Bash0rz

Im after one and I dont know where to start - as in Manufacturer etc

Theres a few going on Ebay but they are all going on about ...

5.5Kal and 70 ft/lbs ? .22cal and stuff lol

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...tem=3686655112

Looks sweet dont it

Anyone give me a guide what to look for in on? Reason for wanting one is that theres a few too many baaad animals kicking about on our farm
Cheers

Ben

dannytwo

iTrader: (5)

ye rite

Audi-Boy

Firstly air weapons are vaped from ebay sales so don't expect it to be up much longer!

you need a firearms certificate for anything over 12ft/lb.

If you get pnumatic you need charging gear so get a good spring/piston rifle.

I'd recommend an air arms TX200 hunter carbine or AA pro sport, 12ft/lb and in .177 cal with a decent scope, you might want to look at some guns by Weirauch, they make some quality kit.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

My old man has a Shin Shun Career.

It's quite a nice piece of kit. Scope is a must because the standard sights are crap. Silencer is good for covert operations but does rob power.

It's got quite a short barrel so it's not the most accurate out there, but the scope sorts that out. Nice balance to it too. Looks a bit like a sawn off shotgun with the airtanks underneath

In terms of power, compared to what it replaced (BSA Goldstar) it's not as powerful, It has adjustable power to make the charge last longer. But to kill you'll need it on full. I'd also don't think it would be too good with the bigger targets, unless it's recharged regulary.

You will need a scuba tank to fill it up, unless you want to get fit and use a stirrup pump (good exercise ). Sometimes they leak the charge out, not sure why, only done it few times, so I guess the valve can sometimes stick.

Me? I want the BSA back...I miss the recoil and the power - even if it was a bugger to load and ****

Buzzer

BashOrz

If you need to kill things, rats etc etc then you need a .25 air rifle. This usually sees them of very quickly. With a .22 you can do serious damage to vermin and at a greater distance, also not bad for target practise etc etc. IMHO if you hit a rat with a .177 at distance he will turn round and grimace at you before he plucks the pellet from his **** and gives you the V's. Just remember the smaller the bore the more accurate but less potent.

I would also look for a good sturdy rifle and you cant go wrong with BSA. I've always used BSA coz they're no nonsense utility rifles with good tried and tested mechanisms. The Superstar and Goldstar are the flagship models. They are both underlever (not break barrel which are crap). The Superstar loads into a breach, a single pellet at a time and the Goldstar has a 10 pellet revolving cartridge

Personally i would look for a 6 x 40 scope. It will let enough light in at dusk but also gives a good mid ranged magnification. If you want to shoot after dusk i would opt for a laser site

Hope that helps

Oh yeah, i would also recommend Weirauch, very strong and accurate but a bit heavy for me

Audi-Boy

.25s are lead ballons, souldn't even be considdered!

OMG don't listen to him ffs .. ..

P1Fanatic

Depends on how much you want to spend and what you want to do with it. If its just a bit of vermin culling then a .22 springer is probably the way to go. Air Arms, Theoben, Weihrauch are all good. Add to that a good scope, mounts (to attach sight to rifle) and a silencer. Possibly a sling if you intend on covering a lot of ground.

You want something around 11.5ft/lbs that will take out vermin humanely. Hollow point .22 pellets should be able to take out rats quite easily.

Simon.

the cookie monster

I use a BSA Supersport with 9-12 x 40 tasco scope and webley silencer, which is a .22 under lever airrifle @12/lb. you should pick some thing like that up for just under 200 notes if you haggle with a gun dealer. i generally used Acu point dome head pellets, for a good all round pellet, Gives a wack with a crack, as we say.

What ya wanna shoot Cowboy?

