FAC air rifles advice please

[alled12]

Guys

I know we are predominately powder junkies on this site but I was hoping that some of you may be able to give me some advice on FAC rated air rifles. Are they any good, I am looking for some thing to replace my gone 10/22. The reason I am looking at these is because a small amount of my land is close to a village, I would also like to knock some tree rats down for a friend of mine. Needs to be done quitely, pheasant pens etc in close proximity. I have been looking at the daystate Air ranger and the HW100. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, personally I would prefer a pcp, but feel free to convince me that a springer or gas ram alternative. I look forward to reading comments. Many Thanks.

[wensleydale]

Amongst FAC air rifles, I've had .22 and.25 HW80's, Eliminators, and a .22 ProElite; all good, accurate, a little hold sensitive but benefit from a self contained power source. Break barrels can be difficult to cock in cars etc. I've currently got .22 and .25 FAC Rapids, and a .22 FAC Ripley. All pre-charged, accurate, recoilless and useful for smaller areas, though I personally wouldn't want to replace a .22 rimfire with just FAC air. FAC air rifles seem to lose value more than 12 ft/lb ones, which means there are some good S/H bargains. FAC Rapids in .22 at around 30 ft/lbs are popular and give a decent number of shots per charge.

[alled12]

Thanks for the info Wensleydale, anybody else got a take on this?

[menial 1]

Thanks for the info Wensleydale, anybody else got a take on this?

 

If you want to test yourself, get a springer or gas ram, if you want to convert your shots into kills rested on hard or soft surfaces without worrying about your hold all the the time, get a pcp, super accurate and not too fussy about the surface you rest on or how you hold them.

I personally have a very early Eliminator for use in sensitive areas but if I needed it more more than a few times of year I would plump for a pcp.

Pete.

[The_Verminator]

i have a Air Arms S410 FAC air rifle in .22 and love it. only problem is i dont get many shots out of it. you mentioned an air ranger, they are very good, have a big air reserve and are expensive . they are certainly ideal for what you mentioned, but as mentioned earlier cant realy replace a .22lr.

 

why is it you want a FAC air rifle? with my sub 12ftlbs AA S410 i can take rabbits at 50 yards with little wind and with a FAC air rifle you get a bit more range, more hitting power and less wind drift, but i still love the sub 12ftlbs air rifles. if you get a moderator fitted them phesants will hardly lift there heads from pecking around as they are so quiet, but obvioulsy the more power the more noise you get.

 

best of luck with you choice and PCP is they way

[onehole]

Long time since I messed with PCP,s but I have had the pleasure of a few and would probably say that the best compromise is a power level around the 20/24 ft lb mark as you dont loose out much compared to the 30,s but you do gain on number of shots which dwindles alarmingly when ringing the most horse power out of a charge.A 22 PCP at this level and with the flatter 177 type trajectory is hard hitting and effective.The sweetest shooting .22 FAC springers are probably a professionally tuned HW80 around 18 ft lb and the Air Arms ProElite.Gas rams tend to be a bit jumpy but very quick firing cycle.

Personally I would go for a PCP in 22 but not in short carbine format,cant recommend best make/model as I have been out of this scene for too long now but Air Airms,Daystate and Theoben have been around for a long time to get it right?

[alled12]

Thanks for all the info lads.

I would consider another .22 rimfire, but I just fancied something a little bit different. Not to mention a friend of mine has a some squirrels he wants shot up in the the tree. I had a springer for years HW80 which was quite a nice gun enjoyed knocking of a few rabbits etc with it. I know a FAC air rifle can never replace a rimfire but I just didnt use my .22. Gives me the oppurtunity to do a few things I cant at the moment with my arsenal, ratting, magpies in trees etc. Feel at bit more confident with the extra power over a standard job. Thanks for all the info, if anybody has any more thoughts please feel free to comment, it will be a while before I finally get round to doing this. Rea

[Alycidon]

I used a prototype .22 Eliminator that Ben had really wound up, the pellets were breaking up in flight. Very well made bits of kit though.

 

Down side with a PCP is air storage and the need to have pressure vessels tested every few years, up side is accuracy and reach.

