Suggestions for "practical" Co2 pistol

[eyebull]

When I did Practical Pistol, almost everyone - including me - used Tokyo Marui Hi Capa 5.1's in 6mm bb, using 'green' gas (actually we tended to use higher pressure 'black' gas), modified to one extent or another. A few people tried CO2 but generally it was expensive in caplets, a bit of a hassle, and most of the time ended up smashing the guns to bits. TM hi capas have a vast aftermarket spares industry and are easy to work on. Priority modification is a metal slide because the plastic one will crack if you are using black gas. I liked to keep mine fairly stock-looking (although I did short-stroke it), but some people spent....a LOT of money. A lot. TBH you don't have to, a lot of it is in the mind; Reliability is the most important thing.
At one place I shot practical you could have used a pellet pistol, but if you had done so you would have been at a distinct advantage when it came to speed reloading and pace of fire. BB guns are plenty accurate at the range and for the size of targets you shoot in practical.

For IPAS I used an Umarex S+W 586 - perfect if you have a slightly larger hand. Also a slight advantage in that it is 10-shot. Most other people used a mix of CP88s and 586s, with the odd Umarex 1911 thrown in. Again the Umarex pistols have been around for years so there are plenty of spares available.
Only went to a couple of IPAS matches where BBs were allowed. If outside they suffered greatly in the wind and at longer targets, semi auto was not a massive advantage as far as I could see.

Doing something like IPAS or practical sorts the men from the boys when it comes to pistols. You'll put a hell of a lot of shots through in one day or evening, equivalent to months of normal plinking duty. Anything with reliability issues quickly falls by the wayside. The above will work, a lot of guns won't.

[Alakar]

At our club we do I.P.A.S
We do not allow bb's of any sort due to ricochets .
Whilst blowback pistols are great fun, we find that most people use the Smith and Wesson revolver, the Walther CP88 competition or the Colt 1911 .
Most of all , enjoy it !

[eyebull]

At our club we do I.P.A.S
We do not allow bb's of any sort due to ricochets .

We did find that with black gas/CO2 and plastic BB's, the BB's shattered on impact so ricochets were not an issue. It may depend on your plate set up though.

Most of all , enjoy it !

Hear hear. IPAS and Practical is probably the most fun I've had airgunning. Unfortunately I have very little time to shoot these days and no longer have a vehicle.
I really, really miss it

[Barison82]

We did find that with black gas/CO2 and plastic BB's, the BB's shattered on impact so ricochets were not an issue. It may depend on your plate set up though.




Hear hear. IPAS and Practical is probably the most fun I've had airgunning. Unfortunately I have very little time to shoot these days and no longer have a vehicle.
I really, really miss it

Yes I thought that there are ways to minimise/stop ricochets with BBs. I was curious about the Webley Copper BBs and how effective they are in this regard for 4.5mm, and if they are suitable at all for use in Umarex air pistols. Big shame that you are not as involved with IPAS as you'd like to be. Not having a car is a big barrier in this sport. I'm in London and probably quite fortunate as there seems to be quite a few clubs within easy travelling distance by public transport, however I'm struggling to find one that offers IPAS. The airsoft range in Camden is looking like my best bet at the moment.

[Alakar]

Hi,
I'm a bit far away from you I think .
We are in Blackburn Lancashire.
We had a fun shoot this morning and included I.P.A.S
The quickest time was 3.13 seconds for 5 plates !

[Gareth W-B]

.
As someone who used to do Practical Mini Rifle with a banana mag fed Ruger 10/22 sat in a synthetic Heckler & Koch styled stock, imho, the best gun for Co2 Mini Gun would be the Umarex MPK-PDW or the Sig Sauser MCX / MPX.

[Barison82]

.
As someone who used to do Practical Mini Rifle with a banana mag fed Ruger 10/22 sat in a synthetic Heckler & Koch styled stock, imho, the best gun for Co2 Mini Gun would be the Umarex MPK-PDW or the Sig Sauser MCX / MPX.

Interesting. Maybe I should try and open my mind to other options, but for some reason I can't look past the 1911 design. I just love it so much, but I know that as an airgun replica it is probably not the best thing to have for IPSC/IPAS.

[Gareth W-B]

.