CM

Buzzer

Heres a pic of the one i used to have. I sold this to S600HBY on here. Maybe he can tell you what he thinks:

Its a .22 BSA Superstar with 6 x 40 scope





.25's will take a large rat out when you go ratting as your not 300 yds away when you shoot them. Most "ratters" i know have a .25 a lot of peeps who target and hunt vermin use .22's. .177's are fine for lots of target practise but are DEFINATELY not the weapon of choice for people who use the rifle for as a hunting weapon

Neil Smalley

I've got the above airarms tx200 HC. Superb weapon and very accurate for a springer. Part of me wishes i'd gone PCP(Pre charged pnematic) as they tend to be lighter and more accurate. However pumping/refilling them every 100 odd shots put me off, and besides if you can't learn to shoot without having to deal with a little recoil then you aint learning to shoot. I bought it as an all in kit from http://www.airgunbuyer.com

My TX200 is more than powerful enough to kill rats,esp with hollow point pellets. You just need to learn to go for headshots, which again adds to the challenge

I went with a m8 to Bisley the other week and used his target rifle to shoot targets at a 1000 yards with the proper 7.62mil NATO rounds. Now THAT was fun Arm and wrist hurt like heck though. It's kind of dampened the fun of Air Rifles, but at least with my TX200 I can practice in the garden, which is'nt something easily done with NATO ammo.

Bash0rz

Cool thanks for feedback
What is the .22 stuff you on about?

Kinda things im after shooting are things like, rats, magpies, even foxes.

Had a look at that site in blackpool - not bad stuff there

Heres a pic of the one i used to have. I sold this to S600HBY on here. Maybe he can tell you what he thinks:

Its a .22 BSA Superstar with 6 x 40 scope


http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00338028f00000015.jpg
That looks like the kinda thing im after - how much did you sell for cos i cant afford ones brand new

Nevetas

Have a look at my airgun site

http://www.zeroed.co.uk

Nevetas

Shooting foxes with an air rifle is a big NO NO.

You need to start talking .17HMR atleast.

I prefer .222/.223c/f for foxes, but definatly not a legal limit air rifle.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I'm amazed the "C" word hasn't been mentioned

Bash0rz

oh lol - would that gun in that ebay link take care of foxes?

Another thing - firearms certificates, do you HAVE to have one? I know theres a limit - 12ft/lb? Cant find anywhere on that blackpool site about owt like that. Im prob gonna spend £200 TOPS!!! pref less than that

Neil Smalley

Bash

You don't need a firearms license if the rifle is <12lb/ft. Pretty much any rfile you buy new will be under that unless specified otherwise.

Nevetas

Bash, the gun in the ebay link would not be humane for a fox.

If foxes are something you want to shoot, then you need to apply for an FAC.

RR

I have had a few air rifles, Hw77, Bsa Airsporter, Hw90, Theoben Coutryman carbine, Tx200. Depending on your budget i always liked the Air Arms Tx200, if thats to much try a Bsa Supersport. 12 ft/lbs air rifles are not suitable for shooting fox's. Only smallish vermin with well place head shots. I always preferred .177cal. My old Hw77 with a 3-9-40 scope and Rws Superpoints was a pigeon's worst nightmare. I still have the Theoben CC but never use it anymore, shame really as its a really good air rifle, and a 3-9-50 scope (tasco).

Iwan

I'd recommend a BSA Superstar/Goldstar, or a Theoben Fenman if you can pick them up second hand. Theobens are awesome rifles, and they do an upgrade kit so you can convert a BSA Superstar/Goldstar to use their gas-strut internals. Much quieter/smoother/more powerful.

Depending on how much land you've got at your disposal, if you're serious about vermin why don't you apply to the police for a shotgun certificate (£50) and get yourself a cheap 12 bore?

Iwan

Iwan

BTW, with respect to air rifle calibres, .25 is biggest, followed by .22 (probably most common), followed by .20, followed by .177 - all numbers are "of an inch". The bigger the calibre you have more kinetic energy in the pellet when you hit the target, but assuming a 12ft/lbs muzzle energy the bigger the round the slower it'll leave the gun.

.177 have a much higher muzzle velocity than .22, and the rounds have a flatter trajectory for the first 40yrds or so. But they run out steam quickly (less kinetic energy to overcome wind drag) and the don't do as much damage to ratty/pigeon when they hit.

.177 is great if you're into target shooting. .22 is probably the best all-round compromise.

Nevetas

Although at 12ft/lb both .177 & .22 will be fine.