 

For occasional use I would go for a Theoben gas ram but even then the power levels are nowhere near a .22LR. Effective range 50 yards, perhaps a shade more in good conditions. Yes I have seen things killed with an Eliminator at well beyond that but not first shot kills usually. Not sure if the SLR98 self loader is done at 20ft lbs or more but that is a wonderfull and very underrated gun, the mags straighten out any damaged pellets as they are loaded. I shot a pre production prototype SLR and filled the mag with as wide a range of pellets as I had weight wise, they all grouped together.

 

As you already hold an FAC getting a variation should be no issue at all, get a moderator as well though.

 

A

[Barrelsniffer]

I have 2 Rapids one at 12ftlbs and the other at 30 ftlbs.

Both have no recoil at all 12ft one gives around 450-50 shots and 30ft one around 200 which is ample enough.

I prefer these bolt action types as they are esier to load inside a veh a lot safer no chance of, if a break barrel it snapping back up.use have a eliminator which infact was 1st ever FAC rifle. and with that power did make the arm ache from breaking the barrel, reason i got shut.

Another good thing about PCP rifles..is you can keep your eye and rifle pointing on the tgt area and if say another rabbit pops out you can quickly reload and get that second shot of. also mag fed giving a no of shots 7-12 before reloading.

Ive had about 5 rapids in the past ,sadly due to hard times even selling a FAC rapid...which i always did regret till i then was in right place at right time and bought my current rapid FAC which has lots of extras.is Mark 2 and hydrographic dipped.

These 2 have now been in my tool box for around 6 yrs..if i ever part with them would be due to malfuntion,and would deffo buy another.

 

Mick

[alled12]

Thanks for all the info lads. I had the feo tonight to add this as a variation.

[jack]

Rapid mark 2 at 27 ftlbs with 19" barrel 280cc bottle and AWT silencer.

Good bit of kit, rapids are like meccano, can take them apart and replace the defective part easily.

One comment I was told about daystate was that the customer beta tests them, their customer service is good.

Rapids are simple and effective. I use the smaller bottle and lighter silencer for better balance otherwise it is front heavy.

Some barrels will stabilise 16Grain JSB exacts others will not and you have to use 20 gr bismags, slightly inferior trajectory due to weight.

www.rapid7.co.uk

probably a daystate owners club somewhere also.

 

Don't buy a 12ftlb gun and upgrade to FAC, you lose money that way, cost of conversion and possibly slightly lower selling price. Get a factory FAC air.

[stillair1]

Having owned a few fac air and still have two rapids and an eliminator, I would say go for a .22 mk11 rapid 22" barrel set around 30-34 ftlb. If it runs accurately with jsb 16gn at 33ftlb then you will have a bit of a tool. I won't be parting with mine ,it fills the gap where 12ftlb runs out of steam and powder is a liability.

A good point above get one factory fresh. Unfortunately there are many "fac rapids" about that will never realise their full potential due to home tuning The tuners I know and trust would be counted on the fingers of one hand.

[sako75]

Hi

 

I used to have a Ripley AR5 that would do 48-50 ft lbs using Bisley Magnums, beautifully made rifle and a very acute; but in the end I found that I just didn’t use it enough to justify keeping it. In the end it went to a Dutch air rifle lover.

 

I have had other FAC rated rifle, but they were not in the same class as the AR5, it all depends on what you really need it for, and how much you can justify spending on one!

 

I think that with the right choice of subsonic ammo a .22 rimfire can be used in any location, I use my Sako Varmint in urban areas without any problems; in fact it’s quieter than a FAC rated PCP. As long as you have a safe backstop, or do as I do and shoot from an elevated position the rimfire works perfectly.

 

Good luck anyway. Bob

[alled12]

Thanks for all the info guys. Sako you have hit the nail on the head, use was an issue, so I have been looking through the second hand market. Came up with a nice S410 at my local gunshop for a very reasonable £600 all including bottle, mod etc, its running at about 35 ft/lb's. Not initially what I was looking at but it will do the job I want. I could elevate my position on the land, but there is a second reason for this aquisition my sister wishes to learn to shoot, i didnt want to start her on a cartridge rifle, but I wanted something with a bit more umph than a standard air rifle. We shall see how she goes with this and this type of weapon really fits the bill around my house. Once again guys thanks for all the info, I will let you know how I get on.