newb looking for some air rifle advice

[bigpaul]

for a nice simple post SHTF air rifle i'd go for a decent BSA break barrel, fairly light to lug around unlike the heavy German rifles, i bought a decent Meteor at a car boot for £25 had a new spring fitted and a new breech seal and hey presto!

[NorthernRaider]

PF dont forget if you want a practice rifle to borrow I still have that Co2 powered Qb78 here you can use till you get used to shooting.

[Barneyboy]

(5 February 2013, 15:05)bigpaul Wrote: for a nice simple post SHTF air rifle i'd go for a decent BSA break barrel, fairly light to lug around unlike the heavy German rifles, i bought a decent Meteor at a car boot for £25 had a new spring fitted and a new breech seal and hey presto!

i must admit had a hw77 very nice gun well made and all, but it is bloody heavy found it hard to keep a bead on so got my self a bsa super sport nice and light and consistent

[Digger]

More advice from experienced air gun hunters please:

I have the chance to pick up a 22 with muzzle velocity slightly greater than 900fps, that's about 50 greater than any other 22 I've seen publicised here.

Setting aside the legality of this gun, is its power an advantage or a disadvantage in my intended use for pest control and hunting game up to the size of rabbits?

My thinking is that its an advantage: heavier pellet, moving faster delivers more energy = better dropping power and ability to kill at greater range.

What advice?

[bigpaul]

i prefer a 22 myself, my guns are all 22s so that i dont have to buy different pellets, i use Defiant pellets bit more expensive but you get what you pay for. if you buy a rifle that is higher than 12ft/lbs not only is it illegal and could be seized by Plod, it will NOT be allowed on any air rifle range so if you wanted to use a range to practise you would be stuffed.

[NorthernRaider]

Digger its CONSISTANCY that is the key point, you can get some modestly powered air rifles that regardless of the weather or temp will put pellet after pellet into a 1/2 inch group at 25 yards, and you can get full powered air rifles that react so badly to humidity, temp, altitude, wind, type of pellet, weight and shape of pellet that the bloody thing only makes grounds of about 3 inches at 30 yards.

The power is an advantage ONLY if its consistant all the time, most folks will be able to recite tales of some old git in their village who constantly bags rabbits and pigeons with a 40 year old airsporter with leather washers for a piston seal.

Type of gun for consistancy is
A Gas Ram Technology.
B PCP
C Spring

So your thinking is right more power pushing heavier round at higher velocity is good, but only if the round is hitting the spot time after time, This is where the problem often comes from over powered springers, the springs react to humidity, ambient air temp, altutude etc, as does the quality of the seals, and does the seating of the barrel. So if you are lucky the extra 50 FPS will give you that extra bit of usuable power but only if its CONSISTANTLY doing it and the only way to find out is to use the gun .

That BSA Ultra Tactical I had for a while was a tack driver, round after round regardless of weight or type or brand gave damn good groups at 25 and 30 yards, but when I started using Promthius air bullets and Defiant premium air pellets 5.5 mm that 1 inch group became a half inch group, it was calibrated by Tench from the BSA forum at 11.98 ft pound.

My next air rifle will probably be a Stoeger silenced jobby or more likely a BSA Lighting XL Tactical in 22 or 25, but am studying the new gas ram technology to see how consistant and reliable it is.

[Barneyboy]

i find with pcp you have to get the sweet spot of flbs when the air gets low so does the grouping which is a pain in the ass

[Digger]

BP & NR

thank you both for taking the time to reply to this.

I get it. There is no point in having high power or greater range unless consistency is good. Consistency is governed not only by shooter skill, but by build quality of the weapon itself.

If I may, I'll get details of the brand and model number to run by you to let me know if its likely to have the level of consistency required. By the way, this is a stock gun in unmodified condition, not just some Chinese shit with an uprated spring.

---

OK, I've found details:
Make and Model: Hatsan 155 Torpedo
Type: . 22 Underlever
Weight: 4.6 kg

[NorthernRaider]

The Hatsans are turkish IIRC, The torpedo is an underlever which equates to a nice fixed barrel and improved sccuracy, but they are heavy bugger at 4.6 KG they have a good reputation, i would not turn one down at all, but the survivalist in me drives me to try and buy British made stuff like BSA's for easy access to spares, but hell the Hatsan range looks much more modern than many BSAs.

If the gun is going to live in the house then get the heavier fixed barrel and benefit from the fixed barrel, but if its going to be carried as part of your bug out preps look at the lighter break barrels.

[preservefreak]

thanks everyone for the advice and the time spent helping me out with this

(5 February 2013, 12:17)Scythe13 Wrote: Hi PF

That's a good question, one well worth taking time to answer.

I'm not going to tell you what I've got, hoping to get, or anything like that. Reason being.....it doesn't matter. What I have doesn't effect you, so let's focus on you and your needs.

Simple first question, have you ever shot before? If yes, did you like it? If no, how would you feel spending a chunk of money to find out you hate shooting? yes I enjoyed it a lot though it was 10 years ago

Simple second question, would you recommend an expensive first car to someone whose never driven before? If they screw it up, it'll cost them. no I'd recommend they started with something basic and second hand then upgrade when they were more comfortable drivers

Third question, would you let a first time mechanic work on your expensive car? Would you want to learn to take apart and fix your super expensive car? probably not and yes I'd want to learn

Fourth question, what type of budget are you looking at? for a training tool somewhere between 50 and 150 pounds. Up to £500 for the 2nd rifle I get

Fifth question, what type of POU (Purpose Of Use) are you looking at? training and plinking for my first rifle. That and the odd small animal for the 2nd

Sixth question, do you have people around you that can get you started? Like borrowing a mates gun to see if you like it and if you can shoot an animal (if that's what you're planning on doing)?I don't think any of my mates are shooters alas

(8 February 2013, 10:46)NorthernRaider Wrote: PF dont forget if you want a practice rifle to borrow I still have that Co2 powered Qb78 here you can use till you get used to shooting.

NR I had forgotten you offered to lend that to me! My memory is getting worse everyday