Soft air?

has anyone here used those "soft air" pistols sold at wally world and fleet farm? I have been thinking about buying one for my son to use on pop cans and cardboard cutouts in the backyard.

what is considered the average fps?

my question is, I need a decent quality one that can hold up to the average mistakes of a kid: dropping it on the driveway, etc.

I am not looking for anything fancy, he would just like to shoot something and he has outgrown the nerf guns I have bought him, and I just don't think he's ready for anything more than that (a crosman pump would be too large and heavy for him).

-Mark

[RCnMo]

I bought one a few years back to shoot the cat when he was stalking the bird feeders. I picked up a 92F clone which was pretty darn close in size and weight. They weighted the magazine with pot metal to give it heft. I'm guessing about 250 or so fps and not anywhere close to air pistol accuracy. It had a smooth bore and the bbs are really too light for any downrange accuracy. It was fun for indoor plinking at about 15 feet or so. Every once in a while you could get one to fly straight. It would penetrate a soda can and dent the other side at point blank. I shot a friend's AR 15 clone which had an electric motor that cycled the action and would shoot full auto at about 3 rounds/second and it was fun. Still not enough power for accuracy. The one I had was built well enough for normal bangs and drops without fear of breaking, not sure about the ones at Walmart.

RCnMo - 7/10/2008  5:16 PM

......Every once in a while you could get one to fly straight..........

Ha Ha! that sounds like my old BB gun I had when I was a kid. it made those old pop cans a challenge at 15 feet!

There is one you can get for $20 at fleet farm, pistol, not sure of the make. comes with a small handfull of those yellow plastic balls. I might try that.

He just wants something a little more adult than what he is ready for, and I figure this is a good place to start.

-Mark