"Cheap" match pistols

[Dodge62]

I'm after a 10m PCP match pistol. I'm currently shooting with an entry-level Gamo Compact.

I would love a secondhand Steyr or similar, but can't seem to find one.

It does seem that there are some *relatively* inexpensive ones around. Gun Mart magazine had a review of the Tau Brno MK08 which looks interesting. At £660, it's still An Awful Lot of Money, but about half what you pay for many others.

And I was at Bisley NSRA shop today, and they have a Gehmann GP-1 which looks pretty nice at £730.

Any opinions on these guns, or similarly-priced alternatives?

Thanks,
Roger

[Bjacobs571]

I would rate the Gehmann over the Tau as the Tau is old fashioned and crude compared to a modern pistol. Some people love them , but I dislike them as another shooter having trouble with his Tau has disturbed me enough to loose quite a few points on my competition cards.

It is possible to buy a good PCP at reasonable prices but it takes time and being at the right place at the right time.

[hwtyger]

Sorry????? Tau mk8 oldfashioned?? Its a brand new model only few yrs old??? And you dislike them cause someone else had problems with his?? You dont have real life experience with it and you dislike it??Nice..

I DO have an mk8(and the Tau 7, and 200Sr 200MK and MK300). Its quite heavy up front. I'd suggest the Compact.
Its a 300bar system. They're VERY smooth cockers. They're very recoilless to shoot.
I dó feel some wind with the shot but I thínk its the compensator cause its large.
It has a weird pellet preference, those chinese Qing Juan
I díd have to shim my front sight cause the rear sight was out of range.
The grips are nice ergonomically, better than those standard steyr pencils
Dont leave the cilinder on, it'll empty.
But, as you can read, Tau is still very young in pcp stuff and still finding their way around. I only have the mk8 cause, as you can see, I kinda collect Tau's.

But if yr looking for a GOOD cheap match pistol? Buy a sechand (or new!) Tau 7. Its co2 but they're awesome.
They dont shoot any less than my morini, steyr, aeron or mk8 pcp's. I've shot them in the 360s ex 400 and it can do better if I could.
Great value for money.Probably best buy for <300. No hassle with cilinder being out of date either
If it hás to be pcp, there's lots of choice on sites like egun.de.
An old morini 162 E is about E400-450 (euro's), also ofter for sale, the steyr LP1's. Downside, they áre about 20 yrs old so they wíll start leaking any day now. And cilinders are out of date.
Another option may be the Aeron Spider. About same price class as the Tau mk8. But those DO have (at least hád) problems. Mine has been back to the factory TWICE for repair. Bút, once they dó shoot, they shoot VERY well.
Last option, the Alfa Proj. But I very much dislike them in pcp trim. (grip reservoir, too little shots) and they're too light. They're best in co2.
Also had a hammerli 480. VERY nice pistol. And about same price as morini etc sec hand. But quite rare, and service is AWEFULL. 2 barrels were used too, 1 steel, 1 aluminium, so be aware. It changes balance
No experience with gehmann sorry.
Hope this info helps.

[Bjacobs571]

yes the Aerons have a reputation for unreliability as well. and it was the tau 7 I was complaining about. I have shot them and the person who owned it could not get it to work correctly on multiple occasions over a period of time and made quite a disturbance in the range while he was doing it. The tau 8 looks quite crude compared to better made PCPs but I have not heard bad things about them.
Older match pistols can be resealed and are not inherently unreliable. Unless you want to shoot at competitions I would not worry about out of date cylinders as they have never failed in normal use and by law do not require testing as they are too small. (I am aware that a pcp cylinder failed but it had been abused)
I sort of collect walther target pistols

[Dodge62]

Thanks for the comments. I'm keeping my options open at the moment, but that's useful info.

[Paradox]

I know someone selling a styer lp5 for 700 just been serviced unfortunately it is in Scotland
Cheers Craig

[hwtyger]

The topic starters story was about the mk8 not the Tau 7.
I shoot the Tau 7s for about 10 yrs now, NEVER had an issue with either 4 of them.
So yrs is probably an owner problem rather than Tau 7 problem.
They dont have a lot of weak points and are easy to work on.
Never replaced a seal on either, except 1 piercer cap seal recently.

