I have just bought a HW40 in .22 for garage target shooting. Its brilliant. Excellent trigger with a very light
first section of pull and a nice crisp let off. Sights are pretty good too especially when you look at the price.
Loading is simple when you've had a few shots but keep your hand flat when closing the action. Recommended.
For backyard 'target plinking', I would probably recommend a non-blowback (CO2) multi shot pistol.
Cheap to get into and backyard target plinking is likely to be more enjoyable with an 8-shot magazine than a single shot system.
For actual (6m / 10m) target shooting you've got some great recommendations already. The notable absentee from the first page I find the AA Alpha Project.
The Alpha is by all means a proper precision/match target pistol but seems to be a bit marmite. Personally, I love the light weight of the front end of it thanks to the cylinder sitting in the grip.
Of course, new you're talking £700+ but you could always hold out for a 2nd hand in good condition. I bought ours for £400 with all bits included and only 1 very small dink under the barrel where the weight had previously been fitted (too tight...).
The Snowpeak PP20 is also a great match pistol for the price, pretty much a 'poorly polished' Steyr at around 25% of the cost.
Lots of useful info, thanks.guys.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Tau 7. It'll outshoot most of us on here and will eventually sell with little or no loss if 'upgrading'.
Walther CP-2 Match, FAS 604 & Tau 7 target pistols, Smith & Wesson 6" & 4" co2 pistol, Crosman 1377,
Baikal IZH 53 pistol, Gamo CFX Royal,177, Umarex SA-10 CO2 pistol.