air rifle purchase

[loopy bunny blaster]

looking for a new air rifle that could be upgraded to fac at a later time, what do you guys reccomend?

 

money isnt really a problem ive shot a few rapid 7's both in .20 caliber and both were very good guns, but i thought i'd ask some opinions before shedding out close to £1500 on a gun/scope/charging system

 

any help welcome guys

 

thanks

Tom

[08shooter]

i strongly reccomend that you get your fac and buy a fac gun,honestly you will never regret it. i had both fac and non fac and when i had 2 guns my shooting went to pot. buy the fac and learn your trajectory,you can pick up great bargains on fac guns over there. aa hw and daystate get my vote. theoben if you really have to it would be last on my list

[loopy bunny blaster]

i would like to use a 12foot pound gun for a while first, i am about average with an air rifle, so need more practice, i dont think an extra 28 foot pounds would make me any more accurate.. after all, what good is power without any accuracy, i intend spending some time at the local club before going after anything with a new gun,

 

Tom

[08shooter]

trust me its easier to shoot a fac air rifle nice and flat and hits with one hell of a whack

[rubble_1978]

trust me its easier to shoot a fac air rifle nice and flat and hits with one hell of a whack

 

hi all. im new at this forum stuff so soz if i screw up.

just got in to shooting and im loving it.

was wondering what peoples veiws are on my rifle. its my first one.

its a webley vulcan .22 with 4+32 scopes, my mate bought it in 1996 and fired it about 15 times.

i got it for £30.

[Newbie]

Hi all,

 

LBB.... I bought an AA S410K in .22 and I'm as happy as a spring lamb. Its 12ft lbs and blats the bunnys daily from 20-25metres. I bought 2nd hand and the whole rig for rifle, 4-12x50 IR Walther scope, 232 cylinder and filling kit cost about £450.

I reckon I'll sell the gun on for about £300 in a few months and buy a .177 to give that a try and see if the flatter trajectory is better. Next year I'll sell that one on and go for the 410k fac.

12ft lbs guns hold their value very very well (as long as they're loved) so you can experiment without losing bucks.

 

I was told by a wide and varied, very long list of people to go for the AA410k. It beats the rest of the price range hands down for accuracy, reliability and useability.

 

Rubble...My first air rifle (only 6 months ago) was a B2 with iron sights (cheap, chinese import) for the same money you just got a webley for. You got a good deal.

 

ATB

 

N

[Evil Elvis]

tOM, I WOULD LISTEN TO VERMINSHOOTER, HES TOTALLY RIGHT, I HAVE DONE IT THE WRONG, way around, applying for my fac now, and am going to have my theoben and daystate uprated, however, i wish I had done it straight away, they arent cheap to convert.

 

he is also spot on what he says about fac, they are easier to shoot more accurately, I habve used my mates rapid fac, sweet 16 fac,daystate mkiii fac and a falcon, all with amazing accuracy......you'll be surprised, the extra power makes your shots that much straighter.

 

if i had that money it waould the the ranger or the airwolf from daystate, in fac, or the rapid s type or the mfr....all in fac of course!!!

[SNAKEBITE]

Bobbins.

 

Start out on a 12lb'er. You learn HOW to shoot, with the limited range and distance estimation needed on a 12lb'er you learn valuable skills. These skills can be used as a base to build on when you go FAC. Jumping straight in on FAC means you have neglected your training.

Think of it as an apprenticship, FAC is your goal on qualification.

 

Nothing wrong with FAC at all, valuable tools in the right hands but learn the trade first.

 

To see what I mean look at the greats, Darling, George Stevens etc. They have forgotten more than we are likely to know. They have the skills to HUNT, not just point and squeeze.

[stink£r]

Bobbins.

 

Start out on a 12lb'er. You learn HOW to shoot, with the limited range and distance estimation needed on a 12lb'er you learn valuable skills. These skills can be used as a base to build on when you go FAC. Jumping straight in on FAC means you have neglected your training.

Think of it as an apprenticship, FAC is your goal on qualification.

 

Nothing wrong with FAC at all, valuable tools in the right hands but learn the trade first.

 

To see what I mean look at the greats, Darling, George Stevens etc. They have forgotten more than we are likely to know. They have the skills to HUNT, not just point and squeeze.

 

Well said that man.

[kdubya]

have to agree with vermin shooter (part way) if you are going to use air to hunt go fac straight off

the part i dont agree with is daystate over a rapid, I had a daystate in fact 2 I now ONLY have 2 rapids both fac both as cheap as chips second hand then a few bob (not much) to get to the "ultimate" spec I wanted, and both brilliant at what they do ie take thumper and his mates out,

cheers KW

[loopy bunny blaster]

ye, i like the rapids a lot, i might try an air ranger sometime, i dont really want to go for fac straight away because as im only 15 i prob wont get it granted until ive got some permission under my belt, and a club membership .

[monkeyjaimz]

ye, i like the rapids a lot, i might try an air ranger sometime, i dont really want to go for fac straight away because as im only 15 i prob wont get it granted until ive got some permission under my belt, and a club membership .

 

You're right there mate, think you would be very hard pushed to find a FAO that would grant you an FAC at 15 whatever the weather

This morning I was talking to a guy I know who runs a pest control company, he's been shooting air rifles on a regular basis for around 40 years, he currently has a 12 ft/lbs AA S200, a 12 ft/lbs AA S400 and an FAC Rapid running at 30 ft/lbs. Apparantly he uses the 12 ft/lb'ers regularly and the rapid once in a blue moon (remember this is a guy that shoots vermin i.e rabbits etc for a living).

