starting shooting

timmah

hey all, i want to start target shooting, and was wondering would it be better to start with an air rifle or a .22

i just want to start target shooting, personally i dont like the idea of killing animals (you can call me a wuss lol)

also anyone got aproximate costs for a decent starter air rifle/ .22

and finally, whats the costs to keep these things in ammunition?!

thanks in advance

It wasn't me!

Welcome to the sport. Whereabouts are you based? That'll determine your available facilities and likely expenditure.

timmah

im in athlone, money is pretty darn tight for me, so dont want to be going into the towns only one gunshop and annoying them until i have an approximate idea of when il be able to afford my equipment to start. i know theres a few rifle ranges in the area and that and mr gunshop man will be able to help. just need approximate costs really!!

It wasn't me!

timmah wrote: »

im in athlone, money is pretty darn tight for me, so dont want to be going into the towns only one gunshop and annoying them until i have an approximate idea of when il be able to afford my equipment to start. i know theres a few rifle ranges in the area and that and mr gunshop man will be able to help. just need approximate costs really!!

Fantastic. You're not far from Wilkinstown, outside Navan. The best place in the country to learn airgun, in my opinion. They also have club guns and equipment, so you can delay your financial outlay until you've got some experience and know what you want. It's a pricey arena, and it's nice to be able to use club gear and accumulate your own piece by piece, as you get cash.

timmah

thats cool to know! so i wont need a licence to use the club guns i assume, just pay for membership?!

also do you think yourself that airgun is a better way to go than .22?

It wasn't me!

timmah wrote: »

thats cool to know! so i wont need a licence to use the club guns i assume, just pay for membership?!

also do you think yourself that airgun is a better way to go than .22?

No licence required for the time being. There may be something in these new training licences, but if there is, the people in charge will let you know.

Airgun teaches you the fundamentals of shooting with less to think about than smallbore. A lot of people think it's enough challenge on its own. Sparks, the moderator here, shoots in Wilkinstown and he's tried a pile of different things, but reckons the 10m air rifle is where he wants to be. Having learned on it, if you want to move on to 50m prone or three position or even 300m, you'll have a great foundation built up.

timmah

cool to know man

and just saying i wanted to buy either a smallbore or an air rifle, what costs we then looking at?

It wasn't me!

timmah wrote: »

cool to know man

and just saying i wanted to buy either a smallbore or an air rifle, what costs we then looking at?

Personally if I were you I'd use club kit until you're hitting solid scores, then try pick up a deal on a second-hand quality pre-compressed rifle. With a spot of luck, you'll probably get one for about a grand. For a smallbore, probably less, but about the same will get you a great rifle. Club kit will do you a long time though, and I'd save the money and buy jacket and trousers first if I were you. Count yourself lucky though, someday I'm going to sell a kidney and buy a smallbore and a 300m fullbore from Bleiker in Switzerland. Guts of ten grand for the pair. Wouldn't do it if it weren't fun though, so good luck.

Sparks

It wasn't me! wrote: »

No licence required for the time being. There may be something in these new training licences, but if there is, the people in charge will let you know.

No need in this case - pretty much all the juniors in Wilkinstown start off using club guns and don't get round to getting their own for years, often well after they start winning matches.

Airgun teaches you the fundamentals of shooting with less to think about than smallbore. A lot of people think it's enough challenge on its own. Sparks, the moderator here, shoots in Wilkinstown and he's tried a pile of different things, but reckons the 10m air rifle is where he wants to be.

Pretty much, at least for now. Which surprised me, actually - I started my shooting doing 25yd prone smallbore rifle shooting. I still get a kick out of smallbore and the .303's a whole bowl of fun, and if I ever develop a stronger shoulder Palma .308 shooting strikes me as a challange... but day to day, I still think of 10m as being "shooting".

timmah, if you've never shot before, Geoff runs a course out here for total beginners (see the club website for details), that's about the best way I can think of to learn (Geoff's an ISSF Class C coach with more coaching time under his belt than, well, quite a lot of people He's coached pretty much all of the national champions in air rifle over the last decade and most of the shooters who've shot abroad for Ireland in rifle matches). But why not just call over and say hi and take a look around first? I've sent you Geoff's phone number by PM, give him a shout tomorrow and have a chat with him.

Sparks

It wasn't me! wrote: »

With a spot of luck, you'll probably get one for about a grand.

Well, there are better deals on eGun.de, FWB600 series rifles for €250-350 for example. Precompressed air rifles do run to more, but you see examples of things like the FWB P70 for €500 and up (and the P70 remains to my mind one of the best precompressed air rifles ever made).

But with personal imports being banned...

It wasn't me!

Sparks wrote: »

Well, there are better deals on eGun.de, FWB600 series rifles for €250-350 for example. Precompressed air rifles do run to more, but you see examples of things like the FWB P70 for €500 and up (and the P70 remains to my mind one of the best precompressed air rifles ever made).

But with personal imports being banned...

Yeah, have seen quite a few nice P70's going alright. Only downside is the lack of a dry-fire mechanism really.

As to importation, I can think of a friendly dealer or two who'd be amenable to helping out.

Sparks

The whole point of the personal import ban though is directly aimed at sites like egun.de Finding a workable way round that is tough. Especially since you'd have to be checking the site every few days looking for the right bargain. (Not to mention that if it works, it makes a mockery of the law...)

daveob007

A good airgun can be a bit pricey for one of pre charged ones but a single shot break barrell wont cost a fortune.
A .22 rimfire is cheap enough a few hundred for decent one new.
Try scully guns and tackle,i heard from a friend down here that he is one of the best.
Also .22 ammo starts at about 4 euros for 50 rounds and goes all the way up for competition grade ammo.
Air rifle ammo is very cheap and some of the best competition class pellets only cost around 10-15 euro for 500.
Go to the club and try out both before you decide.