Looking for my first pistol but where?

trevcon wrote: »

Looking into Joining pistol club. Have a few guns in mind.
1 Berreta U22 Neos Mountain Eagle(6 inch barrel)
2 Smith & Wesson 22A (5.5 or 7 inch barrel)
3 Ruger MKIII 22LR (5.5 inch).

Does anyone know a dealer that carries any of the above guns and ships here.

Tried shoot.ie but no joy. List in order of preference.

Of the three the Ruger would be the best. The other two are plinkers. You won't find dealers stocking much in the way of pistols here, the law is structured in such a way that the dealer has to import for the customer.

You can always import yourself. What sort of competition do you wnat to take part in?

trevcon

A plinker would do me for now, just to get started. I have read good reviews on all three guns on gundirectory.com as starter guns.

As for competition I would decide that down the line and get something suitable then. For now I just want to get involved in the sport. Fired a Glock and Smith & Wesson 9mm and a Colt 45 on a range in the states a few years back while on holiday and loved it. Thought I'd never get the chance to do it here ( might result in divorce though, not at all pleased).

I prefer the Mountain Eagle, supposed to have great accuracy, reliability, easy to strip and clean and sells in states for around $300.

So does anyone know a good dealer that sells Beretta and delivers here?

trevcon wrote: »

A plinker would do me for now, just to get started. I have read good reviews on all three guns on gundirectory.com as starter guns.

I wouldn't consider those reviews as accurate. The Walther P22 got good reviews on it and it's a useless piece of ****. Starting with a plinker will teach you nothing. It's only when you have a gun that can shoot better than you that you learn anything.

As for competition I would decide that down the line and get something suitable then. For now I just want to get involved in the sport.

You have to have some idea of what you are going to take part in before you buy the tool required. Any other approach is going to cost you a lot of money and grief. Considering that there is such a small market out there, if you want to change your pistol you could be a long time waiting before anyone takes your old one, especially if it's not suitable for any serious target shooting. Remember that the only reason accepted by the Gardai for owning a pistol is to be a member of a target shooting club.

I prefer the Mountain Eagle, supposed to have great accuracy, reliability, easy to strip and clean and sells in states for around $300.

You should ask yourself why that pistol is so cheap and the Ruger so much more expensive. When you buy quality you only cry once

You have to be a member of a club before you can even apply for a licence. Your first step therefore should be to find a club near you, talk to them, find out what they do and tailor your purchase accordingly. There's no point in picking out a firearm only to find that it's no use for the club you are joining. You'll get plenty of good advice from the members and you'll also see what they are using.

The most popular .22's here are the CZ75 Kadet, Browning Buckmark and Hammerli X-Esse. All of these ar around the €500 mark and all are extremely good pistols.

Websites to check:

www.frankonia.de
www.triebel.de
You could also talk to Derek May: www.may-tec.com

MortgageMan

Hi Trevcon

Call Pat in Hilltop just outside Newtownmountkennedy, 01 2818025.

He can give you some good advice and has club guns that you may be able to try.

Best of luck.

E. Fudd

MortgageMan wrote: »

Hi Trevcon

Call Pat in Hilltop just outside Newtownmountkennedy, 01 2818025.

He can give you some good advice and has club guns that you may be able to try.

Best of luck.

rrpc wrote: »

Of the three the Ruger would be the best. The other two are plinkers. You won't find dealers stocking much in the way of pistols here, the law is structured in such a way that the dealer has to import for the customer.

You can always import yourself. What sort of competition do you wnat to take part in?

Saw some pretty healthy score's with a 22a last night, way beyond "plinking"

Kryten

sidneyreilly wrote: »

Saw some pretty healthy score's with a 22a last night, way beyond "plinking"

Seven inch barrell, I am not surprised. Seriously though good to see the lads practicing their asses off

MortgageMan

Were you in the toilet or on the range ? :rolleyes:

Kryten

MortgageMan wrote: »

Were you in the toilet or on the range ? :rolleyes:

Oh there goes the neighbourhood!!

:D:D

It's not the size but how you use it !!!!! ( are we still on topic)

;);)

trevcon

Thanks for the advice lads will contact hilltop.

rrpc wrote: »

Of the three the Ruger would be the best. The other two are plinkers.

Hmm.. I see the plinker came in 6th on sunday:rolleyes:

http://targetshootingireland.org/content/view/359/1/

:D:D

384 ex 600? That's definitely plinking range Sidney. International competition would see scores in the 580s and higher...

Sparks wrote: »

384 ex 600? That's definitely plinking range Sidney. International competition would see scores in the 580s and higher...

He only shot the discipline for the first time on Wednesday evening! So yesterday was 2nd time shooting it! Also should point out that Wednesday practice was shot at 20m not 25!

sidneyreilly wrote: »

Hmm.. I see the plinker came in 6th on sunday:rolleyes:

http://targetshootingireland.org/content/view/359/1/

:D:D

OK Sidney, read your PM before I read this thread.

