A Little Bit Of Advise On An Air Rifle Please

[tobecooper3 0]

looking for a pcp air rifle preferably,

Posted 1 Mar 2010

 

hi there,

 

dont really understand what to do lol,

only just joined. hope it goes ok :L.

 

the rifle will be used for hunting,

mainly rabbits and needs to be reliable as it will be undertaking a lot of use huting rabbits to help to keep down the numbers.

 

basically im looking for some advise on what to buy in the pcp air gun range.

looking to spend around £450 with scope, new or second hand. would be willing to spend a little bit extra if it includes the pump.

 

and what are the views on co2 rifles, better than the pcp's?

 

wonder if anyone could help?

 

 

 

thanks, toby

[JackReid 35]

Hello mate, welcome to the forums. With 450 quid to spend you dont want to even think about co2 hehe (my opinion). They are by far inferior to springers and pcp's alike. Im not that resident expert on PCP's although I do know a bit..

 

What your paying for in a nice gun is accuracy (all down the the engineering and user), reliability (which will come as standard with most of the best manafacturers, hence being the best) and I suppose just all round quality of build and features.

 

I would say that the majoirty of pre-charged shooters on here have a tank rather than a pump, as they are alot of work. You can buy the best air rifle in the world and put a crappy scope on it and the gun will remain that, crappy. So you want to spend a little bit on a scope, all scopes I have ever bought I have got on deals with guns or seperatley and never spent mroe than £100 and they have been top notch. You want some magnification, although soe would argue its not essential. Until only a few months ago at highest I would adjust to 6x magnification when my scope was actually capable of going between 4x-12 magnification. However now I have got used to venturing up to 8x or 10x at longer distances, obviously practice defining this move.

 

Within your budget you can get a nice setup first or second hand. A local gun-shop I'm sure would be happy to sort you out a deal with a nice gun, scope and small tank, (also throwing in a tin of pellets and targets hopefully ) for within your budget. However alot of people sell their gear on here also, probably at a better price too.

 

Flick around on here looking at what people are using, what they look like etc. All good quality legal limit 12ftlb guns can take out all the quarry on the licence with ease, as long as the shot is placed right.. so dont worry about an illusion of variance in power/range etc.

Like I said, look on here, maybe pop into a gun shop locally and see the guns in the wood so to speak, see what models they have you have heard of, dont be afraid to ask to have a feel of what they are like etc..

 

Just familiarise yourself with the equipment and it will help you make a choice; you have a budget which will allow you to come out pleased I'm sure

 

More people will add their bits on here I'm sure and the pre-charged shooters here will be more helpful than me and suggest a handful of models within your price range, but dont be afraid to ask questions as there wont be an absence of answers on here buddy!

 

All the best

Jack

[tobecooper3 0]

cheers for the info mate (Y)

[clubshot 22]

Alway's Suggest Checking out your Local Air Gun Club

 

Most Air Gun Clubs have Web sites and can be found - googling Air Gun Club - your Area

 

To see what is about and why others are using them

 

Also a chance that you might pick up a Bargin

 

As most have a For Sale Table - where Members sell on unrequired Guns and Accessories

 

BOB/R

[jackinbox99 41]

Agree with what has already been said. PCP is definately the way forward, and if you have a budget of £450 you can get a really good one 2nd hand. I use an air arms s410carbine in .22 for rabbits / pigeons / magpies etc... and its a cracking gun. Get 80shots out of a full charge, and it only takes me a few minutes to pump the gun up using a stirrup pump.

 

Looking on the for sale sections of the various shooting forums over the past few months, you could get an s410 like mine, with silencer & scope for £400->£450, so certainly well within your budget. Of course, with a PCP you will have to factor in recharging it. Some gunshops charge 3 or 4 quid to do this, or you can invest in a stirrup pump for £100upwards, which lets you do it yourself. Alternatively you can buy diving bottles and the like, but they end up costing even more.

 

The main thing I think is that you should try a few guns out and see what you like. Just because I get on with my gun doesnt mean it would suit you. Most gunshops are friendly and let you fire a few pellets to see what you like the look / feel off. Just cos you have tried the gun out in their shop doesnt mean you have to buy it, so feel free to walk away once you have a shortlist of guns you like, and buy them privately to save money! Gunshops tend to be maybe £100 or more dearer than private sellers, but you are paying for a guarentee and piece of mind.

 

Personally id not buy a new gun, as you loose a lot on the depreciation. I bought my s410 2nd hand 18 months back and its held its value so well that its still worth roughly what I paid for it.

 

Finally, when looking at guns, dont be put off if it doesnt come with a scope or silencer. Silencers cost £30->£50 and Scopes vary from £30 upwards. So, as long as you factor this into the total cost you`ll be fine!

 

Have fun!

[JackReid 35]

I have a brand new 3 litre breathing tank for sale cheap, only been used twice. My friend returned his gun for a springer and was lefyt with the breathing tank!!!

Message me if your interested, will be a very fair price

 

Jack

[farmboy99 1]

air arms s400 or s410 should do you just right mate

[farmboy99 1]

oh and i personally think co2 guns are rubbish stick with your pcp idea mate thats a winner

[apds120 0]

Firstly, PCPs are within your budget & easier to shoot accurately and to longer ranges then springers, CO2 are garbage.

Multi shot pcps are useful for pestcontrol as they avoid fumbling for pellets, especially useful in the dark if you want to do some lamping.

Your budget of £450 accomodates some good air rifles:

Air Arms s400 (single shot, the multi shot AA s410 will be nearer £500)

BSA Scorpion T10 (multi shot)

FX Typhoon T12 (multi shot)

The Webley Raider 10 shot now has a RRP of £299, seems to have a good rep BUT I don't have any experience of it so won't recommend it myself.

Do shop around: look on Guntrader.co.uk & some of the discounting dealers, eg. cityairweaponslincoln.co.uk etc. You'll find huge differences in prices.

I'd advise sticking to the established quality brands as they provide some assurance of still being around in a few years to provide support: Air Arms, BSA, FX, Daystate, Theoben, Weihrauch.

Basically all of the above 6 makers produce good, reliable & accurate air rifles. The guns differ in style, size, weight, balance, sophistication, shot count (due to being regulated or not & to air reservoir size) & price. Aswell as handling as many as possible try to get try them out. Most air rifle HFT clubs welcome newcomers & most people will let you try their hardware.

There is no one "best" air rifle, merely best for you as in this respect "best" is highly subjective.

You also need to budget for a scope & charging system (whether pump or bottle, I use both).

Good luck!