New To Air Rifle Shooting - Springer Of Choice ?

[Johno2486 67]

Hi guys,

 

I'm totally new to site & a complete 'virgin' to air rifle shooting, but looking to get into it, primarily for the hunting

side of things, rabbit/pigeons/hare etc...So having trawled through numerous reviews/sites etc and after speaking

to a couple of people I know who shoot I have decided on going for a Springer as opposed to a PCP, real reason

for this is (please feel to correct if info received is incorrect) as I work away from home for weeks at a time, I've been

told that there is a risk of the PCP needing seals as it will be left sitting idle for weeks on end - true/false?

 

I have more or less made my mind up (purely on looks & what I've read) on a Weihrauch and narrowed it down to either

a HW97KT Mk2 or HW 95K, scope I'm still swaying over, reading up on, but at minute shortlisted - Hawke or Nikkon, there

appears to be a few sites offering Combo deals on new HWs with option of Hawke Eclipse 3-12x50 AO IR Mil Dot or 4-16x50

AO IR Mil Dot , thoughts/comments welcome.

 

I intend to go into nearest RFD when I get home and see whats available, I know loads of you guys on here hunt with various

rifles, so any opinions on which would be the better choice of either the two HW springers I've mentioned (or indeed any other recommendation for good hunting rifle) would be good, as said can't really see me doing any target shooting, would both these rifles be capable of taking down a hare and if so at what range? That's probably the biggest prey that I would come across in my 'neck of the woods' .

 

I have been keeping an eye on the classifieds to see what is out there in the used market, but not may Springers around, appear

to be more PCPs than anything,not really been looking at them due to info received (that may change) so appreciate any info you care to share, and if anyone out there has any rifle they could be selling with scope etc, please feel to contact me, I'm up in Fife, but quite happy to get gun delivered to local RFD for collection, thanks in advance for any replie - appreciated, Steve.

[VWman 232]

Good choice 97 feels heavy at first but if you stick with it you will be rewarded. The 95 is mid light weight and is creamy to use and very pointable around the barns. I have found them both to be great rifles. They say the 95 could do with a bit more weight on the barrel but you have the option to use a heavy moderator if that is a problem to you.

[VWman 232]

Scopes, I had a hawke HD Sport 3-9x40 on my 95 but if I was doing it again I would spend a bit more and move up the Hawke range. I also have a Nikon scope but Hawkes have one in there range to suit every body so is an easy choice.

[Newlife2 55]

I have both model rifles you are looking at, I favor the 95 for it`s being lighter in the bush to carry. For a scope , I love the MTC reticle called the SCB on my Mamba lights and Viper..Welcome to a great sport.

[Johno2486 67]

Appreciate your coments guys, more food for thought, whats your opinion on the following set up :

 

HW97KT (Springer) fitted with Hawke Eclipse 3-12x50 AO IR Scope ?

 

Thanks in Advance.

[mark williams 7,550]

Welcome Johno

All HW, Air Arms are good but some are heavy too, what style of shooting do you have in mind ?

 

Opportunist - walk about, mooch about, just general everyday?

Static, hide shooting?

Have you given calibre any thought ?

 

Scope wise, Mamba or Hawke seem very popular.

 

atb ( all the best)

[Johno2486 67]

Welcome Johno

All HW, Air Arms are good but some are heavy too, what style of shooting do you have in mind ?

 

Opportunist - walk about, mooch about, just general everyday?

Static, hide shooting?

Have you given calibre any thought ?

 

Scope wise, Mamba or Hawke seem very popular.

 

atb ( all the best)

Hi Mark, I really want to be able to cover all really, it will predominantly be used very early morning/dusk, so

think that will have some bearing in choice of scope, but the more I read on here the more 'my brain hurts',

I'm scouring the adds (while supposed to be working..lol) currently in Singapore so 8hrs ahead of you guys just

getting out your beds.

 

I've seen a couple of HW97K & KT in the classifieds, Email sent so see if anyone gets back to me if items still

available.

