Looking for pistol advice

[Ewizza]

Hey all. Looking to add a pcp pistol to my collection. Ha! Collection is probably too big a word at 2 airguns but I digress. 

Looking into the pcp market for pistols, I like the look of the Diana Bandit or the Crosman Silhouette. This is really just for some plinking so I don't need anything hunting powerful. I have an M-Rod for that. 

So, any thoughts or recommendations?

 

[Long_Gun_Dallas]

Get the bandit if you like to tinker and just want something to plink with, otherwise, steer clear (I have 2). Both mine are exceedingly accurate, surprisingly, but are much more challenging to shoot than a 1720.

The bandit is fun to tweak and improve upon. And will output quite a lot of power. (8gr @850fps in .177, 25gr @ 710fps in .25) But comes nowhere close to the character or finesse a 1720 has. The 1720 is worth the extra money. 

 

[biohazardman]

The Diana pistols are Chinese made guns so often need a bit of werq to be what they should be when they come out of the factory. But from what I have seen they can clean up nicely. The Crosman pistols are Made In the USA so should be better to start with..

 

[Ewizza]

Thanks Biohazard and Long_Gun. I appreciate the feedback. Either gun is in the budget and from your advice I am leaning towards the Crosman. I'll probably get both eventually with the Diana to tinker with as you guys suggest. 

Any other pistols you guys think I should be looking at? I should note that a P-rod will happen at some point so no need to suggest that

 

[Long_Gun_Dallas]

The barrels on these cheap Chinese pistols can be incredibly good. It's always hard for me to take a leap of faith when it comes to the inherant barrel lottery with most guns. The only other pistols that come to my mind are quite expensive. Tha Ap16 is a top notch contender. And a .177 Ranchero is still on my "yet to aquire" list. Both guns have superb barrels. 

I have 5 pistols at the moment. 4 have Lothar Walther barrels. Not to say they're the best barrels, but they are often VERY good. I managed to ruin the original barrel on my 177 bandit, so it's been replaced. 

Two are factory crosman barrels, another is a factory brocock barrel. The brocock has been very nice, so if you ever see a Grand Prix come up in the classifieds, I'd recommend snatching it up. I'm going to re-work the pistol grip on mine, in the mean time I converted it to a carbine with a spare stock I picked up and some 3d printed parts 

 

[AZGman]

Get the bandit if you like to tinker and just want something to plink with, otherwise, steer clear (I have 2). Both mine are exceedingly accurate, surprisingly, but are much more challenging to shoot than a 1720.

The bandit is fun to tweak and improve upon. And will output quite a lot of power. (8gr @850fps in .177, 25gr @ 710fps in .25) But comes nowhere close to the character or finesse a 1720 has. The 1720 is worth the extra money.

What red dot and mount have you got on the Bandit? It looks like it fits real nice.

 

[Long_Gun_Dallas]

It's a knockoff rmr sight. On top its picatinny mount with 2 Pic to weaver adapters under. I tried to get 2 more because I liked this one so much but the parallax was messed up, making them worthless. So, be careful if you buy one. 

 

[Cajun1024]

Can't go wrong with the Crosman 1701P. Super accurate out to 25 yds. with just about anything you put in it. Added a Williams notched sight. Shoot mostly 15 yd. benchrest and Olympic one hand @10 meters with RWS 8.2 gr. wadcutters

 

[boscoebrea]

Those are different types of PCP pistols...The 1701 is single shot and super accurate ; the Bandit is multi shot has a big axx gripe and May be a better choice for just playing around ...I do have both The 1701 costs quite a bit more....but I use it for target shooting....the Bandit is ok....I think the Artemis PP750 is a better pistol than the Bandit...it is also multi shoot.

 

[Ewizza]

Those are different types of PCP pistols...The 1701 is single shot and super accurate ; the Bandit is multi shot has a big axx gripe and May be a better choice for just playing around ...I do have both The 1701 costs quite a bit more....but I use it for target shooting....the Bandit is ok....I think the Artemis PP750 is a better pistol than the Bandit...it is also multi shoot.

Can you even get the Artemis pistols in America? I haven't found a place that sells them here.

 

[8731235]

Ewizza the Diana Bandit,Airbug and Chaser are the same.Just different branding.

 

[Ewizza]

Thanks 87'...

Suppose I could always jump to an AP16. There doesn't seem to be a lot between the 1701 and the AP16.

 

[Stefanjan]

I have a Bandit and a 1701. The Bandit is a fun plinking/ close range pesting gun. I did a little work on mine and get decent enough groups that I felt it was money well spent. The 1701 is in another class. I did NOTHING to it (I have not even changed the grips yet) other than add a $30 LDC (I shoot it indoors a lot and need it mouse fart silent). I have tested it with over 2 dozen different pellets and my very worse 3 shot group was 3/4" (10 meters, rested). This pistol straight out of the box is capable of hole in hole shooting all day. I scoped mine as I am about making one hole in a Target lol. I get 50 shot per fill and will sometimes fill it 3 or 4 times in an afternoon. It is so much fun to shoot.

Of course there are boatloads of options out there.