Air rifle advice

[nigel cross]

0.22 BSA R10
Have a look 2nd hand here is a good place AirgunBBS.com
If you buy one of those you will have to buy a diving bottle etc as well, but they are good, try and get a MK 2 or later as the MK 1's had some issues

 

[DSM10000]

Charles

Thank you, that is food for thought (rabbit pie!), I would rather not spend £1000 as it is something that only gets used once a week or so.

Perhaps you would like to pm me with further details?

Regards


David

 

[Charles Morgan]

Will do, David. I'll take some photos after I've finished baking!

Which reminds me, curry time.

 

[DSM10000]

Will do, David. I'll take some photos after I've finished baking!

Which reminds me, curry time.

Charles

Thank you!

Happy baking I have made Earl Grey cookies and also blueberry muffins earlier and have a couple of loaves proving

 

[MrPoseidon]

This is for sale on another forum i frequent;

BSA Scorpion T10 .22 Air Rifle

If you're interested i can get a phone number for you.

I'm interested in this please swannymere ,if OP doesn't ant it .

Sorry about thread hijack OP .

Cheers.

 

[Ferrets Bueller]

Ok I've been shooting for over 20 years (shotgun and airifle) I'm a founder member of fort airgun in northwales, I own my own shooting forum (fort airgun clubs) I hunt,plink(target shooting for fun) and also compete in hunter field target competions. I used to work in a gunshop, my best mate still does work in one So I should be able to help you.

Pcp (precharged pneumatics ) like the hw100 are great for hunting as they have no recoil, they can be rested (as they recoiless) on anything to take the shot making them very easy to shoot accurately. Pcp can also be magazine fed alowing 8-14 shots to be taken in quick succession each time the rifle is cocked. The downside is the cost of the rifle itself (£7-800) plus you then need a divers bottle to fill the gun with compressed diver quality air, this is 200bar (3000+psi) in pressure so not to be taken lightly, you would get approx 56 shots of a carbine hw100 per fill, and a 3 l divers bottle would fill that gun about 10 times then you need to take the bottle to a dive shop and they refill the bottle at a cost of about £4. The divers bottle will cost you about £200 so you nearly over a grand before adding anything else

A spring rifle, you **** yourself each time you want to take a shot, they are self contained ie you are the power source so a lot cheaper to buy, the downside is they are heavier than pcp, single shot and recoil on shooting making them harder to master as they cannot be rested on anything hard to take shots. A decent springer will cost £3-£400 but will last a lifetime if you buy the likes of a weihrauch (German quality) they are just as accurate as a pcp but it takes more skill/concentration to shoot them well, but once mastered you are fine (plenty of practice will sort that)

Regardless which type you go for it'll need a scope, make sure its a vari mag say a 3-9 or 4-12 magnification so you can shoot on say 9 or 10 mag normally or if shooting at night lower the mag to 4 x so you can aquire targets quicker in the dark. Make sure it has an AO Adustable objective this allows you to focus the scope at various ranges giving you a clear sight picture at all time. Go for a milldot scope, or multi reticule, this helps when aiming off for longer/shorter ranges.

They will also need scope mounts, good quality ones like sportsmatch or hawke promount, 2 piece for a pcp one piece for a springer (better clamping to absorb recoil)

Forget .22 caliber, .177 has too many advantages over it, head shots are the way with whatever your shooting, unless its birds then you can neck or chest shot.

Stick to a good quality pellet, jsb, air arms, are the best, don't go for gimmicky pointed or hollow point pellets, stick to a 8.4 grain Roundhead pellet which gives a nice flat trajectory and still hits hard.

As you are already shooting springer If it was me, I would go for weihrauch hw95 in.177 with a hawke scope and one piece mount, unless your a big bloke then go for the hw97 Underlever (my choice of gun). The 95 with scope mount etc should cost you no more than £500 all in and if you take care of it (oil and service it once in While) it'll out last you.

I've owned £1000+ electronic daystates and weihrauchs and shot nearly every gun out there and I sold all my pcp and went back to springers as they are so much more fun to shoot.

If you need any more info let me know

Btw avoid the BSA springers like a plague and the hw80 is only any good running at 18ftlbs like it was designed to be, not restricted to sub 12 in the uk.

 

[Ferrets Bueller]

0.177 isn't humane for killing swiftly if that's what you want to do.

Utter rubbish, an old wives tale.

 

[Ierton]

No it isn't - most hunters use 0.22 as 0.177 just doesn't carry enough energy at distance using 12 ftlbs.

I've been shooting for over 20 years and like you owned everything from BSA, Air Arms, Weihrauch springers to Daystate PCPs. I also compete in small and full bore competitions.

 

[DSM10000]

Many thanks for a well detailed and explanatory post!