As someone who used to do Practical Mini Rifle with a banana mag fed Ruger 10/22 sat in a synthetic Heckler & Koch styled stock, imho, the best gun for Co2 Mini Gun would be the Umarex MP5K-PDW or the Sig Sauser MCX / MPX.

I now have an MP5K-PDW listed for sale in the sales section.

[Barison82]

Hi,
I'm a bit far away from you I think .
We are in Blackburn Lancashire.
We had a fun shoot this morning and included I.P.A.S
The quickest time was 3.13 seconds for 5 plates !

Hi. Yes you are just a bit too far away - shame! That sounds like great fun. Can't wait to get involved. IPAS and IPSC is definitely the way to go. Blimey. 3.13 seconds for 5 plates is outstanding! A great score indeed.

[eyebull]

Yes I thought that there are ways to minimise/stop ricochets with BBs. I was curious about the Webley Copper BBs and how effective they are in this regard for 4.5mm, and if they are suitable at all for use in Umarex air pistols. Big shame that you are not as involved with IPAS as you'd like to be. Not having a car is a big barrier in this sport. I'm in London and probably quite fortunate as there seems to be quite a few clubs within easy travelling distance by public transport, however I'm struggling to find one that offers IPAS. The airsoft range in Camden is looking like my best bet at the moment.

Out of curiosity what's the name of the Camden range?
I did some IPAS at East Barnet Shooting Club, not sure if they still do it there though.

[Barison82]

Out of curiosity what's the name of the Camden range?
I did some IPAS at East Barnet Shooting Club, not sure if they still do it there though.

Hi eyebull - apologies for the very late reply, I've not been here for a while! The Camden range is called 'Alpha Guns London' and is on Camden High Street, located in a downstairs basement. I went in there to check it out, the venue is quite small, the shop sells two-tone airsoft guns and has an all-enclosed range. Their website is here: http://alphaguns.london/epages/5eaa6...ath=Categories although it doesn't show very much! Cheers

[eyebull]

Hi eyebull - apologies for the very late reply, I've not been here for a while! The Camden range is called 'Alpha Guns London' and is on Camden High Street, located in a downstairs basement. I went in there to check it out, the venue is quite small, the shop sells two-tone airsoft guns and has an all-enclosed range. Their website is here: http://alphaguns.london/epages/5eaa6...ath=Categories although it doesn't show very much! Cheers

Thanks for the link, and do keep us posted on your racegun project

[Barison82]

At our club we do I.P.A.S
We do not allow bb's of any sort due to ricochets .
Whilst blowback pistols are great fun, we find that most people use the Smith and Wesson revolver, the Walther CP88 competition or the Colt 1911 .
Most of all , enjoy it !

Hi Alakar, where is your club based? I know that the CP88 is excellent. However the 1911 is my favourite pistol design, the classic A1, Series 70 and MEU etc and I just love the way it looks, and I may well end up having to get the .177 Pellet version from Umarex, to give me more choice as to where I can shoot if I want to practice .177 targets. Full Copper Jacket lead BBs by Webley are supposedley low ricochet, but not low enough for 10m target evidently? I've found a dedicated indoor 6mm airsoft range near where I work so it looks like I'm heading in that direction to start off with. At least it's a start as I've got zero experience under my belt as I speak. At the very least, I can learn and practice safe gun handling disciplines and etiquette, and I really do want to practice this until it becomes second nature. My other half is Australian and we have family that we visit out there every year. IPSC with a 9mm (and .45 I think) pistol is still allowed out there as a discipline and there's a local gun shop which stocks 1911s. Handguns are Category H firearms in Oz and there are many hoops you have to go through to get one but at least it's something I could have a chance of doing in the future, if I end up living out there. So IPSC with airsoft might be the best form of practice in this regard. And yes - I do want to enjoy it, above all else, otherwise what's the point!

[Aimstraight]

Looks like a decent S&W 586-6 in sales at the moment. These are very good, reliable and accurate....if you like revolvers.

[eyebull]

Looks like a decent S&W 586-6 in sales at the moment. These are very good, reliable and accurate....if you like revolvers.

The best Umarex pellet replica IMO. They are all revolvers after all, but at least the S+W isn't trying to be something it isn't.
Most accurate, best sights, best trigger, best build, most shots, and most reliable.