Buying your first air rifle

[Marksman 932]

That is so useful. Thanks. I have acquired a wood of about 2.5 acres. Would an air rifle be sufficient to cleanly kill (marksmanship permitting) rabbits over a distance of say 50 - 60 metres. That would save me getting a fire arms licence. Also feel that with a shotgun one shot would scare all the other bunnies away for some time! You will have spotted I'm a newbie so any advice welcome. Thanks

An air rifle is more than capable of that but 50-60m is a long way to consistently provide accuracy without a hell of a lot of practice, consider bringing field craft into the situation and get closer to your quarry so you have less chance of wounding.

Practice on paper at your chosen hunting range till you can consistently get 10 shots within a 1" circle, if you can't then you shouldn't be shooting at live quarry

 

Darryl

[jonnywood 4]

hi,

im new on the site( and to air rifles). ive only shot a gun once, and that was a shotgun. you all seem clued in about air rifles, so i thought id ask you, what is the best all round air rifle without needing a firearms licence?

thanks

[Marksman 932]

No easy or right/wrong answer but it all depends on your budget and how the rifle feels when you hold it.

Best thing is to go down to your local gun shop and shoulder as many rifles as you can within your budget, there'll be the "one" that feels comfy, your head falls in the right place

Edited October 30, 2013 by Marksman

[oldmannewairrifle 9]

Thanks for a very useful insight article. Helped inform me about questions I wanted to ask. Even the gun bag was useful as I am now going to stop storing my rifle in it's bag.

Thanks very much I do appreciate your effort for the likes of me.

[Vikingblood 1]

Thanks for taking the time to write this up...I realise its only basic stuff but really helped a lot. Nice one

[helenski 1]

Thanks for going to all the effort of putting this information together in one place. My boyfriend would be very proud too, as the first thing he insisted I do before I even touched an air rifle was read and learn about the laws and safety guidelines associated with air rifle shooting.

 

I then invested in an S400 carbine 5 years ago and I've never looked back

[Rabbit Killer12 5]

well done, as a newbie it explained a lot to me about what i will need to get.

thanks Charlie

[steve83 6]

Thanks Marksman I have just started after 20 years out of the sport and hell thing have changed sum what.like pcp were just getting started now were to start. Do I buy pcp or sringer . I when springer frist go with wat I now :-)

[Toejam 4]

Great post Marksman, the answers to Daz's questions too saved me asking them elsewhere. Still deciding whether pcp or underlever is my weapon of choice, have a new indoor range opening near me soon so will see if they have a few I can test first, also would be interested in a Twink mk2 when the time arises as I hear nothing but good reviews

[Sterlin1145 10]

Great post for anyone just starting!!!

[Daz87 76]

Some brilliant info here, well done Marksman.

[Marble371 0]

I'm wanting to buy a gun for myself atm in using air arms s410 but its my relatives , I need one not to powerfull but can easly kill rabbits birds etc any advise on what I should get ?

[radioham 0]

I'm wanting to buy a gun for myself atm in using air arms s410 but its my relatives , I need one not to powerfull but can easly kill rabbits birds etc any advise on what I should get ?

Depends on a lot of things really,plenty of info on web including this site google is your friend.If you are new to hunting you will need lots of practice on targets before you hunt live quarry.As for choosing the right gun i would personally go for a pcp,using a spring rifle for hunting requires more skill,even more so if you are a newbie to hunting.

 

As for power I would recommend between 10.5 Ft-Lbs to 11.5 Ft-lbs,then there is a choice of which caliber of pellet to choose,however there is so many variables to consider in hunting,gun type/pellet choice in fact to many to go through in this post,so my advice is to look up as much info as possible before you even try hunting live quarry.

[Padams 14]

Found this thread very useful. Thanks to all you guys for giving us newbies such useful insights.

[davejb 2]

This is ace, cheers buddy