Laws and Licences on Guns in UK.

[tigs]

i have found that air pistols that are gun replicas are not that accurate or powerful , others might disagree but its just my opinion!

[unsure]

i think your right about acuracy , i have a crossman3576 and its good for back garden plinking and as a finisher , but thats about it .if you can find one a good choice is the bsa scorpion ,an oldy but a goody and bit on the heavy side for carrying around for long periods .

[mrboom]

i have found that air pistols that are gun replicas are not that accurate or powerful , others might disagree but its just my opinion!

Im glad I found this out before i went out and bought 1. I was looking at either a Beretta or a Desert Eagle replica air pistol. I was planning on using it as just as a finisher. I think an inaccurate gun is a useless gun. You want to be hitting the target your aiming at. I have quite big hands so i do not want to get something small and pathetic. lol. Id prefer something chunky which also has a bit of weight to it.

[unsure]

i have found that air pistols that are gun replicas are not that accurate or powerful , others might disagree but its just my opinion!

Im glad I found this out before i went out and bought 1. I was looking at either a Beretta or a Desert Eagle replica air pistol. I was planning on using it as just as a finisher. I think an inaccurate gun is a useless gun. You want to be hitting the target your aiming at. I have quite big hands so i do not want to get something small and pathetic. lol. Id prefer something chunky which also has a bit of weight to it.

have a look round for a scorpion pistol , like i said a b it on the heavy side . but they are big and acurate .

[mrboom]

have a look round for a scorpion pistol , like i said a bit on the heavy side . but they are big and acurate .

Strange looking Pistol. Seems to have some mixed reviews. Im not buying just yet so il carry on looking around. But i will defo keep it on my list in case ii'm unable to find anything better. Thanks. http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews4522.html

[jansman]

Air rifles are a damned useful piece of kit- even the cheap Chinese underlevers. You can really knock some game down, I know as I made serious money when the kids were small and we were skint. I supplied many folks with allsorts using that old Original 45.
However,regarding air pistols, unless it is just target shooting ,forget it!
Learn to use a catapult instead.

[Dr_zoidberg]

I couldn't recommend Weihrauch more. I've got a HW 97KT (with a synthetic stock) a little pricey but i figure it will last me ages and serve me well. From what I know you could pay hundreds of pounds for a more expensive brand like a Theoben or Daystate and not get performance as good as a Weihrauch. And you can still further improve them by getting them tuned.

I'd stay away from PCP (pre-charged pneumatic) they require refilling which might not be possible if TSHTF. Even if you keep a bottle to refill I doubt you could store enough compressed air to be safe.

If you want an air pistol, the CO2 powered pistols will be of little use for hunting. Most have a power of 1.5ft/lbs. If you've got the money to spend I'd recommend the Webley Alecto. http://www.gunmart.net/gun_review/webley_alecto1/ Its quite an expensive target shooting pistol. But its a multi stroke pneumatic which can fire at 6ft/lbs in .22 and its a pneumatic so its quite accurate for pest control and deadly. A friend of mine had one. It was incredible to shoot. I was shooting rifle distances at targets but with a pistol.

I have a Weihrauch pistol. The HW40 in .177. I've been quite impressed with it. It also incorporates gas ram technology so it has very little recoil. I've gotten rats with it and used it for finishing the odd pigeon that miraculously doesn't seem to die. http://www.wonderlandmodels.com/product ... ir-pistol/

[JohnRio]

Another vote for Weirauch. I've owned my HW95 (.22) for ten years now. Taught myself to shoot with it*. At about 15yards I regularly shoot 10p / 50p sized groups. Terrific air rifle. A tad heavy, but that's the quality build.

(*On a visit to a relative on the other side of the Atlantic I discovered that my training with air rifle translated nicely to hitting a coke can at 100yards with a .22mag lever action & red dot sight. )

I had cause to put down a rat in a trap** with my HW95 just the other night. Ok, it was probably only five feet from muzzle to rat, but in the dark with only a headlamp to illuminate the open sights, from standing, I was able to put it out of its misery quickly with one clean mercy shot. Much as I want rid of rats, I've no wish to see any animal suffer.

(**It was a small rat, somehow it had got caught sideways, close to the trap hinge, across it's hips, and was struggling. Very odd. The last two rats caught in that same trap were clean kills straight across the neck/back.)


I also got a bargain (close to new 2nd hand only £150) on the HW45 (also .22) pistol a couple of months ago. It is a terrific pistol trainer if you're interested in learning the various stances for pistol. The HW45 is definitely a big chunk of airgun and is certainly powerful and accurate enough to use as a finisher for small game & pests. At six feet I can usually hit a 10p size target, and again at six feet it will put a pellet right through the bottom of a stainless steel tuna can.
With practice, I reckon it'll serve that function out to about 12 feet.

I didn't use the air pistol on that rat because I'm still not 100% comfortable with it after a few months vs. the air rifle I've had for a decade. Also, it did occur to me that if, against all the odds, someone saw me in the dark, in my own backyard putting down a rat and called the cops "Arrrghmanwithagun!" that while the HW95 looks like any other air rifle, the HW45's barrel does look an awful lot like the Desert Eagle pistol (altho' the grip = the 1911 .45). So, if worst case occurred and armed plod appeared, I thought they'd be more inclined to ask questions first if someone had reported use of a rifle vs. a pistol.
Of course, quiet as the air rifle is, and dark as it was, with just one shot - no-one noticed, so no problem

I sold my Walther CP88 CO2 pistol years ago. Great fun, a super plinker, but not powerful enough or accurate enough to be a finisher. Not to mention the drop off in power when firing quickly, due to the CO2 cartridge cooling down.

All of the above mentioned are British legal sub-12ft lb for air rifle and sub-6ft lb for air pistol.

[nik04]

hw77 in .177 My reasoning is it has open sights and a dovtail rail for scope, spring powered so just cock it and go, german made it will last, designed for FT shooters so accurate as *#?$ .177 pellets have a flat trajectory so shot placement is easier over a variety of ranges also more pellets less space. The hw77 will cost a bit more than the chiwaneese rifles but will last you a good many years. Just my opinion

[bigdan]

OK so I have been thinking about getting an air rifle or a shotgun. What are the laws and licences in the UK. And what would I be required to do to be able to gain these. I would love to be able to go hunting in the wild for my own meat. Any help would be much appreciated.

i was once shot in the back with a bsa scorpion !!! i was 17yrs old and larking around with a friend who got me from 15yds and even through my donkey jacket ,it still felt like id been hit with a hammer !! i wouldnt use an air pistol as a finisher, you would be better off fashioning a priest from a short length of hardwood , and much cheaper too. i have decided to add an air rifle to my collection , ive owned and used many different types over the years but drifted away from them when i got my first .22 rimfire. i definately think id find a use for one post shtf . particularly for rabbits and pigeons. and mrboom if your ever on the sussex coast drop me a line and you can come over and try several different types of guns before you buy.