Springer vs. PCP

[coastal drifter]

Did you read the context from previous posts. I never said a water buffalo and a .25 air gun was ethical. You are making extrapolations. I did say and will say that for my purposes I find spring guns unethical for the animals I hunt which does not include water buffs. You are now blocked along with the other whiner who claimed such. He also is blocked. Bye.

Springer vs. PCP​

Let me repeat, having owned several magnum type spring guns, they were loud, obnoxious, broke and walked scopes, heavy, ridiculously long and did not make sufficient power not provide accuracy sufficient for me to be confident in them to provide ethical kills of the animals I hunt. PCPs I have owned and own, have little to no recoil, are much lighter, shorter, quieter do not break or walk scopes and provide accuracy and more energy to provide me confidence that I can make an ethical shot. Even then, if the shot is questionable, then it is not my shot to take. But when I take the shot, it will be with a PCP, not a spring gun.

I also especially do not like the break barrel cockers. The barrel lock wears and does not return exactly to the same location each time. The scope is mounted on the spring tube rather than the barrel which is just not going to maintain alignment over time with wear and tear. PCPs do not need to break the barrel to be cocked. The scope can be on the barrel or fixed assembly solidly aligned to the barrel.

My one and only remaining springer, a Stoeger X20 in .177, makes right at 14 fpe, forgot about it. A good shooter to about 10 or so yards, not too terribly heavy or face slapping. Mostly keeping it because Im like the Advantage camo stock, it is kind of pretty in a way. Uh, the scope is gone, I wonder why! I have made a steel pic rail for the barrel to go where the rear sight once was. But I need a 2X or such pistol or longer relief spring rated scope to scout mount. The X20 is not a huge spring gun as some of the others I have owned were (I gave two of them away, one on this forum I think it was, a Benji NitroTrail and a Remington Nitro X700). I do not hunt with the X20, it is just for spinners. I may look for a TX200 in .22 especially if I can find a stainless one.

yeah nice stock. I would consider camo on the barrel, pic rail and rings too.

 

[3Crows]

yeah nice stock. I would consider camo on the barrel, pic rail and rings too.

I shot the stock over with 2K matte clear. It was developing a nice patina but now it will wear like iron. The M-Rod was a hydrodip Veil by myself and shot over with 2K matte clear. Not sure about camo other than on the stock. I do have some closely matching self cling camo tape I do use and it is easy to remove, paint is on forever or at least very difficult to remove.

I took that X20 down and worked the action over. It is a pretty smooth little rifle. I bought it originally for my dad for backyard vermin but he has since passed so I took it back, then sort of forgot about it after discovering the scope was broken, again. I want a forward scope on it, not sure a scope can take the cocking shock though. Shall see.

 

[johnwoitalla]

Basically, IMHO, the only advantage springers have over pcp's is that no extra equipment is needed- just take it out of the box and start shooting(if you have the eye's for it, you can just use it with iron sights). In my opinion, pcp's are a superior breed to springers-you can leave them cocked for as long as you like, they are repeaters holding 10+ pellets/slugs in a magazine, they are way more powerful and way more easy to shoot precisely, they have zero recoil, and there are a lot more scopes to choose from that will not get damaged by the funky recoil of a springer. Yes, pcp's have to have a pump/scuba tank which adds to both the cost and amount of accessories needed(which may or may not be a problem depending on your personal preferences/wallet size). I have both a springer and two pcp's, guess which one spends most of it's life in the safe?

 

[johnwoitalla]

Welcome! And, ah... the ever returning "PCP vs springer" question. The coincidence is that I did some testing today at 25 meters with two FX PCP's and one Weihrauch springer. Regulated PCP's (especially those from brands like FX) are known for their accuracy due to the lack of recoil and their shot consistency. Springers are violent. There's a lot of movement going on inside of a springer. A heavy metal piston slams against a wall, compressing air and moving a projectile forward. With springers the hold needs to be consistent in order to shoot them as accurate as a PCP. Proof is in the eating of the proverbial pudding, so here it comes;

Number 1): the FX DRS Tactical (out of the box, 41 joules shooting 18 grain .22 JSB's at 25 meters from a bipod).

View attachment 576628

Number 2): the FX Dreamline GRS (medium settings, 31 joules shooting 16 grain .22 JSB's at 25 meters from a bipod).

View attachment 576626

Number 3): the Weihrauch 97 (stage 2 tuned, 21 joules shooting 7.87 grain .177 JSB's at 25 meters from the bench on a pillow, rested on my hand).

View attachment 576627

So are springers accurate. Well, you be the judge of that. My guess is that they are according to these 10-shot groups, shot from the prone position, on 50-meter ISSF visuals shot from a distance of 25 meters.

Is a springer good enough for ethical headshots? This 21 joule (15.5 ft·lbf) most definitely is, at least up to 45 / 50 meters. The HW97 has set me back (unscoped, but including the new stock and internal tuning) around €1400 euro's, which is more than the average PCP by itself, but lacks the air tank, compressor and other stuff you need to keep a PCP going. In other words, you can shoot all day without running out of air. But please do invest in a good quality springer like a Weihrauch, because the Rekord trigger alone is worth the extra money, and it will last you a lifetime if you take good care of it.

View attachment 576629

Sidenote: I'm not trying to be a showoff here. This here was a personal test case, just to see how my top leisure airguns are tuned and do at the moment.

EDIT: getting a lot of questions about the HW97, so here are some answers:

- the stock is a "LP Gunstocks UK" (Lukas Parsley) Stutzen Stock (https://www.lpgunstocks.co.uk/). Not cheap, but absolutely worth the money!
- Internal tuning by AirJoe Germany (https://airjoe.de/en/), full piston, sleeve, spring, the works tune.

You are a great boon to JSB sales. I'm not sure what is most precise, the gun or the pellets. I too shoot JSB's, but also the Crosman Accupells.