Just ordered a HW 40 PCA by Weihrauch in .177. HW 40 PCA | Pyramyd Air I don’t really hunt much anymore, and since moving to TX, haven’t had close access to any BLM land to legally shoot on anyway. This little gun looks like it will be fun for shooting the occasional grackle or plinking silohuettes in a pellet trap. Beeman Pellet Trap | Pyramyd Air I used to shoot a multi-pump pneumatic Crosman from Walmart quite a bit a few years ago. Got pretty good with it despite the bad trigger. With the sweet trigger and click adjustable, windage and elevation, sights this little German pistol ought to be more fun. Only have to pump it once too.
I have two Crossman somethings somewhere near the top of the velocity range. One has a scope that is acceptable for the level that is meant to be in. They are OK for fairly cheap air rifles. What I WILL get someday is a Beeman. They make airguns to high quality firearms standards with beautiful wood stocks, good triggers, and everything else. Some of their larger caliber rifles are close in performance to a .22 caliber firearm. Their midrange ones cost about $500 dollars however and they go well over $1000 for the competitive ones.
I have a Daisy Red Rider BB gun. It’s not very powerful or accurate, but I find that sitting in the backyard, drinking beer and plinking at cans, is a wonderful way to relax.
The firearms laws here mean that you need a gun licence and a permit to acquire to buy an air rifle- and they’re in the same category as .22 rifles and shotguns.
Long story short: practically no-one has one, because if you’re going to go through all the paperwork, you might as well got and get a .22 or shotgun, which you can take hunting (or clay pigeon shooting, or to the range).
Air pistols are treated the same as firearm pistols, so hardly anyone has those either (if you’re going to have to go through even more hassle, you might as well get a real Colt Python, for example)
When I lived in NZ, though, I had a BSA Mercury .177 Air Rifle (950fps!), a Crosman .177 replica of the Colt Python, and several Soft Air BB Guns, including a Sig P226, Colt M1911A1, and a Glock 17.
I used to shoot Coke Bottles with them in the back yard, incidentally…
Meddling consulting detectives who interfere in my employer’s work.
I just replaced my beloved Sheridan .20 after many, many years of great service. I may investigate getting it repaired as it has sentimental value. I replaced it with a new Benjamin .22 which seems to be more or less the same as a Sheridan but doesn’t match the performance of the old one. Maybe it just needs more breaking in.
I also have an RWS Model 36 in .177 caliber. It shoots pretty hard but I never really warmed up to it and haven’t ever gotten it to shoot accurately despite cleaning and experimenting with various pellet styles.
Inanimate targets only, I never shoot animals.
I’m toying with the idea of getting in the queue for a Barnes Pneumatic once I graduate and get a nice cushion built up. Now that is an airgun.
That’s terribly unlucky for Australians M E. Several municipalities and the state of New Jeresy severely regulate them here in the US. But otherwise, the big kahuna Gun Control Act of 1968 doesn’t regulate airguns at all. I’ve been toying with getting this full auto model:
I have an old Benjamin .22, it’s a great gun. Wore it out as a kid and recently had it re-built by a guy in NY. It’s back to it’s good old self.
A Benjamin Sheridan HB 22 pneumatic pistol {a very nice gun, much better than the Crosman pneumatics}, a Crosman 1377 pneumatic pistol {see under Benjamin Sheridan}, a Gamo R77 pistol with a built-in laser sight {nice swing-out cylinder, but the sight is a gimmick, and the gun is too plasticky}, an ancient BSF S20 which I restored from rusty scrap {surprisingly good, and built like a truck}.
My latest is a Baikal MP645K gas pistol I bought recently. These are the business: they’re factory converted from genuine Makarov pistols, and have an all-steel frame, barrel and parts. Basically the factory just gutted a bunch of automatic pistols, and just replaced the innards with a CO2 gun: rackable slide, you can field-strip it, and even the magazine is converted from the original to hold a CO2 canister and BB’s. I believe they’ve been banned from the States for fear someone might convert them back into an real gun: you probably could if you knew what you were doing, since they still have the original slide and ejector ports.
Air guns are a riot. I have one of these, but an older version with a stronger spring. I usually get 900+ fps or so. It’s a fun thing to plink around with, but it has no safety of any kind on it, so I’m a bit leery of using it around anyone.
I have a Diana .177 break barrel. Bought it about 5 years ago. Beatiful rifleing down the spout. 990 fps.
Can’t hit a thing with it. I was very disapointed, perhaps I was expecting too much?
I’ve been shooting just about everything for 35 years. I had hoped that the little air gun would let me hit a can at say, 50-100 feet, but it’s so inconsistant that it’s not worth shooting.
I think that you must have got a lemon somehow. Have you tried scoping it with airgun scope? Maybe the iron sights are on off kilter?
I have an RWS 45 that I bought many years back. It’s spring air and shoots very well. Somewhere arount 1000fps. I have a Beeman 1.5-4 power airgun scope mounted. I mostly use it to shoot at metallic spinning targets. I sit on the driveway and shoot toward my woods.
Also have a Webly Hurricane pistol and a Finwerkbau CO2 target pistol that uses refillable cylinders I refill from a CO2 firebottle. Haven’t shot that in quite a while though.
I have an RWS 45 that I bought many years back. It’s spring air and shoots very well. Somewhere arount 1000fps. I have a Beeman 1.5-4 power airgun scope mounted. I mostly use it to shoot at metallic spinning targets. I sit on the driveway and shoot toward my woods.
Also have a Webly Hurricane pistol and a Finwerkbau CO2 target pistol that uses refillable cylinders I refill from a CO2 firebottle. Haven’t shot that in quite a while though.
How’s the trigger on that Webley?
The trigger on the Webley is pretty stiff. I never measured it but I’d guess 4 lbs. I bought it from Cabelas. I just checked and it’s not a Hurricane, it’s a Webley Tempest. :smack:
Didn’t try any type of scope. It would seem that that would be way beyond it’s capabilities anyway. At around 50’ with a bench rest, I can’t get the patern down to below 6" or so.
It’s been quite some time since I shot it, I was so disapointed that I pretty much gave up.
The gun seems to be very well made. But I will admit the sights are a bit cheesy.
Damn, that’s too bad. I thought Dianas were supposed to be quality pieces. I know that there are outfits that will tune spring rifles. Maybe it’s a good canidate for that. Given the ease of selling airguns in most US states and Federally, you might want to get sell it. I always hate holding on to something that doesn’t shoot well (or I don’t shoot well :o ).
What kind of pellets are you using? If you are using the cheap Crossman pellets from Wally World, I’m nut surprised at the poor performance. Those pellets are inconsistent in weight and are often deformed as well. Go to Pyramid Air (linked upthread) or one of the other on-line suppliers and buy some good pellets. You’ll almost certainly see an improvement over using junk pellets.