Design me a combo for HFT

[Phil Russell]

This place is a mine of information and advice from people with a wealth of experience. But I can be only one amongst many and will be biased in my opinions. So I thought I would solicit opinions from others on what to advise a potential HFT shooter to look for. There are some rules:

- money is not necessarily a limitation but spending 'silly' money may not necessarily go down well. Buying new is an option.
- .177
- rifle must be, or have, a single shot capability without faffing around taking the magazine out between shots.
- mechanical rifle preferred, non bullpup.
- pcp, must be able to take a silencer.
- Scope:usually used at between x7 -x10, 50mm objective max (40 - 42?) Objective, not sidewheel, parallax adjustment on the basis that this is paying for extras not needed. Not IR (not needed). Mildot wanted not any other reticle type.
- Use of rig for hunting not wanted.

I won't add my thoughts in case they influence your thoughts.

What would you advise? I accept usual caveats of going to see and try but we have to start somewhere.

Cheers, Phil

[petethemap]

simple answer, hw100 and a scope you can live with.

[lensman57]

I second petetehmap. +1 for HW100.

A.G

[Phil Russell]

simple answer, hw100 and a scope you can live with.

Ah ... I thought that might be a suggestion and it is one rifle I have never shot so I have no personal opinion of it.
Scope? Any suggestions? As I have not spent more than about £99 on a scope myself I can't really advise as there could well be a desire to spend more ... (personally not sure there is a 'need' to spend more but there you go).

Cheers, Phil

[Nevbag]

If you want to give HFT a serious go, don't buy an off the shelf rifle and try to fit yourself to it. Buy a rifle or alter one that you can adust until it fits you (cheek-piece, butt pad, hamster etc).

Join a club and make new friends who are usually only too willing to share info and let you handle their equipment (careful).

MTC Connect scope is a good and sensibly priced starting point, not the best optics in the world but everything else is excellent for HFT. SCB or AMD ret.

Low to medium mounts.

There are several good shooters out there who started out with an Air Arms S400 and a Connect scope and produced some excellent scores. S/H price for a good setup around £500. Then of course you need some means of getting some air into it, hand pump or dive bottle.

Nev.

[Phil Russell]

Thanks Nev, but just in case there is some confusion, I already shoot HFT, not perfectly I might add but reasonable. The points about a club are fine and clearly a place to sort out a 'have a go' experience. I note the scopes you suggest but do not think they have mildot reticles? Not sure as I have no real experience of them; I did try a connect once for a few seconds but did not like it myself. this is not to say someone else will not though.
My usual HFT rifles are either a MK3FTR or a HW77K. I like the MK3 but am ruling it out as it is electronic and there is a clear hankering for an all mechanical rifle.
Cheers, Phil

[MTA123]

Cheap rifle with good barrel (BSA Hornet £200), after market reg ( Huma £80) , decent scope ( Vortex PST 2.5-10X32, ~£500).
Best £800 rig you can buy.

[TonyL]

- pcp, must be able to take a silencer.


- Scope:usually used at between x7 -x10, 50mm objective max (40 - 42?) Objective, not sidewheel, parallax adjustment on the basis that this is paying for extras not needed. Not IR (not needed). Mildot wanted not any other reticle type.


Cheers, Phil

PCP? Nooooooo!! Gotta be a Boinger, Phil.....a well tuned HW98 or 77/97!!

Scope? At the budget mentioned, I'd be looking at a Nikko, personally. A vast range to choose from and Nikko glass seems to suit me. I was so impressed with a 4x32AO Gold Crown Air King that I have now got a 3-9x42AO on the way.

And, if you look in the right places (I'd looked at Riflecraft and Sportsman Gun Centre), the Gameking, Nighteater and Panamax ranges are available at very competitive prices.

[tbone]

This place is a mine of information and advice from people with a wealth of experience. But I can be only one amongst many and will be biased in my opinions. So I thought I would solicit opinions from others on what to advise a potential HFT shooter to look for. There are some rules:

- money is not necessarily a limitation but spending 'silly' money may not necessarily go down well. Buying new is an option.
- .177
- rifle must be, or have, a single shot capability without faffing around taking the magazine out between shots.
- mechanical rifle preferred, non bullpup.
- pcp, must be able to take a silencer.
- Scope:usually used at between x7 -x10, 50mm objective max (40 - 42?) Objective, not sidewheel, parallax adjustment on the basis that this is paying for extras not needed. Not IR (not needed). Mildot wanted not any other reticle type.
- Use of rig for hunting not wanted.

I won't add my thoughts in case they influence your thoughts.

What would you advise? I accept usual caveats of going to see and try but we have to start somewhere.

Cheers, Phil

Hello Phil
I am thinking of having a go at HFT but am just going to have a go with my break barrel springer and see how I go.

