Getting into air pistol shooting

[Eagleman]

Although I have had (and still have) several air pistols in my time I have never ever tried to shoot any of them other than plinking.

The idea is growing on me to take it up a little more seriously (but still with a view to having fun more than anything else) and maybe join a club.

Now here is my plea for advice chaps.

I do NOT like and won't get a PCP pistol. I hated PCP rifles when I had them and I just won't ever go there again.

Now that means Co2 or spring (of some sort). Most Co2 pistols seem more to be plinkers than anything but that is probably an expression of my own ignorance.

So what is out there and recommended for a "beginner" air pistol target shooter? Leaving aside my own incompetence what would put pellets reliably in the target zone?

I did once own a Walther LP53 and I did like that gun quite a lot but I am sure there are many other options.

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Alan you are pretty much looking at an old Feinwerkbau 65 or 80.

There are loads of them still about , mainly in Germany and they can be picked up from this Germany auction site.

http://translate.google.com/translat...t/&sl=de&tl=en

Some are buy now options. I have bought guns from this place and others on the continent by bank transfer without any problems. Unfortunately the pound is very weak at the moment, and after March we will have to pay import tax on anything bought from Europe.

There are also single stroke pneumatic target pistols from Feinwerkbau and Walther but these tend to be very expensive compared to the springers.

Like you I have never taken to pcp sporting airguns. But pcp match rifles and pistols are a different animal entirely. If I were going back into that kind of thing I would save up for a couple of years and get a Steyr or Morini and a small air tank. I used to have one of the former and had to sell it before moving abroad. It was a brilliant gun to shoot. These things aren't as prone to leaking as the sporting pcps on the market. They are made to a much higher standard.

I had the top one in silver but if I had the inclination and the money to buy another I would go for the third one down - the compact in black:

http://airgunbuyer.com/Showproducts....less%20Pistols

[Eagleman]

Thanks for that advice Arthur and I will check out the auction site.


The reason I won't go PCP is to do with the whole palaver of dive shops, air bottles and the very real fact that I am very uneasy about very high pressure air. It just gives me the willies.

[Inspector 71]

A second hand FAS 604 Mk2 would suit your needs well.

[1066]

I recently saw an Original 6 for £150. These were very capable recoiless spring air pistols.

[Eagleman]

A second hand FAS 604 Mk2 would suit your needs well.

It is a PCP is it not?

Not an option.

[tacfoley]

It is a PCP is it not?

Not an option.

The FAS Model 604 has always been a single-stroke pneumatic. Mine is over 30 years old, and still performs like it was new. It had new seals in 1990......