Air rifle

[mortalmerlin]

I have had quite a few air rifles over the years. From my first "para-trooper" when I was 12, which used to fire off from time to time with the barrel broken, lots of BSA's, Webley, Air Arms upto Theobens. I now have an old Air Arms thing with a beautiful Tyrolean stock (gun's naff but it feels nice), a HW97 in .177, a Gamo for the kids to plink and my newest toy the Theoben Eliminator in .22 (I love Belgium gun laws, or complete lack of) at 26 ft/lbs it a monster .

If you're just starting out I would say go for a good second hand .22 break barrel or underlever with a good new scope (you don't want to be finding problems with 2nd hand scopes if you're starting).

You're going to get what you pay for but, as someone pointed out, if you practice a lot you can hunt with nearly anything (I have). With power being restricted in the UK all the rifles are pretty much on par with each other performance wise and normally de-tuned by the manufacturer to fall well within the legal limit.

There will be a lot of banter about .177, .20, .22 and .25 and which is best. My view is that the 12ft/lbs limit makes .25 a poor choice, .20 is nice but .177 and .22 have a much wider range of pellets available. All my first guns were .22, I think this is best for starting out as you stand a better chance of a kill while being less accurate (a lot of people will dissagree) but .177 penetrates much further and if you clip what ever you're shooting at (and you will) there is more of a chance the pellet will go through the prey without imparting all of it's energy into it. Also you won't be shooting at the ranges that gives .177 the advantage.

Maybe a day at your local field target club will give you a better idea of what's available.

That said at the end of the day you will see something you like and go for it. Practice a lot and go and have safe fun.

 

[Tripitaka]

Like Big Bad Stu, I went from a HW80 to a Logun S16 with Crosman Accupel. Same kind of results too - 1 hole groups at 35yds.

Not shot quarry for some years now and just looking for a permission within reasonable travelling distance of NW; it's got harder to find over the years.

 

[Praetorian]

The S410 TDR, looks very interesting.

Are there still gun ranges out there for pratice?

There's an outdoor plinking / target shoot every other saturday in the Penkridge area,
also a decent indoor range in Wedensbury.
PM me if you want a contact number for the Penkridge shoots.

 

[FGYT]

jsut a interested question
Why was this tthread moved from the Fairgaime section ????
it was asking a hunting question and an air rifle isnt a Bright nor a Gizmo and certainly isnt a Toy
there aer also other similer threads that remain in the Fairgaim section

only being nosey as i was looking for this thread and thought i was going mad

ATB

Duncan

 

[Andy2112]

There's an outdoor plinking / target shoot every other saturday in the Penkridge area,
also a decent indoor range in Wedensbury.
PM me if you want a contact number for the Penkridge shoots.

PM sent mate.

thanks

 

[Praetorian]

P.M. replied to matey.

 

[Tony]

jsut a interested question
Why was this tthread moved from the Fairgaime section ????
it was asking a hunting question and an air rifle isnt a Bright nor a Gizmo and certainly isnt a Toy
there aer also other similer threads that remain in the Fairgaim section

only being nosey as i was looking for this thread and thought i was going mad

ATB

Duncan

It's probably been intended for the kit forum as it's not a question about hunting but about air rifles which would come under kit, it could have been the wrong click of a button that dropped it here instead

I'll move it again now although you should be able to see where it is if i leave a redirect for a few days

 

[Gray]

I'm looking into getting an air rifle and need some advice. I want something that I will be able to use to hunt (birds,rabbits etc). I want it to be sturdy, and not too expensive. I really don't have a clue so any advice would be apreciated.
Heath

A lot of people are going to disagree with this but......for hunting you should use .22 as .177 is too small and takes longer for the animal to die unless you can get a good head shot etc.
As a starter rifle I would reccomend an SMK .22 rifle, chinese made but not as bad as they used to be years ago, plenty of grunt, accurate and best of all around £40 - £45 brand new.

Might not last years but lasts long enough

Gray

 

[Mistwalker]

There have been a lot advancements since my youth as I am now 43 but at age ten my father relocated from here in Tennessee to his company's Tampa Florida location as operations manager. There we lived inside the city limits where hunting with firearms was illegal. Though we were technicaly in the city we were in the outskirts of the city and the shop had an L shaped area of palmetto and scrub brush fields about forty acres big on two sides. Since I could no longer use my .22 rifle or .410 shotgun my ex Marine father bought me a Crossman air rifle that cost $50.00 at the time (I think they are not much more than that today). At first I thought the idea of hunting with an air rifle an utter joke but I practiced and got pretty good with it.., and before long I was out hunting rabbitts, quail, sqirrels..., whatever game I could get in my sights. On the far side of the fields there was the outer edges of the airport properties where the grass on the sides of the roads was neatly kept and the rabbitts loved to much on the new grass shoots. Three or four times a week in the cool months I roam through the field and to the airport roads and bring home meat.., always at the least a couple of rabbitts, often a quail.., never more than one of those in a day, and sometimes a squirrel or two. Within a year I had put as much meat on the table with that air rifle as I had here in Tennessee with my .22, .30-.30, and my 410 combined. It was a great lesson in the fact that it is not what you have but your ability to use what you have to it's full potential. It's like the old military saying...., " a man with superior training but equipped with inferior tools will always best a man with superior tools but inferior training.

