SMK airrifles

[fluffsri]

Hi fellas, Im after some advice for my Father. He has a BSA he bought in 1970 and is looking to replace it. He uses it for pest control on his garden. Its 125m x 30 and has rats, pidgeons, rooks and jackdoors. He doesnt use it all the time so we have discounted Co2 guns. He is looking at an SMKxs38 it seems good value for money but were open to options?

 

He seems to be set on this weapon and is interested in the silencer that is in the catalogue to go with the rifle. There seems to be some confusion on wether the silencer will fit this rifle?

 

Anyway guys with a budget of £200ish with rifle an sights what do you reckon?

 

Any advice /comments welcome, be gentle as Im new to all this.

[spiceychilli57]

If you can i would reccomend steering clear of smk, probably shoot straight but you get what you pay for

 

Probably for the amount of use second hand would be ok so try posting an ad for a open sighted rifle in the trade section of pw somebody might have something or a local gunshop possibly

 

1970 and still going? says everything for BSA

 

Try to stick to well known names like BSA or Weihrauch

 

The question about silencers, the fact is shops try to sell silencers for spring rifles but its the sound of the action that makes the noise not out the barrel so will make very little differnce, most of the time they act as barrel weights

 

Spicer

[fluffsri]

If you can i would reccomend steering clear of smk, probably shoot straight but you get what you pay for

 

Probably for the amount of use second hand would be ok so try posting an ad for a open sighted rifle in the trade section of pw somebody might have something or a local gunshop possibly

 

1970 and still going? says everything for BSA

 

Try to stick to well known names like BSA or Weihrauch

 

The question about silencers, the fact is shops try to sell silencers for spring rifles but its the sound of the action that makes the noise not out the barrel so will make very little differnce, most of the time they act as barrel weights

 

Spicer

Cheers, what do you mean by 'open sighted rifle' ? Sorry but I only have the use of 2 guns at the mo, ones a rivet gun and the others an SA80

[UKPoacher]

The SMK XS38 is about the best rifle they sell IMO. Quality control is not great though so you would need to check the actual rifle you are buying very closely as they do differ enormously out of the box. The XS38 is a very heavy rifle based on a Weihrauch model, the HW77, but it is nowhere near as smooth and the trigger is horrible compared to the HW77. There is considerable recoil and that affects accuracy. I only use mine for big tagets such as rabbits because of that, and mine is tuned and polished.

 

I'd suggest that you look at the Weihrauch HW57 at £199 or the HW99 at around £165. Both will be better out of the box than the XS38.

[spiceychilli57]

some rifles dont have open sights just a rail to mount a telescopic sight, if you didnt want a telescopic you would need one with open sights

[fluffsri]

We have been having a shufty round. The HW 57 and 99s are break barrel but dad wants a fixed barrel. We had a look at the BSA Polaris and it looks spot on. One question though is it a legal 12ftlb weapon? Ive seen a few posts asking this.

 

Also what about the Gamo CF30 and CFX are these any good?

 

As much as he would love a Weihrauch its beyond his budget

[HoTsHoT-10]

the hw57 is a underlever

[spiceychilli57]

comparing the Polaris to the lighning on the BSA website only just under, with the lighning coming in at 730ft/sec (.22) and the Polaris at 722ft/sec (.22), for .177 they are both 1000ft/sec, not much difference really and the lightning is most definately full legal power, sure a Polaris would do you fine

 

the hw57 is indeed underlever

 

Gamo not a household name but is rapidly becoming one in the cheaper end of spring powered rifles so definately worth a look at, see how it feels in a shop

 

Spicer

[bruno22rf]

You seem determined to buy lower end guns-if he has time on his hands and cash then its a buyers market.Keep an eye out for a HW 77-80-95 or even a 90-You might be lucky and find an AirArms TX200 for the kind of money you are looking at.A good gun like those above will lose very little value over the years if you buy a second hand one-so the actual cost is negligable-these guns will most likely have a greater range than your fathers current gun and will need a scope to make use of this bonus.You can pick up a reasonable scope for less than £20 on fleabay so again if you shop around you will keep costs to a minimum.Watch the for sales on this, and other, sites and if you find something tempting come back and ask on here-could save you a lot of heartache.

[Dekers]

comparing the Polaris to the lighning on the BSA website only just under, with the lighning coming in at 730ft/sec (.22) and the Polaris at 722ft/sec (.22), for .177 they are both 1000ft/sec, not much difference really and the lightning is most definately full legal power, sure a Polaris would do you fine

 

the hw57 is indeed underlever

 

Gamo not a household name but is rapidly becoming one in the cheaper end of spring powered rifles so definately worth a look at, see how it feels in a shop

 

Spicer

 

 

Did I miss something here, the figures quoted above would put all the tools/calibres mentioned into the FAC bracket!