I am 6 foot 2 and 16 stone so you would recommend the hw97 in this case?

 

[nigel cross]

PCP are quicker for multiple shoots, no recoil, and are great if you are shooting laying down ( try a springer and you will know what i mean )

 

[Ferrets Bueller]

No it isn't - most hunters use 0.22 as 0.177 just doesn't carry enough energy at distance using 12 ftlbs.

I've been shooting for over 20 years and like you owned everything from BSA, Air Arms, Weihrauch springers to Daystate PCPs. I also compete in small and full bore competitions.

I'm sorry mate have to agree to disagree, most older shooters feel this way, the truth of it is they are as capable as each other.

.22 pros

stopping power due to bigger pellet transferring more energy ( yes .22 does have this but a hole in the head is a hole in the head)

Bigger pellets (less fumbling in the dark)

That's all I can think of feel free to add more.

Cons

Due to the larger pellet heavier weight, the trajectory is a lot more pronounced meaning you have to be spot on with rangefinding or you risk a wounded animal, I always refer to .22 trajectory as chucking a brick. .

Bigger pellet travels slower approx 560fps in .22 meaning not only is it in the air longer than a 780fps (feet per second) .177 the bigger profile of the pellet means its more effected by wind, which again unless you read the wind correctly means another miss or wound.

.177 pro

177 is lighter than .22 meaning a flatter trajectory with my rifle I can aim dead on from 18- 35 yards with no holdover or under, .22 is all over the place in the same regards which again can mean a miss or wound

.177 is 200fps faster than .22 meaning it hits the target sooner and is less effects by wind and for that same reason as it s a smaller pellet.

.177 pellets are cheaper (don't laugh) they can be over a third cheaper per tin than .22.

Con

.177 can shoot straight through quarry at close range but as I said above a head shots is a head shot regardless

I was a .22 shooter until I was shown and saw the benefits of .177 and would never go back.

Feel free to add to my list.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

David, hope you're well,

Camerafodder is your man for this sort of caper, but having checked his profile he looks as though he's on the missing list.

I'll see if I've got his email address and get in touch with him.

 

[Ferrets Bueller]

Many thanks for a well detailed and explanatory post!

I am 6 foot 2 and 16 stone so you would recommend the hw97 in this case?

Depends, if you fit a sling to it then half the problem is solved which is carrying it around, they just get heavier as you get tired lol.

I'm 6.1 20 stone and look like a shaved gorilla and don't struggle carrying in my shoulder even at comps where I carrying it for up to three hours on my shoulder.

With springers weight helps as it absorbs the felt recoil, the other benefit with the 97 is as its an Underlever the barrel is fixed as opposed to the break barrel of the 95, its not that big a deal , but I prefer fixed barrel myself. Either way you won't go wrong.

Trust me though and stick with .177

 

[DSM10000]

David, hope you're well,

Camerafodder is your man for this sort of caper, but having checked his profile he looks as though he's on the missing list.

I'll see if I've got his email address and get in touch with him.

Lee, all well here thank you, hope the same for you et al!

David

 

[Ierton]

You can compensate for nearly all your points by pellet choice.

Each to thier own though. I much preferred shooting 0.177 for target but not for hunting.

There's a beginner's guide here.

 

[flango]

You can compensate for nearly all your points by pellet choice.

Each to thier own though. I much preferred shooting 0.177 for target but not for hunting.

There's a beginner's guide here.

I totally agree I been shooting nearly 40 years from the ancient springers to serious weapons before they were banned in the UK (I still shoot big boys toys in USA)

.177 for target .22 for hunting that's my philosophy

 

[Ferrets Bueller]

You can compensate for nearly all your points by pellet choice.

Each to thier own though. I much preferred shooting 0.177 for target but not for hunting.

There's a beginner's guide here.

You can to a degree, but lightweight .22 pellets are flathead so unsuitable really.

.177 heavyweights like bisley magnums and hollow points rws super hollow points work well though.

It's all about shot placement, rabbits,rats crows, pigeons all drop with a well placed headshot. Placing that shot well is the problem (more so with .22)

 

[DSM10000]

You can compensate for nearly all your points by pellet choice.

Each to thier own though. I much preferred shooting 0.177 for target but not for hunting.

There's a beginner's guide here.

The guide is very helpful! Many thanks.

I need to do some thinking and reading now

 

[Ferrets Bueller]

The guide is very helpful! Many thanks.

I need to do some thinking and reading now

Yeah some good stuff there from blackpool airfiles

Just one other thing avoid co2 guns too

 

[DSM10000]

Yeah some good stuff there from blackpool airfiles

Just one other thing avoid co2 guns too

I cannot help thinking that a PCP gun would be more fun although more complex than I need