Air Arms Owners Club

Good morning,

I am new to air rifles and have been looking into buying my first proper rifle to eventually go hunting for rabbit. I previously had a hand me down crosman 1377 a good few years back and have been dying to get back into it.

After doing a tonne of looking around for a rifle I have settled for buying the ProSport, I am definite that I would like a springer as opposed to the PCP as I felt like a springer means I HAVE to make every shot count!

I currently serve as a stoker in the RN so have some experience with shooting, but more on the safety side and I know it won't be at least a year before I do go hunting, I am 100% for hunting but against inhumane kills so unless I'm 100% with my accuracy I won't go.

Anyway I just wanted to know your opinions on the rifle and any problems I could encounter also any advice to get the most out of it (zeroing etc) the scope I intend to use is a Hawke Vantage 4-12 x 50 AO IR or is it worth spending the extra £20 on Hawke Vantage 4-16 x 50 AO IR scope?

Any information I would be thankful for.

Kind regards Andrew.

Welcome andrew fill out your location as a member close by may be able too give you any help you may need.

welcome to the forum. the pro sport is a fine rifle. as for humane kills, you will probabally encounter a time when the wind carries the pellet further than you think. so 100% instant kill is a little unlikely. all you can do is do homework on which pellet suits the barrel of your rifle the best, find a max range at which you can put a pellet in a given group size of the kill zone of your intended quarry. stick to that range, if un sure about a shot, don't take it. hope you enjoy, others will have to advise you on the scope you like as not my field of the sport.
Gary.

Hi Andrew,
The prosport is a heavy rifle, no denying that but it's beautiful, probably one of the best looking airguns out there.
It can be a little hold sensitive compared to the TX but that means you have to replicate your hold for each shot and get it right. If you learn the subtle changes on the range you can make the PS work well as a hunting rifle. Personally I find it a tad heavy for standers so I always use sticks if possible.
It really excels at static shooting over a rabbit warren or on decoyed pigeons or a sitty tree where you can use sticks from a fixed position.
Problems? Probably the most common complaint is the shape of the cocking lever, personally I find it's fine, 200+ shots in a session doesn't cause me any problems. The lever can drop on firing sometimes but that is easily fixed, no need to explain it now but it is literally a 5 minute adjustment.
As for scopes, I've tried various scopes and find a smaller and lighter scope works best, for hunting a simple 3-9 or 3-12 X 40 with AO will do just about everything you'll need. Multiple aimpoints are really helpful for different ranges so a half mildot or similar would work well.
Think about the stock as well, walnut is lovely but needs oiling, lots of care and water will mark it if you're not careful. Walnut also has a habit of catching the odd whisker and that can hurt! Beech is cheaper but to me is also more practical for all weather use, especially the older lacquered stocks.
Hope that helps.
Tim

Thank you all for the information so far. Tim I will take on the information about the scope, could save myself a pretty penny. I think I will be going for beech, I do like the look of walnut stocks but as you mentioned beech seems like a good choice. The TX was my first choice and then decide to go for the PS. hmm decisions decisions decisions!