 

EDIT

 

GAMO...does BSA sound like a household name, Gamo own them, take a look at both of their ranges of rifles and you will notice several VERY similar tools!

Edited November 6, 2010 by Dekers

[njc110381]

I'm with the others on this - don't let him buy a SMK! Get a second hand Weihrauch or BSA, or even a new one in their budget bracket. It will be a much better gun than any SMK. If he's set on the SMK just tell him you've just asked on here, many of us have been shooting for 10+ years, and not many of us support them. It's got to tell him something!

 

It's up to him what he spends his money on but if he actaully wants to hit what he's shooting at he'd be better off looking at other makes!

[fluffsri]

Cheers for the replies fellas, lots of usefull advice. We have spent all morning trawling the net. I cant seem to find many places to buy 2nd hand weapons?

 

Anyway after your advice dad is going to make a list of what he fancies and were going to place a wanted add here.

 

He is totally off the SMK idea and we found the 57 and your right its an underleaver LOL. Thge first pic we saw of it showed a break barrel so I reckon it was listed with the wrong pic.

 

He does like the Weihrauch we were looking at them in Salisbury, he does have time and cash so we will keep an eye out for some nice 2nd hand kit.

 

He does like the Polaris and were going to have a look next week somewhen just to get a feel of things.

 

Thanks agin fellas its given us a lot of food for thought.

[dtr36]

smk are great guns for the money i got a qb78 and with a little bit of tuning its now shooting 11.5 ps and straight as a die just because it dont cost £200 plus its just gun snobbery

[Dekers]

smk are great guns for the money i got a qb78 and with a little bit of tuning its now shooting 11.5 ps and straight as a die just because it dont cost £200 plus its just gun snobbery

 

 

Not sure there is anything here about gun snobbery, cheap guns are cheap guns, if you want a cheap gun then fine, but I fail to see the point in buying a cheap gun and then spending a lot of time and effort and money making it do something a slightly more expensive gun already does, just an other angle!

 

ATB!

[will8371]

hi if you have a look on here http://ukchineseairgunforum.myfreeforum.org/ you will be able to find out more about the smk rifles, as well as being a cheap economy rifle, there is the potential to smooth it out by tuning it, these guys are very helpful and will help you out loads. hope this helps.

[bruno22rf]

The case for an SMK does stack up on paper-but if you spend the same money on a used AA or HW as you would on a new SMK-which would shoot the best and hold most value over the next, say, ten years?.

[HW Cambo]

Hi

 

I would stay clear of the SMK and Gamo rifles, they are cheaply made, not very accurate, twangy springs, and butt ugly, a waist of time and money in my opinion. If you are looking for a good quality springer for around £200 then go for a second hand Weihrauch HW97k, Air Arms TX 200 or from new the BSA lightning. The 97k is the best springer Weihrauch ever made, fixed barrel for greater accuracy and has a 2 stage rekord trigger. My mates gamo shadow was only doing 7.5 to 8ftp out of the box and he had trouble hitting a coke can from 25 yards.

 

My V-tuned 97k is shooting pellet through pellet at 35 yards and still accurate out to 70 yards.

[bullet1747]

Cheers, what do you mean by 'open sighted rifle' ? Sorry but I only have the use of 2 guns at the mo, ones a rivet gun and the others an SA80

id stick to the rivet gun i had the sa80 in 86 piece of sh17 ,worse thing the armed forces had

[UKPoacher]

Hi

 

I would stay clear of the SMK and Gamo rifles, they are cheaply made , not very accurate, twangy springs, and butt ugly, a waist of time and money in my opinion. If you are looking for a good quality springer for around £200 then go for a second hand Weihrauch HW97k, Air Arms TX 200 or from new the BSA lightning. The 97k is the best springer Weihrauch ever made, fixed barrel for greater accuracy and has a 2 stage rekord trigger. My mates gamo shadow was only doing 7.5 to 8ftp out of the box and he had trouble hitting a coke can from 25 yards.

 

My V-tuned 97k is shooting pellet through pellet at 35 yards and still accurate out to 70 yards.

 

Hmmm

 

Cheaply made - agreed. That's a bonus as long as you do your own quality control inspection before buying.

Not very accurate - disagree. Some are better than others. The XS38 is probably the worst exception in that the recoil is too harsh for serious target shooting. That said, my HW77s had a fair amount of recoil too.

Twangy springs - they are just like more expensive rifles. A tune and lube is all that's needed.

Butt ugly - they are copies of other rifles, including the revered HW77.

