Hopeful Air Rifle Hunting Enthusiast

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Right now the HW and AA mob have had their say, let me interject some common into the mixture.

 

Yes you can find an AA or HW (Air Arms or Weihrauch, Weihrauch is HW by the way), but by the time they get to the money you are wanting to spend they will be secondhand and been through the hands of lawks knows how many amateur tuners who may or more likely may not have improved the situation. HW springers are currently known for the superb Rekord trigger and for shipping guns with poorly finished springs that are gouging the insides apart and buzzing worse than an angry wasp, AA are known for being somewhat hit and miss as far as power goes. Buying new will obviously circumvent this but may leave you with double the size hole in your pocket that you want.

The Hatsan 55 and 60 are better known as the Webley Stingray Mk 2 (but half the price of the Webley) and both are capable of being fine hunters at ranges of up to 40 metres. They are available for around the £100-£130 mark which leaves you a little money for a nice 3-9x40 AO scope, mounts a bag and a tin of pellets.

 

I know the Hatsan are not quite in the same quality as an HW, or AA, but they are not far off these days and really represent a good sound starter rifle. The Quattro trigger is very easy to adjust (half a turn clockwise on the screw closest to the barrel is usually all that is needed) and really you could do a lot worse trying to buy a quality rifle secondhand as you won't have any warranty!

[charlie caller 3,654]

Right now the HW and AA mob have had their say, let me interject some common into the mixture.

 

Yes you can find an AA or HW (Air Arms or Weihrauch, Weihrauch is HW by the way), but by the time they get to the money you are wanting to spend they will be secondhand and been through the hands of lawks knows how many amateur tuners who may or more likely may not have improved the situation. HW springers are currently known for the superb Rekord trigger and for shipping guns with poorly finished springs that are gouging the insides apart and buzzing worse than an angry wasp, AA are known for being somewhat hit and miss as far as power goes. Buying new will obviously circumvent this but may leave you with double the size hole in your pocket that you want.

The Hatsan 55 and 60 are better known as the Webley Stingray Mk 2 (but half the price of the Webley) and both are capable of being fine hunters at ranges of up to 40 metres. They are available for around the £100-£130 mark which leaves you a little money for a nice 3-9x40 AO scope, mounts a bag and a tin of pellets.

 

I know the Hatsan are not quite in the same quality as an HW, or AA, but they are not far off these days and really represent a good sound starter rifle. The Quattro trigger is very easy to adjust (half a turn clockwise on the screw closest to the barrel is usually all that is needed) and really you could do a lot worse trying to buy a quality rifle secondhand as you won't have any warranty!

Well all I can say to that is I have no experience of Hatstand spring rifles whatsoever, and have, I might add not the slightest wish to, but and it is a big but, if Hatstand air rifles are anything like their semi auto shotguns,then a fu*king hatstand is all they are fit for,they are dreadful.

[Rez 4,961]

"Right now the HW and AA mob have had their say..."

 

[bigmac 97kt 13,800]

To be honest rez, mole has had some good results with say,d rifles out in the field

 

and the raider is as good as one of them

 

but i dont no what the springers are like mind

 

atvbmac :thumbs:

[stealthy1 3,964]

Are the Hatsan's ok straight from the box? I have never had my HW100KT tuned, and mine is the first of the guns to have the quickfill adapter fitted as standard, so I've had it a while.

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Are the Hatsan's ok straight from the box? I have never had my HW100KT tuned, and mine is the first of the guns to have the quickfill adapter fitted as standard, so I've had it a while.

They are fine out of the box, but like many other guns could benefit from a bit of a fettle (usually a spring lube). The 900X Breaker is a lovely gun with a poor trigger, as bad as many other guns admittedly but for saving a bit of cash on manufacture and not using the Quattro trigger they ruined what really could have beaten the pants off a Lightning or an HW99. Good little gun, accurate as hell but suffers from the Striker type trigger.