He also said that in realistic conditions the effective (consistently accurate) range of the Rapid was only about 15 yrds further than the sub 12 ft/lb rifles.

In my opinion, you'd be far better to get yourself a decent non FAC rifle to learn on (like SB and Stink£r have already said) and progress from there.

Hope this helps chief

[Evil Elvis]

You falied to mention that you had no permission and were only 15......12ft all the way!!!

[loopy bunny blaster]

sorry elvis, i didnt say i wanted fac now, i said it would be nice if the gun could be converted to fac at a later time when/if

i need it.

 

thanks

 

Tom

[berettaman1]

listen , if you want to learn about air rifles on ticket then remember this, a 12 foot pound air rifle in .177 is doing the same trajectory as a F A C .22 is doing at 800 feet per second roughly with a 14.5 grain pellet. now, using a .22 calliber at 12 foot pounds is really going to p--s you off as anything over 30 yards is going to cause you all kinds of problems re, holdover ,angle of target from the horizontal plane, etc. if you you are going to hunt with a 12 foot pound rifle you must remember not to shoot at a living quarry with a body shot as unless it connects with a brain or heart shot the target will get away and suffer a horrible and painfull death. I must admit here that in my silly youth I shot many a poor rabbit or pigeon without thinking ,and caused many painfull deaths to the quarry I shot at!(Shame on me) but with age and experience like most of of the older shooters on here I/We have learnt by our mistakes and try to pass on what we have learnt, so live and learn young friend and carry on what us old shooters have done. If youve got £1500 to spend then I would get a Air Ranger, this is a gun that can be uprated to F A C by the factory in whatever caliber you want, but remember .20 ammo is not stocked by a lot of dealers and you are limited to what is available, good luck.

[berettaman1]

see next comment.

[SNAKEBITE]

This morning I was talking to a guy I know who runs a pest control company, he's been shooting air rifles on a regular basis for around 40 years, he currently has a 12 ft/lbs AA S200, a 12 ft/lbs AA S400 and an FAC Rapid running at 30 ft/lbs. Apparantly he uses the 12 ft/lb'ers regularly and the rapid once in a blue moon (remember this is a guy that shoots vermin i.e rabbits etc for a living).

He also said that in realistic conditions the effective (consistently accurate) range of the Rapid was only about 15 yrds further than the sub 12 ft/lb rifles.

In my opinion, you'd be far better to get yourself a decent non FAC rifle to learn on (like SB and Stink£r have already said) and progress from there.

Hope this helps chief

 

I think this proves my point. This chap knows how to shoot.

 

Laying down and shooting at something 60yds away is good but stalking to 20 yds is a skill that has to hard earnt.

 

To be honest there is too much "must get an FAC" about. It is like some sort of "makes me feel manly" sickness

For sure get an FAC when you have the skills, as they are very good tools but don't use it as a crutch to prop up poor base skills.

[Andy RV]

Why not get something to learn on, something thats still really good just not super expensive, maybe a second hand S-410? You can't really beat them for value for money, and then when you go the FAC route you've got some money left over to get a FAC rifle, or even better how about a rimfire?

[loopy bunny blaster]

thanks guys, ive decided on a daystate airranger non fac, and im going to go down the shotgun route rather than boosting the power through an fac grant.

 

thanks anyway guys :(

[monkeyjaimz]

Sounds sensible enough to me mate, nice choice of rifle also

[Theskyfox]

Just thought Id mention....All my air rifles are legal limit (12ftlbs)...Ive used them for over a year now shooting on various farms and permissions, and I've had no problem dispatching rats, pigeons etc. If you can hit your target correctly, 12ftlbs seems quite adequate and thats in both 22 and 177. Im not saying dont go FAC, because im sure it is very good, but give the standard powered ones a go first because 12ftlbs is more power than you would think, even at 40 yards. Accuracy seems to be the key...and if your not good, then get good! practice practice and be a proper rifleman . You should be able to judge holdover etc in your head IMHO.

 

-Andrew

[bunnybasher07]

alryt about that webley vulcan i have one and it wasnt quite my 1st gun. but i recomend it for dense tree shooting, the short barrel means you cant get snagged but the down side is the kick. its hard to compensate and its not extreamly accurate but its good for some tree rats and crows ive got a bsa hornet now .22 and im loving poping heads at 35 yards

LM

[loopy bunny blaster]

after a pcp mate.

 

 

gonna get a air ranger or an airwolf in .177/.20 cal

[lurcherboy]

Bobbins.

 

Start out on a 12lb'er. You learn HOW to shoot, with the limited range and distance estimation needed on a 12lb'er you learn valuable skills. These skills can be used as a base to build on when you go FAC. Jumping straight in on FAC means you have neglected your training.

Think of it as an apprenticship, FAC is your goal on qualification.

 

Nothing wrong with FAC at all, valuable tools in the right hands but learn the trade first.

 

To see what I mean look at the greats, Darling, George Stevens etc. They have forgotten more than we are likely to know. They have the skills to HUNT, not just point and squeeze.

 

 

Do your apprenticeship and then make the move.

[mossy835]

it does not matter what you start with, its all common sence.if you dont have that keep away from guns.