Looking For Your First Rifle?

[ChrisJones 7,973]

This is long overdue so I thought I'd have a crack at it. I've put together an FAQ and if you think I've missed anything just add a reply to the thread so I can update the list. You'll be credited at the bottom.

 

Okay. So You Want To Buy Your First Air Rifle.

• Step 1. Hit the New Topic option. This will start a new topic and will direct our members to your request.
  
• Step 2. In the topic heading, tell us that you're looking for help. This will ensure that your questions aren't overlooked.
  
• Step 3. Tell us how much you're willing to spend on your rifle set up. If you're budget is less than £200, for example, it's no good us telling you about the more expensive and elaborate rifle combinations.
  
• Step 4. Tell us what you want to shoot. Are you going to be hunting or participating in some kind of vermin control? Are you looking at entering some kind of field target competition? Or just plinking in the back yard?
  
• Step 5. Tell us whereabouts in the world you are. We don't need your full address and we recommend that you keep as much personal information, about yourself, to yourself. A country will do. This forum has members from all over the globe. Telling you the airgun laws, for England, won't apply in Ireland, or France, or Abu Dhabi. If you tell us then maybe we have someone that lives nearby and can advise you better about your local laws.
  
• Step 6. Be patient. Activity varies, on this forum, and not everyone is on all the time. This could mean anywhere from a few seconds to a few days before someone can answer your questions.
  

This list won't be gospel but it should help you navigate the world of airguns.

 

Deciding how much you wish to spend will give you an idea of how far your earth credits will stretch.

 

Familiarise yourself with some of the superb online catalogues, available, from various manufacturers. These links were spat out using a Yahoo search engine, and the keywords Air Rifles UK, and are the more familiar names in the gun trade. There are more so take the time to look.

• Air Guns Online
  
• Blackpool Air Rifles
  

These catalogues are easy to navigate and listed with prices. Start there and work on your wish list.

 

This next step is extremely lazy but there is a superb link, on Wikipedia, about air rifles. You can find the link by clicking here. It will take you straight to Wikipedia. It's very informative and saves me plagiarizing the whole article and reproducing it on the forum. It explains all the types of air guns on the market and will give you a great idea of what to look for while you're doing your research.

 

Rifle Calibre

 

This is a question that comes up time and time again. All calibres have a list of pros and cons, and this is an argument that will never be definitively answered.

 

The 'old' saying used to be,

".22 For Fur, .177 For Feather."

Another 'old' way, was that the .22 was traditionally used for hunting, whilst the .177 was used for target shooting, but both can be used to great effect in either discipline. You will always get proponents of their chosen calibre fighting their corner.

 

The best way to find out which calibre is for you, is to spend some time with both, and to see which one you would prefer to use.

 

These are only a few words on the subject, and for the brevity of this guide we haven't gone into details regarding pellet trajectory, ballistics and groupings. There are many more detailed discussions to be found on the subject elsewhere in the forum. All can be found with the use of the search topic function, at the bottom of the screen. If in doubt, or you can't find anything, start a new topic with Calibre Question as the title. Someone will be along soon to help.

 

Acknowledged Contributors To This FAQ: SEAN3513, Maltenby

 

This is a work in progress so please feel free to add any comments. This thread will be regularly pruned as the main body is updated. If your comments are used or added to the above then you'll be credited at the bottom of the post.

 

(i.e With Thanks To Arthur J Putey)

[Malt 379]

..............

[ChrisJones 7,973]

Updated. Thanks for your time gents.

[SEAN3513 7]

another interesting point chris...............insurance???

 

a must for anybody with permission.

 

thanks

 

sean

[ChrisJones 7,973]

Another good point Sean.

 

I'll update this over the weekend. I've still got the picture you've kindly donated. I've not forgotten them it's just that I've been working away this week and I'm trying to catch up with the various e-correspondence. I mean c'mon who would send me 263 emails in under a week?

 

I'll work on it as soon as I can.

[Timelord 0]

What about .20 caliber?

[ChrisJones 7,973]

What about .20 caliber?

This thread was conceived to steer people in the right direction. Discussing ballistics and pellet choice, is confusing for beginners with no background in shooting.

 

.20 calibre and .25 calibre are usually special order, from gun shops. If someone has taken the time to research the pros and cons of the calibres then the information in this thread is taken as a given.

 

No doubt there will be a calibre thread in the future.

[Malt 379]

No doubt there will be a calibre thread in the future.

 

or several.......

[kingfisher 0]

would a sprung? rifle be any good for rabbits etc (killing them that is) lol or does it have to be co2

[Grim Reaper 1]

would a sprung? rifle be any good for rabbits etc (killing them that is) lol or does it have to be co2

 

 

A spring rifle is quite good enough for taking rabbits mate, as are pcp rifles. I reckon that CO2 is a little lower on power than the springers and pcp rifles Also the accuracy tends to drop off as well - especially due to the fact that CO2 rifle performance can go up and down, depending on the temperature and altitude etc?

 

Therefore, from a purely personal point of view, i wouldn't consider a CO2 for anything else really, except maybe the odd close bit of ratting.

 

Hope this helps you some?

 

 

Cheers,

Grim

Edited August 23, 2008 by Grim Reaper

[kingfisher 0]

cheers grim that does. im new to this so just trying to find out whats what

[Grim Reaper 1]

No worries bud , thats what is good about THL IMO - helping others when and where you can, as well as receiving help yourself when you need it.

 

 

Regards,

Grim.

[Guest Mass_G3nocide]

cheers grim that does. im new to this so just trying to find out whats what

 

 

Spring rifles are cheap and cheerfull if money is not object go for a pneumatic air rifle maybe a Falcon praire with a hawke 3-9x40 standard.Also if your shooting rabbit's try getting a .22 as they kill better but .177 is better for range good luck whateva you get.

[j.stuart 0]

1. the biggest rule of all "never rush" as the shop keeper loves newbies that they can over charge

[Michael72 0]

I'm a beginner to shooting myself, however I am a member of a club run by mature gentlemen to be polite, so I asked before I bought a springer, something I was told was that a fixed barrel i.e. underleaver should be more accurate than a break barrel as the main gun barrel doesn't move when cocking the gun.

I bought myself a Weihrauch HW97K, with which I'm very pleased, the only problem for me is that the weight of the extra underleaver barrel makes it a bit heavy after a while.