Best Barn Gun...

[Shed tuner]

HW30S, or detune an HW99S slightly - should be sweeet as.

RWS Hobby or one of the hollowpoints (see tests in AGW - they will be perfectly accurate at 10 yards).

Or I have a SH lightly tuned cometa 220 that loves hobbies, doing 9.4 FP that'd be perfect, and I'm about to list for a lot less than £200 !

[secretagentmole]

HW30S, or detune an HW99S slightly - should be sweeet as.

RWS Hobby or one of the hollowpoints (see tests in AGW - they will be perfectly accurate at 10 yards).

Or I have a SH lightly tuned cometa 220 that loves hobbies, doing 9.4 FP that'd be perfect, and I'm about to list for a lot less than £200 !

Recommendations not sales pitches old chap, it makes you appear to be desperate to shift it!

[rabbitwrecker]

Many thanks for all the replies, much appreciated. Let me make and address a few points here...

1) Ratcatcher. Nice idea, but it must be self-contained - it's likely to stand unused for weeks on end.
2) The guy wants something specifically for the job in hand. 10 yards will be a long shot and at such close range, a full power rifle in any calibre - even .25 - will likely through-and-through a feral. From experience, 6-8 ft/lb is more than ample.
3) No point getting something more powerful and detuning it - he already owns full-spec rifles. It needs to be something small and handy that can be kept under lock and key in his office.
4) Second hand is out - he's insistent on that. Shame, an old Meteor would certainly have done the job.
5) I think we're talking break-barrel springer here, no bigger or more powerful than a 30s.

Aside from the 30s, I can think of...

Hatsan Striker Junior.
SMK XS12.
SMK SYNXS.
SMK SYNTARG.

... but I don't think that he would be overly struck with any of those. There's probably a couple of baby Dianas too, but I know little about that end of the M&G range....

[crowbar]

What about a Crossman 1322 or my favourite the Diana mod 27 .

[Jonjon79]

If 10yrds is going to be classed as a long shot - maybe a pistol would suffice.

[Artfull-Bodger]

Curious as to what constitutes a "barn gun", I often hear this term?

Ok it would be better to have the energy lower to prevent punching holes everywhere, but otherwise what is it?

I mean a barn is not a portable toilet so you don't need a really small rifle, some barns are 200ft long, it's going to need to be silenced I assume as it's indoors?

You can get away with .22 or .25 as the ranges are short, but otherwise any standard rifle would fit the bill, it's not like your Hw95 or AA S400 are no good just because there's a roof?

[Geezer]

Diana 240 in .22" may be an interesting alternative to the HW30.

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Diana's 240 Classic, the equivalent of the HW30, might be an alternative but I have no experience of it.

Unfortunately it retains the TO5 trigger unit.

Then there is the cheaper synthetic stocked Panther 21.

Don't know anything about that either. Although the latter is available in 22, the former is not, as far as I know.

[tmstech]

Diana's 240 Classic, the equivalent of the HW30, might be an alternative but I have no experience of it.

Unfortunately it retains the TO5 trigger unit.

Then there is the cheaper synthetic stocked Panther 21.

Don't know anything about that either. Although the latter is available in 22, the former is not, as far as I know.

What's wrong with the T05 in the mod 240? I think it's almost perfectly suited to the lower power springer. It performs excellently.

[TonyL]

Re the above three posts and Tinbum's query further up, yes, I would guess that the little Diana 240 variants would fit the bill nicely. The synthetic stocked one would be my choice.

Although I don't have personal experience of these, the reviews certainly state that accuracy is excellent. And the power is in the right range. Build quality should be nice and solid, too.

I do own a 24D with the T01 trigger and it's a beautifully sweet little thing to shoot. Although light and skinny, it does feel a little "rangey" and long, though. Not sure if they do carbine versions of any of the new 240 models?

Solware recently had some on offer at seemingly bargain prices. Not sure if they still have them?

[Geezer]

I have a 1996 Diana 26, which I think is basically the same gun as the 240, and have a similar opinion to Tony's. Nice gun.

[RichardH]

.25 HW80, the correct answer to all spring guns questions is an HW80

[TonyL]

Further to my previous post, I've just had a look in on the Solware site and the prices for the little Dianas look to have had a right old hike!

HW30S it is, then.

[averageplinker]

If you/he buys it from our continental chums he can have any break barrel at 6ftlbs!
Cheers

[crowbar]

What about a HW35E ?

He will be able to bayonet them !