Newbie wants to skip the normal 1st airgun starter gun

I have no rifle recommendation. When trying to make halfway decent power with air you'll find you'll need a lot more of it. It's totally different than powder. An easily portable air supply is very helpful, unless you'll be close to the compressor/tank. Otherwise, you may be making multiple trips for air during your shooting sessions.

You could potentially be limiting yourself in power by selecting a semi-auto, but if that's what you want go for it. If you chase power/efficiency, chances are eventually you'll come to the conclusion you don't have enough barrel. If and/or when you decide to fit a longer barrel, you'll find the added length to be a pain as far as carrying and sorting out harmonic issues. By the time you sort things out you'll realize all of this was to shoot a heavier projectile at roughly the same velocity as the gun did stock with "normal" weight projectiles. You'll find trajectory hadn't really changed much or at all, only more power on target and higher air usage/less shot count. Once you realize shooting subsonic at long range is closer to mortar firing than centerfire shooting and those heavier projectiles don't make a massive improvement, you'll wonder why you did all of this. Some time may pass and you'll get the itch to shoot again. You'll dial back the power to shoot some lighter projectiles and realize you have excellent shot count. It'll finally clicks ...more shooting, less filling You have arrived at a new airgun zen level. You go back to the forum to show off your progress/results and see what others are up to. Then you read something like "I have a strong background in firearms but new to airguns..." You realize you are not a noob anymore. You're welcome.

hello and welcome to AGN, I love this place! you said in your post that money isn't a real concern, so being the FX fanboy that I am...I would recomend pretty much any FX gun you can get your hands on. especially the impact. with a lot of the FX guns if not the entire lineup, you can change calibers and barrel length with relative ease and much less cost than buying a whole different gun. I beleive the impact goes from .177 all the way up to .35 now so they go you covered on the 30 cal itch. the only thing the impact can't deliver on is the Semi auto that you mentioned wanting. as some others have said, semi or full auto is rare and most definitely not seen as precision target shooting rifles at this point in time. another honorable mention would have to be the EdGun Leshy 2. semi auto and I have seen them in up to 35 caliber. I think the 2 are priced about the same but between the 2, if it was my money, I would go with the impact or maybe even an FX Crown. hope this helps, and again, welcome!

Timmiecat said:

Great feedback from everyone, but let me clarify my situation a little better.
I do have unlimited access to my brother's compressor and scuba tank, which is at his home on ten acres where we shoot. Sound is not a problem out here in the gold country where you can fire off a powder burner legally.
I am a retired tool and die maker for the aerospace industry, so I have certain skills that allow me to fix almost anything except for poor design. I have taken an interest in hammerless design for airguns and the Sidewinder is a piece of engineering that I want to explore first hand as the information is limited as to how it works. I will disassemble it after thorough testing and just having fun.
I don't really care about the cost of the gun as long as it is well designed and machined within tolerances. I have more money than I need to live and no children or any other relatives other than two older brothers, so I'm not worried about spending someone's inheritance.
Is there any feedback on AEA SF Sniper? It is one I am looking at, but it is rather low energy. Quality is most important to me, so Hatsan Blitz is a no.

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I think you should go purchase one pronto. There has been a discussion but I think that Sidewinder is manufactured in China or somewhere like that and then supposedly assembled in the USA.

A scuba tank will not have enough pressure, the scuba compressor may be able to get up there to 4500 psi. You will need a higher pressure cylinder, a SCBA tank or similar.

It was said that PBs are more expensive than air rifles. I cannot dissagree with that more. I see very few common PBs that run the price of an Impact or Sidewinder and none of them require the support equipment a PCP does. A .30 Impact/Sidewinder may on a good day make almost as much fpe as a PB .22LR and may be nearly as accurate on that same good day. Of course, I reload, have a bench, shoot a lot, yes PBs are expensive and air guns are more expensive, especially comparing to a .22LR PB. The 30 caliber pellets are not cheap and much more difficult to cast your own than are PB bullets. You are entering a new world with air rifles that much of your PB experience does not transfer well.

If you are interested in the hobby, sport, sickness of air rifles, jump in by all means! But if you are looking for an alternative to even a .22LR PB, a Sidewinder is going to need to work it's little pea picking valve hard to match up.

Sawney Bean said:

It does seem like a lot of the advice here is “don’t buy what you say you want because it’s not the kind of airgun I like.” I get that when it’s a 17 year old kid asking whether he should get a Hatsan 135 or a Zeus, but this is an adult with experience with firearms, sufficient funds, a place to shoot and an existing charging apparatus. If he wants a semiauto airgun I can see no good reason not to steer him to the best one he can afford.

