Air Rifle Queries ?

021CRETE01

This will be my first application/ownership(I hope) of any type of air rifle, so I am open to any advice or suggestion. After a lot of research on line plus reading mags. I am seriously considering the Weihrauch 97KT synthetic (blued).I see Paddy Carley in Enniscorthy has it for sale at a good price.I have found him very good to deal with in the past and will do again. The rifle is advertised as 18FT/LBS. I know that in England over 12FT/LBS is governed by licence laws and that here (Eire), everything is under same. In physical/mechanical/shooting terms, what is the difference between 12 and 18lbs?Would my licence application be different for either one? What type of scope (reasonable price) would be suitable?I use a Hawke 3-9x50 Sport on my CZ 455 .22lr and happy with it. I have read about recoil affecting position of a scope. What is this AO business in " Laymans Terms"?
As I said earlier, all info welcome.
Thanks!

amadablam

021CRETE01 wrote: »

This will be my first application/ownership(I hope) of any type of air rifle, so I am open to any advice or suggestion. After a lot of research on line plus reading mags. I am seriously considering the Weihrauch 97KT synthetic (blued).I see Paddy Carley in Enniscorthy has it for sale at a good price.I have found him very good to deal with in the past and will do again. The rifle is advertised as 18FT/LBS. I know that in England over 12FT/LBS is governed by licence laws and that here (Eire), everything is under same. In physical/mechanical/shooting terms, what is the difference between 12 and 18lbs?Would my licence application be different for either one? What type of scope (reasonable price) would be suitable?I use a Hawke 3-9x50 Sport on my CZ 455 .22lr and happy with it. I have read about recoil affecting position of a scope. What is this AO business in " Laymans Terms"?
As I said earlier, all info welcome.
Thanks!

Congrats on chosing a rifle.

Your application will be identical regardless of the power. At 18ft /lb you will be using the rifle on rabbit sized game, with good shot placement, to about 40-45 yards.

You would be fine with a similar scope too what you have but since the air rifle is a springer, not all scopes will take the punishment. I use plenty scopes on centrefire rifles and PCP rifles so I will leave it to someone using a Springer to advise you.

slug gun

The HW97KT is a great choice, you'll be delighted with it I'm sure!

Another Hawke will do fine...if you're happy with how it performs on the lr.
My advice would be to look at a one piece mount similar to the original Theoben "Dampa mount". (You might still get a Dampa if you look online).
I had one on my HW80 and Webley Patriot, which are both hefty springers. It has a rubber buffer inside which absorbs the sharp impulse from the firing cycle of the piston, and helps protect the scope.

Dave Hall at Sandwell Field Sports in Birmingham, is well regarded as a master airgun tuner, particularly the HW's. Have a look on youtube and see how sweet he can tune a 97! The link below shows how little recoil a tuned springer has.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq8EIoRf_-A

ATB, Slug

extremetaz

All manufacturers do springer rated scopes - but not all scopes are springer rated so it's important to check out they exact specs for the scope you're looking at.

Given the range you're going to be operating at, a low-mid end Hawk, Bushnell or similar would be the place to be looking. €100-250 and just cross reference the model number to be sure that it'll handle sitting on a springer.

*edit: oh - and you'll want something with adjustable parallax ideally. At those short ranges without it you'll have difficulty keeping both the reticle and the target sharp otherwise.

lefthooker

Another Hawke scope should do the job. I have a Hawke Sport HD 3-9x40 on my Air Arms ProSport. There's a hefty spring recoil in her but I've never had a problem. I also got my set up from Paddy and will be trading with him again, pure gent to deal with.