Choosing The Right Airgun For You
There are loads of airgun options on the market now days and trying to figure out which airgun is the right one for you can be tricky at the best of times. Do you buy FX airguns? Daystate? Brocock? Vulcan? With so many superb choices new shooters can suffer from major information overload and not know where to start. The good news is that choosing the proper airgun doesn't need to be difficult. To make the whole decision-making process easier, we have come up with some basic tips to help you make a good choice when you purchase your airgun.
What are you using the airgun for?
When buying a new airgun the first thing you need to think about is the intended use of the airgun. For example, are you going to use your airgun for target shooting? Recreational shooting? Or are you going to be competing professionally? Some airguns are designed for general shooting while others are designed more specifically for competitive target shooting.
How far do you want to shoot?
Once you have decided on what you will be using your airgun for, you will need to decide on how far you are going to be shooting so you can determine how much power you will need. Most airguns fall into the following 4 power categories: Light, Medium, High, and Super-Magnum. Light powered airguns shoot up to around 30 meters, medium powered airguns up to around 45 meters, with high powered ones extending that to 60 meters and super magnum rifles getting up to around 75 meters.
There are of course other factors that you need to consider when choosing an airgun but purpose and power will be the most important.
Here is a comparison chart so you can see difference in power between these popular makes:
**(For 5.5 mm Caliber)
Airgun Manufacturer | Model | ft/lbs. Energy |
FX airguns | Up to 53 | |
Vulcan | Up to 38 | |
Daystate | Up to 58 | |
Brocock | Up to 38 |
What type of airgun do you want?
The next step in the selection process is to decide what type of airgun you want. Do you want a Sporter or Bull-pup Pre-Charged Pneumatic airgun (PCP)? They all have their own pros and cons so you will need to decide which category of airgun fits your needs. PCP's tend to have more power and have no recoil, but will need to be charged whereas spring and gas ram rifles are designed to be cocked and shot and no charging equipment is needed.
This chart to give you an idea of some of PCP airguns are available from these popular makes:
Airgun Manufacturer | Model | Type |
FX airguns | PCP | |
Vulcan | PCP | |
Daystate | PCP | |
Brocock | PCP |
Trigger Sensitivity
Trigger sensitivity is another factor that bares thinking about and trigger sensitivity will vary based on the purpose of the airgun. Most airgun triggers are factory set at roughly 0,9 - 1,2 kg of pull but if you are looking for something lighter then look for a more competitive shooting airgun.
Check out the difference between trigger sensitivity for these popular airgun makes:
Airgun Manufacturer | Model | Trigger pull |
FX airguns | 0,4 - 0,6 kg of pull | |
Vulcan | 0,1 - 0,3 kg of pull | |
Daystate | 0,1 - 0,3 kg of pull | |
Brocock | 0,1 - 0,3kg of pull |
Every shooter has their own idea of what makes a great gun but knowing what features are important to you will help you make the right choice. Need more help? Talk to us at Airgun Nut for more advice and info. Get in touch here: Airgun Nut
There are no comments for this article