Dependable airguns at the right price

Mat Manning rounds up a selection of sub-£600 air rifles that are up to the task of tackling live quarry

Airguns offer a great route into the world of field sports, and their development has come a very long way since they provided me with my introduction to shooting almost four decades ago.

Back in the 1980s, our standard test for air rifle performance was whether we could hit, and preferably punch through, a tin can at 20 paces. Nowadays, even entry-level airguns are capable of grouping pellets inside a lin circle at 25m, and most models produce power very close to the 12ft/lb legal limit.

That level of performance means they can confidently be used for the humane despatch of small pests over sensible ranges.

Modern air rifles can cost several thousands of pounds, but you don't have to spend a fortune to buy one that's powerful and accurate enough to tackle rabbits, rats, pigeons and grey squirrels. A few hundred pounds will buy you a reliable airgun that can deal with pests in the garden, around the farmyard, out on the open fields or in the woods. Owing to their self-contained powerplant, springpowered air rifles tend to be the most affordable, but the price of recoil-less pre-charged airguns is now within the reach of most people - although you do need to factor in the additional cost of an air tank or stirrup pump to keep them topped up with compressed air.

The following airguns are my pick of some of the models that I've been putting through their paces over recent months. They are in or around the entry-level price bracket, but still deliver solid build quality and dependable performance.

1 Weihrauch HW95K 
£470 hullcartridge.co.uk

Break-barrel airguns are about as simple as they come, but that doesn't mean there has to be a compromise on quality or performance. The Weihrauch HW95K features the German gunkmaker's signature high-quality engineering and is built to give years of good service with minimal maintenance.