Old Skool

I ave just been looking through some of the old mags from the 80s era, hunting in knee high snow with a springer and a 4x40 scope lol some of the pcp worshipers would have been lost back then lol!

I love the idea of grabbing your springer and filling your pocket with aload of pellets and going out hunting "old skool" style.. Has anyone threw there hand in with the pcp's and stuck to it? ive tryed 3-4 times ended up back at sqaure one lol.

ive got to say there is deffentley something about them springers

Well, I do have a few PCPs, but my favourite guns are my break nek springers.

I use my PCPs for hunting seriously & comps, the rest of the time its always a springer for me.

In winter I tend to use my BSA lightning for HFT comps too, just because...

I think I shoot a springer at least 3 times a week, because a B2 is in my work shop , where as I keep the rest well locked away.
I have 2 target pellet traps in my garden, one at 10 yards, the other at the end of the garden, -- -- 16 yards.
Every time I pass the gun, I tend to pick it up, open sights & all, and blat a pellet into the target box ...

Sad are'nt I !

Springers
I have a BSA lightning Tactical in 177,
BSA Cadet Major in 177
Relum Telly in 22
Norconia B2 in 22
Westlake B2 in 177

Also BSA Scorpion T10 Tac 177
Hatsan AT44 177
Cannon 737 177
QB78 T/H in 22
Crosman single pump mod 177

Pistols at the moment
Webley Typhoon 22
The Gat 177

Nice collection Gerry!
Even though I love my AR and enjoy using it, i still look at it as a tool, "the rifle you reach for when you need the job doing" the springer on the other hand is just fun, at the same time they seem to have more "soul" than a pcp rifle, I go with the flow, and go out with what I feel like on the day.. Depends really, if it's hunting I enjoy going out with either power source, I'm not going to lie, hunting with a pcp makes things easier, with the springer it's a challenge but for menthat is part of the enjoyment!, i started out with springers so I know I can go out with the springer and put vermin away but still enjoy the session, but if it is pure pest control I'd grab the pcp everytime.. But this can fall under a few different factors aswell.

Most of my "hunting" is vermin control , I have 2 permissions, one a race horse farm & one a show jumpers farm .

They dont like rabbits , or squirrels . Rabbits dig holes & squirrels eat horse food.

So its always a clinical hunt. Although I occasionally take out one of my boingers.

On my mates small holding , with the show jumpers, I've used both types, but these days the springer is my preference there, not too many bunnies or squirrels left there any more .

Having shot military rifles for 30 odd years, I like the springer... as you say , its got a "soul" .

At a recent southern hunters HFT comp at Bisley , the only full house of the day , out of well over 100 shooters was with a springer !!!
Top score with PCP was 59 ex 60 !!!
Yes , springers are good .
The fact is, a PCP is just so easy for any one to shoot reasonabley well & as a result bad habits can creep in.
I love my springer .
Note , I said PCPs are easy to shoot reasonabley well, still takes a master to shoot them very well.
A springer ! It keeps you honest !

I always had a soft spot for the good old springer.BSA cadet was my first gun Then on to the good old MK5 "SUPER METEOR" in the mans calibre.I had that until I started work at the Ind Coop brewery in Vauxhall on Nine Elms lane next to the Fruit and Veg market in London.There I was given permission to shoot the vermin.Rats and Feral pigeon by the hundreds,I decided then to swap the the meteor for a Webley Hawk the single barrelled version in 22 .This was topped by a tiny 4X20 scope (expensive back then by todays standards) which was eventually replaced by a red dot sight.I still like to carry out pest control with the springer on those warm spring mornings.When the Kits are still oblivious to the dangers of the clicking that reloading always makes.These days of course I can afford a good scope and a decent red dot sight and I still shoot one of my springers with open sights.These new fangled Fibre optic sights are really quite good.
Of course the spinger is actually the newcommer to the field as the PCP was the original airgun,and advances in both fields of technology have been advancing almost neck and neck in the last few years.And there is still hothing to choose from either form that says one or other is better.I never dreamed back in those early days that I would see the advent of a spring powered rifle that would produce in excess of 26fpe and still be able to hit what it was pointed at,and now they can produce up to 32fpe with ease!!!
And with all this technology Look what a nice rifle the original Longbow was set up at just over 10fpe it would hold its own against PCP.
I can still remember the grin on my face and the the look of absolute dejection on my mate Tony's face after a full round on the range LongBow verses AA410.