If you were to buy only 1 air rifle ...

Falcon Ti or a Venom HW80 or a Theoben Elan or a RW 500 or a Webley Tracker Deluxe (gas struted) or a Webley Spectre (FX) or a Air Arms Pro Sport all in .22

Choice is a challenge!

Candocad.
 
HW97, or a HW77 if you want irons.
Replacement springs and seals are readily available and generally last a long time.
Get it in .177 , pellets are cheaper, and come in more variety than any other caliber.(so you can practice,practice practice)
If you want an equal performance, but prettier(wood/metal) rifle get the TX 200.
 
98/29 said:
If you were to buy only 1 air rifle ... What would you buy?

I want to buy an air rifle and in the past few days I've realized that the choices are nearly as unlimited as fire arms. So I have a $1000 budget and PAL. With those two in mind, what would you buy if you were to only buy 1 rifle?

I've looked at a few to give you an idea: Benjamin Marauder, FX T12 and Weihrauch 97K. I like all 3 but I am open to any other suggestions you might have.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I was in the same boat two years ago. Decided I wanted an accurate, premium quality, relatively compact, medium-powered, fixed barrel, underlever springer air rifle that I would be happy to shoot and own, that would last a lifetime or two.

Found only 3 brands had rifles (more or less) within my parameters. Diana had the 460 Magnum which was too long and too powerful. Air Arms had the TX200 and HW the 97K. Since long lived was one of my requirements, I picked the HW97K with synthetic stock in .177 and STL (nickel) finish, which DLairguns had available.

When it arrived, I liked it so much and decided to find out what DLairguns had in .22. Luckily they had one last HW97K STL .22 in blue laminate stock.

Still learning to shoot these two using artillery hold but I am satisfied, perhaps get spring kits for them in the near future.
 
Mr.Rigpig said:
Nice!
Click to expand...

Thanks, here is my Condor changed from the .25 barrel to a more compact cheaper to shoot .22 barrel config, however .22 does not carry out to 100 yards with the same thump on gophers.



We have quite a few Condors from .22 to 9mm in our local club now.


I had a really nice .22 Webley Patriot but man did that violent spring recoil beat on my scope, I could not achieve the same level of accuracy as I can with PCP.

Didn't shoot my Condor much this due to using my powderburners, and the air tank developed a slow leak. Instead of sending the airtank back to Airforce for the lifetime warranty repair, I opted to just replace the oring with a spare I had. Only took 10 mins, that is why I prefer this simple design.

And yeah I know the sunshade is a bit much. :)
 
Last edited:
I have an HW95 in .22 which ive shot for 10 years. For me its all i need. Due to the short barrel its a light well balanced rifle which i find perfect for plinking. To take advantage of the weight i installed a compact scope. Accuracy is very good and the quality is top notch! As for small game ive taken grackels with it up to 40 yrds with my little 4x scope.
Sure ive got a couple other air rifles but my 95 is really all i shoot with.
Here is a shot of mine
https://i.imgur.com/DCT6A0w.png
-HW95
-Early Beeman R9 stock
-Beeman muzzle tip
-Vortex spring kit
-Tasco bantam 4x scope

Given your choices i would go with the HW97.
Personally i considered higher priced springers but for me the 95 is good enough for my shooting ability. I also looked into HPA but i already have rimfires if i need more power without dealing with a tank/compressor.


Edit......just looking through the pages i already posted a while back but forgot. Still stand by my position

So to the OP......what did you buy?
 
Last edited:
I'm not a springer guy, got pretty frustrated with them until I bought my first PCP. I bought a used Hammerli Pneuma in .22, which is the same as the previously mentioned Hatsan AT44s. Did a few minor mods on it, and got it shooting at 830 fps for good shot strings. Managed to get it very accurate, and it downed plenty of small game. Easy to fill with a hand pump as well. I'd say my best achievement with it was a starling head shot at 67 yards.

I've shot a pretty ridiculous number of fine air rifles. After all that, I went and bought my end game rifle, the FX Streamline. For the price, it just can't be beat. I have done a review on it here, and my opinion on it has only improved after putting about 1500 - 2000 down the barrel. It is truly a match grade worthy rifle at a price that is disproportionate to its capability. They're back in stock at AGS now, too!

For the first time in years, I barely pay attention to new airguns coming out, or drool over guns at our Canadian distributors. It's just that good. I recommend .22 if you're going for one.
 
