Advice on best barrel break .22 air rifle

smartmove77 said:
Hi All,

New to the forum :)

I am looking to purchase a .22 barrel break rifle in the UK. I've seen a lot of YT videos but these seem more like AI generate ads on the whole with lots of negative comments disagreeing with the choices they made. I just want the rifle for fun target shooting in the garden, nothing more serious. My budget is around the £300 mark. What would be a solid, well made option available to buy in the UK?

Many thanks,
Simon
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I’ve got 3 hw30s, 2 cometa 400s and a hw95. If you don’t need full power there is only one answer… the hw30. If your do the 95 is the way to go. The cometa are no where near as solidly built as the 95.
 
Hw98k and Hw95k great brake barrel guns. And very accurate too. Once you work out the holding method.
 
Honestly I think for break barrels you can't beat weirauch. Can you something decent for your original budget? Absolutely.
Would an increase to £400 make a difference? I would say yes massively .
Asking for the best rifle under a certain price all you'll get is opinions.
Ask 10 people and you'll get at least 6 or 7 different answers.
General consensus is a good starting point to narrow down choice. But there are so many factors that effect the experience.
What's the pull length? How heavy is it and how is the balance once it's in the shoulder? What's the force needed to cock it? Is the firing cycle to your liking? A 6ft 6 man mountain might have a completely different opinion to someone who's 5ft 5 and slight.
I know this answer sounds trite but I think it's true.You don't know until you pick it up and try it.
Find a good RFD preferably with a range and try some of the ones you're considering. Even if you then buy used. Or a range with hire rifles.
You may find that for your intended use you may be happy at the real budget end of the market.
Or you may think yeah I could get in to this maybe I'll stretch myself and get something that might take me into target shooting/ftt/pesting/whatever.
Who am I kidding. You'll do what we all do buy what you fancy,end up with 3 or 4 within a couple of years(possibly more) and have a great time spending money and learning as you go . Enjoy 😂
 
HFT500 said:
Hw98k and Hw95k great brake barrel guns. And very accurate too. Once you work out the holding method.
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My holy grail is the HW98
I absolutely adore the look of it. But it’s considerably larger than my 97 and 30
And as I only have 25m max in the garden I figure it’s wasted on me - still I luv it tho’ 🥰
 
If one is found for not much money ( this un was free 😁)
IMG_20251019_121108441.jpg
, an older vintage Gamo Hunter 880 can be tickled a bit for a nice shooter.
This little Spanish minx sports a new Maccari E3650 spring & Maccari Seal , all wrapped around a skinnied up factory rear guide... piston sleeve added, stock refinished & topped with a Western Field 4x33 , sporting fine crosswires. Barrel cut 1" & re crowned. All in, about maybe $ 100 .00 with an aftermarket GRT trigger.👍🙂
 
chouchin66 said:
If one is found for not much money ( this un was free 😁)View attachment 827233, an older vintage Gamo Hunter 880 can be tickled a bit for a nice shooter.
This little Spanish minx sports a new Maccari E3650 spring & Maccari Seal , all wrapped around a skinnied up factory rear guide... piston sleeve added, stock refinished & topped with a Western Field 4x33 , sporting fine crosswires. Barrel cut 1" & re crowned. All in, about maybe $ 100 .00 with an aftermarket GRT trigger.👍🙂
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What a great looking gun. Never heard of that particular model before but sounds like she’s a keeper and worth looking out for.
 
Hollowpoint said:
What a great looking gun. Never heard of that particular model before but sounds like she’s a keeper and worth looking out for.
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Thank you, kind sir.🙂 I'd no experience with Gamos until a friend bestowed mine upon me as a gift, along with a vintage Crosman 400 repeater ( 10 rd. magazine) CO2 rifle. The Gamo dates from 1998. Perhaps this model is the precursor to the 440 & 220 break barrels ?.... I've not the foggiest.
 
