Choosing your first air rifle

Three kinds of shooting cover most of what a newcomer does, and each asks something different of the rifle:

• Garden: paper targets at short range, with a safe backstop. Almost any accurate rifle will do, and a telescopic sight helps. Whether you may shoot at home depends on the law where you live.
• Field target: metal targets that fall when hit, 9 to 50 metres away, with any sight but a laser (WFTF Competition Rules, 2.3.1, 2.5.1 and 1.3). You want a rifle that takes a good telescopic sight.
• 10 m: paper targets such as the ISSF 10 m air rifle target, shot with aperture sights and no scope. It is the road to ISSF-style club competition, and it needs a target rifle.

Then ask how often, and where. If you shoot a club evening every week or two, the club’s rifle may carry you through the first season, and you buy later with better judgement. If you will train at home several times a week, owning matters sooner, and so does the kind of rifle: a PCP needs a pump, a compressor or a filled bottle, a spring rifle only pellets.

The cheapest way to avoid the wrong rifle is not to buy one yet. The UK’s National Small-bore Rifle Association (NSRA) tells beginners that most clubs keep a small amount of equipment for them, so nothing needs buying straight away. Ask a club near you whether it does the same.

A few sessions on a club rifle answer what no shop can: whether you like the sport, which kind of shooting it is, and what a rifle that fits feels like. Ask the regulars what they use; a club is also a good place to hear of a used rifle for sale.

Heading for a 10 m range? Then the rulebook settles part of the choice. In ISSF events:

Loading

Only single-shot rifles that must be loaded by hand before each shot.ISSF Rule Book, 7.4.1.1

Sights

No optical sight, optical system or telescope may be attached to the rifle.ISSF Rule Book, 7.4.1.6 a

Calibre

4.5 mm (.177), firing projectiles of lead or another soft material.ISSF Rule Book, 7.4.6

Those three, with a stock you can adjust, make a fair test of any rifle meant for 10 m. The Civilian Marksmanship Program in the United States lists the basic target features of a sporter air rifle, a light, low-cost target rifle: adjustable sights, an adjustable-length stock and an adjustable sling attachment.

The rules leave the kind of rifle to you; the kinds of air rifle explains how spring, gas-ram, CO2 and PCP rifles differ.

A target rifle that has been looked after and serviced can serve a second owner well. That makes the second-hand market worth a look for a first rifle; the NSRA also points beginners to it for 10 m kit such as a shooting jacket and trousers.

What you give up is the maker’s cover and a known history. A warranty may not pass to a second owner: Air Arms says its UK warranty applies to the original purchaser only. Buy from someone who can show you the rifle working: a club member, or a dealer in target rifles.

Buy new when you know what you want and the right used rifle is hard to find, such as one with a junior or left-handed stock. Buy used while you are still learning what you like, and keep money back for a service. Before you pay, read the law where you live: it decides whether you need a licence or a permit to buy and own the rifle, and from what age.

A compressed-air cylinder does not last for ever, and on a used PCP it is the first thing to look at. Several makers set its life, and ISSF matches hold athletes to it:

Anschütz

At most 10 years from the date of manufacture, which is noted on the cylinder; past that, or if leaking or damaged, it must be emptied safely and not filled again.Anschütz FAQ, How long can original ANSCHÜTZ compressed air cylinders be used?

Walther

Aluminium cylinders: not after 10 years from the date on them. Steel cylinders: one retest, at the factory only, for at most 20 years in all. A cylinder with no serial number and no date is older than 10 years.Walther Sport Service FAQ

Feinwerkbau

Past 10 years, a cylinder must be emptied completely and safely; its life cannot be extended.Feinwerkbau FAQ

Weihrauch

Limited to 10 years, with the expiry date marked on the cylinder; after it, the cylinder must not be refilled unless, being steel, it has been requalified at the factory. Steel cylinders may be requalified once, at the factory only, for at most 20 years in all.Weihrauch, Important notes for our air cartridges

ISSF matches

The athlete must make sure any air or CO2 cylinder is within the maker’s validity date, at most ten years; Equipment Control may check it.ISSF Rule Book, 6.2.4.2 and 6.7.6.2 h

Find the date before you talk about price, on the spare cylinder too if there is one. A cylinder near its end is a replacement you will pay for soon.