 

Now are happy hopeful is in Peterborough, so not too far away from a few gun dealers, Whittlesea Guns, Fenland Rural Sports, both of those sell Hatsan, as does the guy on the Northampton Road from Peterborough. All of these shops sell other guns (HW and AA) too, so the OP can try a few out and see what he likes. But getting a £240 gun for over £100 off the price (difference between a Stingray Mk 2 and a 55 or 60S( with a genuine 2 stage trigger and a genuine Walnut stock, open sights as well so a scope is not necessary to shoot and you have a damned nice little gun!

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Oh and to LukeAir90, I would not bother with the gas ram Hatsan. Yes it is very nice and pretty quiet, but the spring powered one is a hell of a lot cheaper (some £60 less) and will teach you just as much about shooting. Go for the spring powered, you can pick those up for £130 new and from your budget that will give you scope, mounts, pellets etc!

[VWman 232]

Hello Luke

This is where to find out all the info, they have sorted me out so should be able to do the same for you.

If you google second hand air rifles, Free adds will pop up and if you say for your area it will bring the local ones up first.

Check out the Wiehrach HW 95k, try it out at the gun shop and if you want it new just ask them to price match. When you check out the second hand prices you will find them 50 to 90 cheaper and will have a so so scope to get you going.

Hope this helps and if you search back a bit you will see that I have asked alllllll the questions with no stone unturned LOL.

Good luck.

[David.evans 5,323]

Welcome to the forum Luke

I don't shoot springers so I can't comment , but the lads on hear would not put you wrong in any way !

 

Shooting fine mate but don't forget yove got to get into range , that your comfortable with

Field craft , and more field craft ! Will help put you in good stead

Atb

Dave

[VWman 232]

Hello Luke

There is a lot of info in the above posts and if I was you I would break it down and take it one step at a time.

First thing is at £200 I would save for a week or two and get it to £250,what ever we want in life always costs more than we first think

Second thing is to buy the best you can for the money and from what I have seen if you get a second hand HW springer in good condition and you change your mind it will sell like a hot cake so you won't loose all your money. The hw and AA will last a life time and will out last the cheaper rifles. Just to back that up I got one and it's that good I can't put it down.

Second hand it will have a scope on to get you away.

That £200 will be burning a hole in your pocket but keep looking and save a bit more £50 more quid will do it LOL.

[secretagentmole 1,701]

VWMan, the guy is new to the sport and unfortunately, even in East Anglia, there are several bags of nails masquerading as good rifles. There are a few dealers who sell secondhand air rifles, but not many. Their prices are not that far off new either.

 

The OP does not want to spend a fortune on new kit as he is unsure whether he likes the sport and a Hatsan 60 or 55 is a pretty good gun as a first one. Nice 2 stage trigger, walnut stock, open sights, 11mm scope rail, recoil stop, also the quality is ascending, not descending like many established European marques. The 55 and 60 are accurate, perhaps slightly long and a bit weighty, but they are well worth the money and even sell at twice the price (with a Webley label).

 

Buying new from a gunshop does have advantages to the new to the sport. It has 12 months warranty, which equates to peace of mind. If the op decides the sport is not for him then the £200 he will have spent will be worth £130-£150 with all the extras, so he won't have lost that much.

 

If you buy a secondhand rifle and decide the sport is not for you you may be able to move it on for what you paid for it, however if it is a bag of nails that won't fire then you could end spending another £100-£130 fixing it or sell it for parts, losing lots of money,

 

Peace of mind may cost, but if the OP can get his behind to Lincoln he can pick up a 55 or 60 from City Airweapons for £85!

 

http://www.cityairweaponslincoln.co.uk/air_rifles.html

Edited September 12, 2015 by secretagentmole

[VWman 232]

VWMan, the guy is new to the sport and unfortunately, even in East Anglia, there are several bags of nails masquerading as good rifles. There are a few dealers who sell secondhand air rifles, but not many. Their prices are not that far off new either.

 

The OP does not want to spend a fortune on new kit as he is unsure whether he likes the sport and a Hatsan 60 or 55 is a pretty good gun as a first one. Nice 2 stage trigger, walnut stock, open sights, 11mm scope rail, recoil stop, also the quality is ascending, not descending like many established European marques. The 55 and 60 are accurate, perhaps slightly long and a bit weighty, but they are well worth the money and even sell at twice the price (with a Webley label).

