TargetTalk

Can anyone please give me any opinions about the suitability of a FWB 601 as a starter 10m air rifle? Are they durable and accurate? How is the trigger? How do they compare to say a FWB 300s? What kind of price range should I be looking at, if I were to buy one?

I think it is a great choice. The 600, 601, and 603 are great guns and are more comparable to current guns than the 300 since the 601 has pretty much no recoil. The only down side to them is cocking them and once you get the hang of fitting that into your sequence it is not that bad. Accuracy, trigger, and stock are on par with current production guns. One thing, I have found that the cocking effort is a bit much for most juniors under 15 or so.

Thanks for the input. Do you have any idea about the pricerange for a nice used one?

I have had my FWB 601 since it was first marketed and it realy is a solid dependable gun. It is important that you get hold of the FWB special synth grease that is supplied with the gun when new as there are several hinges and other bits that require greasing occasionally. In particular is the compression piston which after greasing makes cocking much smoother and slightly easier.
A 601 way back scored a 597 so it does it's job but just needs a bit more effort than the PCP's
Peepsight

A few years ago, I was the ONLY shooter on the line with a 601. In fact, I was the only shooter there without a compressed air rifle. In between the cocking, there was no difference performance wise between it and any other rifle on the line. I think the same still holds true today.

If you can go compressed air, I would. Especially with collegiate shooting having gone to 60 shots air. After shooting smallbore and transitioning to air, it doesn't take much for that arm to get tired out.

If compressed air isn't an option, the 601 is hard to beat.

the 300s is a 'recoiless' springer, the 600 is a pneumatic.

the 300 is 'recoiless' by virtue of it's mechanism which slides to absorb recoil... it's way closer to a pcp/pnu than a normal springer.

the 300 is capable, has good trigger, and is perfectly adequate as a starter and can take you into the 500's with ease. However it's longer lock time requires more discipline to master (nothing wrong with that) and the accompanying noise/vibration is something the pnematic 60x series does away with.

We have 300's and 600's down the club, and we generally start with the 300 with new shooters, and then onto the 600. Both are about the same effort to cock.

I would say that for a new shooter, the effort of cocking isn't something that should cause problems, as there are much more basic hurdles to get over first.

I just thought I'd give my impressions of the used FWB 601 that I bought. I had never before shot a competition air rifle. I'm still getting acquainted with the rifle. I've worked out a system of cocking, thanks to some suggestions given here. I'm holding the rifle with the right hand and resting the butt on my left hip. I cock it with the left hand, controlling the lever all the time (no slamming closed). I then place the rifle on the rest and place a pellet in the barrel. This gun will shoot where it was aimed. My groups are getting smaller. I practice without a jacket and glove. I need to work on the "spot weld" on my shoulder. I also need to incorporate the jacket and glove into my training regimen. Thanks to everyone who helped me.

I started into air rifle in exactly the same way. There are some postals you can shoot to formalize practice a little.

Postals sound very good. Right now I'm trying to work my way up to shooting 60 shots at a time. I'm at 30 shots right now. Our club hosts air rifle and air pistol matches starting in October. I am hoping to increase my endurance by then.

Don't overlook the earlier FWB 600 ... essentially the same rifle as the 601 but without the safety-catch button on the cocking arm. Normally $50 to $100 less then the 601. both terrific values in today's deflated USD environment.