I HATE IT!

[Rover]

We've seen thread after thread with glowing recommendations to each other on which air pistol to buy (yes, I'm guilty, too).

But I've seen nothing on the no good, terrible, very bad gun you love to hate.

William, would you care to start this off?

[Dan Ide]

When the USRSA was going, I purchased a S&W 617 to participate. My first match turned out to be a standard pistol match and the first shots were good, but by the time the match was finished ( 50ft distance ) I could not only not keep in the scoring rings, I could not hit anywhere on the paper target. I had streamers of lead coming out of the muzzle. Then the gun really got worse.No matter how clean I could get it, within 30 shots, it would lead up like crazy. It eventually got sold and the money used to bu a Hamerlii AR20. Now that's a fine gun!!

[cloudswimmer]

It would be cool also to see your pics of the guns you love to hate if you have any.

[william]

"William, would you care to start this off?"

Apparently I've missed my chance. A good night's sleep was more important than staying up all night waiting for Rover to start a thread.

[Mike M.]

I'll play...

My first serious gun for the MLAIC Kuchenreuter (25m single-shot percussion pistol) match was a Pedersoli Mang. Fine gun...but seriously muzzle-heavy. A 13-shot string would go 10, 9, 10, 9, 10, 9, 9, 8, 9, 8, 9, 8, 7. Best I could ever shoot with it was a 93, and that was a struggle. Got a Hege-Siber, a far better-balanced piece, and my first target was a 94. Second target was a 95.

Then I wound up with an original gun, but that's another story.

[gunnery]

I'll play...

My first serious gun for the MLAIC Kuchenreuter (25m single-shot percussion pistol) match was a Pedersoli Mang. Fine gun...but seriously muzzle-heavy.

Mike, the Mang is a very good gun, shorten the barrel with 1", much better.
I shoot a Pedersoli Kuchenreuter. With short barrel (-1 1/4").
And, i hate free pistols, they don't groep in my hands ........

[Rover]

Gee, William, I posted this just after lunch, but I guess you decrepit oldsters gotta grab a nap when you can (especially after your two martini meal).

[william]

Gee, William, I posted this just after lunch, but I guess you decrepit oldsters gotta grab a nap when you can (especially after your two martini meal).

That's funny. It's time stamped 9:34 PM which is about when I turn in so that I can be up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 5:30 AM. But now that you mention it, a couple of martinis does sound pretty good.

As to guns that I couldn't get rid of fast enough:
1. FAS-602 - I fell in love with its overall design concept, but I could never get the trigger right. I always suspected the metallurgy wasn't as sound as Pardini's,
2. Izh-35M - Made me think of a T34, shrunk-down and adapted for target shooting.
3. Tokarev TT-33 - Trigger was criminally long and stiff, and the accuracy was good enough to hit the base of the skull at about 1 meter: NKVD marksmanship.
4. And finally a pet peeve: air pistols from the German-speaking world (the ones VISIER always gives top marks to) that give you backward directions on the rear sight. I know where I'm missing. I'd like it to remind me where to go not where I've been.

[Mike M.]

Mike, the Mang is a very good gun, shorten the barrel with 1", much better.
I shoot a Pedersoli Kuchenreuter. With short barrel (-1 1/4").
And, i hate free pistols, they don't groep in my hands ........

No need. My current Kuch-R gun is a Baumkircher underhammer. My match gun is an original - originally shot by the man who recruited me in the mid-90s.

[SamEEE]

My Webley Mk.VI. It's pretty shitty.

[j-team]

Any air pistol designed for 10m that I've owned. I've felt like throwing all of them at some stage!

[David Levene]

Alfa Proj - The sharp edges cut my hand open

Gamo Compact - Responsible for putting too many young people off of pistol shooting.

[kevinweiho]

Gamo Compact - Responsible for putting too many young people off of pistol shooting.

David, can you tell me why young people are put off by using the Gamo Compact? I have one that has over 10.000 shots, it's a love and hate relationship.

It can be a good pistol once the trigger is tweaked and lubed.

[David Levene]

Gamo Compact - Responsible for putting too many young people off of pistol shooting.