Barfman said:
I'm not a springer guy, got pretty frustrated with them until I bought my first PCP. I bought a used Hammerli Pneuma in .22, which is the same as the previously mentioned Hatsan AT44s. Did a few minor mods on it, and got it shooting at 830 fps for good shot strings. Managed to get it very accurate, and it downed plenty of small game. Easy to fill with a hand pump as well. I'd say my best achievement with it was a starling head shot at 67 yards.

I've shot a pretty ridiculous number of fine air rifles. After all that, I went and bought my end game rifle, the FX Streamline. For the price, it just can't be beat. I have done a review on it here, and my opinion on it has only improved after putting about 1500 - 2000 down the barrel. It is truly a match grade worthy rifle at a price that is disproportionate to its capability. They're back in stock at AGS now, too!

For the first time in years, I barely pay attention to new airguns coming out, or drool over guns at our Canadian distributors. It's just that good. I recommend .22 if you're going for one.
Click to expand...

I like the way you think.
 
@op; someone just posted a HW97 in the ee.
Don't know much about them so can't tell if it's a decent deal.

By the way; very happy with my (older version) Diana 34 and 35.
 
HW97 or Tx200. If I could only have one air rifle it wouldn't be a pcp- too much "extra stuff". If you are hunting it would be a .22, otherwise .177. PCPs have their place but I'd keep my HW97 if I had to get rid of the rest of them. Use the rest plus some extra for some nice glass.

If you invest in the full PCP experience (refill tank, hand pump, maybe a compressor) you would be pushing your budget but really is a special place to be...

BTW- I would never get rid of my PCPs- this is all just theoretical!
 
I was into springer guns for decades; still love them, and my "one gun" would probably be my .22cal HW 97K.

PCP's are easier to shoot, easier to scope, easier to build as repeaters...but I've lost interest and moved away from them. I've retired to a home that is simply too far away from anywhere that I can easily re-fill a scuba tank, and manual pumping is not an option anymore (refer to the term "retired").

So, if SHTF is a consideration...well, you'd better hope that some of the zombies were originally either scuba divers or maybe firefighters with access to high-pressure air. Otherwise...who you gonna call?

A quality springer, with even the simplest and most minimal DIY maintenance, will last for the rest of your life and continue to provide reliable shooting; something to keep in mind.
 
Because of the stupid no suppressor rules in Canada, I would buy the best 22 air rifle you could buy that sends its projectiles at about 1000 fps (the speed of sound being 1125 fps).

As soon as you go supersonic you're making your shots far louder, and practically all 177 air rifles are above that.

With a 22 projectile at 1000 fps, you're still destroying anything inside of 50m with point of aim/point of impact accuracy, which is all you need in an air rifle.
 
Hmmm, this is tough. I've got HW97KT's in .177 and .22 as well as an HW100T in .22. They're all accurate, the 100 has the edge due to the fact it's like shooting a CF or RF rifle. The 100 is a repeater and hits a fair bit harder than my 97's....32Ft-Lbs vs 16Ft-Lbs (.22). If I'm going to walk around the property and shoot at random placed targets, I'll take a 97 as I am not tied to a bottle. I need to refill the 100 after two 14 round magazines, which isn't much shooting. I bit the bullet and bought a large air tank and a shoebox compressor. The first weekend with the PCP and the Hill pump, I thought I was going to die, my back did not like that action.

I'd have to say the HW100T would be the keeper......power, follow up shots, accuracy.
I just went back to the first post and see I blew the budget by a fair amount. I'd go with the 97 in that case. I like the fixed barrel and underlever compared to a break barrel, better inherent accuracy.
 
Just for your simplicity, I would just stay with a spring piston. One crank, one shot. No pumping, no scuba tanks, no CO2, etc.
My next air rifle down the road, I’m looking at a Weihrauch HW80 in 22 cal. It’s one of the more powerful springers by Weihrauch. I have a HW45 pistol and it’s very nice. Cheap and fun to shoot.
Almost any Weihrauch is a good choice
 
I just picked up an AA Pro Sport in .177 from Tikka 2 yesterday, this is my '1' air rifle to replace a Diana model 34 that burned up in my house. Sadly my Diana Model 54 was rebirthed as a powder burner. However, I can't comment on the Pro Sport yet, the other two are excellent pellet rifles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom