No more knives for a while...

foxyrick

foxyrick

British Pork
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
2,254
...because I've just bought a rather nice rifle!

OK, so it's 'only' an air rifle; I can't get hold of the fun stuff most of you guys and girls get to play with on this side of the pond.

But, it's a pretty good one, and has the advantage of being almost silent with it's sound suppressor. It's an Airarms S410 - a precharged, magazine fed bolt action one, tuned barely below the legal (FAC) power limit. Looks gorgeous! I'll get some pics up when I pick it up tomorrow.

It's just the tool for taking small game around here. Not much use against bears and such of course, unless I use it as a club, but we don't see many of them on our hills anyway. Maybe the occasional angry badger...

Seriously, for 'quietly' getting meat for the pot, this is the way to go.

Just wanted to share - I'm real excited about getting this!

:D
 
pics? I'm interested in somewhat higher powered air rifles also.
 
Yes, pics, please!:D
I need an air rifle and have no flippin' idea what to get. I am being lazy though as I want to just find the best arigun at the best price without having to go through what I have gone through with flashlights.

Would be cool to see a few pics of targets!:thumbup:

Great survival topic. Not just "downed i the jungle" survival, but long-term type survival.
 
I agree, Jeff. I have an old BB gun, but am considering a .22 or a high powered air rifle. I am going to teach myself to get rabbits. I heard they taste like chicken.
 
Jeff H - visitor message sent.

Oh, and foxyrick, congrats on your new acquisition. I don't own an air gun myself, although I can see where they'd be a lot of fun (and useful, if you're hungry).

Doc
 
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I'm being dumb! Here's the pictures from the advert I just bought it from. Not pictured is the filling rig, including a SCUBA tank:

410001.jpg


410002.jpg
 
What is your power limit on those, anyway?

I have one that is good for roughly 20 foot-pounds (at the muzzle anyway!) but they have to be registered as a firearm here once they pass about 10 foot pounds. I'm approximating there as the lawmakers actually measure them in fps, and 495 is the limit for non-firearms.

Hilariously, if you could build an air gun that launched a 2 pound ball of lead at 495 fps, I don't think you'd be required to register it with anyone or have any sort of license. If you had one that drove a 7 grain pellet at 500 fps, you'd be breaking the law if you didn't have a permit.

Is there an area of law where people with actual knowledge of the subject draft the laws? Because man, knife and gun laws seem to all be designed by the same paper bag full of mentally deficient sea-cucumbers.

Anyway, that's a beautiful gun, much prettier than my Hatsan (a turkish gun sold in the US as a WInchester 1000x.) But the hatsan 55 does take a nice tune and performs very accurately and repeatably for two hundred bucks!

Furthermore, the only difference between the 495 and under model and the 1000 fps model is a spring...and springs can be imported, purchased and sold and owned with no paperwork at all. Just in case you all wondered!
 
any ideas where one would acquire such a spring, I'm thinking about building a...er... a pair of bouncy heal shoes... yeah that's it, and I think a 1000 fps capable spring would work wonders...
 
[appreciative whistle] :thumbup:

That's a great looking air rifle. Happy plinking!

I used to shoot air rifle competitively back in the day, and I had a nice Tau Brno. I really regret selling it.

All the best,

- Mike
 
MorkalebKN said:
any ideas where one would acquire such a spring, I'm thinking about building a...er... a pair of bouncy heal shoes... yeah that's it, and I think a 1000 fps capable spring would work wonders...
Click to expand...

Let me see if I can track down a current supplier! Should be able to find out by mid week, I think.
 