David, can you tell me why young people are put off by using the Gamo Compact? I have one that has over 10.000 shots, it's a love and hate relationship.

It can be a good pistol once the trigger is tweaked and lubed.

The problem is that many youth groups simply do not have the knowledge or expertise to fix the trigger. Because of limited funds they will frequently buy several at a time and, with nothing else to compare them with, they don't realize how bad the standard trigger really is.

Even when they do know, they are scared of modifying the pistols in case a future accident leaves them open to litigation. (Our compensation culture in the UK is as bad as in the US).

Up until last year the British Pistol Club hosted an annual match for Scouts. We saw many Compacts appear at EC with truly horrible triggers.

[kevinweiho]

The problem is that many youth groups simply do not have the knowledge or expertise to fix the trigger. Because of limited funds they will frequently buy several at a time and, with nothing else to compare them with, they don't realize how bad the standard trigger really is.

What makes the trigger bad is the heavy trigger spring and a useless short trigger screw that does not allow adjustment of the length of the first stage pull. I think bashing the pistol in the Internet that it is a piece of crap is not the solution. By writing complaint letters (hopefully hundreds of letters) to the CEO of Gamo, explaining that they have a good product with a flaw that needs the necessary upgrades to make it a great product should do the trick.

[PDX_AIR]

Gamo Compact - Responsible for putting too many young people off of pistol shooting.

I started with a Gamo Compact, still shooting it actually, til my new pistol gets here in the mail anyway(just purchased a FWB P30). I found it to be a perfect first 10m pistol. The grip and feel are nice and the trigger is a little heavy but I think that's good, makes you try harder and learn trigger control better, getting used to the trigger makes it amazing once you shoot/move up to a true 10m match pistol. Its definitely worth the money if your wanting to buy a pistol to see if you'd like 10m air pistol shooting and don't wanna spend a bunch of money to just try the sport.

[Gwhite]

The worst "Target" pistols I've had to deal with are the Crosman 2300T CO2 pistols. Our club bought 10 of them for the junior program because they were cheap (~ $130 at the time). The triggers are atrocious, and contrary to what the manual says, they can only be adjusted down to about 2 1/2 pounds. The trigger pull is long, rough and full of creep. I had to take every one apart, polish and lubricate the various pot metal surfaces, and put in lighter springs. The sights can't be adjusted to even a 6:00 hold at 10 meters, much less a sub-six settings.

Similar to the comments about the Gamo, I'm sure a lot of kids have been driven away from shooting because theses pistols are so awful. The 2300T is very hard to shoot well even if you are an adult with a fair amount of skill. For a 10 year old just learning, they are NOT the way to teach someone how much fun shooting can be. I suspect we would double our retention of shooters wanting to continue with the sport if they all had Tau-7 Juniors.

[tufty]

Gamo Compact - Responsible for putting too many young people off of pistol shooting.

David, can you tell me why young people are put off by using the Gamo Compact? I have one that has over 10.000 shots, it's a love and hate relationship.

It can be a good pistol once the trigger is tweaked and lubed.

The problem is that many youth groups simply do not have the knowledge or expertise to fix the trigger. Because of limited funds they will frequently buy several at a time and, with nothing else to compare them with, they don't realize how bad the standard trigger really is.

Even when they do know, they are scared of modifying the pistols in case a future accident leaves them open to litigation. (Our compensation culture in the UK is as bad as in the US).

Up until last year the British Pistol Club hosted an annual match for Scouts. We saw many Compacts appear at EC with truly horrible triggers.

The other thing that puts them off is when they trap part of their hand in ittrying to close it!!

[northpaw]

I find the Rohm Twinmaster a piece to love to hate. It has a "repelling and distracting" trigger pull, detrimental to any progress in target match shooting, IMHO.
http://www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk/roh ... er-top-177

[kevinweiho]

The other thing that puts them off is when they trap part of their hand in ittrying to close it!!

The rule of thumb for all over lever airpistols is to keep your palm flat when closing the lever. Carelessness is the cause of their fingers getting caught and not the design of the pistol. I bet once they get pinched, they won't make the same mistake again!