I have been shooting now only 2 weeks. My groupings were not that good and I was not really improving with the club pistols (no surprise really I had only started 2 weeks ago). The club pistols would have been absolutely fine and and are certainly capable of outshooting me for quite a long time, however as a newbie, the more practice the better. I am not able to put enough time in to practice at the local club as it is only open 2 hrs a day, although that is 4 days a week (one of those being Sunday am). I can however usually make 1-2 days a week (if I am lucky). I know everyone seems to say don't buy until you have used the club stuff for a while, but I had spare cash that I would have wasted otherwise.
I therefore decided to get myself a cheap pistol to practice with in the garden until my old man could source from Europe a cheap enough Steyr LP10 from one of his gun club buddies. They are cheaper over there 2nd hand and so I would not lose money if I do not get on with it, in fact I may even make a profit.
I was looking for something brand new at up to £300 max, but preferably closer to £250. This would be purchased using the refund on a 8 month old Tablet that was faulty. I am great at justifying things and my justification was that I was not going to buy another tablet and therefore it was free money i.e. already spent. Also if the tablet had been a few months older I would not have got the refund and just had a faulty tablet that the manufacturer was unable to fix under warranty even after 2 attempts. With a cast iron justification I did not mind spending this on a pistol even if it turned out to be unsuitable. It would retain its value far more than if I had gotten a replacement tablet that I really did not need (I have 2 others already).
Friday am, I picked it up.
In Budget - Yes
New - Definitely not.
Instead of the stuff I was looking at (HW40, Gamo Compact etc), I ended up with a 1972 Hammerli Master (a little older than me and in much better condition).
I went over to my mums and had a few shots in her Garage as I do not have a garage (it was raining) and it shot very well.
It is so simple and easy to load, but I only get about 60 shots from a 12g co2 cartridge. They are not known for using co2 sparingly.
As I had the day off work, I managed to get to the club for 6pm and took it with me.
Bear in mind I am still new to this and now also new to the gun, I started off with shots all over the target at 10m, however they were all just about on even if they did not score and I was impressed that by the end of the session my shots were all in the black, so the grouping had gotten considerably smaller.
As the weeks go on and I practice in the garden (or at my mums if weather is bad) and at the club, I can see that grouping getting much smaller and me getting somewhere near competent.
As I like this gun so much, the purchase of a Steyr is being put off for a while (unless an offer I cannot refuse comes along).
Dave
I therefore decided to get myself a cheap pistol to practice with in the garden until my old man could source from Europe a cheap enough Steyr LP10 from one of his gun club buddies. They are cheaper over there 2nd hand and so I would not lose money if I do not get on with it, in fact I may even make a profit.
I was looking for something brand new at up to £300 max, but preferably closer to £250. This would be purchased using the refund on a 8 month old Tablet that was faulty. I am great at justifying things and my justification was that I was not going to buy another tablet and therefore it was free money i.e. already spent. Also if the tablet had been a few months older I would not have got the refund and just had a faulty tablet that the manufacturer was unable to fix under warranty even after 2 attempts. With a cast iron justification I did not mind spending this on a pistol even if it turned out to be unsuitable. It would retain its value far more than if I had gotten a replacement tablet that I really did not need (I have 2 others already).
Friday am, I picked it up.
In Budget - Yes
New - Definitely not.
Instead of the stuff I was looking at (HW40, Gamo Compact etc), I ended up with a 1972 Hammerli Master (a little older than me and in much better condition).
I went over to my mums and had a few shots in her Garage as I do not have a garage (it was raining) and it shot very well.
It is so simple and easy to load, but I only get about 60 shots from a 12g co2 cartridge. They are not known for using co2 sparingly.
As I had the day off work, I managed to get to the club for 6pm and took it with me.
Bear in mind I am still new to this and now also new to the gun, I started off with shots all over the target at 10m, however they were all just about on even if they did not score and I was impressed that by the end of the session my shots were all in the black, so the grouping had gotten considerably smaller.
As the weeks go on and I practice in the garden (or at my mums if weather is bad) and at the club, I can see that grouping getting much smaller and me getting somewhere near competent.
As I like this gun so much, the purchase of a Steyr is being put off for a while (unless an offer I cannot refuse comes along).
Dave