Spring, gas-ram and single-stroke rifles have no cylinder to expire. CO2 rifles with a refillable cylinder do, and an old CO2 match rifle is no bargain to modernise: Walther and Feinwerkbau both say converting their CO2 rifles to compressed air is possible but too costly to be worth it.

Throughout, keep to the NSRA’s safety rules: always treat a gun as if it’s loaded, and never point it at anyone. Load and shoot only on a range, or where the law lets you, into a safe backstop. Then check:

• Pressure: ask the seller to fill a PCP to the maker’s pressure the day before, then read the gauge when you arrive, before a shot is fired: it should still show the fill pressure. A falling gauge points to a leaking seal or valve; Air Arms suggests a similar overnight test to buyers of used PCPs.
• Seals: listen for a hiss around the breech and the action. Feinwerkbau offers seal kits for its compressed-air rifles, but says fitting them needs specialist knowledge, depending on the model.
• Cylinder: significant dents, corrosion pitting or any sign of impact are reasons to walk away (Air Arms). A cracked or damaged cylinder must not be filled: Anschütz and Weihrauch tell owners to empty one of theirs at once and return it to them for inspection. Do not buy the rifle with it.
• Barrel: look for chips or dents in the crown at the muzzle, and down the bore towards a light. The rifling should look clean and sharp.
• Action and trigger: cock and load slowly. Nothing should grind or catch, and the trigger should break the same way every time.
• Spring rifles: ask the seller whether they have noticed what Air Arms lists as signs a service is due: a change in velocity, a rougher or heavier cocking stroke, a changed trigger feel.
• Stock: cracks near the action or through the butt are serious; scratches are not. Check that every adjustment still moves and locks.
• A test group: ten shots from a rest at paper tell you more than any description. If the group is poor, try another pellet before you blame the rifle; choosing pellets explains why.
• History: when was it last serviced, by whom, and what has been changed? A receipt from the maker or an authorised dealer is the best answer. A seller who cannot remember whether it has been serviced is a red flag, Air Arms says, and no reason to pay the asking price.

A rifle that does not fit makes you fight it on every shot, and on a target rifle nearly everything can be moved. Check that it can be set up for you:

• Length of pull: with the butt in your shoulder, your finger reaches the trigger without stretching.
• Cheek piece: with your head resting naturally, your eye lines up with the sights.
• Butt plate: it sits in your shoulder without sliding, with room to move for the positions you will shoot.
• Weight: hold it in the standing position for a minute. Too heavy now means too heavy later; ask whether there is a junior or lighter version.
• Left or right: a left-handed shooter needs a left-handed stock, or one whose grip and cheek piece can be set for that side.

For a junior who is still growing, a stock that adjusts is worth more than one that fits perfectly today.

• A 5.5 mm (.22) rifle for ISSF 10 m: ISSF allows 4.5 mm only (7.4.6).
• A scope-only rifle for ISSF 10 m, where no telescope may be attached (7.4.1.6 a): check that it can take aperture sights.
• A multi-shot rifle for ISSF 10 m, where only single-shot rifles loaded by hand before each shot are allowed (7.4.1.1).
• A BB gun for ISSF 10 m: ISSF allows only lead or another soft material (7.4.6), so steel BBs are out.
• A rifle bought for its power. Buy for accuracy and fit instead: what the power figures mean explains the numbers and whether more power helps, and the law where you live decides what licence, if any, a rifle of that power needs.
• A bundle with a scope, a bag and pellets thrown in. You pay for extras you would rarely have picked.
• An old CO2 match rifle bought to convert, or any PCP whose cylinder you have not checked against its maker’s rules.
• A rifle you have not held. Fit matters more than any feature on a list.