New to the forum. Help needed!

[harvey_s]

Good advice from Mark especially re. HW45 which IMO (as a ex-owner) carries an over-inflated reputation based on a perception of high-power and high-quality...don't get me wrong, its by no means a poor gun - its just that's theres so much better readily available that get overlooked just because they don't produce 5.5ft/lbs.
Personally in your price range I'd suggest a Tau-7 would more than fit the bill as well as those above...

[Rickenbacker]

If you can stand it's good looks, a 2nd hand 'Izzy' could be another option within budget...

Picture: http://www.pyramydair.com/images/IZH..._pistol_lg.jpg

[Biker_Bob]

Don't underestimate the problem of noise.
The HW45 is one of the finest and most accurate spring pistols available, but it goes off with a heck of a crack.
The Gamo Compact and HW75 are quieter but still may cause annoyance if shooting in the garden.

If you do want to practice in the garden you will need a silencer, which drastically reduces your choice of gun.
I've got a Crosman 2240, retro fitted with a silencer and it's as near silent as you'll get. With a 177 barrel and trigger tune it's accurate enough for proper target shooting ( I won an HFT comp at the weekend with mine).
The Brocock AimX pistol is similar, near silent when fitted with an HW moderator and as accurate as anything. You'd probably want one in 177 and if you shop around 2nd hand you could >just< scrape in under the £300 mark for the pistol and a stirrup pump to fill it.

[SimonR]

Thanks guys. Will do some more research based on the advice although looks like the HW45 (not target oriented) and the Compact (you are right Mark I do have historical antibodies to 'plastic'!) are probably out!

[wilkinss77]

Thanks guys. Will do some more research based on the advice although looks like the HW45 (not target oriented) and the Compact (you are right Mark I do have historical antibodies to 'plastic'!) are probably out!

granted it has a lot of plastic, but have you considered an alecto? it's well within your budget new, it's powerful (adjustable power) AND accurate.

[thirdwheel]

Simon
FWB 65 £230ish Original £130ish the fwb cost about £70 to service myself and I think the original was £25 for the seals. Yup the sevice for the fwb is mine there is also a service write up for the original too. not many tools are needed but you need quality tools not pound land pliers and screwdrivers. The practical stuff is not too difficult as long as you sort out a clean area and a system that catches little things if they drop and think, take notes and read all service write ups first. Above all have confidence that you can do it!
I paid a bit over the top for both pistols but I wanted them.
George

[SimonR]

Simon
FWB 65 £230ish Original £130ish the fwb cost about £70 to service myself and I think the original was £25 for the seals. Yup the sevice for the fwb is mine there is also a service write up for the original too. not many tools are needed but you need quality tools not pound land pliers and screwdrivers. The practical stuff is not too difficult as long as you sort out a clean area and a system that catches little things if they drop and think, take notes and read all service write ups first. Above all have confidence that you can do it!
I paid a bit over the top for both pistols but I wanted them.
George

George I was wondering out of curiosity if you had run the Original past a chronograph? How do you feel it shoots in comparison to the FWB 65?? Seem to be a lot more of these out there at very reasonable prices compared to FWB and Hammerli although I guess there is a reason for this.
ATB Simon

[SimonR]

granted it has a lot of plastic, but have you considered an alecto? it's well within your budget new, it's powerful (adjustable power) AND accurate.

Thanks for this and yup have looked at the Alecto. (See reply to daveymole). Seems to be a very fine gun but apart from the 'plastics' it does, and this is an entirely personal perception, look rather like something out of a Star Wars film.......
ATB Simon

[SimonR]

Don't underestimate the problem of noise.
The HW45 is one of the finest and most accurate spring pistols available, but it goes off with a heck of a crack.
The Gamo Compact and HW75 are quieter but still may cause annoyance if shooting in the garden.

If you do want to practice in the garden you will need a silencer, which drastically reduces your choice of gun.
I've got a Crosman 2240, retro fitted with a silencer and it's as near silent as you'll get. With a 177 barrel and trigger tune it's accurate enough for proper target shooting ( I won an HFT comp at the weekend with mine).
The Brocock AimX pistol is similar, near silent when fitted with an HW moderator and as accurate as anything. You'd probably want one in 177 and if you shop around 2nd hand you could >just< scrape in under the £300 mark for the pistol and a stirrup pump to fill it.

Thanks for the advice. Just to clarify. Layout of the house is such that I can just about manage to create a 10 meter range indoors and for the 'less cold' days over winter could shoot out of the house into the garden easily over ten meters, so perhaps sound less of an issue. Curious with regard to your observations over a Brocock and mention of a stirrup pump. Had a friend who very many years ago had some sort of Brocock revolver which he fairly rapidly sold because it took so long to pump up cartridges relative to the time to shoot them that it was utterly frustrating. Having looked at the web the Brocock seems good for approx 30/40 shots in .177. Do you have an estimate of how long it would take to recharge using a pump? The psi seems pretty high!!
Again many thanks for your help.
Simon

[Biker_Bob]

Thanks for the advice. Just to clarify. Layout of the house is such that I can just about manage to create a 10 meter range indoors and for the 'less cold' days over winter could shoot out of the house into the garden easily over ten meters, so perhaps sound less of an issue. Curious with regard to your observations over a Brocock and mention of a stirrup pump. Had a friend who very many years ago had some sort of Brocock revolver which he fairly rapidly sold because it took so long to pump up cartridges relative to the time to shoot them that it was utterly frustrating. Having looked at the web the Brocock seems good for approx 30/40 shots in .177. Do you have an estimate of how long it would take to recharge using a pump? The psi seems pretty high!!
Again many thanks for your help.
Simon

That Brocock revolver was and air cartridge gun, now illegal to own. Each cartridge gave one shot and needed pumping indivually.
The new Brococks are PCP so need filling once every 40 shots or so. The fill pressure is around 3000psi and that's why you need a PCP pump or a diver's tank to refill them. I can't be bothered with tanks so I use a pump to fill my 3 PCP rifles and one PCP pistol. It works out about one pump per shot on average. So if it takes you 10 minutes to shoot your 40 pellets (bearing in mind that all you have to do is pull back a little bolt and pop in a pellet), it might then take 1 minute to refil the gun.

[SimonR]

If you can stand it's good looks, a 2nd hand 'Izzy' could be another option within budget...

Picture: http://www.pyramydair.com/images/IZH..._pistol_lg.jpg

Sorry missed this..... Soviet tractor or what?! Still, a lot of folks on various forum
appear to like them. From a quick review seems that I would need a set of wood carving tools except that second hand versions are generally already carved therefore I would need to factor in the cost of new grips to carve for myself and then they would probably be useless for anyone else if I wanted to sell it..... Or am I missing something?
ATB
Simon

[harvey_s]

Sorry missed this..... Soviet tractor or what?! Still, a lot of folks on various forum
appear to like them. From a quick review seems that I would need a set of wood carving tools except that second hand versions are generally already carved therefore I would need to factor in the cost of new grips to carve for myself and then they would probably be useless for anyone else if I wanted to sell it..... Or am I missing something?
ATB
Simon

Hi again Simon
Don't write the izzy off till you''ve seen & shot one they're very well made from good quality materials and extremely capable of match quality performance

[SimonR]

Hi again Simon
Don't write the fizzy off till you''ve seen & shot one they're very well made from good quality materials and extremely capable of match quality performance

Fair comment Harvey. I will reserve judgement and keep quiet until I know better ....... It's just that at first sight it did look kind of agricultural.......
ATB
Simon

[harvey_s]

Fair comment Harvey. I will reserve judgement and keep quiet until I know better ....... It's just that at first sight it did look kind of agricultural.......
ATB
Simon

Hell, you think what you like - its a free country & all I'm saying is that if you value traditional materials (steel, proper wood & aluminium) over plastic & die-cast then the izzy fits the bill and is not the ex-soviet tat you perhaps think it is...

(they also hold their value extremely well and generally go s/h at the top end of your budget - so they're not the cheap option...)

[SimonR]

Hell, you think what you like - its a free country & all I'm saying is that if you value traditional materials (steel, proper wood & aluminium) over plastic & die-cast then the izzy fits the bill and is not the ex-soviet tat you perhaps think it is...

(they also hold their value extremely well and generally go s/h at the top end of your budget - so they're not the cheap option...)

Chuckle! I will indeed...... Will never think it's aesthetically beautiful, however, beautifully constructed is another matter. Some fine reviews but as you say top end of my budget so probably not.
My first shotgun was a Baikal 12 bore single-30 barrel, came with a massive 'recoil pad' fitted. The whole thing was nearly as tall as me.....the gamekeeper on the estate where I had a Saturday job eventually bought it off me to have something 'cheap and cheerful' to throw in the back of the Land Rover!