[Phil Russell]

Hi tbone and TonyL
Re boingers ... it's all a matter of education. I love my Hw77k and I guess I shoot it more in HFT than a pcp.
But this thread is all about sorting a pcp rig ... gun suggestions, scope suggestions where good quality is offered, not necessarily at the budget end of the market.
HW100 was sort of expected. but what about the HFT500 or FTP900. BSA Goldstar? etc
I can sort of talk about the rifles but what about scopes? Must be mildot.
Cheers, Phil

[tbone]

Hi tbone and TonyL
Re boingers ... it's all a matter of education. I love my Hw77k and I guess I shoot it more in HFT than a pcp.
But this thread is all about sorting a pcp rig ... gun suggestions, scope suggestions where good quality is offered, not necessarily at the budget end of the market.
HW100 was sort of expected. but what about the HFT500 or FTP900. BSA Goldstar? etc
I can sort of talk about the rifles but what about scopes? Must be mildot.
Cheers, Phil

Hello Phil
I have a nice Nikon Pro staff 7 but it has BDC ret not mil dot but what a nice bit of kit it is.
I have just got a Hawke Air max 30 with mil dot ret, I put it on a tuned 98 in a one piece sportsmatch mount and will be setting zero tomorrow and I am expecting great things from it.

[Steve C.]

Righto, I'll suggest an AirArms MPR as a starting point, adjustable butt, cheek piece and if the length to pull is too short then just add some spacers to get it right. Hawkes Panorama scopes with 1/2 mil dot offer a reasonable choice.

Steve C

[ChrisC]

Hi Phil.....not sure how serious Tony was about a boinger and a 4x32 scope for a HFT rig

If working to a bit of a budget i would say a MPR FT with a Hawke TAC30. The TAC is a decent scope if bought SH and the MPR is the rifle i would be using for HFT if i didn't know my Steyr's inside out. In all my years of target shooting 4 rifles have stood out for stunning long range grouping and fairly predictable pellet/ non fussy barrel/predictable wind movement. 2 were Steyrs and 2 were MPR's. My current HFT Steyr is 11 years old and my FT one 10 so will last a while. Can be a bit 'menstrual' at times but easily sorted without needing help from NASA. I serviced my HFT one last xmas and then checked back and realised it had been 4 years since i'd been inside the rifle.

My current rig is a Steyr LG100 with a 10x42 Sightron S3. I've switched away from the MTC Viper now (after 10 years) as my eyes have deteriorated in the past few years. I've tried Sooooo many HFT scopes in the past but just seemed to click with the Sightron straight away.

[Nevbag]

Ok Phil, I think I see now that you are more advanced down the HFT route than I first thought. I agree with MPR suggestion but of course it is down to how you feel when you shoulder it. Personally I find the MPR a bit cramped when in hold so to speak and that creates tension in my shoulders. Same goes for the S200, both great rifles for the job but not for me in standard form.

I have now made four of my own stocks to get a good fit with my S400's and EV2 but not everyone has the time, facilities or skills for such a venture.

My revised suggestion therefore is MPR action in a Sureshot alloy (fully adjustable )stock.

I am going to stick with my Connect suggestion though. Buy a S/H one for around £150 and put your misgivings to one side. I think you will find that the pros far outweigh the cons. Almost zero parallax error is a huge bonus in HFT. If you really can't get on with it you will always get you money back at that price.

Nev.

[Rapidnick]

Hello Phil. I don't shoot HFT but, as they say, I know a lot of shooters who do-and very well too.
Distilling what they say and confining myself to PCP rifles as you are clearly sorted for springer I would try the following.
Rifle: the HW100 is as good as some and better than most. There is an issue with the dumping of air towards the end of the fill causing power creep issues but it is an excellent rifle and the single shot tray is a gem of German engineering. As a left hander however I think the the ambi plank stinks and the right handed sporter stock isn't any use to me at all so if I chose this rifle an after market stock is essential.
The Air Arms S400 still goes well and won't break the bank.
Whatever rifle you choose you need a stock that fits you with a reasonable range of adjustment so adjustable butt pads and cheekpieces that can be raised or lowered seem pretty essential if you are a serious competition shooter
As my user name suggests I like the Rapid and provided you have a later model (regulated with a scalloped loading port)this would be my personal choice. But as they say, 'other choices are available'.
Again my prejudices-based on my experience and that of other shooters-leads me to counsel against a Daystate or BSA -unless you can find a Daystate CRX or a really well sorted BSA Super10. Others on here may well disagree.
Scopes. Most serious HFT shooters that I know well use either the Bushnell Elite 10x40 or the lovely EB Sniper but any decent quality scope with mildot reticle will do the job for you.. There are those who spend fortunes on scopes from those well known German and American makers but such extravagance isn't really necessary especially bearing in mind that HFT rules prohibit adjustment of scopes once the round has started. I never understood this: as HFT was meant to simulate hunting surely scopes could be adjusted but I don't make the rules so my view on this isn't worth very much.
Good luck-hope you get something that suits you.