Beginner looking for advice

[mrhankuk]

I'm an adult shooter who is interested in getting started in competition Air Rifle.

I've been following a lot of the posts on TargetTalk and have spoken with a couple of guys here in Utah, but I'm still not certain what is the best entry gun to get started.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I'm left eye dominant as well.

Thanks!

[Rover]

If you listen to these guys you'll spend way over your head and end up with a gun that doesn't fit.

Find yourself an oldie Walther LGR; it ruled the world at one time.

They're cheap, easy to repair, and damn it, good enough for the likes of you.

[Shooter]

The one answer is right. No need to spend a lot of money on gear at this stage. I for when you get to the in't level, then you can get better gear. I wanted to let you know that I run a twice yearly air gun postal league that is ideal for you. I also have the largest library shooting sports info in private hands in the country. If you want more info either or both of these things, send me an email to bawilli@comcast.net along with your name and address and I will get it off to you asap. Don in Oregon

[HotDiggity]

mrhankuk, where are you in Utah. I'm getting started as well; we should compare notes.

[mrhankuk]

@HotDiggity. I'm in South Jordan. Currently I'm taking the UofU Rifle Marksmanship class. Once you catch the bug, it's hard to shake. :)

[sureshot007]

If you are right handed, shoot right handed. Don't fall for that eye dominance trick.

[conradin]

I started off with the Anschutz 8100 Club. It is ambidextrous. A Beginners model. high recommended!

[conradin]

I'm left eye dominant as well.

Thanks!

Even kids use inside-outs for sights now. So you do not have to pick right or left handed base on eye dominance.

[abinok]

Maybe an idea of your initial budget would help.
Used 853s in 753 stocks can be had from cmp for $125. Ill wager half or more of the folks on this board cut their teeth on one. I shot one for YEARS. Sure, its not going to win the Olympics, but then again... neither are you. Id recommend shooting one until you've got enough experience to know why youre shelling out $1000 for a good condition ssp, or entry level pcp gun. Buying used from this board has been a great resource too.

[Atif]

Id like to share a thought here. I find much of my time shooting prone, Im not having trouble trying to get into a stable position, nor having a stable hold. My biggest challenge is maintaining a clear sight image. It gets blurry just after about 10 seconds, and that is during NORMAL breathing. Im not even holding my breath. I dont use glasses, but in my forties I might have to consider? Im often changing the position of my head to get a clear sight. That works for awhile but after maybe 10 seconds or so, the ring gets blurry. I changed to bigger sight insert, 3,6 and that was better, but Im not over this. Still fighting for a position or sight that gives me a clear image for a good long time.



Moderator note:- User deleted as this post is a direct copy of another member's post on a different thread. Post retained as it has been answered.

[Rover]

This is a weird one. I believe it's due to oxygen depletion in the eye. I discovered this while shooting at the OTC at 6,000 feet elevation after coming from sea level. Talking to other shooters, it seemed as if it affected them as well. An overlong hold will do this, too. I would try to get shots off quicker.

You mentioned glasses. I certainly would consider that your eye getting tired could be the problem. Investigate further.

[mrhankuk]

Hold the keyboard!

My whole life I've been told to shoot with my left eye dominance and I've always stuck with that.

Should I really try and shoot right? I definitely can, but before I go down that road, I'd like to understand the ins and outs of this decision.

[conradin]

Hold the keyboard!

My whole life I've been told to shoot with my left eye dominance and I've always stuck with that.

Should I really try and shoot right? I definitely can, but before I go down that road, I'd like to understand the ins and outs of this decision.

http://www.gehmann.com/english/products ... tegorie=23
Have your cake and eat it.

[Tim S]

Periscopes aren't very popular, as the mirrors allegedly darken the sight picture. Outriggers like this http://www.intershoot.co.uk/acatalog/TE ... 4.htmlthat simply move the sights 3in or so to the left would give a more normal sight picture.

Howerver, just becuase you are cross dominant, does not mean you need to shoot wrong handed. Very often covering the dominant eye with some translucent plastic, will allow you to aim with the non-dominant eye without interference. It works for the current Olympic Prone champion. It's only if the vision in your non-dominant eye is impaired, or too poor even with a shooting specific lens, that you need to aim with the "wrong" eye.

[sureshot007]

I'm not sure where this eye dominance thing started (probable with pistol shooters?), but when the rules allow you to cover the non-aiming eye, the only reason to shoot left handed would be a physical problem preventing right handed shooting. You spend your whole life doing everything with your right hand - why handicap yourself by trying to shoot left handed? I can't do anything left handed. Plus, you'd have to buy all new lefty equipment since used lefty stuff is hard to come by. And then, if you shooting on a tight range, you'll be laying on top of your neighbor since you'll be laying at the opposite angle in prone. There just isn't any real upside to it.

