Availability of an authorised airgun dealer address book?

[Silver Flight]

To the forum readers:

I am possibly to come to India (probably Mumbai) for an extended assignment. I am an avid airgunner, but of late had too much work and too many commitments to indulge in my sport and past time

This said, I need to understand where I can source quality German, British or even Chinese (they improved their manufacturing of late) air rifles for sport and leisure - I am not seeking a target shooting behemoth (Hammerli, Anschutz ...).

Lastly, if in very simple terms the legislation can be resumed to me, that would be great (examples: in the UK: 12 ft/lb limit, must be 17 - in France, 10 joules, must be 18 - in Italy, 7.5 joules, must be 18).

The ideal would be to have downloadable vCards, or a downloadable .pst address book (to load into MS Outlook). Feedback as to the quality of either the service or choice is welcomed.

Silver Flight

[mundaire]

Silver Flight,

Since the commercial import of airguns into India is restricted, the availability with dealers is intermittent and when available they charge exorbitant prices for these imported models! I would suggest you bring in an air-rifle with you when you move to India. There is no legislation as to power levels, though there is the possibility (at the time of import) that a "deal wood penetration test" might be conducted. The pellet should not penetrate through the 1 inch thick (IIRC) deal wood block when shot at from a certain distance (I forget the exact distance).

Keeping the above in mind, I would suggest you pick up a spring piston HW or AirArms from France which is within the permitted power levels there, and carry back a couple of full power springs with you which you can use to bring out the full potential of your air-rifle - on arrival here.

The other option is to purchase an Indian made air-rifle here. The best one's in the local market are made by the Indian Hume Pipe Co. Ltd. and are basically copies of the old Diana Model 25 & Model 35 from the 1970's. Their triggers are of the direct sear single stage type and are quite horrendous, otherwise they have decent barrels and are good value for money, retailing in the range of INR 3,000/- or so. A list of their distributors can be found at http://www.indianhumepipe.com/rifleadd.html

The import of pellets is similarly restricted, so it may be a good idea to carry in a decent quantity of quality pellets with you. OR you could make do with the locally made pellets (mostly horrible quality) which are available in .177 or .22 cal ONLY.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[Silver Flight]

Dear Abhijeet

Many thanks for your reply. Considering the higher level of metal working skills found in the territory, it is strange to find there is so little interest from companies to make higher grade air rifles nationally, as these are often a safer alternative to traps, poisons and nooses for all kinds of rodent or clawed and furred pests ...

In Korea, they manufacture the "Monkey Rifle" as firearms are outlawed. It fires a 9mm skirted slug at auto-pistol speed (super sonic, manufacturered by Career and ShinSung) taking care of those finding fruits too much of their taste

Well, I shall explore this option ...

Many thanks again.