However at FAC levels I do prefer .22

I had a 12ft/lb Theoben Rapid .177 for 2 years, never let me down, took a serious amount of bunnies with it.

http://www.breezems.com

Bash0rz

So are any of you selling your rifles? Wouldnt mind a theoben

I live N Yorkshire. How much would a 2nd hand theoben cost. Cheers

I cant find any BSA Superstar air rifles, only Supertens and Supersports.
I guess they will all be the same

GarethE

iTrader: (1)

Slightly off topic, but as this post is attracting attention from airgunners, hope you don't mind me butting in...

Does anyone know a good airgunsmith in the S Wales/S West area ?

I used to be a keen field target shooter, and have a Park RH93 .177 rifle - a fantastic gun execpt its knackered - there is either a problem with the safety not disengaging, or a problem with the trigger not firing. AFAIK The Park Rifle Co. are now no more, they repaired a similar problem before, so I'm trying to find someone experienced in repairing airguns, who could take a look. Its a shame to have such a fantastic gun sat in a case useless, even though I don't get the chance to use it much.

Any pointers or referals apprieciated

Thanks, Gareth

mj

If you fancy a Theoben, you might want to consider a Weihrauch HW90, its basically a Weihrauch HW80 but with theoben gas ram internals. The older models had a valve on the back end of the cylinder to which you could attach a pump, this increases the pressure within the gas ram go for .22 though.

Have a look in the Loot for a secondhand one with scope, you should get something decent for £200.

Brendan Hughes

And in reply to your original post; 5.5mm Kal (calibre) is .22 inch, 4.5mm is .177 inch.

Think about how much the police like firearms at present before buying yourself something with over 12 ft/lb. ISTR there was talk of a mandatory 5-year prison sentence for possession of a firearm without a licence...

DieselDoo

There used to be a good gunsmiths just of the Tredegar House junction think it was called litts or something like that. I`ve got a weiarach [sp] hw80, 1.77 had it for years now to help cut down on the rat population.

GarethE

iTrader: (1)

Hi m8,

yep Litts are a well known gunsmiths, but tend to deal with firearms and shotguns, rather than airguns (at least the last time I was in there).Although they sell airguns, they didn't have a specialist airgunsmith to deal with repairs.

I'll pop in later in the week and see if things have changed

Cheers

P1Fanatic

You cant go wrong with either mainstream calibre - if you accurate enough a rabbit or pigeon wont know the difference between a .22 or .177 when it exits the back of its head.

Your own accuracy is the most important factor - any modern gun from a decent manufacturer will be able to shoot more accurately than the majority of people.

If you cant get decent groups at the maximum range you intend to shoot then dont shoot live quarry.

PCP's are fine - my daystate harrier knocks out around 70 full power shots in .177 before needing a charge. You wont need any more than that when going hunting - if you do you either have an well populated shoot or your missing a hell of a lot.

Simon.

mj

Daystate - I had one years ago, IIRC it was called a "midas"- fookin ugly big heavy lump with a brass air cylinder, but deadly accurate,-striking matches at 30yds , PCP rifles can put one pellet on top of another when you account for ballistics, becuase theres no recoil, you can see the pellet hit the target if the light catches it right.

IMO, calibre depends on the range you want to shoot at, from memory an average weight .22 pellet starts to drop at about 18yds, nearer to 30yds for .177. With each calibre, you need to then adjust aim to any distance before or after the 18 or 27 yds whichever you size pellet choose. Accuracy is harder with .22 becuase of the trajectory curve, BTW the bigger the scope you choose will affect accuracy aswell, as the tube of the scope is 1"-2" higher than the barrel.

If you have alot of stuff to shoot at ( farm? ) then get a .177 PCP, use heavyweight round nosed pellets, hollow's/flat's are too light/crap in wind,and pointed pellets are for chavs with Baikal's/ BSA's, - Bisley Magnums were good when I was into it.

If the law is not an issue,and you want to "up the Anti", then get .22, or .25.
.177 pellets are not built for >1000fps, the skirts melt in the barrel.

IMO there is too big a gap between FAC and 12ftlbs, by my rights as a taxpayin',honest,law abidin' citizen, I should be allowed a 30ftlb .20 Theoben Eliminator, but unfortunately I can't

If you are a farm owner with no previous, you should be able to get an FAC based on ownership of a .22 short rifle for varmit control, forget air, gunpowder is the way to go

mj