TargetTalk

Hello, I purchased my first Airgun a few months back to do some back yard plinking, I have since discovered 10M target shooting and I'm hooked. I am currently using a Beeman P17, I love the gun but feel a PCP match type gun would suit better. I was interested in the Reximex Mito but I've read the gun shoots low at 10M due to no elevation adjustment on the rear sight, the Artemis P20 looks great, Crosman P1701 also looks good.

I want something substantially better than P17, preferably £600 or less but would go higher if the feedback said this budget was unrealistic, also I am finding that stock availability of match type pistols seems low in the UK, maybe a symptom of the Olympic Games increasing the sports visibility?

I plan to use a hand pump to charge it, I live in the South east of England..... one last thing, I had considered a Gamo Compact but I am unsure of how much of a step up it would be from the P17, I know It's better so if anyone has both I'd be interested in your feedback on this.

Any help, or recommendations of other available guns would be greatly appreciated.

The Gamo is a good starter gun for 10m AP. In your range price there's also the Arcea Snowpeak PP20 (they have a new model coming up for xmass).

A bit more expensive would be the Hammerli AP20 (different models) and the Tau BRNO MK8.

Having a gun that is not designed for 10m AP is better than nothing and you can use them to train if you have nothing else, but a pistol with a good two stage trigger and full sights adjustment is what will really help you and immediately raise your scores.

An issue I've noticed with a lot of the plinking pistols and carabines is that they don't shoot with the same pressure every shot because they lack a regulator and the pellets keep going lower and lower as your shoot.

As you have caught the competition bug can I suggest a way of short-circuiting your problems - join a club that shoots air at 10m, they will have club guns too so you can experience what real target pistols are capable of. What you will also glean from joining a club is how to shoot 10m as there is more to it than meets the eye. Postal comps. are very popular too in clubs and this will get you involved in competitive shooting early on. Off the top of my head there are 10m clubs at Ashford, Bexley, New Cross and Herne but there are others. Good luck

Forget all those crap APs. They will do nothing but hinder you.
You have a budget that will allow something very fine if you spend it right.

First: Pardini K58, Walther LPM1, FWB 65, 80, 90. A can of pellets and you're ready to
go...no additional expenses. Any are capable of World Class scores.

Second: CO2 guns, Pardini K60, Walther. Safe, large number of shots per fill, cheap, a bit problematic if you live in the Sahara.
Gas supply cheap, easy anywhere.

Third: Get sucked into the "must have" PCPs. You're on your own.

Rover above listed some side lever pistols for you, those FWBs. Might save you time vs hand pumping! Those might range from £400-£550.

New I think at a minimum you’d want a hammerli ap20. £600-700 region. Cheaper than others because of a plastic grip vs walnut and other cost savings. Good pistol though. You’ll have to pay for delivery to a RFD, for example a local gun shop and pick it up from there.

If you are lucky you can get a nice second hand pistol, I have bought many for shooters at my club. However, for some reason scam attempts are rife with air pistol sales and I would only recommend buying if you are meeting and paying in the spot. Too good to be true deals are always that.

If you're set on buying a gun, you can find used FWB 65's for as little as 250eur if you're lucky on egun. It's probably the cheapest match grade air pistol you can find, and I genuinely can't praise it enough. My personal first purchase was a FWB 100, which I think is not as good as the older 65, but it does dry fire, which is a great feature to have. The cheapest full length PCP gun you can buy new is the Hammerli AP20 - it's generally an under appreciated gun in my opinion.

What I would really recommend though, is to consider joining a club, and to try out a few before making the jump.