 

[spamel]

I disagree with the whole calibre debate. I've dropped a hare with my legal limit air rifle (Mk 1 Rapid 7 in .22) after a 40 yard crawl over short grass in the middle of a field, going downhill towards my quarry. The stalk took me about twenty minutes, I took the shot and ate the hare. The Ratbag, on a seperate occasion, took a hare for the pot with his legal limit AA S410 in .177. Using dead ground to move along and get in line with the hare, one shot finished the job. In both cases, fieldcraft and getting as close as possible to the quarry made sure of a clean and efficient kill.

Basically, go .177 if you want to just point and shoot and be pretty sure you'll hit what you are aiming at irrelevant of the range of the target, choose .22 if you want to test yourself at judging distance a little. Either way, you'll get to know where your shots fall anyway after a while. Shooting either calibre is fun, will get you meat for the pot and will keep you fit lugging the damned thing around fields late at night in the cold, dark, wet winter months!

 

[woodstock]

A lot of people are going to disagree with this but......for hunting you should use .22 as .177 is too small and takes longer for the animal to die unless you can get a good head shot etc.
As a starter rifle I would recommend an SMK .22 rifle, chinese made but not as bad as they used to be years ago, plenty of grunt, accurate and best of all around £40 - £45 brand new.

.22 or.177 debate has raged for years which is better well for close to Med.range .22 but at longer distances it is a much less forgiving calibre and missing or wounding is much more likely, with the .177 the trajectory is a lot flatter at longer ranges(35 to 40)yds and therefore more likely to hit the point you are aiming at true it does not have the same impact of the .22 but when it hits a kill zone the results are the same instant death.
I have been shooting since the age of 10or11, 40 odd years and have used a great variety of rifles,shotguns, pistols and airguns over that time the chinese rifles are of very poor quality and not very accurate so in my opinion I would be very reluctant to recommend one for the use of hunting I would go for a decent 2nd hand rifle with a good reputation or something like a new BSA supersport or a webley both exelent starter rifles in .177 as it will give you a lot more confidence when you can hit targets Not live, where you aim.

 

[saddle_tramp]

I been playing with slings for about the last 25yrs, and as a means of game procurement, sustainability and bulk to carry around, theres little contest between one and an air rifle. but i will say that your accuracy drops off considerably if you take any lengthy break from practice. Aint much to read about em on interweb but i found this link

http://slinging.org/

Incidently, i got arrested one time and during the customary search of pockets at the desk, i was quizzed as to why i had two round flint pebbles in my pocket at length. . but they never so much as questioned my unusual knotted belt either as they took it off me or on returning it when id sobered up next morning

 

[nodd]

I have shot air rifles for several years both hunting and FT taking part in open shoots and national and team competitions using both .177 and .22 they are both as accurate as each other but .22 is harder to shoot due to its trajectory. .177 or .22 it's all about accurate placement of the shot and not just about hitting any where what ever caliber!

As it has been said it's all about practice,practice and more practice ,get to the stage when you can place all your shots in a group the size of a pound coin at the range you want to hunt at and take head shots; if you cannot get a clear shot wait until you can you owe that to your quarry to dispatch it as cleanly and as humanly as possible.

PCP air rifles are easier to shoot than spring guns due to the lack of recoil with a spring gun you have to reproduce the same hold each time hold it tighter and you will get a different point of impact.For me it's .177 even for hunting but its also about accurate shot placement every time.

 

[Gray]

A lot of people are going to disagree with this but......for hunting you should use .22 as .177 is too small and takes longer for the animal to die unless you can get a good head shot etc.
As a starter rifle I would recommend an SMK .22 rifle, chinese made but not as bad as they used to be years ago, plenty of grunt, accurate and best of all around £40 - £45 brand new.

.22 or.177 debate has raged for years which is better well for close to Med.range .22 but at longer distances it is a much less forgiving calibre and missing or wounding is much more likely, with the .177 the trajectory is a lot flatter at longer ranges(35 to 40)yds and therefore more likely to hit the point you are aiming at true it does not have the same impact of the .22 but when it hits a kill zone the results are the same instant death.
I have been shooting since the age of 10or11, 40 odd years and have used a great variety of rifles,shotguns, pistols and airguns over that time the chinese rifles are of very poor quality and not very accurate so in my opinion I would be very reluctant to recommend one for the use of hunting I would go for a decent 2nd hand rifle with a good reputation or something like a new BSA supersport or a webley both exelent starter rifles in .177 as it will give you a lot more confidence when you can hit targets Not live, where you aim.

I've been using an SMK for about 6 months now and yeah, build quality is crap ...but accurate as hell and more than enough power for me....one shot...one kill. I suppose a lot comes down to preference and how well you've been trained to shoot etc.

 

[Gray]

During my time as a survival instructor and an Army range officer, over the last 20 years or so i've found that a lot of people buy branded names as opposed to cheaper equipment in the hope that the more you pay, the better the quality. This isnt always the case, I will agree that years ago, yeah... you couldnt hit a barn door at 10 paces with an SMK but over the years they have definately improved.... for £40, really impressed

 

[rapidboy]

They must have improved considerably as any SMK's i have handled have been total junk.

 

[Gray]

They must have improved considerably as any SMK's i have handled have been total junk.

Yeah, I was really amazed, as I say the build quality is bad, the stock etc but it really does a cracking job. Could I have been lucky and got a good one lol

 

[Gray]

http://www.sportsguns.co.uk/main.php?p=p&id=30