like a kid in a sweet shop

[Bearwood]

Good work sir!

What amazes me is how cheap a good workhorse of a gun is! I bought a decent S/S and a .410 for less than £150 and neither have let me down. Problem is that guns tend to breed.

[Terry]

Any recommendations for a suitable air rifle for a bit of shooting with the boy as well as looking at squirrel control in the future as they are starting to get more destructive. Also best places to source on a tight budget.

[Terry]

Thanks for the advice gents - had heard its best to trap the squirrels, then dispatch. Certainly would need to do a lot of practising before entertaining the thought of having a go at a live one in its element
Main purpose at the moment though is to target shoot with the boy as I enjoyed it with my dad when I was his age. It will also teach him a bit about firearms and the dangers as well, to counteract what he has seen on the telly etc, so win win.
Just wondering how the cheap Chinese ones are regarding quality - will they be too frustrating to justify the low price?
Regarding the pneumatic ones, do you need a charged bottle to recharge or can you do it manually with a pump??

[Terry]

Thanks RC & OCP, appreciate the info. Will look into this a bit more, but I do prefer to have a feel of something before I buy so will be looking for local shops instead of mail order/internet. I like to ask lots of silly questions
Another one, what are your thoughts on calibre - seem to be three different ones and research so far is inconclusive as to which is better - guess it depends on what you want to do with it?

OCP, I fancy having a go in one of them Abrahams, but suspect it might be a bit more expensive than the air rifle. Mind you, could save on the cost of a chainsaw Besides, would also like to have a little something left for the pot

[Terry]

Cheers again gents - bows look interesting OCP, but I should probably not get too carried away for now

Someone mentioned the guntrader site to me today but not had a chance to have a look yet RC.

[Sparrowhatchforestry]

Just stumbled across this thread, Gun trader is a very good website for second hand guns, I sourced my .22 rimfire from there and it was brilliant and very keenly priced!

Does anyone on here have use larger calibers? heres my list of thing that lurk in my cabinets:

Old english Side by Side - Never really used but was given to me by my uncle
cheap italian over and under that I use for squirrel control
bruno mod22 rimfire with sound mod, adjustable cheek piece and scope (Soon to have shortened barrel) that I use for shooting just about everything (Quite, Light and Accurate)
and finally my baby- Tikka T3 Stainless laminate, zeiss duralite scope and Sound Mod (Soon to have modified stock and shortened barrel) used for deer management.

[Sparrowhatchforestry]

Just stumbled across this thread, Gun trader is a very good website for second hand guns, I sourced my .22 rimfire from there and it was brilliant and very keenly priced!

Does anyone on here have use larger calibers? heres my list of thing that lurk in my cabinets:

Old english Side by Side - Never really used but was given to me by my uncle
cheap italian over and under that I use for squirrel control
bruno mod22 rimfire with sound mod, adjustable cheek piece and scope (Soon to have shortened barrel) that I use for shooting just about everything (Quite, Light and Accurate)
and finally my baby- Tikka T3 Stainless laminate, zeiss duralite scope and Sound Mod (Soon to have modified stock and shortened barrel) used for deer management.

[Sparrowhatchforestry]

Glad to hear it works ok, is it really as quiet as they claim? I was looking at a 12g one a while ago for a contract but it was never needed in the end