Slightly leftfield, but I would have said HW98 and have had one and described breaking and cocking the action as orgasmic. Superb engineering. The someone on here said AA Pro Elite were the dogs ******** so I kept my eyes open and got one. If I'm honest the lock up is good, but the HW probably has it but the trigger on the Pro Elite, wow; that was new to me having only used Record triggers on my decent springers (and like them).
Now I have a heavily tuned HW80 in .177, (which I wish was .22) AA Pro Elite in .22, and for nostalgia a 1985 BSA Mercury Challenger, also .22

Edit, sorry I've just seen your budget. Go with a HW as has been said; I'd stay well away from a new BSA.
 
chouchin66 said:
Thank you, kind sir.🙂 I'd no experience with Gamos until a friend bestowed mine upon me as a gift, along with a vintage Crosman 400 repeater ( 10 rd. magazine) CO2 rifle. The Gamo dates from 1998. Perhaps this model is the precursor to the 440 & 220 break barrels ?.... I've not the foggiest.
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Could you tell me a little more about it? Does it have a two stage trigger or single?
 
bootneckbob said:
Slightly leftfield, but I would have said HW98 and have had one and described breaking and cocking the action as orgasmic. Superb engineering. The someone on here said AA Pro Elite were the dogs ******** so I kept my eyes open and got one. If I'm honest the lock up is good, but the HW probably has it but the trigger on the Pro Elite, wow; that was new to me having only used Record triggers on my decent springers (and like them).
Now I have a heavily tuned HW80 in .177, (which I wish was .22) AA Pro Elite in .22, and for nostalgia a 1985 BSA Mercury Challenger, also .22
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After reading more and more I've talked myself down to 177. Why the wish for your HW80 to be 22?
 
smartmove77 said:
After reading more and more I've talked myself down to 177. Why the wish for your HW80 to be 22?
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It shoots brilliantly in .177, it's just my other break barrels are .22. Call it OCD! That said, I have a couple of lower spec breakers in .177 too with a ASI Paratrooper and Umarex M4.
 
Hollowpoint said:
Could you tell me a little more about it? Does it have a two stage trigger or single?
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They start life with a " standard" Gamo anti - bear trap, single stage( I think), it had a mile of creep & required a concerted effort to concentrate on form, with a ridiculous heavy spring. The GRT trigger takes all that away, making a quite useable trigger, though will never be a Rekord. It's however very predictable, breaking cleanly @ ~ 3 lbs. effort.
 
chouchin66 said:
They start life with a " standard" Gamo anti - bear trap, single stage( I think), it had a mile of creep & required a concerted effort to concentrate on form, with a ridiculous heavy spring. The GRT trigger takes all that away, making a quite useable trigger, though will never be a Rekord. It's however very predictable, breaking cleanly @ ~ 3 lbs. effort.
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Fantastic. Hope it brings your many years of pleasure and pest control!
 
smartmove77 said:
Hi All,

New to the forum :)

I am looking to purchase a .22 barrel break rifle in the UK. I've seen a lot of YT videos but these seem more like AI generate ads on the whole with lots of negative comments disagreeing with the choices they made. I just want the rifle for fun target shooting in the garden, nothing more serious. My budget is around the £300 mark. What would be a solid, well made option available to buy in the UK?

Many thanks,
Simon
Click to expand...

Where are you based?
Always best to go to a Club if you can and get chatting to the members.

HW30 is a lovely little rifle, available new within your budget here and presumably other places

leicestershireairguns.uk

Weihrauch HW30SF .177 Spring Airgun - Leicestershire Airguns

New, boxed Weihrauch HW30SF .177 Spring Airgun TAG : Weihrauch HW30SF .177 Spring AirgunBRAND : Weihrauch Weihrauch HW30SF is a lightweight, yet exceedingly well balanced air rifle, ideal for the junior shooter looking to start in the sport of shooting. The Break Barrel action of the HW30...
leicestershireairguns.uk

Fun shooting in the garden - if this is at sensible ranges then this will do the job beautifully.

How mechanically competent are you?
Do you want to "fettle" a gun or simply buy something you an use straight away?

If you hang around here and join in the conversations then you could soon clock up the required 50 sensible / approved posts and get access to our superb Sales Section after which you might well pick up a bargain - be warned, you might endup with several "bargains" which addd up!
 
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