Good afternoon gentlemen and ladies. Am contemplating a return to air guns after 40 odd years. Last time I purchased an air gun was when t'was possible as a 14 years old to wander into the gun shop spin a plausible attempt at being 17 and walk out with a BSA Airsporter which would send a
.22 pellet through my leather school bag and 25 pages into my maths book........ (That was until at 15 I was able to purchase any shotgun(s) I fancied and unlimited numbers of cartridges with a scrappy bit of paper-my 'shotgun certificate'! (Not suggesting that the rules of the time were good but they were good days!)).
Would like to try air pistol shooting again so looking for some advice. Like fishing, I believe shooting to be a form of meditation and want to be able to practice at home on a 'garden range' (without scaring the neighbors.....) with the ultimate aim of joining a club and perhaps being able to shoot competitive targets, once regained some proficiency.
Where do I start? Am currently 'resting' from employment so finances limited (although time rich!) but have been offered the gift of a Christmas present to approx £300. I want to learn to shoot again and perhaps to eventually shoot at club level. A bit of research on the web and these forums suggests that Weihrauch 75 or Gamo Compact might be a good start. Threads reviewed also suggest many members have an enthusiasm for Weihrauch 45. In terms of learning air pistol skills with a view to perhaps more formal target shooting in the future would HW45 provide good training or would I be better going straight to single stroke pneumatic 'semi' target pistols such as the Gamo or HW75? Alternatively does anyone have any advice as to a reliable second hand target pistol in that sort of price bracket? (I don't have the resources to purchase a pistol and all the diving gear that seems to be required by modern pcp's).
Any advice will be very much appreciated.