring.
I've still got my Webley Osprey and a Relum I got for Christmas in 1974 when I was nine. Haven't used them in decades, should probably find a new home for the Webley.
The air rifle shooting was okay, but the archery was really good fun – there's much more feel and feedback from it.
There's fewer of the camo brigade around archery too! 😀
Have you got a gun shop nearby? Most of them will carry a stock of second hand guns. Don't be put off by a lack of experience or knowledge - gun shop owners tend to be universally affable and down to earth in my experience. The quality of service is usually second to none.
Id definitely recommend looking at second hand rifles and to get a PCP one. I just pump it up with a pump - no harder than inflating a small tyre.
A few years ago I realised I was now an adult and could just buy an air rifle my parents wouldn't let me have when I was a teenager (wisely I suspect!). Anyway I have a weirach hw100 KT or something with a decent scope - second hand and essentially mint for about 600 quid I think a few years ago. Accurate out to about 75-100m or so if you're target shooting. Would recommend.
Get a gun cabinet off Facebook market place to keep it in if you've kids - always seems to be loads on there for not much.
Realistically, you’ll be looking at £3-500 2nd hand for either a decent spring gun, or a pre-charged pneumatic. I’ve got one of both, the PCP is far more accurate, and easier to hit things. The spring gun is great, I love it, but is nowhere near as accurate, well, actually, the gun is accurate, the User is not! Spring guns give a little kick when fired which can make the pellet go awry if you arent holding it correctly.
I would definitely go 2nd hand for a start. If you are budget conscious, get a spring gun, something like a Weihrauch HW80 / 95 /97/99 are all good decent rifles. £300ish would buy a decent 2nd hand one with scope, all you need then is some pellets and somewhere safe to practice. There are a few other makes/models that would be just as suitable, I’ve got a Webley Longbow from 20ish years ago, still dead accurate when I’m on form. Air Arms spring rifles are all good, I would steer clear of BSA/Gamo and other lesser makes.
PCPs are a bit dearer, and you’ll also have to factor in buying the air bottle, £500 should buy the full kit 2nd hand. You get the air bottle filled up once or twice a year at a diving centre, or local gun shop who offer refills.PCPs are very easy to shoot accurately quickly. But be aware you will need to learn the drop of the pellet at different distances.Over 50 metres there is around 50mm difference between a target at 50m and one at 20m. Oh, 50 metres is about the limit for UK limited power airguns.
Then you have the calibre choices. Go for .177. More accurate. .22 is bigger, but flies slower, and is more susceptible to wind, so if you want accuracy, .177 is the way to go. .22 have their uses, rats at shorter distances for instance, on spring guns they are smoother than the .177 version, but for targets, no one uses .22, and, the pellets are dearer. My spring gun is .22, nothing wrong with it at all, but I’d never win a target competition with it no matter how much I practice. Oh, and dont go after live creatures if you cannot hit a 2 pence piece at 30 yards 10 times out of 10. There are a limited number of pest animals on the ‘General Licence’ that you can shoot with an air rifle, ‘hunting’ is dying off with air rifles, still some rabbit shooting, some go for rats, but few other chances to do pest control.
Accurate out to about 75-100m or so if you're target shooting.
Hmm, I think you may need to measure that distance again. Yes, pellets will travel that far, but there will be a lot of drop at such a distance, and accurate is not something I’d say about air rifle pellets at that range.
If I was in the market as a newcomer to the sport, I’d go for a decent 2nd hand spring gun. The initial cost is not too bad, and if you dont like it, the gun can sell for what you paid for it. If you enjoy it, think about upgrading to a PCP. Oh, I hope you are in England / Wales, as if in Scotland/NI, you’ll need a Licence first. In England/Wales, Gun Dealers will want to see some proof of ID, strangely, secondhand private sellers do not have to verify the buyers details, so no ID required when buying privately.
Find a local Club too. Firstly it allows you to practice safely at differing distances,and secondly, in the main, most shooters are friendly, and will let you try their gun out, so you can get an idea of what you want if you wish to upgrade.
Airgunbbs.com is one of the better airgun forums, though you wont be able to see the for sale ads for a few weeks, as they limit who can come on and attempt to buy stuff. Guntrader are used a lot for secondhand sales.
If you want to get a permit to run sessions at Scouts, indoor scout ranges restrict to .177 if you want to use your own rifle.
I have a .22 air arms s400 which I'm thinking of selling. It's a PCP rifle.
I'm trying to decide whether to take it to my local gun shop to sell for me, or put it in gun trader. I've not used it much but it's a great no-frills starter rifle.
@alanl shooting down my garden measured with a laser range finder. Obviously it's all relative but I can hit a 30cm ish target from that distance from a bipod. Very easy to hit things much smaller than that from 30m. .
Obviously it's all relative but I can hit a 30cm ish target from that distance from a bipod.
I kinda agree that you can shoot a legal .177 out to 70ish metres on a good day, but within 30cm doesn't really count as accurate imo.
Like with motorbikes - air rifles are something me and my brother 'got out of our system' when we were younger thanks to my irresponsible parents (or being children of the 80's?)
We had an arsenal of Gat guns, Webley Tempest and a neighbor's rifle that was lent to us along with our ubiquitous Black Widow 'twoggies' that we used to tool round the neighborhood with. Every aerosol lid got destroyed in my dad's garage and none of the post industrial landscape windows of Lancashire mills were safe. Never shot any live animals though. Great childhood!
Probably not much help... but we had a rat problem when we bought the house.
The traps didn't work
Borrowing a terrier for a week didn't help
I bought a gamo .177 second hand, spring air rifle
I also bought a target, and practiced until I could consistently hit the middle of the 2" targets from across the garden, maybe 20m
We no longer have rats.
But, much more than 20m (going the other way across the garden) I would be really struggling to be accurate.
Frankly, that's probably 90% that I don't know what I am doing. But since then I haven't used the rifle, as the target shooting (or indeed killing things) didn't really bring any joy to me. So not joining a club or owt to learn to be better.
I'm happy if we get more vermin return I can handle it.
I recently did some air rifle shooting and archery. The air rifle shooting was okay, but the archery was really good fun – there's much more feel and feedback from it.
There certainly is, especially if you don’t have your arm bracer in the right place and get a string strike! It’s usually only the once though… 🥴
I used to shoot with a mate’s rifle in his back garden and the nearby fields, a BSA AirSporter; great rifle with under lever, and I’ve thought about buying an air rifle, there’s a range not far from where I live, but I took up archery a couple of years ago, that can get a lot more expensive than a good air rifle! A dozen carbon arrows cost a LOT more than a few tins of pellets… 🤣