Air Pistols ?

[grburt]

I am starting to lean toward a less expensive pistol to start with. Say a Daisy (Avanti) 747 .  Keep my ego in check, I'm not going to walk up with an Izzy and shoot a 1000 right off the bat as much as I wish to.  

[cole5169]

You could (and many people do) shoot every bit as well with a 747 (or 717, for that matter) as they can with the IZH.  I think the IZH is balanced better, and it has much better grips and trigger than the Avanti crowd; sights on either are passable.  The one niggle I have with the 46M is that the twin breach seals tend to need replacing, a lot (because they tend to fall out, a lot).  Well, maybe that and the price, $380... but it's basically an olympic match pistol for less than $400, when others cost $2,000 or more.

The 777 and 747 have the same barrels (or did, the 777 is no longer made) and sights; the 777 had hardwood target grips.
Even though the less expensive 717 doesn't have the "good" barrel or grips, it's still outstanding; the 717 is a good gun, and all of the 7x7's are pretty robust, so if you pick up a used one, it will probably have years left in it.
For the money, the bargain-priced 717 is a better shooter (I feel) than either the HW40PCA or the Gamo Compact (bleah...).  Against the plastic-gripped Avantis, the HW40PCA is lighter, better balanced, and has better ergonomics (and a better trigger); but it's harder to cock and load, and the sights are so-so.

[grburt]

Thanks for all the discussion. You're a geat bunch of shooters !  I decided to start small - I just ordered the 747.  Now just need Timmy to make me some grips out of his walnut scraps !!!

[ac12basis]

The Daisy/Avanti 747 is a great pistol to start with.
The advantages it has over the 717 is a Walther barrel and an adjustable trigger.

One thing that I really liked is that you can cock the hammer w/o charging the air.  This lets you dry fire the pistol all you want w/o damage to the pistol or releasing air and making a lot of noise.  This lets you work on your trigger technique w/o the disruption of the noise of firing the pistol.

There are 2 mods that I recommend.
#1 - The stock pistol tends to slip/rotate in your hand, especially if you have a sweaty palm like I do.  Put a small (1 inch x 1 inch) square of non-skid on the backstrap.  
#2 - IMHO, the stock rear sight is bit too narrow.  To widen it, get a small hobby file and little-by-little widen the notch on the rear sight, so the white on both sides of the front sight appears as about half the with of front sight.

[crowpopper]

i love my p1 and ill resize zome pics later today when i have some time and post the groups
and also i have a mac1 ld coming in this week
that should be a nail driver

[crowpopper]

lets see if this pic works
it was a off hand group with the p1 after i put maybe 100-200 pellets through it i have only had the gun a couple weeks
it was shot at 12 yards

[lillysdad621]

I have a 717 and the trigger IS adjustable. Got the wooden grips (ambidexterous... dont like the thumb rest...) and used the b square mount on a Izzie 46 to mount a pistol scope. Correctly adjusted (get one, you'll understand...) mine shoots RWS hobbies at 411 fps average with a deviation of 2 fps above or below. I even use it for starling interception at the feeders from 20 yards away. Headshots are very doable and cleanly take them out. i love it. And got me a second place in a pistol silhouette comp last sunday... you'll enjoy it. it is daisy's best kept secret (so are the avanty rifles...)

[cole5169]

I was lucky to pick up an excellent condition Daisy 777 about 10 years ago at a yard sale for less than $100.  My 777 had the target grips, which were waaaaay too chunky for me, but a couple hours with a Dremel tool and sandpaper fixed that -- and I have 0 skill at woodworking, so it was a good learning experience.   At that time, I gave my 15+ year old 717 to an old college buddy (to share the wealth/joy, etc).

I can't remember if my old 717 had an adjustable trigger...  but I fondly remember it as a top-notch shooter, especially considering that I bought it new for about $49 back in the late 80's.  What a bargain!

I know they (and the 747) have gone up quite a bit since then, but they are still both excellent values.  They are still certainly priced at an "entry-level" point, althougn I hesitate to lump them into the category of "entry-level" competition guns, since they're very competitive in their own right.  

I don't compete at all (well, maybe against my wife, but she is so much better than me, it's not much of a competition..).  But my 777 shoots thousands of pellets each year at paintballs on golf tees, and it moonlights controlling the carpenter bee and hornet population.

[daveshoot]

Just by way of rounding up... I think this is my pistol list:

Daisy 747, RWS5G/P5, Cometa Indian, 2 x IZH46M (one leftie), IZH-53, Crosman 1377, HW70 (no rear sight), P3, Crosman 150. And a Drozd, if that counts.

I almost never shoot the CO2 guns.

Of all of them, my go-to is always the P3. The IZH46Ms are the most accurate, though. The Cometa is a fine shooter but the trigger is not as good as the two previous. The old HW70 showed a lot of potential, but until I make or find a rear sightblade,it's hard to give it a chance. The 1377 is in a league of its own, and you get out of them whatever you put in.The russki 53 is their bargain pistol- low powered but built like a tank, very large, and accurate.

Mommy prefersher leftie 46M and after that, the Daisy Avanti 747 (I used to like it until I put the leftie grips on for her). She is really good with the Avanti, and a little trigger work would really make it shine.

I think the most overrated is the P5... it's a fine piece of machinery, but nowhere near as powerful as advertised (the 700 fps claim could only be with alloy pellets). The safety is annoying as heck and I have never found the sweet spot on the trigger adjustment. It's good, but not great.