[happyshooter]

I have an xs19 .22 thats been fettled by

Welsh willy from the Uk chinese airgun forum its now spot on

pellet on pellet at 25yds,

i got mine as a bit of fun but now use it on back yard rats

the xs 19 or the xs20 can be turned into good guns

just google--WWW Woodfield GCP And He will sort your gun.

atb brian

[fluffsri]

Cheers again boys. I dont think it is about snobbery, Im the same with my mountianbiking kit. I want to get the best value for my money and it has to last as long as it can while staying servicable. I always say buy cheap! Buy twice! This is why we came on here for advice. A second hand quality gun that will last as long as his old one did will do him well. To be honest I cant see the point of buying a 12ftlb gun that doesnt make that out of the box and have to spend money on it bringing it up to std, thats like me buying a new bike and upgrading it before Ive ridden it, pointless.

 

Hes still having a look at what he fancies. Will let you know what he goes for.

[rubble without a cause]

Hi guys, just a point. I have a BSA Lighting a Weibruch and purchased a SMK for knocking around in the field. I paid £60 for it secoond hand including scope. I sold it after 6-weeks for £25. Reason, if I knocked it around in the field it wasn't going to last very long. As the man says, Buy cheap buy twice. I got a second hand lighting XL for £110, so much more rifle for not much more cash.

[SteveieP]

I have 2 SMK guns & just pushed the button on a third.

XS20 is a HW95 copy bought new, 3 yrs ago for £80. B&C guide / tophat, Titan XS spring, Maccari mainseal, total cost £135 for a tuned springer.

XS36-2 sliding breach underlever (similar though not mechanically the same as a HW77) bought 4 yrs ago new for £75. John Knibbs spring guide, Welshwilly stainless spring & delrin tophat plus HW77 25mm mainseal. Total cost £120 for a tuned underlever.

I set the power on both guns at about 11.4 fpe, either of them are capable of exceeding that. Indeed the power crept over on the XS20, but out comes a spacing washer & all is well.

They are not weak, they do not twang & sure as **** don't kick any more than a gentle nudge (like any .22 springer.)

I accept they need a little TLC out of the box but then so does a £300 + Weihrauch with it's nasty butchered mainspring, that looks like it was cropped with bolt cutters.

The accuracy is just fine & I've shot groups of half an inch, center to center with them both, at 28 meters.

What I've done with the internals is no different (though much cheaper)than putting a V-Mach into one of your top dollar guns that allegedly doesn't need it in the first place.

The quality of these guns is improving all the time.

The new gun I've pushed the button on is the SMK TH208. Some might be happier if it was described as a Ruger Airhawk Elite HE. But for the addition of a scope on the Ruger, they're the same gun out of the same factory in China. The main difference is I can find the SMK for £135 or pay £270 if I want the Ruger name on it.I've gone for the SMK label & reckon I can find a better scope with the £135 I've saved over the Ruger offering. The trigger is copied from a tried & tested RWS rifle. I will upgrade the internals but will probably need to add no more than a tophat & some spacing plus a general fettle & lube tune. The OEM spring guide looks to be made of nylon so should be relatively twang free out of the box.

My 2 current SMK guns work just dandy & without question will continue to do so for many years to come. They may not be perfect but they're a lot better than some unenlightened people seam to suggest. In comparison, my old BSA Meteor (much loved, cherished & well maintained) doesn't hold a candle to either of them.

[happyshooter]

Well put StevieP, i thought chinese guns were **** until i got this xs19

i also own HW95.177 ,a HW77.22 , a HW35.22. The XS19 .22 certainly shoots as smoothly

as my HW35.22 and is accurate as well, i shoot springers for fun, and i think if you can shoot these

accurately then pcp,s are easy and i do own a few!!!!!! of these as well mainly for hunting,

as i am lucky to have x9 permissions, So whatever you shoot enjoy it,thats what it comes down too IMO.

Atb brian

Edited November 13, 2010 by happyshooter

[SteveieP]

The point being made is that, the sport can be pursued on many levels with budgets to match.

I have no doubt that the original posters interests are best served, with say a well maintained but second hand HW95K.

He may just want to shoot and not tinker.

However, it gets my back up when badly informed persons jump on the band wagon.

Even the lowly B2 seldom suffers accuracy problems, albeit a bit rough & ready but quite capable of being transformed with a bit of fettling & a few new parts, although it will never be a powerhouse

The nicest gun |'ve seen recently is a B40 (AA TX200 clone) put into a Lukas Parsley custom stock. You wouldn't distinguish it from the TX.

The only SMK things to avoid completely are the pellets. Some get passable results but even SMK owners generally acknowlege the SMK pellets are rubbish. Much better results to be had with RWS Superdomes or Superfields or JSB Exact