[Closed] Buying an air rifle

If you are in Scotland you need a licence to own an air weapon.

BSA Airsporter was always a decent gun, if you can find one; underlever cocking rather than breaking the barrel.

Try a few before buying.
So go to a shooting range/club, ask around to see what people like. It is all personal, just like bikes.
Have a rough idea of what you want to buy, spring gun, pneumatic, CO2.
You need proof of ID to buy in England and Wales. Nothing more.
New , decent, spring guns will be around £350-450 with scope and bag.
Pneumatic will be £500+ plus £130 for a compressed air bottle.
Generally, secondhand prices are 50-65% of new prices.

Get onto one of the forums and check out the second hand gear. I can strongly recommend the pneumatic rought for non kick, highly accurate shooting. I use one on Rabbits/rats and its leathal.

Stealth add here. I have a German Hammerli target rifle for £100. Fully restored, new spring, side lever.

Where you based Bear? (More precise than just UK 🙂 ).

Harrogate North yorks.

I have an Airarms S200.
Amazingly accurate even in my hands (designed as a target gun originally).
Pneumatic guns are great but you have to budget for a cylinder, valve, etc.

AirArms S410 or Weihrauch HW100 would be solid performers if going pcp.

A couple of the gun shops down here have ranges that you can test prospective purchases on. Well worth trying before buying

What are you wanting it for?

Actual 'proper' target shooting? Field targets or just shooting at 'stuff'? Like bikes there are a plethora of different types for different aspects.

If you're in Harrogate there are two places I'd recommend to buy one. Northallerton Shooting near Thirsk, or Swillington Shooting just down the M1. There's also Redbeck, just outside Wakefield.

A decent BSA precharged pneumatic will cost you around the 500 quid mark. You'll need a sight, budget about a hundred quid for an entry level one, and some means of charging it. A stirrup pump will cost about 90 quid or a dive bottle about 130. The bottle is worth the extra.

If you aren't too serious then consider a Springer. Again, something like a BSA or a Weihrauch. There are plenty around, check Gunstar or guntrader for second hand sales, or visit Kirklees Guns in Huddersfield who has racks of used rifles of all types. Aaron Wheeler in Brighouse has a fair selection too.

Yeah if you are talking paper punching PCP seems to be where it's at these days and they are not cheap for club level what with their fancy regulators for power consistency. Especially when they all seem to have expensive sights and special jackets, and bottles. Also, more sporty rifles may well be too powerful for indoor target ranges.

You will find that most clubs have bottles you can use and club guns, and there is generally someone looking to upgrade and sell on their entry level rifle.

If its garden plinking though I would just pick up a cheap springer or their newer gas ram incarnations.

Used to have an .22 Air Arms S200 with a 6-24x44. Muckle good as both a target rifle and for hunting when using Air Arms Field 5.51mm slugs. Also has a 9-shot slide in magazine for it. Only got rid as the hammer spring was on the way out and the power was fluctuating (just into +12ftlb to sub 10ftlb) levels).

I then got a BSA Hornet single shot with a 4-14x50. This was even better - more quieter with the Daystate moderator and as it was regulated, more consistent. Only got rid of that to but a T16 turbo engine and box for my Rover Coupe.

I still have a BSA Lightning with a 1x red dot for plinking, but don't discount PCP's over springers for that.

As said AA S200's are fantastic wee guns (they're actually built by CZ), they are small though so I'd say look at one first if it's a consideration. Knowing where you are would be helpful as you can be pointed in the direction of a decent RFD if you want to try stuff out or just browse.

I have a couple of Diana 52 side levers, heavy but excellent for target work with a reduced diameter piston you can get kits for them and the AA TX200. I also have a 430 underlever which is significantly lighter (but less well behaved as it has a stock piston). New Diana kit is junk but anything with a T01, T05 or T06 trigger block will be brilliant. T06 is seemingly comparable to the Weihrauch Rekord units which are also well regarded.

As for the argument of springer vs PCP, it's like hardtail vs full sus to be honest, same arguments about skill and such. I'd start with a decent second hand springer and work from there, you won't lose money on a Diana, Weihrauch or Air Arms. I'd advise against looking at Crosman unless you enjoy tinkering and funding a money pit.

