Club Tests - Pistols - The Villages Air Gun Club

Club Tests - Pistols

Baikal M46

We have tested the Baikal M46 for several years. This is the gun of choice of most of our shooters. It has been a long time proven high performance gun. This gun is capable of shooting one hole groups at 10 meters. Over the past seven years the only thing on this gun that has basically been changed is the price from $279 seven years ago to $479 today. Most of our shooters have modified their grips and added red dot sights to personalize their hand gun. To get the next level of competition gun with the same features will cost you seven to eight hundred dollars more. If you have any questions you can ask any of our members or call Gary. We have posted some sample targets of the performance of this gun. Unfortunately these test targets were done on an extremely cold day and most of the errors were due to the shooters being cold. View test target HERE.

Beeman P1

This is a very high quality German made target pistol on the design of a 1911 Colt 45. This is a springer type gun that shoots hard and fast. It has very good accuracy but remember that it recoils. The gun is well crafted but beware of cocking the gun because these guns are known for pinching fingers on the closing of the action. This would make a good gun if you are a 45 shooter and you want a high quality air gun to practice with. The recoil of this gun may distract from your shooting capabilities of bullseye target shooting. These guns sell for approximately $500.00

Beeman P3

The P3 is a pneumatic pistol along the lines of a Colt 45. The gun has nice balance and is comfortable to shoot. The lower price of about $240.00 makes it a very appealing gun. This gun actually has a target quality trigger at this low price. I was pleased to shoot this gun. Shooting approximately a 1 inch group off of a stand. The gun is not set up for red dots. The gun is actually made of a plastic material similar to what is used on a Glock or a Walther firearm. The gun shoots at over 600 feet per second and with the adjustable trigger, it makes a very competitive gun for the low price. Beware of the pinch factor on this gun. After warning a fellow shooter I managed to pinch my own hand in the gun. OUCH!!!

Beeman Webley Tempest & Hurricane

Webley Tempest

The guns in this group made by Webley are springer guns that are from old technology and have been made for years and years. This gun has been used by plinkers for 50 to 60 years. This is an English design that requires a heavy cocking action. The problem with this gun is that the barrel is the cocking lever and after a period of time it becomes loose and will not locate in the same spot. This causes the gun to lose accuracy. These are relatively low priced guns. Used guns are under $200 and new are just slightly over $200. The club has decided the gun was not suited for our type of shooting.

Crosman 2300 & 2300T

Crosman 2300T CO2 Pistol

This is a CO2 powered gun offered by Crosman for competition shooting. After having four of these guns used at our range, most of our members opted for a different gun. The gun is relatively low priced at approximately $200. The drawback to this gun is that it requires 12gr. CO2 cartridges to power it. Our shooters were getting about 50 good shots from a cartridge. This gun also seemed to vary with our outside temperatures. Two of our shooters complained the trigger guard opening was very small and the trigger was very narrow. The gun did not perform well for accuracy. It would be ranked between the Baikal M46 and the Daisy 747. This may be a good gun for a lady or a person who has difficulty pumping an air gun.

Daisy Avanti 717 Pistol

Daisy Avanti 717 Match Pistol

This is the gun that the Villages Recreation Department has been using for seven years as our basic pistol to train first time shooters. It is a very simple gun to use and very cost effective. It is hard to get a gun of this quality for this price ($100). The gun is very rugged, easy to use and very easy to pump. It is equipped with a safety and adjustable sights (blade type). The gun can also be adapted for a red dot sighting system. One of the drawbacks to this gun is a heavy trigger pull and it is not adjustable. The barrel on this gun is a Daisy high quality barrel. We use this gun with the recreation department because of the above features. This is an excellent training gun for a beginner. The gun is capable of shooting about a one half to one inch group. The club recommends for a shooter that is competing to add the extra $40 and buy a 747 Daisy. We did not enclose test targets with this gun because of the variation from gun to gun. If you had a good one with a good barrel you had a half inch group, if you had the standard barrel you would have the one inch group.

Daisy Avanti 747 Triumph Match Pistol

This gun is listed as an entry level competition gun. The overall appearance appears the same as the 717, however, there are a lot of extra features for the extra $40.00 in cost. Many of our shooters started with this gun as their first competition gun. With a cost of approximately $150.00 it is a hard gun to beat for the price. With the adjustable trigger, the trigger pull can be lowered to a very comfortable shooting weight. The gun also comes equipped with a Walthers competition barrel (this is one of the finest barrels in the industry). The valve system seems to be a little higher grade on this gun and appears to have more care in the assembly of this pistol We have many shooters than have shot a 3/8 inch group with this gun from a rest. These guns are a little sensitive to pellets and lube. The shooter must take some time to select the pellets and lube for this gun. We have found the 7 grain pellet to be the most accurate in this pistol. We did not include targets with this one because there is a variation from shooter to shooter due to sight selection and gun tuning. This gun will also accept a red dot but one drawback is that the red dot must be forward mounted, making the pistol forward barrel heavy.

Diana Model 6

The Model 6 used a recoiless system in which two pistons moved in opposite directions. One worked in the usual manner, compressing air and propelling the pellet out of the barrel. The other was a reaction mass, carefully balanced to cancel out the recoil energy from the main piston. This system worked very well, but Feinwerkbau’s simpler sliding receiver system sold better, and the Model 6 disappeared from the market. Even though this is a very high quality pistol it uses old technology. The gun is also harder to cock because of the effort needed to load the spring for shooting. We have had several of these guns in the club and in a very short time, the member opted to change to another gun. This is a very cost effective gun giving you high power for a very low cost. This is not the choice of our members for our type of shooting.

Feinwerkbau 65

This is a classic air gun and is one of the first recoilless air guns offered. It is a springer gun with a dampening system to reduce recoil. This used to be the standard for new technology in the 60’s. It is a well made gun that performs well but are no longer made because of improved technology. If you like to shoot a piece of history in competition, this is a great gun for a classic shooting event. This is a very popular gun for collectors. The used price on this gun varies from $250 to $475.

FWB 80 pistol. This is another classic air gun that is the next step from the FBW65. It is very similar in all the characteristics of the 65 model. This is a classic that sells for a little more that the 65 model in the range of $300 to $550.

IZH 53M

This is a Russian made springer pistol made for an inexpensive way of starting air gun shooting. This gun takes a bit of effort to cock it (approximately 13 – 14 pound break barrel). This gun will give you a good workout from just cocking it. The trigger pull is a little over 2 pounds. This is not bad for this level of gun. It sells for approximately $80.00. This would not be a good gun for the type of competition that we do. However, it would make a great casual shooting gun for tin cans and plinking. The accuracy was not real great, we could keep them in the black of a target off of a rest.

Steyr LP10

Steyr LP10 Compressed Air Pistol

This is a premium pistol meant for competition at the highest level. This is a compressed air pistol which requires a scuba tank or a high pressure compressor to charge the gun. This gun is intended for a shooter who is truly into competitive shooting. This is a one hole shooting gun. The targets that we tested varied only about 1/16th of an inch center to center. The gun was tested with JSB premium match pellets. The gun retails new for $2,000. Used guns are approximately $750. Keep in mind you must buy an air charging system which can add to the cost by $300 to $700. If you can afford it, this is a state of the art gun for your competition. We have two shooters that use this gun in our club.

Gary's Favorite Match Pistol

Webley & Scott Mk1 - Pre-WWI