Just to put that score in perspective in the National sense, and not running it down in any way at all but last years National Champion who couldn't make this years event scored a 536 with a 1987 Walther GSP.

The majority of competitors yesterday (not counting the Hilltop lads) have been shooting pistol on average less than three months.

Breaking 500 in that competition is a very difficult proposition. No-one bar the 2006 champion has done it in competition here yet.

But it's a challenge to be met

sidneyreilly wrote: »

He only shot the discipline for the first time on Wednesday evening! So yesterday was 2nd time shooting it! Also should point out that Wednesday practice was shot at 20m not 25!

And fourth place only picked up the pistol he was using for the first time on Thursday evening and fired sixty shots. Never shot pistol before.

But it was a good start and definitely should do more of it. The only thing is that eventually when everyone's on the same playing field, experience and training wise, the pistol may be a limiting factor.

Was it the 5.5" or 7" barrel version? I didn't get much of a look being very busy with RO duties.

Wasn't slagging him off or anything sidney, it's just that we're a long way behind the big boys due to our 30-year hiatus. It's important to know where you're standing in order to progress however! For example, in the most recent world championships, the winning score in this event was 577, but it has been higher...

And it's not something we can't reach quickly either, by the way. I just spent a week training with a chap from Trinidad who started air pistol last year. His current PB is 583...

rrpc wrote: »

And fourth place only picked up the pistol he was using for the first time on Thursday evening and fired sixty shots. Never shot pistol before.

Was it the 5.5" or 7" barrel version? .

Twas a 5inch barrel and fair play to fourth:D

Sparks, didnt think you were running anyone down just good to see progress:)

There is another competition we haven't run yet either. Normally it's done by men with the centre-fire pistol and with the .22 by women but we'd be limited to running it with the .22 only.

It's run in two stages: the first stage (precision) is 30 shots at the precision traget (same as the standard pistol) in 30 minutes divided into six five minute series and then 30 shots in the rapid stage on the rapid fire target with 3 seconds for each shot, again divided into six series.

It means a target change between the two stages, but on our system that would take less than five minutes.

We will probably run a couple of events in this early next year with a view to running a national championship twords the end of the year around the same time as the standard pistol championships.

rrpc wrote: »

There is another competition we haven't run yet either. Normally it's done by men with the centre-fire pistol and with the .22 by women but we'd be limited to running it with the .22 only.

It's run in two stages: the first stage (precision) is 30 shots at the precision traget (same as the standard pistol) in 30 minutes divided into six five minute series and then 30 shots in the rapid stage on the rapid fire target with 3 seconds for each shot, again divided into six series.

It means a target change between the two stages, but on our system that would take less than five minutes.

We will probably run a couple of events in this early next year with a view to running a national championship twords the end of the year around the same time as the standard pistol championships.

Could do two venues and hold centrefire in HSC, only thing is, what is the specification of the pistols? Does not sound like a job for the Glocks

Up to .38 in calibre (though it's .32 that the vast majority of entrants use) and there are size restrictions on the pistol as well Sidney; see the ISSF Pistol rules for further details in section 8.4.
The glocks could technically qualify, but are nowhere near accurate enough to be competitive.

Bananaman

I'm gonna have to have a go at this stuff - figure when the shakes wear off round the end of January I'll have to kick some ass at one'o'these opens.

Now - just gotta get me a plinker and a thunderbirds outfit.

:D
B'Man

sidneyreilly wrote: »

Could do two venues and hold centrefire in HSC, only thing is, what is the specification of the pistols? Does not sound like a job for the Glocks

A few lads in the North have centre fire pistols for this discipline, but no-one that I know of here has one. There's no problem shooting it with .22 anyway as it can be shot with both.

Er, are we confusing the 25m Pistol and the 25m Centre Fire Pistol events? (Centre Fire has to be from .30 to .38 calibre (ISSF rule 8.4.4.4) )

Sparks wrote: »

Er, are we confusing the 25m Pistol and the 25m Centre Fire Pistol events? (Centre Fire has to be from .30 to .38 calibre (ISSF rule 8.4.4.4) )

Not confusing them Sparks. They're the same course of fire on the same targets, just different calibres.

We're not overrun with cetre fire 25m ranges, so it's an acceptable compromise that lots of people use. In addition it's unisex

I know they're the same course of fire on the same targets rrpc, it's just that you can't mix and match the two!

Kryten

sidneyreilly wrote: »

Could do two venues and hold centrefire in HSC, only thing is, what is the specification of the pistols? Does not sound like a job for the Glocks

Great to see the interest in this growing (Looks like we've created a monster)

Sparks wrote: »

I know they're the same course of fire on the same targets rrpc, it's just that you can't mix and match the two!

Well if it makes you feel better, we'll all dress in drag and then it'll be OK.

I draw the line at having any surgery done though.