"Budget" AP choice for beginner

[elias k]

Good day all,

I am in search of purchasing my first 10m PCP pistol. I live in Greece in case it matters and shoot at a local club with Walther pistols (LP300/400). Also some LP10.

I own a Crosman 1377 and Weihrauch HW40 for target practice at home. However I would like to invest on a competition pistol which I will shoot at the club at at home as well so as to adapt to a single piece of equipment.

Problem is the budget, eur 1000 or 1200 stretching it...

The guns I've seen around that price range are:
Hammerli AP20 & AP20 Pro which from what I've read are based on LP300?
Benelli KITE, which seems to have good features but no one uses them anymore and lacks service support in general?
Walther LP500/500 Economy. Can't figure out if the 500 Economy is a later revision of the "plain" LP500. I've been reading that Walther has poor support as well
Steyr LP2. This seems to be the better option in terms of support, but I wonder if there is something important that lacking from this gun which exists on the much more expensive EVO10 for which I will have to pay a lot of money later on for upgrading

Second hand market for such equipment is almost non existent here. I intend to shop from EU shop, since local shops just do the middleman here, keep no stock and when you ask any questions they don't really say anything other than to buy whatever fancies my eyes..

I've read dozens of pages in this forum and do understand that all the above will shoot fine, perhaps better than i ever will, so I'm trying to figure out which one has the better/more important features, is relatively updated by the maker and has decent support in EU, for this budget, so as to stick with it for years without need to upgrade

Thanks :)

[Gwhite]

The "Hammerli" AP20's are made by Walther, so the support may still be an issue. That said, the AP20 is an excellent beginning PCP pistol. The team I help coach bought 26 of them, and they've given us very little trouble once they settled in a bit. Thanks to the pandemic, they haven't seen as much use as we expected, but they've been working very well. The HUGE advantage for us is the adjustability of the grip, which isn't a big deal for an individual. They can be adjusted to be "OK" for a wide range of hand sizes, right or left, but they rarely fit anyone exceptionally well. Depending on the size of your hand, you may want to go for the "Pro" model to get a grip that fits you better. The AP20 is also quite light, and could benefit from barrel weights for most adult shooters. Again, the "Pro" is a bit better in that regard, with the longer cylinder.

[spektr]

Respectfully, I would shoot club guns and save for an upbudget offering. The other thing to do is to ask around for a well cared for 2nd hand gun. Theres also the entire world of no longer loved CO2 powered pistols. My CPM1 gives up nothing score wise to current pistols, its just a bit less adjustable.

[Ade C]

Can't speak for the other models but I've had faultless performance from my AP20 for about 5 years now. I'd definitely spend the extra to get the 'pro' version as the grip is so much better

[Rover]

The posters above have given you excellent advice.

For myself, I would recommend a used single stroke pneumatic for ease of repair (cheap), and the fact that you need no expensive air supply. This won't be a problem if your club has an air supply. The FWB 100 series, Walther LPM1, and Pardini K58 would be excellent choices.

CO2 would be even cheaper than air, and more commonly available. As mentioned, the CO2 guns will be less costly than PCPs.

[CARLFIN]

https://m.nettimarkkina.com/hammerli-ap ... 4&vifNav=Y

[CARLFIN]

https://www.gunfinder.de/suche?query=h% ... production

[Azmodan]

since you are in the EU, you can buy used guns easily from germany on egun: https://www.egun.de/market/list_items.php?cat=163
if you have patience you can get very good deals. i;ve seen in recent months Feinwerkbau P8X going around 1200euros

[elias k]

Thank you all for the replies :) I'll have a look in the above sites for used guns

off-topic
What's the deal with LP500 Basic (wooden grip) and LP500 Economy (plastic grip, different front sight design)? One walther site (carl-walther.com) displays the first one only as basic model in the line up, on another walther site (waltherarms.com) they display the other one. Is either of the two a later revision? Looked around for a while but couldn't figure it out

[ghostrip]

Walther has several basic models and likes to change them. sometimes they even make models for a specific shop (big german shops). Usually the only models in walther line that are the same for a long time are the premium costly ones.

[Gwhite]

I don't think that's an issue with the AP20's. They are specifically designed (quite well) to fill the niche for a lower cost beginning pistol for clubs and juniors. The adjustability of the grip is really nicely designed to fit a large range of hand sizes and the grip (and cocking lever) can be swapped sides to work equally well for lefties. They can also be upgraded to the "Pro" model easily. I find it hard to believe they would bother a re-design to fit the market for these pistols. They are very popular in the US for kids getting into the Junior Olympic program.