Airgun Price

[Ketchup]

Came upon a site where they rated some of the best break barrel rifles of all time. One gun kept popping up, the Walther LGV. 

From the web: The original Walther LGV was a match rifle produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was the pinnacle of Walther's breakbarrel target rifles.

I have got to quit this obsession over wanting different air guns!!!!

Looks at these prices of a few of the Walther brands. 

[jdmidwest]

Interesting to see where the lower end Walther is made.  S&W imported the handguns several years back.  Then they partnered with Umarex and distributed them out of Fort Smith Ark.

Looks like the high end Olympic grade stuff is still made in Germany by Carl Walther Sportwaffen.

Combination of the two companies has probably helped the Umarex out, they make some quality stuff now.

[fishinwrench]

I've heard that all of the truly good barrels are made in Germany.  Either something about their steel, or the way they cut rifling.   

Some (maybe all?) airgun barrels are choked to a small degree.  Some are choked only on the lands, and others choked both on the lands and the grooves.  This explains why identical rifles will prefer different pellets, and why sometimes you get a rifle that is either truly special.....or a genuine POS that won't shoot anything very good.  No 2 barrels are exactly alike, but apparently the Germans get it closer than anyone else can.  

[Ketchup]

Yes, everything i read "which is alot" about the german made guns/parts as a whole are superior to anything else made anywhere. Its the grade of their steel that makes it better.

i have a buddy here that makes hunting knives as a side hobby/income. In the past when he would start talking about german steel, it would go in one ear and out the other, because i figured steel is steel, right?  Well getting into this airgun stuff, and reading about barrels made in germany from guys who know their stuff, made me start reading more into it.

 

 

[Ketchup]

The german airguns as a whole are top notch. The Feinwerkbau, The Diana, The Weihrauch, and so on are tops in the industry. They have the hefty price tag to show. 

[fishinwrench]

2 hours ago, Ketchup said:

They have the hefty price tag to show.

No worse than a fine flyrod though. For the price of a halfway decent stick of graphite with some guides wrapped on it you can buy a darn fine air rifle, scope, and a shitton of pellets.

As a whole I find most air gun stuff to be quite affordable.   

[Ketchup]

True. But a guys gotta be careful or he will go down with the ship. 

When i started that first thread about airguns, i said i wouldnt let the price get compariable to a big boy gun, or i would just buy the big rifle. Well i have right at $500 into the Hatsan. 

How i justify it to myself, is by saying i can shoot it in town "while hiding from the neighbors", its cheap to shoot, its a way to stay actively shooting throughout the year, its fun to shoot, etc.  

So many airguns are on my radar, but i believe the RWS 34 in 22cal is my next purchase. German made, accurate, beautiful wood stock. Im thinking that will finish out my collection of one gun in each caliber. I will keep an extra Gamo or 2 around incase a buddy needs something to shoot. 

[jdmidwest]

$500 is still a long way from a centerfire after you add scope. 

[Ketchup]

Now that would depend on a guys tastes.  I need a new 22-250 for coyotes. I have owned and like the Remington 700 ADL in 22-250 which a guy can pick up new with optics for less than $500.  Or another gun i own and like is the Savage Axis in 223 for under $500 without optics. So for what i have in this latest airgun i could have bought a nice predator shootin machine. 

[fishinwrench]

Yeah, but how many coyotes have you shot in the last year or two ? 

Way back when I was seriously into predator hunting I spent a lot of time and money on guns, ammo, calls, portable blinds, and we even had a short bed 4x4 truck specifically rigged for it.  Me and a buddy were into it big-time for about 4 years, and during my most successful year all I killed was 3 coyotes.  My predator hunting arsenal consisted of a Win.M70 .243, a Win.1200 12ga. with #4buck, and a S&W 586 in .357 

When I reflect back on all the time and money we spent doing that I feel pretty foolish.  It really wasn't as much fun as we wanted it to be.  The calling never worked, all it ever did was call in dogs from neighboring farms....and that insured that you weren't gonna see a coyote or fox that day.  

I'd say that shooting each coyote cost me about 350.00 and honestly it wasn't that much of a thrill.  I'm pretty sure that I've had more enjoyment out of this air rifle in the last month than I've had in a lifetime of shooting big boy guns.