 

Buying new from a gunshop does have advantages to the new to the sport. It has 12 months warranty, which equates to peace of mind. If the op decides the sport is not for him then the £200 he will have spent will be worth £130-£150 with all the extras, so he won't have lost that much.

 

If you buy a secondhand rifle and decide the sport is not for you you may be able to move it on for what you paid for it, however if it is a bag of nails that won't fire then you could end spending another £100-£130 fixing it or sell it for parts, losing lots of money,

 

Peace of mind may cost, but if the OP can get his behind to Lincoln he can pick up a 55 or 60 from City Airweapons for £85!

 

http://www.cityairweaponslincoln.co.uk/air_rifles.html

 

Hello Mole

You have a very good point and what you give is sound advice but what I am doing is giving is giving another view point. When I came back to it after a long time working, buying houses, having a family etc I thought I wanted a BSA Airsporter from the 80's lol.

I am newish so know what the op is going through. I take your point about new rifles and that's what I did by saving a bit more while I was looking around. I was told buy cheap buy twice and I take that on board with all that I do.

As for second hand crap well if you have a good gutt feeling that a rifle is tatty then just go on to the next one which may be a mint HW that someone has not used much ?.

If you bond with your rifle you will use it more, my mate has a second hand pcp and the seals are leaking and it has a stiff reload and he is always jamming the barrel with a second pellet double load. He has not bonded and never comes out ( he would only scare off all the pigeons with all the moaning about it being stuck again LOL ) more pigeons for me with my HW95 that I can't put down.

He would need another £100 and £40 for a scope from Uttings.

I would say sell some stuff that you don't use on flea bay and get new.

This is JMO and I think it is good to kick the ball from all sides to see which is best.

[bigmac 97kt 13,800]

No disrespect mole but none of them rifles will match a hw or AA and as has been say,d he will only get p*ssed off with it and want a hw or aa any way

 

and not all second hand rifles are shit there are some good rifles out there on the second hand market that will do him just fine

 

granted he will need to up his funds but i just sold a cracker of a hw97 a few weeks ago with full vmach kit and welsh willy trigger to wales1234 for £250 a hell of a lot of rifle for not a lot of money .

 

and all of my rifles are top notch sold the brand new hw80 for £250 to and the s410 with Gordie custom stock for £450

 

so if he looks about for a while and not rush into it there are bargains to be had .

 

if the rifle looks ruff then its probably ruff in side

 

all ways ask if you can fire the rifle to make sure its ok ie no twangs or rattles

 

at the end of the day some one off here will live near you and will go with you to check it out for you

 

all you have to do is ask

 

atvbmac :thumbs:

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Just to contradict what you say. The HW99 is a great rifle, Rekord trigger, great barrel, but even a nice shiny well looked after secondhand one can run the risk of gouging the cylinder when you cock it.

 

The 95 is renown for it's reliability, yes but it is also renown for poorly finished springs that gouge and put swarf in the cylinder. We know, happened on two we have had!

 

The Hatsan is not as bad as you make out Mac, they are good rifles, not as great as a sorted 95 admittedly, but there again you are not paying £300 for a gun and then another £100 odd to sort the problems the factory left in out. If the OP could find a sorted secondhand HW easily, I would recommend he goes for that, but do not diss the Hatsan so much, several people have owned the 55 and 60 and think it is a great rifle.

I can remember being told by one shop how bad the Hatsan 55 and 60 were, yet they were peddling the Webley Stingray mk 2 at me, which is the same gun, just a different stock and twice the money. There are a few members Peterborough way who could be able to help the OP out when it comes to buying a gun and guide him through the secondhand market. There are many good sellers out there, but there are also more than a few Grahams out there too!

[bigmac 97kt 13,800]

I get your point bud and i more than any one no,s that some of them are good rifles

 

all you have to do is look at my hunting posts with the raider, a cracking rifle and will match any of the top rifles shot for shot so much so that im in the processes of buying another

 

atvbmac :thumbs: