Sorry for making two threads in the same day.
A while ago I was watching a special on the Lewis & Clark expedition. Much to my amazement, they carried an "air rifle," which is something I had never heard of before. Though it seemed a little impracticable, it was extremely cool... except for the part where they explained how the air chamber could burst (i.e. one of the reasons the air rifle didn't catch on). I didn't think any more about it, until I was looking at this forum today and saw an air rifle topic. They are still made! And they don't blow up anymore! So of course I had to immediately think about buying one.
There are a lot of other purchases I need to make before I could get such a rifle, but I was wondering if I could get any advice. Though it is possible I could get really into air rifles later, the first purchase would be only for the thrill I would get shooting a rifle powered by air. So there are two criterion.
1. Must be powered by air
2. Must be capable of being filled by hand (though not necessarily exclusively).
I looked up the topic on Wikipedia and I found a class that seem very similar to the rifle Lewis and Clark carried, a PCP rifle, and though it would be a pain in the butt these rifles can be filled with a hand pump. But how much would everything cost? Is this a kind of air rifle a beginner could start with? The idea of such a rifle is exciting but I don't want to get over my head to start with.
Edit: Sorry, one more thing; what are the legal status of air rifles? Can you just order one or does it have to go through a dealer?
A while ago I was watching a special on the Lewis & Clark expedition. Much to my amazement, they carried an "air rifle," which is something I had never heard of before. Though it seemed a little impracticable, it was extremely cool... except for the part where they explained how the air chamber could burst (i.e. one of the reasons the air rifle didn't catch on). I didn't think any more about it, until I was looking at this forum today and saw an air rifle topic. They are still made! And they don't blow up anymore! So of course I had to immediately think about buying one.
There are a lot of other purchases I need to make before I could get such a rifle, but I was wondering if I could get any advice. Though it is possible I could get really into air rifles later, the first purchase would be only for the thrill I would get shooting a rifle powered by air. So there are two criterion.
1. Must be powered by air
2. Must be capable of being filled by hand (though not necessarily exclusively).
I looked up the topic on Wikipedia and I found a class that seem very similar to the rifle Lewis and Clark carried, a PCP rifle, and though it would be a pain in the butt these rifles can be filled with a hand pump. But how much would everything cost? Is this a kind of air rifle a beginner could start with? The idea of such a rifle is exciting but I don't want to get over my head to start with.
Edit: Sorry, one more thing; what are the legal status of air rifles? Can you just order one or does it have to go through a dealer?
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