I've got a 2007 Beretta Silver Pigeon S2 (12 bore, 30 inch barrel over-and-under etc) An utterly nameless 1920's odd single barrel 12 that is affectionately known as the drain-pipe and is leased off to the best shot for the days last drive as a bit of a joke And then my Grandfathers 1950's matched pair of Purdey's (12 bore 30's again) which I have only used once because I'm so utterly worried that i'll ruin them, so they live at my parent's in the country. Mainly shoot driven days but the occasional 'armed walk' depending where I've ended up for the weekend. EDIT - just realised I'd posted this on a previous page.. oops
IIRC, you can't have anything semi-auto, only bolt action and fully licensed, and then have to have an appropriate gun safe to store it in. Same with shotguns.
I like the fully stocked Mauser myself, the 'Winchester' is a bit flash IMHO, and I like the CO2 free option too. I do like lever action tho'. I've used a .22 LR Marlin lever action in the past; nice bit of kit to use, especially with the suppressor on and sub sonics.
Semi-auto rimfire is fine on a FAC; a few people at the range have semi-auto 22LR stuff. You can also have semi-auto air weapons: most CO2 air pistols are semi-auto until you get to the single-shot target stuff, and there are semi-auto rifles too (like the new Sig Sauer MPX and MCX, 30-round pellet guns designed to mimic the Real Steel.) Yeah, part of me wants the Winchester 'cos chu-click, but I can't help feel the Mauser would be more practical. I need to find out if the Mauser is 6ft/lbs or 12; my club doesn't like you using full-power stuff on the 10m air weapon range. I have to go into the 25 yard range with the Big Boys and their Bang Bang Shooty Louds when I take my Air Arms S410 or Weihrauch HW97K. Edit: 12ft/lbs on a Diana mechanism designed for 20ft/lbs and upwards. So, perhaps the Mauser isn't the best idea: I don't want to have to fiddle with it to get a smooth shoot, and only being able to use the Big Boy range would be annoying with open sights. Bah!
Still haven't made my mind up, but I have emailed Aaron Wheeler Gunsmith (the nearest gunshop with staff that don't make you feel worthless just 'cos you're not buying a pair of Purdey's and a hundredweight of shells) to see if he can use his trade account to pick up the Winchester from Sportsman Gun Centre. If I get it from Pellpax: £329.95 plus £16 postage to my door. If I get it from SGC: £278.99 plus £25 RFD transfer fee. If *he* can get it from SGC: £278.99 plus my bus fare there and back, and I've got someone local to hassle if it breaks ('cos Umarex.) We shall see!
No reply from Aaron yet, but I've found a shop in Germany which sells the Winchester with an adapter so you can use 88g or 2x12g cartridges, which would be handy. Better still, it'd work out at £250 landed and delivered direct to my door ('cos cross-border shipping isn't controlled under the VCRA.) Trouble is, it's showing as pre-order only. Bah!
Back into Airgunning While Herr Halfacree decides what to do nest on the rifle front, I have acquired an air pistol . First proper air pistol I've had [owned a crappy .45 ACP look alike short barreled cheapo in my early teens], it's a Gamo .177 Compact pneumatic target pistol. I've bought new pellets and targets, and ready to sight it in. I asked in the shop today when I was buying the ammo about oiling it, and th eguy reckoned it would only need a drop of oil once a year.... I'll see what is out there on the web about maintenance, as I was not entirely sure about what the callow youth had to say /grumpy old git
I've had a Gamo 177 Compact for at least 22 years (I think I bought it in the early 90s). It's had minimal maintenance apart from a drop of oil down the barrel when I remember and still shoots accurately.
This thread reminds me that the law in Scotland will be changing by the end of this year, requiring all air gun owners to obtain what is in effect a "firearms" certificate for all "air weapons", including pistols. It makes me despair, but hey ho... let's see how it goes. Perhaps I'll get a licence that allows me to collect "but not shoot" air rifles. LOL
Scottish Airgun Regs I was reading about that the other day, it's mad. The police are overstretched already, and it's more bureaucracy that don't have time to do
Nice! Pneumatics are lovely to shoot - basically recoilless. Not like my sprung HW45! For maintenance, I'd go with moly grease on any friction points and a Napier pull-through kit for cleaning the barrel every once in a while. Give the outside a wipe with a silicone cloth when you've used it, and remember to store it where it can breathe. No sticking it in a fleece-lined bag for weeks at a time! EDIT: Should have mentioned, just in case: don't forget that new legislation was introduced in 2011 that requires you to take "reasonable precautions" against an underage person making off with the airgun. Basically, you need to lock it up when it's not in use - so that it can't move, not just so it can't fire. A trigger lock's no good, but an AMTA lock through the trigger guard is good enough. Alternatively, buy one of those £30 electric safe things and stick it in there with a sachet of VP90 and enjoy the double benefits of security and corrosion protection.
You guys are making me want a gun so bloody bad. I guess the first logical step is finding out if there are any clubs local to me. I don't have a garden or an attic any more so I would have to join a club just to fire the thing. It's been a long while since my Webley Tempest, that's for sure.
Yeah, if you don't have a pretty big garden you're looking at club use only - although pistols are okay for use indoors with a proper backstop, as there are competitive six-yard shoots good for even smaller rooms.
Gareth, Thanks for all that - I'l get some moly grease asn find it a good home. Point taken on security. I have a shotgun certificate and a gun safe, so the air pistol will go in there or the house safe
That'd work! My cheaper CO2 stuff is in a cheapy electric safe, while the HW45 is in with the rifles in a full-size, police-approved (but still cheap as owt) wood-finish gun safe.
More Airguns? I feel another slippery slope coming on... Mech keyboards are bad enough, cameras are worse! I may need to get a better air rifle next, as the old break barrel Diana from when I was 10 is looking a bit old and small for a 40 several year old!
Got your eye on anything in particular? Springer? PCP? I can heartily recommend the HW97K if you don't mind getting a workout every time you pick the bleedin' thing up (and the lack of iron sights). I've just discovered that SWS (that German outfit from upthread) do a 1/2" UNF adapter for the Winchester, and a rather lovely silver-finish silencer. Tempting, very tempting, 'cos obviously I need to deaden the deafening report of a weedy 6ft/lbs CO2 air rifle(!)
