Best international airgun to buy!!!

[TRD]

Hi folks,
I have been looking a buy an airgun in Bangalore. After some delebration I wanted to buy an IHP 35 .177 gun.
However recently my friend called me and said he is flying back from the UK this month and I thought it would be great to ask him to get an airgun for me... little did I know that the decision to choose a gun would literally blow my mind! Well when it comes to guns I don't have much of a mind as my IHP would have been my first gun. Well I didn't know anything about guns and this forum taught me a lot! I initially wanted to buy a gun for recreational use and plicking... but later figured I might as well work on my shooting and if all goes well enter a few competitions so decided to stick with a .177 When it came to India... there are not many options out there for gun manufacturers so IHP seemed like a good enough choice, but now that I could get a gun from another country the options seem endless...

I once again want to enlist the help of the forum members to suggest a few good guns for me, which I can narrow down from later on... any advise will be much appreciated!

Me needs/confusions are -
- I need the gun for target shooting so better the accuracy the better for me
- since competitions only allow .177 not much option there
- Confused if I need to choose a PCP or a spring action
- If a PCP or CO2 what else do I need to import with the gun?
- Size/weight of the rifle doesn't matter... I am over 6ft tall and fairly well built, unless the gun is too heavy I should have no problems.
- I would prefer if the gun shot multiple rounds in a single load.
- I think I read somewhere on the forum that if the gun is under 20k or lower I don't have to pay customs on it! If I get a good gun for a slightly higher price, I don't mind the paying the customs! This is secondary, just wanted to confirm.
- I'm right handed! if that info could be used!
- I have a farm where I'll practice shooting, so preferably a gun with a good long range shot and a scope! (not sure how far the targets are kept in competitions, will google that info later

What guns would you suggest I look into?
And lastly, does anyone have any recommendations to gun stores (online) in the UK?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. - some of the semi-automatic BB firing guns look so sleek!!! am almost temped to pick them! but if I do I might have to settle for IHP .177 for competition here
They make the replicas so tempting! LOL...

-- Sat Jul 03, 2010 3:12 am --

Spelling mistake - deliberation*

[kb100]

From what I have read on the forum..

1. .177 is duty free regardless of the price of the gun - but only if you are an accredited member of a shooting club affiliated with NRAI.

2. Funnily enough - you can get the gun down by post/courier using your documentation.. but if you ask a person to carry it down for you, the rules require the carrier to have the aforementioned club membership! (very funny -how is a courier different from a person carrying it down?)

3. Stick to PCP .. they are less prone to temperature variations and the refills are easier to source or do. They are also more accurate than the springers since they have negligible recoil.

4. Size and weight of a rifle WILL matter! Regardless of how tall or heavy you are! A shooting competition is an entirely different cup of tea - as you will find out!

5. Guns that fire multiple rounds - called repeaters - are NOT permitted to be used in competitions. There are some repeater guns which also come with single pellet loaders - you may have to pay extra for that.

6. NO optical enhancement devices, including scopes are permitted to be used in competition. (except for some filters)

7. All air rifle, air pistol competitions are held indoors over a 10m range ONLY.

8. From what i understand all competition guns are tuned for accuracy over 10 meters and not power - most of them will be around the 500-600 fps range. I you want longer range you may want to pick up something with more power/fps - but that will come with a accuracy handicap for various reasons (from a competition point of view where things are very exacting!)

9. Guns tuned for serious competition seem to start around $ 1500 Plus.

10. Competition will mean investment in a lot of other gear .. like costume, shoes, sights etc... which also are not cheap.

11. My advice for now - decide a budget.. and STICK TO IT no matter what! ... you will suffer from "UPGRADITIS" in any case later!

Competition shooting is not cheap by far... The initial investment is far greater. Hence the advice generally is to pick up whatever is comfortable, and begin shooting... and you will discover how much you want to get into it over time!

All the best with the decision-making!

