Springer air rifle recomendations

[sauer]

Didn’t want to hijack the FAC air rifle thread ... & got me thinking....

I do like my pcp don’t get me wrong but a pain in middle of plinking session to go top up or worse hand pump .... then if not near dive shop getting cylinder topped off again etc....

So got me thinking good old sprinter air rifle....
Go all day and just need pellets and your arm.

What good quality springer would you recommend that also good to carry for a mooch

??

Paul

 

[the scudd]

Acts 200 would be my first choice

 

[sauer]

“Acts 200”
Never heard of them ....

Do you mean air arms tx 200 ?


Should also have added stock must be available in ambidextrous form as a lefty!

Sooooo many air rifle with that guillotine sharp edge stocks that make them useless for a lefty to use


Paul

 

[Millerich]

Not sure whether a TX200 is available LH or ambi. The Weihrauch HW97 is as an ambi I think. Air rifle buffs will argue all day long which of the two is the best of the springers.

 

[linusr]

I recommend a nicely tuned .22 Walther Century GT in Synthetic ambi' stock, complete with quality scope and mounts, plus moderator....PM me for price a it just happens I have an absolute beauty

 

[Stover Rover]

Air Arms TX200 true RH and LH stocks available, although LH only available in walnut no beech option. The MkIII IMHO is great for a long plinking sessions or target the the HC (hunter carbine) is best for pest contol especially in barns and from a vehicle.
Next argument will be .177 or .22.

 

[Scotty99]

I've got a mint condition Gamo Magnum 3000 in .22 on Gunstar for £95 if you are interested.

Gamo Magnum 3000 .22 Air Rifles- GunStar

 

[enfieldspares]

The old adage 177 for feather, 22 for fur. So what would be your main stuff encountered when mooching? Springers, unfortunately, light standard weight pellets in non-FAC set up in preference to heavier pellets of the PCP rifles. So the .177 Bisley Magnums in my Scorpion T-10 I don't use in my .177 Supersport. So maybe if there was an idea of likely quarry and at what ranges?

 

[sauer]

The usual crow ( if get bloody close enough)
Pigeon rabbits

 

[enfieldspares]

I'd go for a 177 then as I found that the usual 12 ft/lbs springer .22 would never penetrate the breast of pigeons so you always, mostly, ended up having to wring its neck. Especially if shooting them from directly underneath. And that head shots or neck shots weren't an option as the springers were never accurate enough. Hope it helps? I've never been a fan of shooting rabbits with air rifles so have no experience as I've never done it. For squirrels a .22 is usually best medicine in a springer as it is for rats as, again, there isn't enough accuracy for precise head shots so I've always shot them through the front shoulders.

 

[sauer]

See I found opposite .... love the .177 for accuracy and flat shooting but I like .22 and find it better with wee bit extra weight

Paul

 

[enfieldspares]

Certainly for rats and squirrels I found in a springer .22 was best. But I found that it lacked penetration through the breast that a .177 would give on pigeon. Hope it helps. Ideal answer, although in Scotland maybe that can't be done, is to borrow an air rifle, one in .177 and one in .22 and see how each performs?

 

[Cottis]

I would get something like a BSA Lightning with a Gas Ram rather than a spring and piston. They are a different experience to shoot but better performance and more accuracy which is what you want out of an airgun that is going to be used for hunting.

It is highly subjective but I would never ever use a .22 airgun unless it was an FAC version for longer range targets. A decent .177 gun with full power is plenty capable of dispatching any rabbit out to 40yds no problems. You need to hit it in the right place to kill whatever the calibre, so choose the calibre that will enable you to do that as much as poss.

If you have more money, look at something like an HW90k. Pretty nice guns to shoot from memory

 

[FISH BOY]

Another for the Air Arms Tx 200 using Accupel domed.

Just sold mine after 20 years as it just wasn't getting used.

Cracking gun with the only downside being a tad on the heavy side

 

[sauer]

Mmmmm
I completely forgot about gas ram !

 

[Oracle]

Mmmmm
I completely forgot about gas ram !

Theoben Fenman if you can get hold of one

 

[Outback]

I have a BT65 in .22 at 40 fpe which is a tool , but I would look at a Hatsan in .25 as a cheap springer .

 

[tuck1]

I have a hw97 wiry the thumbhole stock and can confirm that it's ambi. It's what swayed me towards it. It's superb, but very heavy.

 

[Blobby159]

I have old, tuned springers in the models of (please excuse my spellings here) Wiehrauch HW35 and Fienwerkbau Sport, both in .177 AND .22 via the purchase of new, replacement barrels. I shot hundreds of rabbit with each of them in their time and both were right up to the limit and amazingly accurate with certain pellets and I love them still..!..

Then afew years ago I was offered an Air Arms S410 Classic Air Rifle in .177 and have been using it a lot lately in the clearances of barns in a commercial horse stables. I could use either of the Springers here and I doubt if my bags would vary much, but if I go out in the fields lamping I find the general operating "quietness" of the PCP makes it the winner. No matter what I have tried over the many years I have owned my terrific Springers I have never been able to quieten out that metallic "Snap" from the cocking arms linkages as I apply cocking force to either rifle, especially the Wiehrauch.

That has often meant all my quiet fieldwork gets lost in a scurry of white bobbing tails before I can even loose a shot. Truly annoying anyone who has done this will agree, whereas with the PCP leaving it "Cocked & Locked" for extended periods is the way to go when creeping about, and this doesn't eventually harm the energy store (spring) and its abilities to give back a certain level of said force over time, if left similarly cocked and loaded...

 

[danban]

A good spring rifle is much better than a gas ram. They are snappy and have a horrible shot cycle.
I would look at a hw 95 or 99. Much lighter than tx200 or hw95. Just as accurate.
Regards Dan