I think that, initially at least, I would go for a quality springer. PCP is very nice to shoot, but the tank that goes along with it and the need to keep air in the damn thing is a right pain.

If you are not going to be doing much apart from punching paper in the garden once in a while (with a suitable backstop) then go for a Weihrauch 97k or 77 and a decent 3-9x4x or 50 scope.

They are really nice rifles and will last for ages.

If you just want to re-visit the shooting sessions that you enjoyed as a kid, I'd get a Weihrauch HW30. A quality built, lightweight break barrel rifle with the legendary Rekord trigger unit. No need for auxiliary air tanks and hoses - just a self contained spring piston power plant. I'd recommend .177 calibre over .22.

You can pick one up for about £200.

Have a look

Daft question, why do you need to budget for a sight? Do they not come with a sight built on?

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mini+gun+gif&ru=%2fvideos%2fsearch%3fq%3dmini%2bgun%2bgif%26FORM%3dHDRSC3&view=detail&mid=D90C47A0A94B9214CC55D90C47A0A94B9214CC55&&FORM=VDRVR V" alt="Mini Gun!!" />

I bought one a couple of years back (actually 7 now I come to think about it) to recapture my youth as I had a .177 BSA Meteor as a lad. I went for a Weirauch HW 95 and Nikko Stirling scope. I researched on line and then bought from a local shop. My son, then 14, got as much pleasure out of it as me. It now spends most of its time in the bedroom wardrobe but comes out now and again and I love it every time.

Most rifles are designed to be used with scopes. It’s only the very low end ones that come with open sights. Dealers often sell packages but you could spend twice or three times the price of an expensive rifle on a Gucci scope.

I’d get a Weihrauch HW30

Again, a nice gun but like the S200 it's tiny, it's actually a junior rifle. I'd recommend something like a Diana 430 (because I'm a fanboi) or an HW77 if you want something light but competent.

Oh, on gas rams, one of the most accurate guns I (briefly) had was an HW90K. Like a frickin' laser but my god the recoil was ridiculous. I'd have kept it though but it wasn't mine to keep.

Daft question, why do you need to budget for a sight? Do they not come with a sight built on?

Because a scope means better accuracy at longer ranges. Fine in a field or range setting but for the garden open sights are adequate (unless you have a long garden in which case crack on).

It’s only the very low end ones that come with open sights.

Whoa there! There's generalising and then there's just nonsense. The value of a gun has nothing to do with whether it has open sights or not. Plenty of field guns (like my 52 and it's recoiless cousins) have fixed sights as do £3K target rifles. It's only a relatively recent fashion thing to have no fixed sights.

I bought one a couple of years back (actually 7 now I come to think about it)

*sigh* that's how it always ends.

I want to get a new air rifle so reading with interest - I had an AA s200 when they came out over here for a long time, light and accurate, I think I used to get about 50 shots before pumping up again. However it got more and more unreliable, with seals, hammer spring going, pressure varying regularly and was costing loads to get sorted each time. I chopped it in at the local shop for a Weirauch HW97K underlever they recommended which is good quality but pretty heavy. So looking for something simple, reliable and a bit lighter than this. HW77? Or something else from above...

My last scope cost £180 and although its ok and does exactly as I need, its nothing flash.

Not near Harrogate unfortunately. Thank you for all the helpful advice.

I've got a BSA Airsporter Stutzen .22 sat in the cupboard. The early tap load 1980s version. I'm told that to those in the know (which I'm not) it's considered quite nice and a bit of a find. It is a very pretty looking thing. It needed a reblue when bought it from a work colleague - must get around to it. Though as moving to Scotland in a few months it sounds like I'll need a licence if I want to keep it.

Ooh, yeah stutzen stocks always have an enthusiast following. Not really my thing but I know the Airsporter was well regarded in that respect. If you want a hand with your licence gimme a shout, it's not overly onerous but you have to apply for everything (easily done with the correct wording) or it's a variation fee to sort it later. Some poor bugger applied to shoot at a specific club and that's what his licence only allowed him to do!

