Air rifle fun

Davey34

Hey folks , looking at a few air rifles at the mo , for target shooting and maybe light hunting and plinky plink :rolleyes:, I already own a .22lr Buck mark sporter, (great little rifle! very accurate), my question is .177 or .22 , price is not an issue or price of pellets aint an issue either, Gamo whisper x is what ive honed in on , I heard their build quality has got better,

In general those of you who have air rifles do you prefer a .177 or a .22?
Will be mainly used for target practice so I dont know which caliber would be better , .22 lower fps I suppose but I'd like the power of it,

recipio

:rolleyes: Because airguns are treated as firearms in this great Republic of ours we tend to go for budget airguns like gamo and smk because that's all the shops stock.
If you research a little ( see www.airgunsbbs.co.uk ) you will se that most serious shooters want quality guns like Weihrauch or the the British guns - Air arms,Daystate or Theoben.
A second hand quality gun is far better value than a new budget gun.
I'd try and buy secondhand.You need to get a icence and import through a registered RFD.

Tricky1127

Hello have a look at the "Login Sweet 16" .22 Co2 great fun i have one great for targets and hunting..!

Davey34

Cheers lads!, will check it out

recipio

Tricky1127 wrote: »

Hello have a look at the "Login Sweet 16" .22 Co2 great fun i have one great for targets and hunting..!

uh..............the Logun16 is a pcp -I've never seen a C02 version.?
They had a terrible reputation when they first came out and you would struggle to find a second hand one now.See www.logun16.co.uk
If you want a powerful gas ram ( non pcp) gun see the Theoben eliminator which will put out about 30ft/lbs.

Tricky1127

Sorry yes they are PcP...! just one fill of "Co2" 200 psi and you have over 250 shots, i have shotguns & rifles in .308 win, .260 rem, .223 rem, .22 hornet and .22Lr...! and i still find an air rifle great fun for target/hunting farmer like to see you because of no big bangs + you can pick off rats and pigeon until you run out of pellets.... Oh if you just want to do shoot targets .177 would be a better cal
A good book to look at is "Air Rifle Hunting" by John Darling its a highly informative guide on techniques of being effective hunter with a modern precision air rifle.

Davey34

cheers Tricky!, would a .177 be good for heavy plinking? , thru full soda cans at distances etc.. is there much loss of fps with a .22? but I know some of those pellets can do some damage,

Tricky1127

Thats why the subject is so frequently and heatedly discussed. To my mind it doesnt really matter at all. What matters most is the ability of the guy holding the rifle

Davey34

Cheers dude, .22 for me so ,

recipio

Tricky1127 wrote: »

Sorry yes they are PcP...! just one fill of "Co2" 200 psi and you have over 250 shots, i have shotguns & rifles in .308 win, .260 rem, .223 rem, .22 hornet and .22Lr...! and i still find an air rifle great fun for target/hunting farmer like to see you because of no big bangs + you can pick off rats and pigeon until you run out of pellets.... Oh if you just want to do shoot targets .177 would be a better cal
A good book to look at is "Air Rifle Hunting" by John Darling its a highly informative guide on techniques of being effective hunter with a modern precision air rifle.

PCP = pre charged pneumatic.You mean one fill of 02 - they run on air not C02 ! Not being a smartass, just don't want to confuse the op.

extremetaz

There are CO2 rifles out there but steer well clear of them if you want any decent consistency for target work. Cool down kills 'em.

They're fine for fieldwork mind.

PCP are king of the hill for ease of use although they require some kit for refilling.

Springers are king of the hill for price but take a bit more savvy to shoot well.


Stay away from anything made by GAMO - and I do mean ANYTHING!!

Air Arms, Weihrauch, Daystate, Theoben - all good brands with Weihrauch leading the field.

For ammo then Air arms, Daystate, H&N, Bisley, RWS & JSB are all good brands.


For known distances (rangework, etc..), the caliber makes no difference, and in fact I'd be inclined to say go for .22 as the extra weight makes them that little bit more wind resistant.

For unknown distances (hunting, field target), the .177's are flatter in most cases so they're more forgiving of wider range approximations.

We've two HW100's, a .177T and a .22KT, and a HW90 in .177 as well.

If I were to choose just one of them, I'd go with the .22KT. Lovely gun to carry and pellet on pellet right out to 40m without any hassle.

The 'K' is only a 12ft.lb rifle but the shot placement you can get with it means they land home with proper authority on anything inside that 40m. After 40m, whilst you'll still see videos of lads dropping quarry, I don't tend to myself as the .22 gets seriously loopy and you need to know how far away you are to within about half a meter in order to drop the pellet where you want it.

That's were the .177 shines - it's not as nice to carry as it's a 24ft.lb rifle so has a much longer barrel but it's effective out to about 60 meters in no wind on account of the flatter trajectory.

Head over to Aim & Swing in Mountnugent if you can - Ian has the best selection of air rifles you'll see anywhere.

Davey34

Cheers Extemetaz, My budget is about 450 so I am a bit limited, the more ive researched Gamo , I have heard they are crap to put it bluntly , I dont know much about air guns , I suppose a springer would do the trick for me maybe !?

extremetaz

Davey34 wrote: »

Cheers Extemetaz, My budget is about 450 so I am a bit limited, the more ive researched Gamo , I have heard they are crap to put it bluntly , I dont know much about air guns , I suppose a springer would do the trick for me maybe !?

You'll get a very good springer or gas ram for that money - Theoben or Weihrauch would be my recommendations.

There are also some of the BSA PCP's for around that secondhand as well and they're good enough for the price.

As I said, take a spin up to Ian if you can, would be well worth your while - you won't point you wrong.

Sparing that - Hilltop have a Eun Jin Sumatra in stock - think it's around €500 scoped and moderated.

It's a lever action .22 cal 8 shot PCP with three power levels.

Given they're on your doorstep would be no harm to pop on over to Pat and ask about it at least.

Davey34

Sweet il do that! I know Pat, thanks for advice dude!

extremetaz

If you do go for a PCP, THIS would also be a very wise purchase and a bargain at the price.

Davey34

Cheers again mate!, will look into it