Yes old match can be resealed but that'll cost extra.
I know cilinder date is only an issue in matches (and for re-sale). But if you dó shoot matches, it'll cost extra.
And yes, for match use they dó require retest (steel cilinders only) or you need new (alu cilinders)

Still vote for the Tau 7 though. You can buy them new directly from the factory.(about 300 euros)

Spa also has some kinda nice 'plinker'now (its called differently in the uk). Those are VERY cheap (<100) pistols.
But no where in the league of anything else mentioned.

Reg steyr: I have the LP5. Unless yr gonna shoot 5 shots comps, its more of an disadvantage
For matches, only 1 shot mags are allowed
The young LP5's also have a different trigger (heavier)
For normal comp I'd look for an LP1
If yr gonna look for steyr, dont forget the compact. They have surprisingly good balance.

[gwyn]

I'm after a 10m PCP match pistol. I'm currently shooting with an entry-level Gamo Compact.

I would love a secondhand Steyr or similar, but can't seem to find one.

It does seem that there are some *relatively* inexpensive ones around. Gun Mart magazine had a review of the Tau Brno MK08 which looks interesting. At £660, it's still An Awful Lot of Money, but about half what you pay for many others.

And I was at Bisley NSRA shop today, and they have a Gehmann GP-1 which looks pretty nice at £730.

Any opinions on these guns, or similarly-priced alternatives?

Thanks,
Roger

Roger check out www.sureshot-airguns.co.uk
i had a Tau 7 some years back.excellent little pistol,if you should aquire a Co 2 gun always use a smear of Crossman Co2 o-ring lube,keeps the o-rings in good order,stops tearing and drying out.
Don.

[Aimstraight]

...Still vote for the Tau 7 though. You can buy them new directly from the factory.(about 300 euros)....

I contacted the manufacturer last year but they did not seem keen to sell direct, they suggested I contact Sureshot in the UK. Quite a bit more expensive in the UK at £440 (~570 euro) for the Tau 7 Match or Tau 7 Compact (Tau 7 Sport discontinued). Probably plus RFD-RFD charges that would take the cost up even further, probably closer to £500 That's a pity really.

[gwyn]

Dodge62, have you considered a nice FWB 65?? It may be mechanical but they still are excellent recoiless pistols.
A good one should cost £200-250 ish. and can still be serviced,
A 100% improvement over the Compact when it comes to loading!
If you were to be interested in one of these call City Air Weapons in Birmingham as a starting point.
There are plenty of these still in use around clubs.
Or what about one of those new PCP single shot pistols from SMK or Airforce One,dont know what they are like though,as you want it for 10mtr single handed i assume? no doubt some web searching may come up with some information.
Don.

[hwtyger]

Ok. Maybe thats because the uk has an official importer?
We do not.
I just order directly on the site. (can be picky in czech) than they contact me automatically
Tau indeed is quite expensive in the uk. Here they are cheaper. They come up on egun often as well.
Yes, some co2 versions are sold-out of discontinued (or limited in versions), cause they now also have the pcp's

[rockdrill]

Or what about one of those new PCP single shot pistols from SMK or Airforce One,dont know what they are like though,as you want it for 10mtr single handed i assume?

The PP700W from SMK - a nice, well made pcp pistol, but as it doesn't come with open sights as standard it isn't going to be a good choice for 10m shooting which is what the OP is asking about.

For the likes of metallic silhouette with either red-dot or scope I think it will be a good little performer though.

[Benelli B76]

I have come to the conclusion that a lot of people are not actually serious about buying a cheap target pistol, but just like to have a chat about them. I listed a Rohm Twinmaster Sport in excellent condition on here for £235 posted and no interest. Thats a pistol which is less than half price and shoots great. If I see something like that offered and I am looking for one I just simply buy it. Suppose thats why I have too many target pistols ! Also thanks to my main supplier Mr. gingernut !

Baz

[Inspector 71]

Sounds awesome but who / where actually offers this type of shooting?

I think a lot of people fantasise about such disciplines to somehow justify a specific set-up that ends
up sitting in its case because the events it was assembled for don't actually exist.

[rockdrill]

Metallic silhouette shooting hasn't taken off in this country, probably due to range restrictions on the use of steel targets for centre-fire and rim-fire.

It smaller brethren for airgun also seems to have been largely overlooked here.

However my comment recognises that this form of shooting does exist in other countries and the gun may be attractive to other markets, rather than some random 'fantasy'.

As it happens I acquired a full set of airgun silhouette targets from a friend in South Africa so I am looking forward to trying them out.