@timidwheeler it would help to know where you specifically are, there are a lot of good RFDs out there and a lot of gun rooms looking to empty your wallet.

I’m looking at getting an air rifle. Initially for target practice but then for rabbits as overrun with the little buggers. I’m near Chester, any advice on a good place to go?

Only got rid of that to but a T16 turbo engine and box for my Rover Coupe.

Requires expansion. 🙂

My last scope cost £180 and although its ok and does exactly as I need, its nothing flash.

The last scope I bought cost me 800 quid, but it was going on my .308win and did allow me to hit out to 1000m. On an air rifle for plinking, I can't see a reason for getting anything more than a 3-9x40 from a decent brand (Nikko-Sterling is my benchmark for this). It's almost worth going for a fixed power just to keep it simple.

Plenty of decent Hawke scopes too. My best scope is an 80s Nikko Sterling Platinum with iridium lens, absolute beast. Second best is a Hakke fixed of the same vintage. Japanese glass of that era is fairly cheap now and a good choice if you aren't bothered about mildots. The problem with your £800 swarovski scopes is they probably aren't built for air rifles, a springer can easily destroy a scope with the piston slam!

@bruk I can't remember if Cheshire Gun Room is any good but can easily check. Further afield Blackpool Air Rifles have a very good rep, bit of a trip though.

Another stealth ad. I have an as new, barely used Weirauch HW57 underlever in .177 flavour gathering dust which could do with a new home. Fitted with a good scope and comes with original box, manuals etc. I make very good price! 🙂

I've still got a 22 Relum I got for Christmas 43 years ago and Webley Osprey from the late 70's. Haven't used them in years but I'll never get rid of them.

@Pondo

[Unicorn] Used to have a 2 litre NASP Tomcat. K-reg in nightfire rwd, cream leather, MGF clocks, 3" Scorpion exhaust. Lovely thing.

Was living in Farm cottage but the shooting (rabbits, rats) want as good as the previous place we lived do sold the Hornet for £280 including a 200bar diver's bottle, then went to Edinburgh to pick up a 620ti engine and box for £220.

After that, we had to move again, then when settled I hired an engine hoist and spent a weekend on my own taking the NASP out and putting the turbo lump in. Oh, and flogged the ti box for £150. Engine turned out to need new big end bearings, so it came out again one weekend.

Once up and running out was awesome though. Much more fun and more distasteful when making progress than shooting stuff.

Had to sell up when I got made redundant. Gutted. Since then it's been a procession of diesels.

Might get a Volvo C70 T5 for shits and giggles one day. [\unicorn]

Back on topic, airguns are great when used safely. Simmons 1.5-5x20 FTW

Also well worth considering is the Weihrauch HW57. A much underrated air rifle with a great pop-up loading mechanism. I've had two and they were both extremely accurate. Also lightweight and of course equipped with the Rekord trigger.

Those who say the HW77 is light are just wrong.

If budget is really an issue, have a look at the Remington Express.

Those who say the HW77 is light are just wrong.

A ton lighter than my 52's! But yes, I forgot how heavy it was, my 430 is about halfway between a 77 and a 57.

I'd have a Hatsan 60 before a Remington though.

I’m considering buying an air rifle to fight off zombie hordes

Clearly this because I've been thinking the same. I'd like to see airgun sales trends for the past year, or so.

Forgot about the Zombie hordes. I have a couple of .22 lr rimfires for them. Not ideal but will keep you on your toes.lol.

Warrington Gun rooms. They have various packages to suit various budgets.

For general use, garden plinking and pest control, I got one of these. It's accurate, and powerful enough to bag pigeon and rabbit for the pot, as well as rat.

http://m.molevalleyfarmers.com/h5/r/molevalleyfarmers/mvf/store/products/webley-vmx-spring-powered-22-quantum-air-rifle-pack

It's basically a non-wooden version of this.
https://www.airgunshooting.co.uk/news/gun-test-webley-vmx-os-1-5520916

Good value for money, good kit.