 

I'm looking at .22 at the minute (u could hear a pin drop in the .177 room!) purely based on my expereices when I

was a lad (& that was a long time ago) of shooting tins & things with my mates rifles/pistols & I always seemed to be

better with the .22, but hey that was 40years ago! But that's what I'm going for at the minute rightly or wrongly & I've

read both sides of the debates on here.

 

Ideally I would like to have 2 or 3 set ups in my cabinet, to cover everything, but as said previously will only be used for

hunting Rabbit/Vermin etc, & I can only see me using targets to set up the gun/scope, which I bet is another huge learning

curve?...So start with a Springer & possibly pick nice used PCP set up in the New Year...may sound like a silly question but

would these .22 take down a hare and if so at what range?

 

Steve.

[mark williams 7,550]

Hi Steve,

Shooting tin cans 40 years ago with the man`s calibre .22 - yep, i know where you are coming from mate , boy has this sport come on since then.

You`ll need to shoulder some rifles at the gunsmiths and make your choice but go midweek when the gunroom is quieter .

Scope wise, i like the mamba scopes with the scb reticules (designed for air guns and their trajectory).

Hares ? Shot in the head = DEAD at air rifle ranges.

 

 

PCP - again shoulder them, HW 100`S and Air Arms are the norm.

 

 

 

Static/ hide shooting - shoulder again but go carbine.

I use an Air Arms TX 200 HC Mk 3 with mamba scb scope (.177 springer) and struggle to miss off Primos shooting sticks.Heavy gun on sticks = very steady shooting

HW 100 kt .177 pcp i use in hide shooting with Mamba scb scope off primos sticks - really struggle to miss !

 

 

Good luck with your choices.

[bigmac 97kt 13,751]

 

Welcome Johno

All HW, Air Arms are good but some are heavy too, what style of shooting do you have in mind ?

 

Opportunist - walk about, mooch about, just general everyday?

Static, hide shooting?

Have you given calibre any thought ?

 

Scope wise, Mamba or Hawke seem very popular.

 

atb ( all the best)

Hi Mark, I really want to be able to cover all really, it will predominantly be used very early morning/dusk, so

think that will have some bearing in choice of scope, but the more I read on here the more 'my brain hurts',

I'm scouring the adds (while supposed to be working..lol) currently in Singapore so 8hrs ahead of you guys just

getting out your beds.

 

I've seen a couple of HW97K & KT in the classifieds, Email sent so see if anyone gets back to me if items still

available.

 

I'm looking at .22 at the minute (u could hear a pin drop in the .177 room!) purely based on my expereices when I

was a lad (& that was a long time ago) of shooting tins & things with my mates rifles/pistols & I always seemed to be

better with the .22, but hey that was 40years ago! But that's what I'm going for at the minute rightly or wrongly & I've

read both sides of the debates on here.

 

Ideally I would like to have 2 or 3 set ups in my cabinet, to cover everything, but as said previously will only be used for

hunting Rabbit/Vermin etc, & I can only see me using targets to set up the gun/scope, which I bet is another huge learning

curve?...So start with a Springer & possibly pick nice used PCP set up in the New Year...may sound like a silly question but

would these .22 take down a hare and if so at what range?

 

Steve.

 

Yes , but the closer you can get the better

 

BUT, you can not lamp hares it is illegal and check the law on them where you live as different rules apply in different places .

 

Dont even think of going hunting until you can put ten to twenty pellets in a five pence size hole at your prefer,d zero distance

 

and to do this with out thinking about it

 

get to no your set up the way she handles , the way she feels , the way she will recoil it may seem silly you may even think you could put ten or twenty pellets in the circle easily but i can tell you its not, not by a long way unless your a natural

 

 

The 97 is a cracking bit of kit BUT dose need a tune and polish even better with a v,mach kit fitted and will blow the pants off all the rest

 

if this is done properly it will

 

reduce recoil to a minimum

 

be as smooth as and will handle so much nicer

 

this will come as an extra on top of your budget but it will be money well spent

 

atvbmac :thumbs:

[Johno2486 67]

Thanks there Big Mac and Mark for taking the time to post, great info there so I will take it on-board, totally agree with the part about not going hunting till I was fully up to speed on the handiling characteristics of the gun and could actually hit the target repeatedly.

