air pistol advice

[rapidboy1]

Im thinking of buying a traget air pistol for shooting a few postal leagues and club comps.
Any suggestions for a good club level gun that i can grow into rather than need to upgrade in a few months ?
I already have dive bottle so PCP is attractive but there seem to be a lot of CO2 guns around the club, is ther an advantage with CO2 over air ?

[pennineway.fswo]

Im thinking of buying a traget air pistol for shooting a few postal leagues and club comps.
Any suggestions for a good club level gun that i can grow into rather than need to upgrade in a few months ?
I already have dive bottle so PCP is attractive but there seem to be a lot of CO2 guns around the club, is ther an advantage with CO2 over air ?

Hi
CO2 pistols have no advantages over PCP (IMO) but do have a number of disadvantages as they are temperature sensitive and are more problematic to recharge (normally access to a fridge is needed to cool the cylinder prior to filling it). For these reasons and others(weight change during shooting and little/no warning of gas exhaustion),it is rare to see CO2 match pistols being shot at the top level. Having said that, we have 2 shooters in our club who have hung onto their CO2 pistols and are quite happy with them
Consider the Steyr LP1 (a second hand PCP version for about £400) or the Steyr LP2 (£620 new or £450 second hand-1 cylinder)
There are several other nice PCP's that you can pick up second hand for £500-£600 such as FWB 34, Morini, Walther
John

[rapidboy1]

Thanks, a few CO2 fans at the club are saying they get many more shots per charge with CO2 compared to air but im already set up with air bottles for my rifles and im not that fussed on this freezer carry on so i think air would be easiest for me.
Im not wanting to spend a fortune because i don't really know how much use it will get but i think an LP1 or LP2 sounds good.
What sort of power do the match guns run at ?

[pennineway.fswo]

Hi again

My LP1, like most PCP match pistols has variable power and velocity will go up to 600 ft/sec with light weight pellets which is very close to the legal limit

Tests show that these pistols are most accurate at about 525 - 550 ft/sec
That probably equates to about 4 - 5 ft lbs

regards
john

[rapidboy1]

Thanks John ,I had a Rohm twin master, a CO2 FEG target pistol and a Gamo Compact , all of which only produced around 400 - m425 fps and i was wondering if there was a lower limit for comp's.

[pennineway.fswo]

There is no lower limit, but if the pellet velocity drops below 370 ft/sec, then wadcutters will start to tear the target rather than making a nice neat hole. This makes scoring more difficult, particularly if several shots are close together
John

[derekm]

If Steyr and the other modern PCPs are within your budget, no problems.
If you don't want to stretch that far, how about a s/h 70s/80s world class CO2 or the Czech Aeron and Alfa.
Using 12g cartridges is cheap enough and you have good consistent shot count.
IMO pressure/velocity variations with CO2 are exaggerated, especially at 10m, offhand.
I believe the current world record of 598/600 (I think) is still held by a CO2 and may be that way for a while.
Lastly, don't overlook the Gamo Compact. It will outshoot most club level shooters, even if it doesn't cost enough!

[pennineway.fswo]

I believe the current world record of 598/600 (I think) is still held by a CO2 and may be that way for a while.

i am afraid no-one has ever shot 598 ex 600 in International Competition with an air/CO2 pistol

The world record for air pistol is 593 ex 600 (695.1 with final)
This was achieved by Segei Pyzhianov of USSR in Munich 1989
An incredible achievement nevertheless particularly if he used a CO2

The Gamo was mentioned above as a budget pistol. A step-up would be the splendid FAS 604 single stroke pneumatic
There is one for sale in Sales section @£175

[Powderfinger]

Gamo Compact, FAS, Original 6M, Original 10. All great target pistols for under £150 or even under £100 for some of them. You could always sell it on for what you paid for it. I would not bother with the CO2-bulb pistols for target shooting. CO2 precharged pistols by Feinwerkbau or Walther are excellent however. But they are very expensive and quite hard to find. The best of all are PCP target pistols but they are expensive and there seem to be no cheap second-hand ones.

[cinstone]

In my opinion, there is one advantage for C02 over PCP & that's the prices of the gun's themselves. There are far more C02 pistols available for reasonable expenditure than PCP, however, the PCP pistols will have the greater accuracy.

If you want an email target shooting competition, try the Airgun-HQ website. There are two on there for pistols. I use my Webley Hurricane in the 6 yard competition.

Chris.

[rapidboy1]

I might just start with a Diana LP6 and see how i get on, i know my friend has one in his shop i can borrow and I can try a few before i buy.

[derekm]

i am afraid no-one has ever shot 598 ex 600 in International Competition with an air/CO2 pistol

The world record for air pistol is 593 ex 600 (695.1 with final)
This was achieved by Segei Pyzhianov of USSR in Munich 1989
An incredible achievement nevertheless particularly if he used a CO2

The Gamo was mentioned above as a budget pistol. A step-up would be the splendid FAS 604 single stroke pneumatic
There is one for sale in Sales section @£175

Fair enough on the correction. I did say "I think"!

Yes, the Gamo Compact is a budget pistol, but I would still stand by the statement that it will outshoot most club level shooters and therefore should not be dismissed simply because it is not expensive enough.
The FAS you mention sounds a very good buy.

[pennineway.fswo]

Fair enough on the correction. I did say "I think"!

Yes, the Gamo Compact is a budget pistol, but I would still stand by the statement that it will outshoot most club level shooters and therefore should not be dismissed simply because it is not expensive enough.
.

I would not disagree with that Derek. I own a Gamo and if you do your bit they will hit the 10 every time. The one disappointing thing I find about the Gamo is that the grips are on the large size for younger shooters to get their trigger finger in the correct position. If this had been addressed by Gamo, then I think they would have sold even more of these pistols.There is a gentleman at my shooting club who uses a Gamo in the county 20 yard competitions and he has the highest average in the club (about 92/93 a card)This pistol is the only one he shoots, so the saying 'beware of the man with only one gun' is relevant there

[derekm]

The world record for air pistol is 593 ex 600 (695.1 with final)
This was achieved by Segei Pyzhianov of USSR in Munich 1989
An incredible achievement nevertheless particularly if he used a CO2

Just checked around a bit (don't want to be telling too many porkies, even if they're unintentional) and it seems Sergei was using a FWB Mod.2 CO2. No doubt highly tricked, but at the end of the day it's still the mutt behind the butt. The score and venue above are of course correct.

[Powderfinger]

FWB Co2 pistols are excellent. Some of the best in the world. I think sometimes people confuse them with the CO2 pistols that use 12g capsules. That type of pistol is only really good as a plinker or dispatch gun and are best avoided for target-use. A Gamo Compact or an Original 6 would be a much better choice.