I bought a Weihrauch HW100KT last year - seems pretty decent (mainly as i wanted one when i was a kid, and suddenly realised i'm an adult and I can do what i want now!). Got a manual pump off ebay which tops it off quite quickly without the tank faff.

Thanks Squirrelking and Scapegoat. Bought a field and it’s full of rabbits as been left fallow for lots of years. Need to reduce the rabbits before flattening some of the burrows and getting the horse onto it or the daft bugger will break his leg.

Job for a professional first but then will need to be able to keep on top of them once I’ve got decent enough practice.

You could just advertise on an airgun forum and you will find plenty of shooters willing to cull the rabbits for free.

^True enough but making sure they have BASC or SACS membership and insurance goes a long way to weeding out the Elmers.

Personally I'd be speaking to whatever farmers own the fields around yours for recommendations before letting randomers on, there are too many folk just wanting to bag a good spot with nothing to prove themselves with (it's a vicious circle, yes, but ultimately it comes back to ethics). If that proves fruitless then approaching a Mod on Airgunforum or AirgunBBS would probably go a long way to narrowing down someone with a decent rep in your area.

Bought a field and it’s full of rabbits as been left fallow for lots of years. Need to reduce the rabbits

I'd be asking in the local pub who the best ferret guys are . We've got a local father and son that supply half the village with netted rabbits.

Hi I am thinking of getting an air rifle. Need to dispatch a few longtails.Want something cheap and capable. Any suggestions? Thanks Steve

Can you shoot? As in, accurately place a shot into a 20 pence at 10 yards minimum? In red light.

If you know the answer, why are you asking?

If you don't, buy traps. And clean up whatever it is that's attracting them. Both are far more effective and less likely to go wrong.

@squirrelking The traps seem less than effective. Of the two types I have One in a box and 2 open. Both snap traps. The 2 open ones were fairly successful to start but now tend to just go off without capture. Unless something is taking what's in them. It only seems to take the smaller rats. The traps also attract other things like birds so would rather avoid killing the Dunnock population off in the area.
"Can I shoot" Yes! With any success? no idea as I have no gun. I don't know how accurate i would be until I got one and tried it. I wouldn't just start firing shots off until and if I could be sure I could shoot true. I might even find I want to take up target shooting or garden plinking instead.
I won't use poison!
Looking at the number of runs/holes we have there is a nice little network/highway so not just coming in for food.
Anyway. The question was based on could I get a cheap gun that would be accurate if my aim is good and good enough to get rid of the rats without any more suffering than is required.
There's no point spending a fortune then finding out you can't shoot the damn thing.

Very true, glad you've also taken the time to consider whether you can land a humane kill.

For close range ratting you don't need anything fancy, almost anything on the market would work but some people prefer something a little lower powered to prevent over penetration. Whatever you do consider where the pellet is going if it goes through as its a firearms offence if it leaves your property or causes someone alarm out on a "highway".

Cheap options are Remington and Stoeger, slightly less cheap but massively better would be Hatsan 50 or 60. Second hand you can do far worse than a Weihrauch. Break barrels are generally cheaper and lighter than fixed barrels.

My cheapo Webley has died, and annoyingly (understandably, really!) can't buy a replacement for the moment.

Suggestions for a quality springer? Garden plinking, and pest control/food for the pot. Up to £400, maybe?

Anyone with a Weihrauch HW95 or BSA Lightning GRT XL SE?

Trouble with ratting with an air rifle is that they don't hang about for long, and are off like scalded cats the moment any light hits them. To be really effective you need some form of night vision. I built an add-on a few years ago using a cctv camera and a reversing monitor coupled with an IR torch, and rigged it up on a gas strut break-barrel. It was a game changer. Went from half a dozen in a week on an infested dairy farm to dozens every night. My lad's PCP with a dedicated IR scope (Yukon) is a bit more user friendly. It isn't a "budget" option though.

CFH. Look for a BSA Lightning XL SE. RRP is £299 so room for a scope in your budget. I've got one of the early iterations and it's the most accurate springer I ever owned.

Ta. Edited while you were posting!

