How to choose between the different pellet rifles
You do not know how to choose your rifle among the different types of propulsion? We will explain the differences to you.
There are 3 types of rifles for recreational shooting: the compressed air rifle, the pre-compressed air rifle (known as PCP) and the CO2 rifle.
The air rifle
It is the most used type of propulsion, it consists of a compression of a piston (spring) by tilting the barrel of the rifle or a cocking lever.
This system is the best known and the simplest in terms of its operation, it is robust and allows a maximum power of 30 joules to be reached depending on the rifle model.
The PCP rifle
Pre-compressed air or PCP is a rather recent system which consists in compressing the air beforehand in a tank, at a high pressure (expressed in bar), and makes it possible to reach higher powers (depending on the model) .
Filling the tank requires a compressor or a special hand pump for PCP.
This principle significantly reduces vibrations and increases shooting accuracy even over long distances.
PCP air rifles offer similar performance to .22 long rifles while being much safer and often less expensive.
CO2 rifle
CO2 rifles use CO2 capsules (cartridges) for propulsion, like many recreational shooting guns.
The CO2 allows a reduction of the vibrations during the shot and therefore more precision than with compressed air.
Now that you know the main differences between the modes of propulsion of rifles for recreational shooting and sport shooting, you just have to choose.