Anyone had a chance to try the Hammerli AP20 Pro yet?

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

I've done a search on here, and it's mentioned in passing, but no real review in English that I can see.

Not much on Google either.

Anyone taken the plunge?

It looks like a very nice starter pcp. Maybe even better than that.

You can pick them up for not much more than 500 quid new on the continent.

[trick cyclist]

I shoot an old Hammerli AP40 Junior, and that is an excellent and highly underrated pistol. I bears absolutely no relation to either the new AP20 or the Pro, which are Walthers through and through. Buinger will do the Pro for £580 plus shipping, so for around £600 you can buy a cut-down Walther LP400, about half the price of a full-fat target pistol. There is no way that it will be half the performance though more like 90+% - so it's a 10-metre match pistol bargain! In fact, you can't afford not to buy it. The standard AP20 is even cheaper and lighter; there are a couple of reviews for this on the Pyramid Air website, they seem to think they are pretty good.

Finally, you could buy a new-old-stock original AP40 (from when Walther first bought them out I think) at Protek for £799. Know where my money would go though, if I was buying another one... so forget any snobbery, and get one, then tell us all about it!

[trick cyclist]

There is also a thread on TargetTalk where some guy has handled the standard AP20 and called it 'flimsy', and on the same thread, the President(?) of Umarex/Walther has gone on to talk about the tests and how it is 'too good' for such a cheap gun!

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Thanks for the replies.


Is the difference between the AP20 and the AP20 Pro, just the longer slimline cylinder and wooden grip?

[trick cyclist]

the receiver on the Pro is different, in that the air tank can only be connected in the conventional way, but both pistols can be upgraded with many genuine Walther LP400 parts, including the 3D grip, tanks, barrels, sights, etc, but I think as Ullrich points out, there are diminishing returns here, and possibly just save up for the real thing, as it's cheaper in the long run. A Rink grip might be nice though?

Personally, for the £100 or so difference, I would go for the Pro version - might be worth handling one first though, BAR does them for £735