I have read a few posts on here that bears mention to 'tuning' and I did intend to start a post asking if someone could explain to a newbie what was actually involved in a Stage 1 and a Stage 2 tune, and what costs would be involved and more importantly the overall benefit of each, so appreciate if someone could post details of this up....Thanks again guys for the replies ??

[villaman 9,983]

Hi , I have both 95 .22 and two 97 , one in .177 the other .22 , the .177 had a v mach kit in but its been taken out and now it shoots the best it has ever done . The .22 has been polished and re greased by me and with about 5-6 fps spread ,better than most PCP guns !!

 

HW95 gun has not been messed about with apart from putting a heaver mod on and that shoots spot on

 

Have a look at the 99 ,great little gun

 

Try and shoulder the guns you are thinking about buying and some you haven't thought of

 

With scopes go for a lighter one IMO ,have a look at the Nikko sterling Panamax ,very good scope ,good field of view http://www.uttings.co.uk/p118942-nikko-stirling-panamax-3-9x40-ao-ir-rifle-scope-npmxi3940/#.VjSoPnrhDIU

[Rez 4,957]

Good choice 97 feels heavy at first but if you stick with it you will be rewarded. The 95 is mid light weight and is creamy to use and very pointable around the barns. I have found them both to be great rifles. They say the 95 could do with a bit more weight on the barrel but you have the option to use a heavy moderator if that is a problem to you.

 

"Creamy to use"

[Rez 4,957]

Hi , I have both 95 .22 and two 97 , one in .177 the other .22 , the .177 had a v mach kit in but its been taken out and now it shoots the best it has ever done . The .22 has been polished and re greased by me and with about 5-6 fps spread ,better than most PCP guns !!

 

HW95 gun has not been messed about with apart from putting a heaver mod on and that shoots spot on

 

Have a look at the 99 ,great little gun

 

Try and shoulder the guns you are thinking about buying and some you haven't thought of

 

With scopes go for a lighter one IMO ,have a look at the Nikko sterling Panamax ,very good scope ,good field of view http://www.uttings.co.uk/p118942-nikko-stirling-panamax-3-9x40-ao-ir-rifle-scope-npmxi3940/#.VjSoPnrhDIU

I would complete second v'mans reco on the 99 mate. The best little rifle Ive used.

 

For the record Johno... I have a Panamax 3-9, the one v'man posted a link too, that Im selling, or will be in the near future, mint condition of course, with box too, ££65 posted. I dont use it much. Just a heads up if you need it.

[Johno2486 67]

Thanks Rez, PM sent

[villaman 9,983]

 

Hi , I have both 95 .22 and two 97 , one in .177 the other .22 , the .177 had a v mach kit in but its been taken out and now it shoots the best it has ever done . The .22 has been polished and re greased by me and with about 5-6 fps spread ,better than most PCP guns !!

 

HW95 gun has not been messed about with apart from putting a heaver mod on and that shoots spot on

 

Have a look at the 99 ,great little gun

 

Try and shoulder the guns you are thinking about buying and some you haven't thought of

 

With scopes go for a lighter one IMO ,have a look at the Nikko sterling Panamax ,very good scope ,good field of view http://www.uttings.co.uk/p118942-nikko-stirling-panamax-3-9x40-ao-ir-rifle-scope-npmxi3940/#.VjSoPnrhDIU

I would complete second v'mans reco on the 99 mate. The best little rifle Ive used.

 

For the record Johno... I have a Panamax 3-9, the one v'man posted a link too, that Im selling, or will be in the near future, mint condition of course, with box too, ££65 posted. I dont use it much. Just a heads up if you need it.

 

I will take the scope if johno doesn't have it Rez