You wanna buy WHAT?

[Rover]

I can't say how many times I've seen here the question, "What AP should I buy?"

Let's turn it around. What AP would YOU buy?

I sorta like the Morini 162 electric whizbang. I already have the others I might like.

[Xman]

Already bought, Pardini K58. No tanks, hoses, pumps, cylinders out of date issues. Just get a rhythm going, Pump, load, inhale, aim, exhale, shoot. Repeat 100X for practice and your set for a 60 shot match and warm up shots. FWIW

[Gwhite]

I'd probably buy a Steyr EVO with an electronic trigger, but I'd have to hold my nose while doing it. I like Steyrs because they are very well supported, and the adjustability of the grip angle is very nice. I like to dry fire a lot, so an electronic trigger is ideal. The catch is the damn rechargeable batteries. I have an older Morini, and I can shoot that for eons on a single pair of AAA batteries. I don't want to have to mess with cables, chargers, and flaky batteries that crap out and can't be as easily replaced anywhere in the world.

My "go-to" air pistol at the moment is an Anschutz LP@ with a mechanical trigger. It's basically an LP10 in Anschutz clothing, and I got it cheap because nobody on GunBroker knew what it was. It's a real toss up as to whether having to cock it to dry fire is more hassle than dealing with rechargeable batteries would be.

[ghostrip]

Difficult question to answer. But my answer is i would still buy again my first air Pistol. IZH-46 rulez.
After that second place goes equally to FWB100 series and Matchguns MG1E.

[Rover]

Many years ago I kinda asked this question here (check the date). The thread went in an entirely different direction. Tell us how you really feel!

http://targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?t=21411&hilit=ssp

[PirateJohn]

He's our second baseman

[j-team]

...It's a real toss up as to whether having to cock it to dry fire is more hassle than dealing with rechargeable batteries would be.

Shouldn't you be cocking it anyway for dry fire? Otherwise you are not practising the full shot routine that you will need when actually shooting a match.

As for pistol choice, if I you want to reach the top, I'd get a Steyr Evo10 mechanical (or electronic but I don't see an advantage). Or a Morini.

Most importantly, get what makes you feel like shooting, no point having the "best" pistol if it doesn't motivate you to get out and use it.

[1066les]

FWB P8X .... oops, I forgot. I've already got one.

[toddinjax]

He's our second baseman

Made me laugh, thanks.

[B Lafferty]

Kind of odd, but I had an Alfa Proj that I loved and shot my best score with, a 556 IIRC back around 2011. It was also a pain in that the built in air cylinder only held around 80 shots per fill. I loved the balance of the Alfa Proj. It did not hold up well over time and I then went to a FWB Picolo that I put a LH FWB grip on. Sold that and bought a Kite which I loved until it leaked and there was no longer service for it in the US.

I see that the Alfa Proj is now priced at around $1,100 which strikes me as ridiculous.

[kqrxbn]

I bought an LP 50, specifically because I wanted the ability to use it to realistically train for other disciplines than just slow/precision fire. I presume some variants with electronic triggers can dry-fire in quick succession but it is nice to be able to shoot five shots in a string and actually see them on the target too.

The downside with the LP 50 is that the trigger is not the absolutely best that you can get. I've actually adjusted mine to be heavier and less crisp to make it harder to get a smooth trigger pull; the idea is that if I can shoot well with a worse trigger, I'll shoot better with a better one. The plan is to adjust it back to "good air pistol" when the air pistol season approaches, and the hope is that the better trigger will give me a boost. I guess we will see if that works in practice…

ETA: I found the original Steyr grip to be quite awkward in my hand so I ordered a Rink grip which literally made me gasp in amazement when I first put my hand in it. It arrived today, so I'm not sure I'll actually shoot better (that is, less bad) with it or not.

[Vadym]

If there is a desire and money to buy something, the issue does not make sense about air guns. But there is something that cannot be purchased for money, such as rare BSA240 or Schimel GP22 pistols, or even Daisy 777.

[toddinjax]

"the idea is that if I can shoot well with a worse trigger, I'll shoot better with a better one"

I don't think this tactic works (in multiple fields) in the way one would hope. Practicing something mechanical that is different (harder) than the actual task you hope to perform just makes you less familiar with the forces/motions/spacings needed for your goal task on your chosen implement. In the same way that practicing a piece of music on a guitar or piano that's "hard to play" doesn't train your motor skills for exactly what is required of you on the lighter/faster/easier action of your "good" instrument. The more specific your practice to what you need to do in performance the better I think.

[kqrxbn]

"the idea is that if I can shoot well with a worse trigger, I'll shoot better with a better one"

I don't think this tactic works (in multiple fields) in the way one would hope. Practicing something mechanical that is different (harder) than the actual task you hope to perform just makes you less familiar with the forces/motions/spacings needed for your goal task on your chosen implement. In the same way that practicing a piece of music on a guitar or piano that's "hard to play" doesn't train your motor skills for exactly what is required of you on the lighter/faster/easier action of your "good" instrument. The more specific your practice to what you need to do in performance the better I think.

Thanks, that is actually a good point. My intuition is conflicted and does not know what to think because on the one hand, if I learn to do something 'harder' first then the 'easier' thing is usually … easier. On the other hand, as you say (or rather: as I interpreted what you wrote), pulling a trigger is not a simple task that can be measured along a one-dimensional easier–harder scale, so you want to get as much practice as you can with the particular trigger and its peculiarities.

What I should perhaps have added is that I use the air pistol mainly as a training pistol. There are very few AP competitions around here, but the AP is currently my main training pistol because I can shoot it at home every day, while it takes a while to drive to a shooting range to shoot another pistol. Further, I am quite new to this, having been at it only a few months, so I do not yet own any other pistols. In my jurisdiction, applying for a gun license is a lengthy process, so that situation will not change in the next few months. That means that I train and take part in competitions with borrowed pistols (they belong to either a gun club or other shooters) and I have already lost count of the number of different pistols I have shot. Some of them are lovingly maintained and carefully tweaked competition pistols of recent models, and then there are those like the old and forgotten High Standards that have not been cleaned since around the time Chernobyl blew up. I have therefore adjusted the trigger to—somewhat!—approximate the heavier triggers I am likely to encounter on the pistols I shoot in competitions and at the club.

Wow, this veered a bit off topic. Sorry!

[dk114]

Does "just did" count as "would"? ;) Just ordered a P8X as my first AP, as I grew tired of mucking with club's ones..

[SPPcoach]

I had an Alfa Proj that I loved and shot my best score with, a 556 IIRC back around 2011.
I loved the balance of the Alfa Proj. It did not hold up well over time
I see that the Alfa Proj is now priced at around $1,100 which strikes me as ridiculous.

Wild how the prices vary so much.
$1,809.99 https://www.herooutdoors.com/alfa-proj- ... cp-pistol/

$747.99. https://www.airgunus.us/air-arms-alfa-p ... let-pistol