Second hand air rifle

[Pitty146 0]

hi folks, im after a second hand air rifle to shoot rabbits with, not got huge amounts to spent, prob £150 max. any adive or recommendations. plus any one recomend good websites to find such a gun???

 

ta pitty

[SEAN3513 7]

usually plenty for sale on here

 

gun sales

 

should be able to pick up a s/h bsa lightning for around that.

 

have a look in your local gun shop....see what takes your fancy and then see what you can find on the boards.

 

cheers

 

sean

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Depends if you want new or used, buying new will restrict your choice of manufacturers quite a bit, as long as you are sensible buying a secondhand gun is no worse than buying a secondhand dvd! A few tips though

 

If dealing through the classifieds, gun trader, the for sale section on here, always view the gun. It makes sure it exists and is not a fantasy firearm in the eyes of some scammer somewhere (it happens a lot trust me). Try and take a friend who knows a bit about them with you, if not just take a big friend so you do not get turned over for your hard earned cash (it has happened).

 

Do not get over excited about the first gun you see, try a few, see which one feels right (that is half the battle). Haggle as well, try and get something knocked off for paying in cash, turning up at all, because the day ends in a y! Make sure you turn up when you say you are going to, or phone up and let them know that a UFO has been spotted over the M6, an elephant is loose on the M25, whatever it is, keep the seller updated if you are going to be late, it is only polite after all! They have probably been mucked about a lot so be good, gives you some leverage on haggling.

 

You ideally should test the weapon, but with private sales this is not always possible! Buying froma gun shop has some good advantages, such as warranty for both new and used weapons. Buying new opens a whole new can of worms, as your budget limits you to the bottom end of the market, however amongst the swine there are a few pearls. Everybody will now groan!

 

The Hatsan rifles (in particular the 55S and 60S) are worth a look if you have to have new. Out of the box they perform well, have good grouping and though heavy are nice guns. I had one for over 3 years that still fired well, was accurate and still putting out over 10.5 ft lbs of power when it had gone past it's third birthday. But beware of buying such guns secondhand. As they are usually a first gun they may have been subjected to some of the worst excesses of neglect ever (ie stood in wardrobe for months, never wiped down when stored, never lubricated etc). Hence they can have a bad reputation for reliability. If bought new they have a warranty for at least a year. Not bad when you consider the 55 and 60 can be had for around the £90 mark.

 

That price leaves you £60 for a scope, slip, some pellets etc. But look on the secondhand market first. Just do not buy anything secondhand that is made in China (Westlake, SMK rifles, etc). These can cost more secondhand than new (trust me, some people are very optimistic when it comes to selling weapons).

 

My recommendation is to go round your local gunshops and try a few out, see what suits you best, then get searching for that. Try secondhand first unless you fall madly in love with the Hatsan spring powered rifles (it can happen, I still have a posh Hatsan, it is called a Webley, both are made in the same factory, just the Hatsan has the better safety catch), in which case buy new.

Edited May 4, 2011 by secretagentmole

[Pitty146 0]

Cheers fella. Top advice. Off to a few local shops I've found. They have good range with fair few second hand ones. Hopefully something will turn up.