Why a springer?

[flyingfish]

Come on Tinners fess up. Why do you like them


Pete

[tinbum]

Come on Tinners fess up. Why do you like them


Pete

For all the reasons above! I was given a 1000 word essay on the matter as homework this morning which I did after lunch. Once it was done I just thought I'd ask here.

Everything I've written has been confirmed!

[Blackrider]

Its a great Thread with many honest and candid replies. All in all, it conjures up why we all like to own and shoot spring powered air weapons and long may that be the case !

[zephyr]

"Why a springer?" Because I still have my Zephyr 77 from the mid 80s and the aesthetics appeal to me. If it wasn't for the attachment of 30+ years I wouldn't have a springer as I rarely use it.

My enjoyment doesn't come from shooting "single hole" or "pellet-on-pellet", nor do I shoot animals or birds. My challenge is hitting a different spot first time, every time - hitting the spot perfectly is a good feeling, doing it twice in a row is rare, thrice has not yet happened... yet.

[Beretta303]

I know my reasons why. What's yours?

The main reason... Because a guy at the club where I shoot nearly killed himself when he had a mishap filling his PCP rifle, he's not 100% sure what or how it happened but he nearly lost his hand, the explosion embedded the fill adapter and valve into a brick wall across his living room and sprayed blood all over the ceiling, ambulance was called and police attended too as "a gun was involved", he spent months having surgery and regaining the use of his fingers and thumb, or most of it anyway. He was very very lucky not to come off a lot worse, just imagine if that valve had hit his head !!

...other than that, PCP's are dead instruments of accuracy, no soul, so just don't appeal.

[eyebull]

I love the fact they are self contained, that anyone with a practical frame of mind can safely work on them at home, and that they are generally reliable. No need for back-breaking pumps or expensive and potentially dangerous dive bottles.
I still have a PCP, but it's taken a backseat to the springers.
I'm not wholly in love with hold-sensitivity myself, but as long as it isn't too extreme I can live with it. I'd definitely like to see more semi-recoilless rifles - Something like a Gamo Swarm (but good ) on a sledge action could be the ultimate self contained hunting gun?

[vestlenning]

Hold sensitivity, the final frontier.

[Lone wolf 2LI]

For me they are simply more rewarding to shoot, i have a john bowkett tuned r10 se and it was bought as a hunting tool, it works and is clinical in what it does, but i get more satisfaction from hitting what im aiming at with a springer.

I can honestly say i doubt i will ever own more pcps than springers.

[SRV1]

Because they have "character" and a bit of a mystery of how all parameters are inter-related even for the same model to get the best out of them when dabbling around......

[secretagentmole]

I have a Cocked Up Spaniel, does that count?
How about a nice little Theoben Fenman?

[peddy]

I now own 12 springers and four pcp,s , the costs involved in servicing pcp stops me from buying more, whereas springers can be sorted by myself and very satisfying though frustrating sometimes! Nothing beats the simplicity of a well tuned break barrel.

[Hsing-ee]

Come on Tinners fess up. Why do you like them


Pete

cos he loves springer guts and makes his sweetie money out of turning up the special choobs that make them smooth and luverly.

[dayglowfroggy]

Pcps just do the job for me targets then that's it.
Springers have loads of different quirks I have been shooting my b2 more than any other fun for the last 4-5 weeks I am trying to wring every possible bit of accuracy out of it, not easy when the trigger is rubish and it's so hold sensitive and all round hard to shoot well.
Practicing using the b2 had started to make using the 99,95,80 tx etc seam like using a pcp boringly accurate.
I am also engaged on a hw35 quest at the moment getting to work out how to make it shoot as well as my 80 or 95, not there yet.
If I get a pcp shooting just right then I just put it away carefully and try not to knock the scope no point practicing with it till I go to the club.

[Hombre]

Original question has been answered in spades I'd say.

All I can add - and Arthur made the point on page one - is that to provide lasting fun, interest and motivation any sport or pastime
needs to involve a level of perfection that is out of reach. If you think about it, most sportsmen, no matter how accomplished, spend most of their careers 'missing' and not winning. The winners win by reducing their errors, not by being perfect. The occasional outstanding feats are duly celebrated and cherished.

This is the very essence of what keeps us coming back for more. To do better next time, to try harder to master the near impossible.
Hope springers eternal as they say:-)

Putting pest control to one side - which requires ultimate accuracy wherever and whenever possible - if what I have written above is in any way correct, then why would anyone want to deny themselves the pleasure of trying and failing, trying and failing, trying and succeeding by equipping themselves with a piece of machinery that almost entirely robs them of that satisfaction?

Pellet on pellet is surely not only the shooter's paradox but also his hell on earth.

Missing is essential and the springer's the tool for that job and long may it last!

Just a thought
Hombre

[vestlenning]

We choose to shoot springers, not because it's easy, but because it's hard.