Why a springer?

[jumbuck]

Because I enjoy using them. I started with one when I was 10 with a BSA Mercury and 40 years later still have a springer or few. I also have 3 PCP rifles but out the three only the 30ft/lbs R7 Mk1 gets used A springer is simple and fuss free, cheap to run and a good one can feel like a faithful friend imo
My HW80 isn't just a Springer, I talk to it and praise it, she's a good old Betsy to me

[Telephonepete]

i started with a webley mark 3 when i was 15 and still have. when i came back to shooting many years later i got the first of about 6 pcps which eventually turned into 2, hw 100 and 100kt. then i got a 97. that seemed to do it for for the reasons everybody has mentioned. i sold the kt, something i said i would never do and i still have the full lenght. i keep it mainly because i might get a rabbit job and that is the tool for the occasion. gradually my springer collection has grown 2 x 97 2 x tx200 3 x 99 1 x 77 1 x hw 100 and 1 x hw 75. thats 10 i think. my wife thinks i have about 4 and i have guns all over the place. the reason i shoot springers is that it is all self contained, no dive bottle and a terrific sense of accomplishment when i do half a dozen sub 5p groups on the trot. regards pete

[Trumpetier]

pcp, s are booooorrrrrring on targets, springers ssoooo much better

[jonnyone]

Same here.

Though I don't only own springers.

Sums things up nicely from my angle too but in my case I'm a pcp free zone
Dave

[big rob]

Got four pcp and 2 hw 97k one in. 177 and one in. 22 thinking of getting one in. 20 to add to the collection I also have three tx 200 one in. 22 and two in. 177 one of these is a sr lazerglide it's the smoothest I have ever shot and an theoben evolution in. 20 and they all get more use than the pcp as its more of a challenge pcp once you have zeroed it in you can't miss Where a springer it's all about the hold At the club we tell them to learn with a springer before you buy a pcp because anyone can shoot one but it's hard to shoot a springer because it takes a lot of practice

[Dodolo]

I had 4 pcp's, a HW100 KT FAC .22, a BSA Lonestar .22 FAC, a BSA Lonestar .25 FAC and an Air Arms HFT 500, sold em all, only have springers now..
The pcp's just get so boring after a while, yeah another one hole group at 50 m.. pellet on pellet at 35 m.. but lugging all the gear around gets old very soon.
With my springers I just need my tin of pellets and off I go, with a challenge to boot, shooting a springer accurately is just so much more rewarding.

[seagate]

I find shooting springers a much more involving and cathartic , a much more satisfying over all experience than pcps. It's similar to listening to a record on a well set up turntable then listening to the disc version, yes admittedly the digital is more precise but that in lacks that undefinable bit of something.

[flyingfish]

Just for the greater feeling of satisfaction a good shot gives me

Pete

[TonyL]

So many excellent replies up above.

I've never had a PCP and, most likely, never will, although I can well understand many people's preference towards them.

Like so many, I only shoot for pleasure. And the simplicity and purity of the springer does it for me. Punishing of poor technique, but so rewarding when you're in the zone and "on it".

I love the fact that they're easily owner serviceable / fixable / tuneable. So easy to understand and so little to go wrong. Trying to get the springer to reveal its innermost dynamic secrets is altogether a different subject, though.

And self-contained. So no pumps or bottles. The nearest place to me for bottle fills is about 16 miles away. Having to transport a bottle of high pressure air would fill me with dread. Okay, you'd have it securely and safely fastened. But what if you were involved in an accident?

And character. My, the boingers have it in bucketloads. And it's such a tactile system. And you invest so much more in each shot, developing a therapeutic, repeatable technique regime.

Love 'em to bits.

[tinbum]

So many excellent replies up above.

I've never had a PCP and, most likely, never will, although I can well understand many people's preference towards them.

Like so many, I only shoot for pleasure. And the simplicity and purity of the springer does it for me. Punishing of poor technique, but so rewarding when you're in the zone and "on it".

I love the fact that they're easily owner serviceable / fixable / tuneable. So easy to understand and so little to go wrong. Trying to get the springer to reveal its innermost dynamic secrets is altogether a different subject, though.

And self-contained. So no pumps or bottles. The nearest place to me for bottle fills is about 16 miles away. Having to transport a bottle of high pressure air would fill me with dread. Okay, you'd have it securely and safely fastened. But what if you were involved in an accident?

And character. My, the boingers have it in bucketloads. And it's such a tactile system. And you invest so much more in each shot, developing a therapeutic, repeatable technique regime.

Love 'em to bits.

Wow! Never knew you were a fan Tony?

[GrandadG]

I got my springer so i could come to the Boinger bashes

[TonyL]

Wow! Never knew you were a fan Tony?

Actually, I'm not, Nick.

It's just that there's always so much buzz around Boinger threads and much boingier peeps!

[Rickenbacker]

Because springers are a 'good excuse'. End of.

[Thomas]

I to have had/got most of the top end pcp's, as well as my springers, been shooting for over 25 years now - to me nothing is more enjoyable than a couple of hours in the garden range shooting a classic springer with open sights !!! love it.

[StellaArtois Sr]

In a way it's hard to explain, but for me I feel I am doing a lot more with a springer. The cocking, loading the feel of the recoil just for me feels more like a real gun. For me you can put the PCP on a bench pffft reload pffft reload same hole each time with out the gun moving. There are many people at the range that get bored with them. I find Springers more of a challenge. I get so much satisfaction from hitting a one penny piece thats laying on it's side at 60 yards than I would with a PCP. I personally find them souless and boring. The other issue with them is the reliabilty. So many times the boys at the range are moaning there seals have blown lost all there air and all the other things that go wrong with them. Now I know springers can go wrong, but nowhere near as often as the PCP's.
The other negative for me with PCP's is the cost. To get a decent one you are talking £800+ then other bits that go with them like the tank another £200+ and then having to fill the damn thing £7+ a time then there is the travelling and time to get it filled. So springers for me all the time. More challenging, more reliable, les expensive and more fun to shoot.
I don't knock PCP's they have there uses and people love them, they are just not for me. It's like many things in life, XBox or Playstation (XBox for me) Auto or manual gear change, Conservative or Labour, .22 or .177. There is no right answer it's down to preference. Thankfully its a good thing we have the choice because if we all had the same, we couldn't ridicule the PCP boys for having toy guns. Ade