Recommendations for good competition air pistol that won't break the bank

First topic message reminder :

I'm looking to purchase a good quality air pistol with a quality trigger mechanism and anatomical formed grips, but I don't want to pay a small fortune for it. I don't know much about the competition grade air pistols. The best CO2 pistol I own is a Smith & Wesson Model 78 G .22 Cal CO2. I'm looking for something significantly better than this. I need some knowledgeable recommendations. Thanks.

pazmaker wrote:The Gamo Compact gets its own category: Inexpensive and has all the features I require!
Too bad it is discontinued. I can't find one anywhere on the internet.

I was surprised to find them for sale again. Very reasonable price.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00069PQKO/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=7033769974&hvqmt=p&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_488pilirf_p

I'm so glad someone mentioned air pistols here. I wasn't sure if I should because it's a bullseye forum but I feel precision pistol (any pistol) should be welcomed in conversation here. We are in fact all precision pistol shooters of one sport or another or multiple sports. 

It just so turns out that I proudly and happily took possession of a Feinwerkbau Model 65 (MKI) yesterday. Prescribe condition, original box, tool, four front sight inserts, and the part to change the gun from recoiless to felt recoil. Mine is not a Beaman (spelling?) import model but one sold over seas and brought back. Or possibly ordered direct from FWB...? I don't know. I also have the original papers and test target from the factory. 

I bought it to use as a practice or trainer for my muzzleloaders during the cold. The fire time and/or lock time is very close to muzzleloaders. It'll shoot hundreds at 25 yards. Love this gun! A bit of work to shoot it but worth it. And it recently had a tune up and replaced seals to boot. 

There may be other options or better options out there but I like this one. I spent $500 for it and I think I got a deal as I've seen them in my situations condition go for as much as $800. 

Looks like you made a good find!

Does anyone have the one the cmp sells?

http://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/rifle_sales/air-rifles/air-pistols/

I realized that I never wrote a follow-up on the Crosman 2300KT from Crosman Custom Shop online.
 
Here's what I got:
Crosman Custom 2300KT with long steel breech, 10.1" Lothar Walther Match barrel, silver muzzle brake, standard plastic grip, large view red dot sight, silver trigger shoe, 15% off Xmas special; all for $149.44 including tax and shipping.
 
First, ditch the optional red-dot optic. It was very inadequate - not even airsoft level. Get the 2300KT with open 'iron' sights, or without sights and add a quality optic later. I bought a low profile airgun/.22 to Picatinny/Weaver rail adaptor for about $10 and mounted a Burris Fastfire III that I took off a gun that I recently sold.
 
The trigger is adjustable for travel and pull, but not angle. The adjustable sear spring allowed me to set the trigger to 2 lbs. The wide trigger shoe upgrade improves the standard skinny Crosman trigger. For the price, the end-result is an excellent trigger.
 
The grips are the classic plastic Crosman grips. The upgrades were just wood versions of the same grip shape, so I got it with the standard plastic. I don't dislike the grips, but they are not comparable to adjustable ergonomic target pistol grips. Again, keep the price in mind.
 
The 10.1" Lothar Walther Match Barrel (.177 caliber) with 12 lands and grooves and a 1 in 16 inch twist rate seems to be of very good quality. The shooting results bear this out.
 
The long steel breech allows about an extra 1.5" over the short breech. The long steel breech offers more surface area to mount red-dot optics. If you are going with open sights the short breech is fine. However, the long breech is only $3 more, so why not be prepared for iron or red-dot sights.
 
The $15 muzzle brake looks cool, but I do not think it is very effective. Replaced this with a Hatsan Air Stripper that only slightly tightened up groups and later with a Gemtech Outback II .22 cal suppressor that really worked to tighten groups. That's right, a .22 suppressor on a .177 CO2 pistol. Not only does it completely mute the report, but it acts as an air stripper on steroids.
 
Shooting report.
I set up a makeshift range indoors to sight-in the 2300KT. I shot at 7 yards from a rest (the back of a chair). The picture of the target is my 10-shot group from a rest. All 10 shots are virtually through the same hole (the 10 ring is 0.75"). I didn't take any pictures of the groups shot without the Gemtech, but I remember they were all in the 10 ring and easily within a half inch.
 
Granted, the Burris red-dot and the Gemtech 'air-stripper' put the price of this rig way over the $149 paid to Crosman Custom Shop, but on a CO2 pistol the Burris could be replaced with a $25 red-dot with no loss of accuracy. Given a few perks, the inexpensive Crosman 2300KT makes great entry level choice for target shooters. The 10 shot group in the picture shows that the hardware can deliver consistent results. Improving the grips is still a remaining challenge to make this rig perform while shooting freehand.
 
Before I bought my Crosman 2300KT, I also bought a Webly Alecto and a Gamo Compact. I shoot the Crosman all the time because the CO2 power is a lot less work and the suppressor makes it super quiet. There is no noise to attract or disturb the neighbors when shooting outdoors (it is legal to shoot airguns outdoors on your own property in my suburban city as long as the pellets don't leave your property).

Does the file attachment feature not work?

Here are the pictures parked at photobucket:

Beeman P3.   Pyramid's selling them for $239.95.   Single stroke pnuematic, good trigger, very accurate.   The P1 has a better trigger but is pricey, $459.95.  Both are well made by Weihrauch.  Send me an e-mail and I'll attach a photo of mine with a Bushnell Trophy scope and 20 shots in the black of slow and timed .22 bullseye targets.

Check Pilkguns. Also check their forum-Target Talk.

I bought the new FAS 6004 last year for about $400, I think its a good value, its mostly metal if not all metal. Its very easy to cock but the downside is that the velocity is lower than some and as mentioned it punches ragged holes compared to my FWB 601 air rifle. The trigger is decent, it has several adjustments but there are a lot of bad triggers hiding in those adjustments, get it set decent and leave it alone. The trigger in the FWB rifle is a lot better but its a true match rifle from 15-20 years ago where this FAS is more of a hobby/lite competition pistol

I've probably got 2000-3000 pellets through mine and its holding up well. The one failure I've seen is if you get a hold of some slightly larger diameter pellets, they simply won't fire in the pistol. I had some Hobby pellets that would refuse to shoot however it shot the Diablo Basic pellets well. Then I got a new batch of the Diablo Basic pellets in and they were slightly larger and wouldn't shoot. 

If you have the cash I would import a Steyr LP10 Compact from Krale-schietsport for about $1450 delivered. The IZH is also a good option but its big, clunky and hard to cock from what I hear. You're basically supposed to whittle it down to fit your hand.

pazmaker wrote:
 
The $15 muzzle brake looks cool, but I do not think it is very effective. Replaced this with a Hatsan Air Stripper that only slightly tightened up groups and later with a Gemtech Outback II .22 cal suppressor that really worked to tighten groups. That's right, a .22 suppressor on a .177 CO2 pistol. Not only does it completely mute the report, but it acts as an air stripper on steroids.
 

Pazmaker, could you please expand on how you mounted the Gemtech .22 suppressor to the Crosman's muzzle?  I am interested in this thread as I'm looking for a reasonably priced pistol and I have a Silencerco .22 suppressor that I could use as you did.  Thanks.