Thread: air pistols

I know nothing at all about air pistols, can someone please give me some advise about what is out there, what the relative advantages/disadvantages are? Can you get PCP pistols without a B licence?

I've had 30 years of intending to go try real pistol shooting, but still have not made it to the closest club (which is not very close at all). Now I'm wondering if I an air pistol to shoot those irritating sparrows that beat the chooks to their tucker might not be the way to go instead.

Ben buy one and try not very accurate I have found

the Crossman pump up okay pick of the mid range dont get CO2 expensive to run otherwise you are looking at very very expensive Weirauch

There are a few differnt types of Air pistol. Springer , CO2 and PCP. I wont comment on the PCP ones as I have had nothing to do with them apart from seeing a couple being used that were on par with a real pistol...(but also extremely expensive)

The CO2 ones use a small cartidge of CO2 and are usually .177 and replica look pistols. I had one and buying the CO2 gets old fast- usually only good for 30 shots or so. The springers are usually just a sbreak barrel though I have seen a few side cockers. Both of thos options would struggle to get over 400fps with normal 177 pellets so sparrows, blackbirds and starlings or the occasional rat would be as big as I would try with them. Accuracy would be about as good as effective range.

Pellets are cheap so practise is not going to cost much except time..... We used to seel the Baikal springer pistols (IZH53M) for around $149 so not an expensive outlay either. Though I do not know what is out there now-

gamo used to make a cheapish target pistol

@Mintie will be your man to chat about air pistols

Air arms Prosport in 177

It’s a rifle and will give you some range on the pesky birds

HB Pistol club in Onehunga Rd are great. Club night is 7pm on wednesday. Go along and try a few of the club pistols. I like the weirauch and the school students always start with these and some of the students regularly get terrific scores.

I think you will become quite disillusioned if you think you are going to dent the sparrow population with an air pistol.
Just use a shot gun and be done with it.

Hi Ben
Good hunting and cooking sparrow pie
i went down this Wabbit hole just for fun and over time bought a couple of 2250 Crossman s .177 & .22
i fitted butt stocks for easier aiming and suppressors .. the .22 i converted to PCP and used steel breaches in both models
the PCP wasnt much better than the co2 as the air tank was rather small .but you didnt have to worry about forgetting to remove the dead co2 bottle
they tend on some guns to freeze //corrode and get stuck ..
Cheers
both the .177 , .22 shoot well enough for ratting and sparrows and are very quiet with the cans fitted

Originally Posted by AR7

Hi Ben
Good hunting and cooking sparrow pie
i went down this Wabbit hole just for fun and over time bought a couple of 2250 Crossman s .177 & .22
i fitted butt stocks for easier aiming and suppressors .. the .22 i converted to PCP and used steel breaches in both models
the PCP wasnt much better than the co2 as the air tank was rather small .but you didnt have to worry about forgetting to remove the dead co2 bottle
they tend on some guns to freeze //corrode and get stuck ..
Cheers
both the .177 , .22 shoot well enough for ratting and sparrows and are very quiet with the cans fitted

How easy was it to convert to PCP?, I basically never use my 2250 because of the gas thing and I have a 1322 that obviates the need to pierce a gas cylinder. Not having to do 7-10 pumps between shots would be good though.

Hi Longshot
i ordered a couple of kits from Amazon USA while they still exported to N Z .Rather easy conversion .
There was also a mag fitting so you could do multi shots while not fumbling in the dark with big fingers
I do have a 4000 psi pump at home to help with the recharges .The 2250 is good fun but dosent have the legs of like the 22 cal. Airforce .
man thats a beast with its upgrades valve and long barrel .. You need to have a full lic to have a PCP
Cheers to all

If you want something for a bit of fun, a green gas powered blowback airsoft pistol is pretty hard to beat. 6mm plastic BB so won't kill anything (You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid ) but it does the actions of a semi auto pistol, eg slide movement and lock back on empty, a bit of noise, slight recoil etc, get a propane tank adapter and run them off colemans tanks from bunnings rather than the more expensive green gas tanks. Don't bother with a co2 powered 6mm BB if you can avoid them.

Decent .177 air pistols are quite hard to come by these days, Police won't give permits out for anything more than bulky single shot crosman type designs, or cheaper clear plastic semi's because "there is no legitimate reason for them". The days of the high quality Umarex replicas are long gone, and the second hand market has gone crazy as a result. I had thought about applying for an import permit to bring in a decent Umarex for myself, having a licence and endorsements (B & C) might help my cause, just haven't had much motivation to attempt it.

Hi Ben,

Have a couple here you are welcome to borrow for a few weeks to see how you go.

CO2 is a great power source for its size, but expensive if you shoot a lot. CO2 is self regulating but temp sensitive, best to use them in summer. Moderate power available with modifications and can be quiet with a suppressor.

PCP is great but you need to have all the filling gear to go with it. They are expensive to buy and setup and unless you add a reg they can have a shot curve that takes some time to get used to. Heaps of power potential in the bigger bores, I have heard of multiple Reds shot with them on private land. Also the only legal way to hunt game with a pistol in NZ.

Springers are hard to shoot accurately, they are generally lower quality and the recoil takes some getting used to, power is also pretty limited.

Single stroke pneumatics are easy to shoot accurately and generally pretty quiet, but lack power.

Multi pumps are pretty good for accuracy, price and reasonable power. They come in a few different styles, the under pump like the Crosman 1322 or the over pump like the Zoraki. The main disadvantage is the pumping between each shot.

i used to own a wairauch hw45, that was a stunning air pistol