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Air rifle advice
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13-06-2011 12:00pm#1Im mainly a hunter, who over the past year or so has decided to get his ass in gear with learning about the science behind shooting and firearms. And it occured to me that perhaps an air rifle would be a good learning tool.
So Im here to ask the experts, if I got myself a decent airrifle, would the skills Id learn with that serve me well when Id shoot a "real" rifle?
And Sparks, if your reading this, these 2 question are especially for you since you seem to know gun laws like the back of your hand..
1) If I did get an air-rifle, can my good reason be hunting? I know hunting with an air rifle is big in the UK... but nobody here really seems to do it, so Im just wondering is that because of the law
or is it just Irish lads prefer "real guns" 
2) Could I use an air rifle for a humane dispatch? A few times Id be out with the 22lr and when youd go to finish off a rabbit the bullet would go through him and then ricohet of any stones thats under the muck. An air rifle would be far safer. Or even an air pistol?0
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To be honest, I don't know. The wildlife Acts, I'm not up to speed on. I know of people who do whack bunnies with an airgun, but anything larger would probably not be humane.1) If I did get an air-rifle, can my good reason be hunting? I know hunting with an air rifle is big in the UK... but nobody here really seems to do it, so Im just wondering is that because of the law or is it just Irish lads prefer "real guns"
Well, a rabbit, yeah, it could (again, I don't know if the wildlife acts permit it). Air pistols probably couldn't - they're usually less powerful than air rifles (obviously, there will be exceptions to that).2) Could I use an air rifle for a humane dispatch? A few times Id be out with the 22lr and when youd go to finish off a rabbit the bullet would go through him and then ricohet of any stones thats under the muck. An air rifle would be far safer. Or even an air pistol?
However, all the airguns that you'd use for target shooting are fairly unsuited to hunting. Even the field target airguns aren't really taken into the wilds - they're shot from prepared areas on a trail, not dragged through hedgerows.
And if you're looking to get a target shooting air rifle, the cheapest new one I can think of that's worth getting is the Air Arms MPR, and that's the guts of £800. If you can find something like a Feinwerkbau 600 or 300 series second-hand though, you'd be laughing. Frankonia.de, perhaps?
Still, best advice if you're looking to learn target shooting is the same - join the local club, use their kit until you know you really do want your own.0 -
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From what you describe it sounds like a .22lr would be perfect for you.
I have a 22lr glensman, more than one
My main logic for the air rifle is if I could pick up a cheap one I could do a lot more shooting then I currently do (with not having to be as a pinicikty about where I can shoot) and a lot cheaper too. I hear you could buy a few thousand pellets for under 100 euro. So its cheap shooting, plenty of practice, and then to really kill two birds with one stone, if I could take it with me for safe humane dispatch... then it just seems like a great investment. Especially if good air rifle skills translate into good "real rifle" skills. Where Im sitting now, it just seems like a no-brainer...0 -
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I have to disagree with you there buddy. I have a pair of .22 and for practice shooting I get a 525 bullet pack ( they used to come in tins) for between 20 an 30 euro. It's the best value bullets you can get. And perfect for target shooting.
These here is it..?
I used them myself. I still do. Saying that I dont remember them being in tins to be honest with you.
And Sparks, I dont mean to be in a pain in the ass, but just of the top of your head... you wouldnt have an idea where the closest airgun range/club would be to Louth?
So far the most important question still hasnt being answered. How well does air rifle skills translate into real rifle skills..?0 -
The stuff in tins was Lapua standard club, not federal:Saying that I dont remember them being in tins to be honest with you.
WTSC is about 30-40km away (but then, I'm biased, that's my clubAnd Sparks, I dont mean to be in a pain in the ass, but just of the top of your head... you wouldnt have an idea where the closest airgun range/club would be to Louth?
).
You wouldn't need your own rifle though, we have several P700s for club members to use.
Depends on what you mean by "real" rifle skills. If you mean being able to put a round on target, well, one of the best 300m shooters in the world today is Sonja Pfeilschifter (that's shot with a 6mmBR if I remember her rifle right) and she started off in air rifle (well, I say started, she's still shooting, and holds the world finals record, more medals than she can lift, and has won everything bar the Olympic gold at this point, twice over). And the same is true of most of the 300m shooters - they'll train and compete at 50m and 10m. The skills transfer across very well indeed. Air rifle is basicly rifle without the wind or light changes, so you're working on the core stuff - just you and the rifle (and no excuses eitherSo far the most important question still hasnt being answered. How well does air rifle skills translate into real rifle skills..?
).
So if you want to learn target shooting, air's where I'd start pretty much anyone who wanted to learn fast. (Start in smallbore or fullbore outdoors and you're looking at trying to learn a hundred things at once. Start in air indoors, and you're only looking at sixty or so things at once, and we can isolate large chunks of those things so you can learn them in steps).
But if you mean hunting skills - single shots in unknown conditions and ranges, well, you'll get a lot from airgun shooting, but field target airgun might be the better place to start as they shoot in those conditions already. We don't do that much down here though, but it's quite popular up in N.Ireland and there's a club just up the road from you in Newry that does it.0 -
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Hi Gerry,
I have a HW100 PCP .22 cal which is 22ft/lbs energy and a Hornet center fire for foxes etc and was intending to get .22lr at some point but have found that for my needs I can manage quite well without and after a few years experience think that air-rifles are under-rated by many especially PCPs which I have found to be super accurate due to no recoil.
I shoot a lot of pests around farms sheds etc and the air rifle is whisper quiet and really handy.
Its got plenty of power and if you use hard pellets they would pass through some quarry so a soft pellet is required to dump the energy quickly.
There are scopes designed for air rifle trajectories that have reticule graduations that you can setup for your needs e.g I use a forty yard zero and then I have a line for every 10 yards after that on my Hawke SR12 so you can work at decent ranges even upto 100yds and I use Hawkes Chairgun Pro software as a reference.
The main advantage for me is if using a 14gr pellet at 200 yards the energy left is less than 2ft/lbs so you can manage the risks well if you aren't stupid, remember once you pull the trigger you can never take it back.
Here are 2 links to videos that show PCPs in use. This one was posted by Mallards previously http://www.youtube.com/user/HuntersVermin#p/u/1/xkCnZ_GkxTA
And here's another one
http://www.youtube.com/user/snypercat?blend=1&ob=5#p/a/u/2/dS_jxZTQ5Cg0
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