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Good Entry Level Field Target Rifle

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Tylerdefrese

Tylerdefrese

Member
Oct 22, 2016
30
1
New York, United States
Hello,
I'm interested in starting to shoot some field target events but need a different rifle to do so. I have a .25 marauder which is perfect for hunting, but breaks the 20 foot pound regulation for any competition nearby (I live in Long Island). So I'm looking to buy a .177 pcp but I dont have that much to spend on it. I'd like to keep it below $700. For a scope I was thinking of a sidewinder or the new MTC viper pro. Any advice would be great.
Thanks, Tyler
 
If you want to stick with PCP, you could buy a new or used .177 Marauder and spend maybe $200 to put a LW barrel on it and it will be very accurate. Even without a regulator or an anti-bounce device, it will get 30-40 consistent shots per fill when set to 19 fpe with a 10.5g pellet. This would be for HFT. I assume you could tune one down to 12fpe for FT. Or the new Benjamin Field & Target .177 regulated is going to be about $600. The accuracy of those barrels is unknown until they start selling them and feedback starts coming in.
 
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I was in the exact same spot as you two months before the pyramyd air cup last year. Scrambled to buy a suitable rifle. I tried a couple but was unhappy. After speaking to someone at pyramyd to find what I wanted, they suggested the .177 gamo coyote with its BSA barrel. I couldn't be happier! The accuracy is unbelievable for a $500 pcp. Especially since most have the attitude of Gamo anything sucks. I'd shoot it against any gun without embarrassing myself. I will admit the trigger was lacking but not terrible. Didn't have time to get it right before competition but I've got it all nice and light and silky smooth for this year. I have a "better" rifle now that cost 3 times as much but doesn't do any better. It's actually more pellet picky and needs cleaning every 100 shots and poi changes every time I take it out to shoot. Very frustrating that a purpose built, more expensive, supposedly better rifle cant hang with the "cheap" one. In other words, my Gamo coyote will be getting the starting spot again this year at the cup. I also bought a .22 BSA from Charlie Frear and its crazy accurate as well. BSA knows a thing or two about airgun barrels. I'm planning of turning the .22 down to 20 fpe for a backup gun for the competition. Good luck with whatever rifle you choose. I don't care if I ever win, I just enjoy the amazing people I've met in the airgun community and everything they've shared and taught me. See you guys in the fall!
 
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"DetailKY"I was in the exact same spot as you two months before the pyramyd air cup last year. Scrambled to buy a suitable rifle. I tried a couple but was unhappy. After speaking to someone at pyramyd to find what I wanted, they suggested the .177 gamo coyote with its BSA barrel. I couldn't be happier! The accuracy is unbelievable for a $500 pcp. Especially since most have the attitude of Gamo anything sucks. I'd shoot it against any gun without embarrassing myself. I will admit the trigger was lacking but not terrible. Didn't have time to get it right before competition but I've got it all nice and light and silky smooth for this year. I have a "better" rifle now that cost 3 times as much but doesn't do any better. It's actually more pellet picky and needs cleaning every 100 shots and poi changes every time I take it out to shoot. Very frustrating that a purpose built, more expensive, supposedly better rifle cant hang with the "cheap" one. In other words, my Gamo coyote will be getting the starting spot again this year at the cup. I also bought a .22 BSA from Charlie Frear and its crazy accurate as well. BSA knows a thing or two about airgun barrels. I'm planning of turning the .22 down to 20 fpe for a backup gun for the competition. Good luck with whatever rifle you choose. I don't care if I ever win, I just enjoy the amazing people I've met in the airgun community and everything they've shared and taught me. See you guys in the fall!
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what this guy said. my coyote outshoots my vulcan.
 
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I used a marauder for my first season of FT. I shot Hunter class. Factory spec gun, tuned with a chronograph for a good, and I mean Good, 30 shots. So a fill before the match started and another half way through.

The next season I had purchased an AA S500 Extra FAC. All I had to do was turn the power knob for the desired FPS/FPE and the gun was ready. No other tinkering or tuning involved.

Both rifles scored high, and no better than the other at Nationals.

A used Air Arms S500/510 can be had for a couple hundred more used than a new Marauder. A used Marauder is not worth more than $350, regardless of what has been done to it.
 
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Thanks for all the suggestions. The coyote was something I considered but was turned off for two reasons. The first is that me and my friend each had gamo springers and neither one of us could get it to shoot accurately. We tried plenty of holds and pellets but nothing would work. I also had a crosman springer at the same time that I could shoot with good accuracy. My second is that the fill pressure is a little to high for me to (comfortably) fill with a hand pump. The .177 marauder is at the top of my list currently. My only complaints are that it's long and pretty heavy. I was also curious about one of the new kral bullpups. I would definitely wait if I decide on the kral just to see some reviews. Is there any negative to using a bullpup in FT or HFT?
Thanks again, Tyler
 
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Bullpup - FT not so much. Tony B. ( Daystate ) tried campaigning one years ago, just too hard to use, a rifle really needs to fit and no bullbup will work in all three positions ( It CAN be done but you'll never see a champion shooters using one ).

