Airguns for practice

[esa5444]

I have been thinking about buying an air pistol and air rifle to practice inside the house. Obviously, the ideal situation would be to shoot my firearms every day. However, this is not feasible both for economic and practical reasons. I think airguns would let me practice at home, thus improving my marksmanship. I need some advice though:

A note. I live in an apartment. I want something quiet and relatively weak (300 fps is fine). I can set up about a 20-30 foot range given how my apartment is laid out.

Any recommendations for good air pistols and rifles?
Also, any recommendations for a good back stop?

[Aglifter]

Just a cardboard box, filled w. carpet scraps should stop pellets, I believe.

You also may want to consider airsoft - not a huge fan of it, but you can get ones which are remarkably close to actual guns, and which are fairly accurate.

[Yogimus]

I am an airgun aficionado, and here are the questions I believe you should ask yourself:

1. What type of gun do you want?

A. Variable pump (quietest, least efficient for prolonged use at max power)
B. CO2 (Can't adjust noise, easiest to use, trigger is usually crap)
C. Break-barrel (Loud as fuck, even the "whisper" models, easiest/cheapest)

2. What type of sights do you want to use?

A. Scope (Break barrels kill rifle scopes, expect to add 60+ dollars on top of gun price)
B. Iron sights (MAKE SURE the gun you buy has em, higher end guns often DO NOT.)

3. Pistol, or rifle?



For break barrels, I recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Gamo-Recon-Whispe ... B004WMFTDU
The "Whisper" is pretty quiet, but the spring still has a HARD thwack to it.
NOTE: Scope on it is garbage

For Pump Action,
http://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Outdoor-Pro ... B0018LESAI
(For the 49.99 listed, its a great rifle, weird cocking mechanism)
3 or 4 pump, it is quiet as a sparrow fart.

Pump pistol:
http://www.amazon.com/Crosman-American- ... B00A2AZ0MG
Only thing on here with iron peep sights, can buy an aftermarket stock for it that makes the pistol into a "rifle".

For Co2 rifles, get a single shot one. The rotary mags REALLY fuck up the trigger-pull. The one I have is:
http://www.amazon.com/Crosman-1077-Repe ... +co2+rifle
It has the trigger pull of a double action revolver, you get about 50 shots per Co2 cartridge, and the shots are consistent till the last 5 or 6.

[Yogimus]

NOTE ON BACKSTOPS:

Phone book in a cardboard box is fine, but carpeting scraps are MUCH quieter.

[Erik]

For me it depends on what I want to practice.
If I want to practice precision shooting/bullseye, I would need a bigger investment than if I just want to do some plinking.
I bought a fairly cheap airgun, but I didn't think it helped much, neither the precision or the feeling of it was very good, and I don't think it gave me much quality practice.
Then I went to a Fwb m80 which is more expensive but better. You get some feedback that you are actually doing it right when you start getting the hits. But for serious precision practice, I think I'd have to get a modern competition airgun, with the adjustable trigger and sights, and compressed air. But those things are really expensive.

For more general gun handling, and maybe IPSC practice, I'd go with an airsoft. They're cheaper and from what I understand they are fairly accurate at short distances.YMMV

[Highspeed]

At 20-30ft indoors I think you are firmly in airsoft territory. For a short gun, here's why I say that :-

Blowback airsoft pistols have realistic mag capacities, operate like the real handgun they imitate and have recoil ( kind of )
Air pistols which look like semi-auto handguns actually operate like a double action revolver using a fiddly little rotary magazine that takes something like 8 pellets.

[esa5444]

Thanks for the responses. Here is some more clarification:

I am thinking a pistol and maybe later a rifle. My intent is to practice trigger pull and breathing techniques to hone my marksmanship. I do not plan to compete.

Rate of fire is not important.
Power is not important, in fact, the lower the better.
Accuracy is important. I would like it to be able to hit a dime sized target at 20 feet. Airsoft would be perfect, if it is accurate. I was thinking, honestly, about something that shoots steel BB's. Don't really want to shoot lead pellets indoors.
Quiet is also important.
Similarity to real guns is not important. Other than having a trigger and a realistic grip, I don't care how it looks.
Sights: I was thinking iron sights are fine for my purposes. I can see a dime at that range, no need for a scope.

[Aglifter]

I think an airsoft gun will reach that level of accuracy.

[Yogimus]

Thanks for the responses. Here is some more clarification:

I am thinking a pistol and maybe later a rifle. My intent is to practice trigger pull and breathing techniques to hone my marksmanship. I do not plan to compete.

Rate of fire is not important.
Power is not important, in fact, the lower the better.
Accuracy is important. I would like it to be able to hit a dime sized target at 20 feet. Airsoft would be perfect, if it is accurate. I was thinking, honestly, about something that shoots steel BB's. Don't really want to shoot lead pellets indoors.
Quiet is also important.
Similarity to real guns is not important. Other than having a trigger and a realistic grip, I don't care how it looks.
Sights: I was thinking iron sights are fine for my purposes. I can see a dime at that range, no need for a scope.

Crossman 1377C, Available at walmart for 60 bucks. Get pellets for indoor use. BB-s get EVERYFUCKINGWHERE. Variable pump = variable volume. It has Peep OR blade sight (interchangeable) I STRONGLY recommend it.

[esa5444]

Thanks for the responses. Here is some more clarification:

I am thinking a pistol and maybe later a rifle. My intent is to practice trigger pull and breathing techniques to hone my marksmanship. I do not plan to compete.

Rate of fire is not important.
Power is not important, in fact, the lower the better.
Accuracy is important. I would like it to be able to hit a dime sized target at 20 feet. Airsoft would be perfect, if it is accurate. I was thinking, honestly, about something that shoots steel BB's. Don't really want to shoot lead pellets indoors.
Quiet is also important.
Similarity to real guns is not important. Other than having a trigger and a realistic grip, I don't care how it looks.
Sights: I was thinking iron sights are fine for my purposes. I can see a dime at that range, no need for a scope.

Crossman 1377C, Available at walmart for 60 bucks. Get pellets for indoor use. BB-s get EVERYFUCKINGWHERE. Variable pump = variable volume. It has Peep OR blade sight (interchangeable) I STRONGLY recommend it.

Think I'll pick one up and give it a shot (pun intended).