[m24]

Agree with kb100 on all points. Get yourself enrolled in a rifle club and use the competition rifles available there(if they are available) to get a hang of the sport and the gun. Then choose a coach and then, go for a competition gun. Cheapest competition gun available currently in the market is Hammerli AR20 at 580 euros (if I am not wrong).

Regards

[hamiclar01]

I agree with the sensible advice given above. I know it is tempting to use this opportunity to ask your friend but, if you are buying a competition air gun, then;

i. the modern ones, freely available, are really expensive. You need to play with a few after joining a local club to decide what the flavour is and what suits you. This is discounting the accessories that ISSF 10m air rifle shooting involves.

ii. there are cheaper competition guns like the fwb 300 or 600 series. but they are not freely available, and only sold second hand through forums and clubs, where they are often lapped up within hours of advertising.

iii. Many pcps will let you alter power down to ISSF levels, and you can make provisions for open sights. But all this takes time and planning, and they may not be good enough for competitions

My advice, if you want a competition gun, wait. If you want to use your friend to get a good airgun, ask him to get a good springer across

[TRD]

From what I have read on the forum..

1. .177 is duty free regardless of the price of the gun - but only if you are an accredited member of a shooting club affiliated with NRAI.

3. Stick to PCP .. they are less prone to temperature variations and the refills are easier to source or do. They are also more accurate than the springers since they have negligible recoil.

11. My advice for now - decide a budget.. and STICK TO IT no matter what! ... you will suffer from "UPGRADITIS" in any case later!

Competition shooting is not cheap by far... The initial investment is far greater. Hence the advice generally is to pick up whatever is comfortable, and begin shooting... and you will discover how much you want to get into it over time!

All the best with the decision-making!

Hey kb100 @ point number 1. What if the carrier of the gun is not a member of any shooting club? How do the taxes play out then?

kb100 and othrers, Thanks for the advise! I think I realize that picking up a competition gun at this time would not make sense...I should just pick up a .177 gun and start practicing first

I could either pick up a IHP 35 here and pick up some repeater semi-automatic like an uzi or 'Umarex Heckler & Koch MP5K-PDW ' and play around with one while I pratice with the other OR... pick up a .177 rifle from there and use that to practise... obviously I can't pick up a 2nd gun here (either the prices are too high, or nothing that great)... kinda confused! might be going with the first option! we will see...

MY budget was to be able to go upto 15-20k but I seem to be getting gun well under that price range in the UK. Do you guys advise any particular make and model???

Here are are a couple of links I went through

http://www.pellpax.co.uk/acatalog/CHRIS ... ifles.html

http://www.airguns-online.co.uk/air_rifles.htm

What do you guys think? any advise? Or should I look for any other gun? like I said any advise on make and model?

Thanks again...
Cheers

[hamiclar01]

http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3246

[TRD]

Hi hamiclar01,
Thanks for sharing that post... I have gone through that one... I still have a couple of questions unanswered though

What if the carrier of the gun is not a member of any shooting club? How do the taxes play out then?

MY budget was to be able to go up to 15-20k but I seem to be getting gun well under that price range in the UK. Do you guys advise any particular make and model???

I have other small queries as well, but they have been mentioned in my post above I am just a little excited and confused at the same time! lol..

[hamiclar01]

Hi hamiclar01,
Thanks for sharing that post... I have gone through that one... I still have a couple of questions unanswered though

Any specific questions? There are a few makes and models suggested in the thread, are you getting confused between them?

As far as duty goes, I'm afraid you might just have to bite the bullet and go by what the custom guys tell you. Mind you if you get your airgun within your 15,000 budget there just should not be any.

[TRD]

Hi hamiclar01,

Thanks for clarifying my doubt about the import duties.

Yeah! I had some confusion between the makes and models mentioned on the thread, but I am currently surfing the net to check for user reviews and other things... I would like to narrow down my search and then maybe post with a couple of guns and get your opinions, I think that way I could do some homework and see what best fits me and you can may be help me pick the right one!

Appreciate your inputs so far though! Really do! thanks