Very nice. I'm out of touch with air rifles now but I've owned quite a few. I did own a couple of Airarms back in the old Sussex Armoury days. The first one, the Jackal, was a horrible thing. It was reasonably powerful and accurate but it was a pseudo military thing in synthetic. The hollow nature of the furniture made for a great deal of noise both when using the side lever and through vibration down into the cheek when firing. I remember trying to damp it by filling it with foam. The second one was much better but I can't recall what that was now. Just as they started getting their act together and producing proper sporting rifles I was beginning my immersion into Weirauchs. By the time I'd quit playing with those Airarms had really become a major player. I do give them an affectionate fondle if I have enough time and the shop isn't too busy in Brighton. I might get back into them again one day. I think they're great fun for rabbit, rat, pigeon etc.
 
THAT is a gorgeous rifle!! congrats on a way cool purchase! I've been wanting a precharged air rifle for awhile myself. (probably an Air Force Condor, which is FUGLY compared to yours, but hopefully still effective)

Have fun, and let us know how she shoots!
 
Air Rifles are cool as hell. Cheap to shoot, no recoil or loud noise to bother people, just as much fun for me to shoot as reg guns. I only have an air pistol right now but have had a lot of rifles in the past.

That one looks PRIMO:thumbup:
 
I also had a fancy for airguns, I currently have a Deserteagle C02, and a slavia 631. that is a stunning rifle, puts shame to the title tack diver, more like a needle diver!:D

I actually used to carry a .22 caliber crosman airpistol. It was nice when I was winter camping, I could go out and get a few partridge or rabbit with it, its was a fun little gun.

And like misanthropist, I dont get it, .22 at 495..... is that not more powerful than a .177 going at 495??:rolleyes: oh my canada, I love ya but man........
 
Really nice looking gun. How fast does it shoot?

I have a Chinese made Tech Force® 97

.177 air gun in the camper. It shoots 900 fps. Its a surprisingly accurate gun. It can be seen at compasseco.com
 
It's great to see so much enthusiasm for air rifles. I've been out playing with it for an hour, and I'm well impressed.

Power (in the UK)... As a few have mentioned, the limit for an air rifle here is 12ft/lb (16 joules). Not much, but plenty to take rabbits at around 40 yards or so I'm told. More than 12ft/lb and it becomes a 'firearm' requiring an firearms certificate (not an easy or cheap task to get here).

The Bisley Magnum 21 grain 0.22" pellets come out at about 500fps - that's pretty much on the legal limit. This rifle is unusual (for non-FAC rifles) in that the power can be turned up with a set screw to around 24ft/lbs. But that would be illegal of course :rolleyes: That would get the pellets up to about 700fps or so, assuming the barrel is long enough to transfer all the energy. The longer 'classic' version (mine's the carbine) can reach a bit higher than that, and there's a higher-power FAC-only version.

Accuracy is really good. At about 20 yards (the length of my garden) I was able to group pellets into 1.5" circle almost immediately, shooting from a standing position. Not bad considering I've not shot anything for about 15 years. I think it says more about the rifle than me; it was quite easy to get that grouping. Just the odd flier when I didn't control my breathing and quite a lot of shots through the same hole as previous one! One even managed to go though the target (pinned on two layers of corrugated cardboard about 1/2" in front of the backstop), take a 1/2" chunk out of the chipboard backstop, bounce back through the hole tearing it a bit wider, and hit me on the ankle!

The 'scope is a Dowling & Rowe 4-12 x 56 MIL-dot with a flip-up amber cover. With the cover down, it reduces glare and improves contrast, I think. Brilliant, bright view; I just used it at 4x. It also has a parallax adjustment to focus the cross hairs, giving a distance reading on the scale.

The trigger is a true two-stage; it's adjusted perfectly for me - sensitive and crisp. The rifle really is a pleasure to shoot.

Filling the cylinder is done from a 207 bar diving bottle with a filling adapter tube. It connects to the end of the cylinder (under the barrel, the end cap unscrews) and the cylinder can take 190bar. This gives enough for about 60 full-power shots.

Pellets are loaded into a 10-shot rotary magazine that slots into the left-side, just under the 'scope. With that fitted and the cylinder charged, pellets can be put downrange as fast as you can work the bolt.

Now I just need to find a friendly farmer with too many rabbits!
 
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