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If you read the OP's post he's in CA, shooting a .357 Python and similar guns. A Colt Python in CA is a $2000 gun, so I think his preference in PW's are clearly on point with the most expensive air technology. He has access to a compressor so he just needs to buy one or two large fill tanks and he is set. Those .357 ammo in CA are now $50 to $87 for a box of 50 bullets with the taxes and paperwork ever increasing so shooting a .30 caliber pellet is nothing. For every 500 rounds the Python will cost about $900 in ammo here in CA. We are not allowed to buy mail order ammo so we pay the most in the US. If he did not say semi-auto I too would say an FX as others said. I had air rifles long ago but jumped straight to a M3 .357 FX and am very happy with that. Also am a recent purchase of the Huben GK1 .25 seimi auto pistol. Do not knock a semi-auto as they are so much fun and the GK1 is very accurate with 81 foot pounds! The reality is we will see more semi-auto good quality options. There are some now, not a huge amount yet they are accurate. Look what happened when FX came out and in a short time everybody came out with their version of a big power bottle gun in .30, .357, etc. If you are used to shooting with power it is hard to get excited to shoot something with such a small caliber and low power and not having semi-auto fun....

These I think are the main semi-auto's out there in bigger calibers:

Timmiecat said:

Great feedback from everyone, but let me clarify my situation a little better.
I do have unlimited access to my brother's compressor and scuba tank, which is at his home on ten acres where we shoot. Sound is not a problem out here in the gold country where you can fire off a powder burner legally.
I am a retired tool and die maker for the aerospace industry, so I have certain skills that allow me to fix almost anything except for poor design. I have taken an interest in hammerless design for airguns and the Sidewinder is a piece of engineering that I want to explore first hand as the information is limited as to how it works. I will disassemble it after thorough testing and just having fun.
I don't really care about the cost of the gun as long as it is well designed and machined within tolerances. I have more money than I need to live and no children or any other relatives other than two older brothers, so I'm not worried about spending someone's inheritance.
Is there any feedback on AEA SF Sniper? It is one I am looking at, but it is rather low energy. Quality is most important to me, so Hatsan Blitz is a no.

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The highest quality semi-auto on the market is the Steyr Pro-X. As a powder burner, you already know the reputation of Steyr centerfire rifles. This PCP has the same reputation. It currently only comes in .177 and .22

Where are you ? town nearby ? Maybe some place there are others around you or a club /range ? Most airgunners are more than happy to show off and let you try it .

Edit oops late , but still maybe others around ?

Timmiecat said:

The verdict is in,
Thank you all for the great advice. Semi /Auto is still in it's infancy so my budget starter is,
FX Maverick
Element Helix 6-24 50 sfp
FX No limit mounts
Ordered 3 days ago from Airguns of Utah
Thanks again

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@Timmiecat I was wondering what you’d decided to do. Which caliber did you purchase? .30? Let us know how you like it.

When the Maverick was first introduced, this forum blew up with topics about the gun. It actually was getting tiresome. Good topics and topics about issues. While you wait for your gun, do some searches here. Kinda educate yourself before the gun arrives. If you have any issues, it was probably already talked about and resolved.

My Maverick Sniper is running .30 right now. She is no petite little girl, she is a little heavy but from the bench, I can't think of another gun I would want more.

Timmiecat said:

Hello compressed air enthusiasts,
I am new to the PCP world and wanting to dive in to precision rifle for target practice and plinking. Semi auto, 30 plus caliber, that will work well with slugs and pellets. I already have a Sig Sauer MCX Gen 2 with PCP conversion and a Ruger break barrel pellet gun. I have many powder charged guns, but here in California, it is difficult and expensive to aquire ammunition and I don't want to use up my supplies of conventional ammo for practice and plinking.
My question is, is the Western Airguns Sidewinder appropriate for a PCP newbie, or is there some sort of learning curve that I am unaware of and I should get a "Starter" rifle first? I'm not new to target shooting, just PCP guns.
Cost is not a problem, I just want to sell my unfired Colt Python St. PAUL POLICE 125th anniversary 357 magnum first. I have several unfired collectors items that I can't even enjoy without depreciating the value $1000 just to fire it for the first time. Google the above mentioned Python, it's too beautiful to use!
Any thoughts on my choice of first real PCP?
Timmiecat

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Stick with the major brands, Air Arms, Weihrauch, Daystate, FX, etc... and buy used. If you love it, you are going to buy a lot more.