7.5j air rifle ??

KTRIC

I'm living in Germany at the moment and I'd like to get an air rifle for target shooting. I already have an air gun but its a little under powered.

I can legally buy anything up to 7.5 joules without a licence. Obtaining a licence wouldn't be an issue but I really couldn't be bothered with all the German red tape involved.

So my question is whats the best air rifle available with a max power output of 7.5 ??

Sparks

That's nearly a religious question - all the ISSF air rifles count, and you're in Germany so you're literally a quick car ride from the various factories. Feinwerkbau is probably the most established air rifle brand but there's also Walther, Anschutz, Steyr and a good few others. The question really shouldn't be what the best air rifle is, but what the best air rifle for what you want to do is. Are you talking about joining a local club (there's one in basicly every town) and shooting at targets on a range or are you talking about plinking tin cans off a fence somewhere in the countryside, or something in between?

KTRIC

Thanks Sparks, didn't know about any of those manufacturers. Yes, basically just plinking "cans" (;)).

I'd like to work my way up to the real thing at some stage but I'm limited at the moment because I don't have my own land, just the girlfriends large back garden.

Have to look into joining a club, I think thats the way forward.

Sparks

Well, if all you wanted to do, ever, was plink cans I'd say go buy something cheap and cheerful like a Daisy or something similar. But if you've not ever even gone to the local club, I'd say hold off on buying anything, and go take a peek. You're in the heartland of ISSF shooting round there; Munich can't be *that* far off and they have what is a solid contender for, if not the best range in the world today for this sort of thing. And all the local clubs eventually feed upwards to that.

So my advice is to find the local club, wander down, have a look about, chat to the people there, see what you think of the place and the people and ask about what club kit they have for beginners, and take it from there.

KTRIC

I'm in the centre of Munich, time to start looking for a club then

Sparks

Aw heck, if you're actually in Munich, just throw a rock, you'll hit two of them
Try the DSB's website : http://www.schuetzenbund.de
And there's an american shooter's take on a typical german club here : http://www.odcmp.org/602/inc_shoot.asp