PCP Vs Springer?

[auora5000]

Other than good trigger control and range estimation, what "skill" is involved shooting a PCP compared to a springer?

[tombardier]

steady aim, windage evaluation and if you're hunting, then stealth/stalking and knowing your quarry are pretty important! just because you (not _you_) have a gun that doesn't need taming, doesn't automatically make you a great shooter!

you're kind of sounding like you don't like PCP's?

[xraiderx]

Other than good trigger control and range estimation, what "skill" is involved shooting a PCP compared to a springer?

Let me think now
No thats about it

happy new year
GARRICK

[Charlts]

Same skills involved in shooting any rifle, if you're not concentrating you'll miss.

[Big Andy]

Same skills involved in shooting any rifle, if you're not concentrating you'll miss.

Sound advice...I like that..

[edbear2]

Keeping an eye on the cylinder contents!...I have seen more than one shooter "begging air" because they forgot to check / top up

ATB, Ed

[iceni1]

The only thing i find strange about shooters who are against PCPs is why do the buy a Hw 97or AA tx 200 and then spend loads of time and money on kits to take away the recoil and make them Smoooth .
Easier and cheaper to buy a AA 400 pcp in the first place .
Regarding the shooting i find that with the windy conditions of late have far more bearing on my shooting than what sort of rifle i am using!

[MattyBoy]

Real Men shoot Springers



Matty

P.s. this topic has been done to death many times on here and the final conclusion is always as above

[MattyBoy]

I'll get me popcorn

[angrybear]

Other than good trigger control and range estimation, what "skill" is involved shooting a PCP compared to a springer?

Aiming at & hitting a target would be quite a handy skill I should think and going by another thread remembering whether you cocked it or not

The fact it doesn't leap about between trigger pull & pellet discharge is the very reason I prefer PCP's. .

[TonyHolden]

If you follow the Marksmanship Principles then you have the skills to shoot any sort of gun.

a. The Position and hold must be firm enough to support the weapon.

b. The weapon must point naturally at the target without any undue physical effort.

c. Sight alignment and the sight picture must be correct.

d. The shot must be released and followed through without undue disturbance to the position.

I find it easier to stick to these with a springer, than with a pcp.

[auora5000]

Same skills involved in shooting any rifle, if you're not concentrating you'll miss.

A bit like pointing a remote control at the TV then.......

[Phil Russell]

Other than good trigger control and range estimation, what "skill" is involved shooting a PCP compared to a springer?

I shoot both, not terribly well I admit, but well enough to be able to consider the differences.
Firstly, let's get out of the way those key properties that are common: range estimation, knowing your aim points and reading the wind. So to the differences:
Trigger control is, I think, more crucial on a springer than a pcp, especially with the electronic Daystate units but the key element, and one that has been covered many times on here, is getting a consistent hold. I do not hunt but I suspect that the hold element for a springer is not as difficult in a true hunting scenario as in HFT / FT competition. Why? Because in a hunting scenario the hunter is able to select his/her preferred shot position and, if at all worried about shot placement, decline the shot. In an HFT/FT scenario, the shot location is set by the peg ... true you may have some flexibility in how you take the shot but at times the style is forced upon you and it is possible that this will take you out of your 'hold' comfort zone ... very elevated shots that are to be taken prone being a bugbear of mine as I am no good at yoga. In these latter shot cases, a pcp is far more forgiving.
These points could explain where, in general terms, the highest scores in competition are usually from pcp shooters. Although we must not forget that a very competent springer shooter will outshoot a modest pcp shooter any day ... but in this case the reasons are generally due to the common factors mentioned at the start of this note.

Oh, and as a parting comment, please do not think I am suggesting hunting is easier than HFT/FT ... I am well aware that there are far more elements to hunting than simply taking the shot. I have, for instance, rarely seen an HFT shooter stalk his way up to the peg, and with the exception of some devious targets, HFT targets are not prone to hop out of your field of view ....
Cheers, Phil

[DNF]

You can get away with a lot of bad habits shooting a pcp, but eventually if you become too complacent your shooting will suffer. A springer tells you straight away if you are letting it slip, while a pcp will mask these bad habits for quite a long time, but they will bite you on the ass at some point.

The skill in shooting a pcp is keeping your shooting skills on the ball.

For example I have been shooting an electronic daystate for the last year, I have realised that my follow through has suffered, and is costing me a few points at hft. I am back to spring for 2013 which will correct it. I expect my scores will stay pretty much the same, I dont shoot any better with a pcp than a springer, they each have their own set of skills.

[Geoffc]

I know that this is not on the topic of skill but it is a very important point from a hunting point of view.

I used to have a Brummy Webley Longbow springer and it was a very accurate, powerful hunting rifle.
The problem was that, if I missed or there was more than one Bunny, the noise and movement involved in slapping the barrel open, reloading and closing the barrel meant that I never got a second shot.

For me PCP is the only tool for hunting.