* Note: I wrote this post from the position of a right handed person. If you ARE left handed, go for it.

[JMicikas]

I'm also new to the 10m air rifle world. A good place to find inexpensive air rifles is at the Civilian Marksmanship Program website (http://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/rifle_sales/air-rifles/). Good entry level choices are the Daisy M853, M887, M888 and the Air Arms T200. The website also has some higher end air rifles under the competition air rifles section.

After shooting a few rifles (daisy, FWB, Walther, etc.) I chose a CO2 (9oz. cartridges) gun - the Crosman Challenger CH2000. I chose this gun because I didn't want to spend big bucks until I tried it and decided I liked shooting competition matches. Found it on this website and paid $180.00 shipped to my house. The gun is more accurate than I can shoot it at this point. The link which follows is a blog on the rifle from Air Guns of Arizona (http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/blog/20 ... enger.html). I typically get around 65-70 good shots on a CO2 cartridge.

The newer version of this rifle is the Challenger CH2009 and it can be used with CO2 or PCP (Pre-charged pneumatic - high pressure air). New it can be had for $400 to $500 without sights and around $600 with sights. If you go the PCP route you'll need to buy additional equipment to pressurize the tanks.

Please feel free to contact me should you want to discuss further (strucengpe@gmail.com) and good luck in your search.

Joe M.

[conradin]

The newer version of this rifle is the Challenger CH2009 and it can be used with CO2 or PCP (Pre-charged pneumatic - high pressure air). New it can be had for $400 to $500 without sights and around $600 with sights. If you go the PCP route you'll need to buy additional equipment to pressurize the tanks.

The Challenger uses a "Bolt action"...how does it work on an air gun?

[JMicikas]

The bolt is a "T" bolt behind the breech that pulls straight back. I think it works just fine. Below are two (2) links to images of the bolt.

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.6080189 ... =120&W=160
http://www.simplybbguns.com/Assets/Prod ... 9S_zm2.jpg

Joe M.

[Texdance]

I bought the Champions Choice T200 version of the now-discontinued Daisy XSV-40 (Brno, I think) sporter air rifle for $575 last year. It will shoot 100 out of 100 at 10 meters from a rest, target after target, so I have no need to worry that I might lose score due to the rifle - it is scary accurate. I believe it will hold much of its value if I need to resell it at some point.

Rules say its adjustable cheek piece has to be taped in place during competition, but at least it can be set at an adjusted position before taping it in place. The triggger is very fine, light, crisp, repeatable, and adjustable. My only complaint is size - this air rifle is quite small, even with all the butt spacers in place it does not quite fit a person 5'11" tall with normal torso and arm length.

I also have the colorful CO2 Avanti Medalist 888 with the plastic rear sight. It does not have the pure accuracy of the T200 from Champions Choice, possibly due to its cheap sights and lesser trigger, but it is much less expensive and a good choice for a beginner's first year or two in sporter air rifle. I don't worry that the rifle will only allow the student shooter to score 99 instead of 100, because in their early years they will be shooting much lower than 99 anyway.

Finally, I have a precision air rifle, the FWB C60, which is a CO2 air rifle introduced in 1987. I bought it used a couple of years ago , here I think, for about $700 including one cylinder and all necessary charging adapters and original accessories. It is the CO2 equivalent of the famous old FWB 600. Though a basic precision air rifle, with just an adjustable cheek piece and butt plate, and it is accurate enough to never worry about the rifle failing to place the pellet where it is pointed. For students, it has the nice feature of an internal forearm weight (about 8 oz.) that can be removed if they need a lighter air rifle. The size of the stock is okay for me at 5'11", the sights are fine, and the trigger is outstanding. Removing the CO2 cylinder prepares the C60 for dry fire exercises.

These two sporter and one precision air rifle were bought for a couple of young people age ten (and for me too, momma!) Now one of them is no longer interested, and the other is progressing into a fine all-around rifle-air rifle, pistol - air pistol target marksman with possibility of continuing into a good program somewhere. I have been very happy with these air rifles. If the young man gets really serious, enough to look for a college scholarship, I would probably invest in a top-line FWB with the built-in adjustable sight risers, another air rifle that holds its value so well that the total cost of shooting is remarkably modest when amortized over several years.

I was not interested in the older springer air rifles - for me going back to CO2 was the best choice. The cost of the rifle and its CO2 is very affordable, the pollution is negligible, (compared to cow farts), each cylinder holds 200-300 shots instead of 60-75 with CA, there is no degradation in accuracy under normal shooting conditions due to the liquid nature of the CO2 (unless one shoots until the cylinder is empty and the pellets start to drop to the ground right in front of the shooting stand - a foolish exercise for anyone), and the rifle's accuracy is up there with the most expensive compressed air rifles available anywhere at any price.