Air Pistols

[ovenpaa]

Despite having shot 9mm and .38 pistol on and off for many years I have never been a real fan, they are noisy spiteful things and the people who shot them were often not much better...

The great pandemic of 2020 has meant ranges access was a non starter so we have been keeping ourselves busy shooting postal bell target competitions, I shoot a springer from the 70's and the Viking a modern PCP and I think we have both improved over the last 8 weeks. Our bell target postal league has four classes and one of them is .177 pistol so we acquired a couple of fairly average target pistols, one a single stroke pneumatic Gamo Compact and the other an Original Model 6 Match (A GISS type springer) This afternoon I zeroed both pistols for 6 yards, machined a longer sear adjustment screw for the Gamo and started shooting and I must admit, it is great fun. Shooting at a leisurely pace, no noise and I actually had to wander off to the other end of the range (18 feet) a few times to reset the bell.

One thing I have discovered is my eyes are s*** for pistol sights, this is why I prefer the P14 rifle and have a Central peep sight on my SMLE, however if I shoot right handed, left eyed I can actually Hit things (I wear a contact in my left eye)

So... do we have any air pistol shooters on the forum?

[Pete]

I have one of these: https://airgun-explorer.tumblr.com/post ... czech-made
I use it in the garden occasionally, and I've also tried it at 25yds............the drop on a warm day between 10 and 25m was around 35cm.
MV is around 490 fps. The sparklets type canisters give around 30-40 shots..................good fun. I can also shoot 6m in the garage.

Pete

[Pete]

Here's a better description:
http://www.vzduchovka.cz/katalogy/Aeron-B96-en.pdf

Pete

[FredB]

Pistol shooting was one of the few sports in which your competitor on the range would give you advice and help you to reach a standard with which you could beat him. I did it for 30 years as competitor, range officer and match organizer: hence, I strongly resent ovenpaas comments. Pistol shooting was the best game of all. We used to say that pistol shooting was not a sport but a religion. I still shoot black powder pistol competitively and, to get back on thread, my practise air pistol is a Walther LP2 single stroke pneumatic.
Fred

[Racalman]

This is my garden toy:

https://www.mcavoyguns.co.uk/contents/e ... istol.html

[Whizzbang]

Like you, Ovenpaa, the lockdown led me to look for other ways of getting my target shooting fix.

I entered the "Corona AirgunnWorld Championship" (tongue-in-cheek name) on Facebook.

It has weekly 10m rifle (various classes) and Pistol (various classes).

Initially, I only entered one class, as I only had one air rifle. I soon wanted an additional challenge so bought an air pistol, shooting it in "open" and "irons".

Fantastic fun and so accessible.

Did a few videos plinking in the garden.

Edit: can't seem to embed video, apologies.

https://youtu.be/6YeHrhMBZk0

[youtube]https://youtu.be/6YeHrhMBZk0[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/sCeQR6JJnSk

[youtube]https://youtu.be/sCeQR6JJnSk[/youtube]

[daman]

I have several - C02, Spring and pneumatic. I'm far from good enough for competitions but enjoy plinking at the club at 10m.

My favorites would be the Weihrauch HW45 which is an excellent Springer but takes some effort to master, and an Umarex CP99 CO2 which is a lovely little thing.

-daman

[1066]

I'm also an old time pistol shooter - although I had play at all the disciplines I was more into the precision UIT type shooting. Over the years I have continued with a bit of muzzle loading and recently (last year or so) been doing some 10m air pistol.

I have a Morini 162 electronic trigger, Walther CP2 (Co2), Brno 96 (5 shot Co2), Original 6M, Walther LP53, Hammerli single six and sundry others.

I think precision pistol shooting is a bit like golf - always trying to beat your own score.

[ovenpaa]

Pistol shooting was one of the few sports in which your competitor on the range would give you advice and help you to reach a standard with which you could beat him. I did it for 30 years as competitor, range officer and match organizer: hence, I strongly resent ovenpaas comments. Pistol shooting was the best game of all. We used to say that pistol shooting was not a sport but a religion.

I meant no offence Fred, I just said it as I found it. I started shooting pistol properly in the 90's in Derbyshire where people seemed more interested in food and pool than shooting. Moving to Bedfordshire, certainly at the clubs I shot at the people were downright rude. I could go days without a single person speaking to me. For me at least, shooting centre fire rifle at long distances was a whole new world.

[Alpha1]

I started off shooting hand guns. I shot competitively and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I still shoot alongside some of my shooting buddies from the pistol days. I still have some of the trophies I won in the loft.
I never owned a rifle until after the hand gun ban.