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Air Rifles
The last decade the appearance of
Air-rifles has been changing drastically. First there were either light
or dark wood stocks, then there were colorful laminated wood stocks,
then there were aluminum stocks with laminated wood pieces and now there
are colorful aluminum stocks. But if one looks under the outside shell,
not much has happened to the rifle itself. The only major break-through
was the the introduction of compressed air as a method of powering the
rifle.
When choosing an air-rifle, it is
important to first figure out which kind of rifle that is the best fit.
For a male shooter that is traveling a lot, a normal air-rifle might be
the most convenient as he doesn't have to carry pumps and worrying about
if the rifle is filled up, while the loading between each shot doesn't
bother him. For a smaller shooter it might be hard to pump the lever
between each shot and then a CO2 or a compressed air rifle is better.
A rifle from the early 90's has the same
accuracy as a new rifle, so don't be afraid to start with a used rifle.
Make sure that all the seals are in good shape and there are no cracks
in the stock. Wood stocks can sometimes crack in the pistol grip, turn
the rifle upside down and look for small lines in the laminated wood
indicating that the wood might have started to crack.
Air-Rifles
from different manufacturers
Compressed
Air-Rifles from different manufacturers
Air-rifle
This kind of rifle has a bigger lever that has to
be cocked before each shot. It requires more strength and motion, than the
Compressed Air rifle but at the same time one doesn’t have to worry
about if the air will run out. This kind of rifles has been out for almost
20 years now and is probably the kind of air rifle with least technical
problems. One can often find good used rifles at a bargain-price.
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Anschutz 2002
CO2-rifle
Same idea as the compressed air rifle, the only
difference is that the cylinder is filled with CO2. This kind
of rifles has been around since the late 1980’s. The advantage over the
compressed air rifle is that the pressure of the CO2 in the rifle remains
constant for the first 200 shots, while the pressure on the compressed air
declines with every shot. The disadvantage is that it sometimes might be
hard to find somewhere to fill the rifle when traveling around on
different matches
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Compressed Air-rifle
This rifle has a cylinder with compressed air.
All the shooter has to do between the shots is to lift a small lever or
press a button before loading with a pellet. This is a significant
improvement that helps shooters with a limited strength or limited
movement. The cylinder can easily be filled from a scuba-tank or with an
external pump. A full cylinder allows the shooter to shoot between 200-400
shots depending on the brand of the rifle. Some of the new rifles come
with a aluminum stock that allows better adjustments than the normal wood
stock.
P70 - the first compressed match Air-Rifle on the market
The aluminum stocks tend to
sometimes break in the pistol
grip, and they usually have more features than a beginner/intermediate
shooter needs, so I would recommend the aluminum stock only to advanced
shooters that are looking for the last few points.
Hammerli Air-Rifle
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www.riflesports.com
Copyright 2000 Joacim Trybom
Updated 01/10/03
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