The one I have is the XL Tactical ( synthetic stock) which I got when my son was 10, so it's 12 years old now. It has accounted for a huge number of bunnies, pigeons and rats. Lightweight, short, with a truly good stock, it's really accurate with its short carbine barrel, and has a decent enough trigger for an air rifle. A year or so ago it needed a new mainspring, and BSA had just started to fit them with the gas strut, so I bit the bullet and converted it to GRT. You'll hear reviewers complaining about the "recoil" of the GRT, but either they are used to shooting PCPs and so can't learn to shoot a rifle with any movement, or simply don't know what recoil is. Where a springer has that "lash" of movement which we learn to ride or control as we shoot, the GRT is snappier and more linear. It isn't recoil, it's simply the release of the action. Once learnt, it's certainly no barrier to accuracy.

I worked for a while in a shop that sold air rifles, and so have had plenty to compare it with. I don't think you can get better for the money. Any cheaper and you're in amongst some nice enough, but just not quite nice enough stuff. Any dearer and your onto the law of diminishing returns.

CFH - have a look at reviews for the Diana 280 or carbine 280K.

The latter comes sans open sights.

It has the renowned TO6 trigger unit and is a lovely rifle to shoot.

It isn’t recoil, it’s simply the release of the action.

It IS recoil. There is still an equal and opposite reaction to the weight of the forward moving piston. The fact that a coiled spring is replaced by a compressed gas makes no difference. The characteristics of the recoil are different however. The lock-time with a gas strut is shorter which once managed can result in improved accuracy. Gas struts in .177 calibre rifles are notoriously angry and snappy.

My local dealer sold 3 Air rifles to doctors last week. Apparently they're stress relief was going to be a bit of garden plinking.

It IS recoil. There is still an equal and opposite reaction to the weight of the forward moving piston. The fact that a coiled spring is replaced by a compressed gas makes no difference. The characteristics of the recoil are different however. The lock-time with a gas strut is shorter which once managed can result in improved accuracy. Gas struts in .177 calibre rifles are notoriously angry and snappy.

Yebbut, the reviewers who claim the snap of a gas strut affects their accuracy has never fired a 168grain target round through a Tikka T3 lite .308... #willywaving

I had an HW90K rammer for a while and my god was that snappy. It was very accurate though, that's another regretful sale.

CFH the 280 is a good shout as is the HW95. Again, a new Hatsan 60 or 50 with Quattro trigger set is a budget option with a good rep. If you check the classifieds on AGF or AGBBS you can sometimes pick up something fancy, my last Diana 52 was picked up for £150 because it was a working gun and not pristine. Straight shooter though and gives me a nice project to work on. You might even get a TX200 for that money which gives you a lot of tuning options (Tony Leach and Nick Gibney make decent short stroke and cylinder reducer kits, I have one of Tony's on my 52).

Another thumbs up for a 'rammed lightning from me. Mine has a Theoben gas-ram conversion from before BSA offered them as standard. My PCP is much easier to shoot but for lack of faff and not having to haul a cylinder about, the Lightning is brill.

Lightning is brill

Apart from the heavy, unpredictable trigger!

I haven't used it for a good few years now but I never thought it was *that* bad compared to either my S200 or Daystate Mk3.

Can you shoot? As in, accurately place a shot into a 20 pence at 10 yards minimum?

Most would go for a five round group inside a 2p coin at 25m with iron sights as a starting point for assessing whether you can shoot. Maybe showing my age...

For rabbits yes but you can get closer with rats since there tends to be more to hide behind.

Update - Bought a BSA GRT Lightning XL SE today.

Spent a while sorting the scope this afternoon, and happily grouping in a 2p sized target as mentioned above, with only one in ten going a little astray over the edges of the target. (I'm rusty, new rifle, etc!) It's very quiet, and seems to pack the required punch! The cocking action is lovely and smooth, too.

Now, be vewwy, vewwy quiet...

Try different pellets and die sizes as rifles can be fussy as to accuracy with different makes.

Now, be vewwy, vewwy quiet…

🤣 You do know he’s been banned from using a rifle now, don’t you?