Heavy is GOOD for FT! Heavy is stable!


A stock Marauder would work just fine. If really on a budget a QB79 ( likely need barrel tweaking, it needed less than an EV2 I had )) is THE least costly way into a regulated FT rig. Mine shoots great.

Get to a Match! Now. Best place to buy a rifle , you learn more in one day than reading forever. Call ahead and try to borrow a rig, I often have lent FT rigs to new shooters.


John
 
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I understand being turned off by Gamo springers but their pcps are on another level. they are just rebranded BSA rifles. the actions and barrels are identical. where do you live? I'd be happy to let you try mine out anytime and my marauder or any other rifle I currently own for that matter so you can get an idea of what fits you best. oh and I found my coyote likes a 2800 psi fill best. you'll find on most pcps that recommended or max fill pressure means little other than where to stop filling. I get 35 shots at 930 fps with 10.65 grain kodiaks from 2800 down to 2000. can shoot lower but the fps spread grows a little below 2000 with current hammer spring setting. good luck with your search and send me a pm if you'd like to try some of mine if you're close to Kentucky. once you get a rifle you'll instantly be thinking about another one so welcome to the obsession oops I mean hobby! hope to see you at a match!
 
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I've been using a Marauder. I think its a great entry level PCP for field target. It's really more about your skill anyway. It would take you awhile to get to the level where having a gun better than a Marauder would make a huge difference, The new Marauder field target model looks interesting. I've been thing about adding a regulator to mine.

It's all about having fun, I try to learn from everyone else, but I just shoot against myself and try to do better than I did last time. 
 
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I haven't shot field target because it doesn't go on around my area, but I would concur that, especially if you want to shoot in the sub-12fpe class, a quality springer can be quite accurate and simpler to manage without air tanks and all. I recently bought a Weihrauch HW97 - that's why my Marauder is for sale :) - and it's an incredible shooter out of the box. With any springer, if you want the pinnacle of performance send it off to one of the well-known tuners. 
 
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I would suggest looking into the Challenger PCP by crosman. If you go to the factory, which is in NY, then you can get a discount of almost 50% or you can just use the 25% off coupon here on AGN. My friend has a steyr and a challenger. He prefers to shoot the challenger as it's a much less finicky rifle and just seems to work better. I was very impressed at the accuracy of the gun when I shot it. I considered buying one before I ended up going with the FX Impact and .177 barrel for field target.
 
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I had a challenger for a while. It is indeed a fine rifle, and you can sometimes score a good deal on a used one. They are, however, only 6fpe shooters out of the box and take a bit more work to get them to field target velocities. I think some folks have had issues keeping the bolt in place while firing at the higher power, it is an inline bolt with some kind of o-ring and ball bearing retainer system. Taking one apart apparently requires the use of several of your adult words.
 
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At the $350 price range though you can just have it sent to someone who knows what they're doing to get it raised up to 20FPE. I know that if you bore out the barrel to .180" then it will increase your accuracy too. If you want to stay under $700 then there is no better option in my opinion. I haven't heard that they're difficult to work on, but my friend is also very skilled so he might just have been more capable than me or someone else trying to do preform the same adjustments. 
 
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"Tylerdefrese"The coyote was something I considered but was turned off for two reasons. The first is that me and my friend each had gamo springers and neither one of us could get it to shoot accurately.

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The Gamo Coyote isn't a Gamo. It's a BSA. Gamo bought BSA and apparently they were smart enough to leave the BSA engineering staff in place. My BSA Lonestar was the most accurate rifle I've ever owned or shot. They did quite well for a couple of years on the 100 meter circuit. You'll do well to consider DetailKY's advice.
 
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So I decided that I'm going to wait to get some reviews on a Kral Puncher Pro (it's not a bullpup @spysir) http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Kral_Arms_Puncher_Pro_PCP_Air_Rifle/4191/7994 . It looks like a really nice gun and it gets 60 shots per fill on high power for .177. If however it gets really bad reviews, then I will probably look closer into the coyote, and then make my decision between that and the mrod in .177. Are there any major differences between the coyote, the coyote SE(silenced), and the urban? If they all perform the same then the urban would be the one for me as it's $100 cheaper. 
For the guys who mentioned springers: at this point I'm hooked on PCP's. Eventually when I want something to shoot with more difficulty then I may pick up a tx200 or HW97. But as for now a PCP is what I'd like to shoot.
Thanks again to all who have contributed,
Tyler
 
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