Recommendations for near silent backyard airguns

A daisy 717 is pretty quiet for an air pistol.

A multi-pump airgun like a Benjamin 397 or 392 rifle kept to 2 or 3 pumps? Or, a simple Crosman 1377 or 1322 multi-pump pistol kept to 2 or 3 pumps?

Maybe a kid's break barrel gun in the 500 fps range? My daughter's first generation Gamo Recon (500 fps) is pretty dang quiet for a break barrel rifle.

EDIT: Oops. I didn't realize the Benjamins went for more than $150.00 these days.

Crosman P1377 is a pump pneumatic .177 air pistol and goes for around $50. For another $25, you can attach a shoulder stock. The gun is accurate at 20 yards, and you can regulate the power with the number of pumps. It's about as quiet as any other airgun, and if you keep the pumps/velocity down, then noise will also be minimized. Pump it up to max at about 8 or 10, and it will make about 600 fps, enough for pest control.

The recommendations of a multipump are good too.

Just remembered! Look at the cmp air rifle page- they have used, refurbed daisy 853, think they are $135 or so shipped.

My Crosman 1077 is pretty quiet. It's a CO2-powered repeater loosely based on the Ruger 1022. Runs well south of $100 ($69-ish at Wal-Mart online last I saw.)

For some handgun training, the Gamo PT-85 does pretty good duty for me standing in for my Ruger P-95. Like the Crosman, it runs on CO2, is a repeater, and runs below $100. The slide "blowback" feature even knocks the gun off target when it hits the rear, requiring target re-acquisition, similar to a firearm.

readyeddy said:

Crosman P1377 is a pump pneumatic .177 air pistol and goes for around $50. For another $25, you can attach a shoulder stock.

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With that shoulder stock, you get two guns in one! I had an old Crosman Backpacker that would get changed from pistol to carbine to pistol to carbine. It got a lot of shooting time when I was young and didn't have excess money to purchase two airguns.

There are a variety of airguns you make virtually silent. I mean no noise at all. I have a Crossman 2250 I bought used, placed a steel breech on it and a TKO shroud. It shoots 22.cal pellets around 450-500 fps. It is my go to airgun. Works with co2. Another quiet air gun is the famous and respected Beeman R7.( Most serious airgunners will Have a R7) in their arsenal).
If you are serious about quiet than get a pistol or rifle with a shroud from the link below.

http://www.tko22.com/

sean m said:

Pulled my old 1377 out this morning and was plinking a few shots after feeding the dogs, forgot how quiet it is with only a few pumps. Have a CO2 Crossman in 22 that I put one of the should stocks on, might have to swap the grips and try that out in the morning practice session.

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Speaking of 1377s, I put one of my spare Bushnell TRS25 red dots on my 1377 this morning. I did some target shooting this morning, and compared to last week with the open sights, I hit the target more often than before. Blame the middle aged eyes and open sights.

Kookla said:

Just remembered! Look at the cmp air rifle page- they have used, refurbed daisy 853, think they are $135 or so shipped.

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These are definitely fine rifles. I bought one for my daughter to shoot.

If you want quiet I have a umerex fusion that is really REALLY quiet. And I have shot flies at the ranges you talk about....it is huge fun.

The pumpers can get quite loud but if you keep them to a few pumps that should work.

A bolt action .22 with Super Colibris.

A local sporting goods store had a sale on the Benjamin Trail NP2 in .22 for $165 (synthetic stock)

With a few strategic knife trades for store credit, I got it for a whopping $40!

So far I'm very impressed, it's noticeably more powerful than my 392 at full power, it's just as accurate, they even love the same pellets, Predator Polymag, RWS Superdome, the Trail loves Beeman Kodiak, they both are meh on RWS MEISTERKUGLEN and Beeman Crow Magnums

Using a cardboard box filled with old ratty clothes I no longer wear as a pellet trap, the Trail drives them with enough power that all but the Kodiaks show some form of distortion from hitting the trap, the polymags especially are completely mangled as at short ranges (across the bedroom) the Trail reliably shoots them through the same hole

Noise level? What noise level, you get a medium *THUMP* from the piston system, and the sound of the pellet hitting the target is louder, the integrated suppressor truly works, my 392 on one pump of air is louder!

Each gun fills a different niche, the 392 has the advantage of variable power levels, is lighter, more compact, has a more traditional, timeless look and is all wood and metal construction, the disadvantage is it takes longer to achieve a full power shot, and plinking can get tedious beyond 4 pumps, and it's louder, more of a *POP* that can sound somewhat like a gunshot

The trail is quicker to get ready, as it only requires the one "pump" of a break barrel design, more powerful, and far, far quieter, it is longer, more muzzle heavy and loses the ability to vary the power level though

If you can find one on sale, check out the Trail NP2

sean m said:

Was wanting to find some good recommendations for backyard airguns.
Have space for a 20 yard shooting range, but since I'm on a city lot, I want to keep noise to a minimum. So far a Umarex Browning Buckmark copy and a Marksman 2070 have been my lowest noise producers.
Does anyone have any other suggestions for a sub $150.00 rifle or pistol that will be near silent. Mostly plinking tennis balls and punching paper, so not needing a high velocity rifle.

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There are a lot of guns that will fit you need. Get one that will accept a "TKO" Shroud. All you will hear is the hammer spring. You can go from a low quality Pistol, to some really serious air guns and rifles. I have been in this hobby for a very long time. It is very addictive and once you get a cheap Big Box store gun, you will most likely start moving up the ladder to the better built German and English rifles. You need to define more of what you want. A nice Pistol, rifle, etc, co2, spring powered and the very expensive PCP. I have been a "Springer" enthusiast since I can remember however own many other Pistols and rifles. Co2 without a shroud can be very loud. Spring piston can be very quiet. I have performed many decibel test over the years. But how long do you want a gun to last? Accuracy etc. Huge difference in a Crosman and a Walther, or Weilrauch.

Detuning a springer or pcp with a suppressor is my 2cents. Any pcp, pneumatic or CO2 without a suppressor is a waste of time if you want quiet. Springers should still have one but not as important as the others. You can make or buy a suppressor but I'd be wary of putting a suppressor on a gun didn't come with the gun b/c they're all technically illegal, so I'd rather get caught with one that came that way so I could claim ignorance. Before people flame me about the law, read the law.... And here's one of my fav links from the horses mouth: http://tinyurl.com/zbtllh2

Entropy: I use the regular Colibri, much quieter Good luck finding them these days but if you can I recommend it.
I use them in a Marlin 925, which I bought for the sole purpose of shooting Colibri. Reasons are bolt action, 22" barrel, and micro groove bore. The longer barrel makes it a good bit quieter than the more common 18", the micro groove has less friction, and as you learned, bolt action is needed.

CO2 gun will be quieter than a springer and easier to shoot. QB78 tuned would be very good. The target Daisy models are great plinkers accurate and very quiet also.

Thank you for that link Chevota. I'd say the ATF definitely loves to leave itself a wide berth for later interpretation of what they write and could very well shut down a good number of manufacturers. What is not clear is whether they would come after owners of whom there are no sales records. Of course without an approved application on file, being caught with one could have consequences.

Editing to add a bit; I purchased my first air rifle not long ago, a Crosman Shockwave Nitro. While it claims to be 70% quieter than a traditional springer I've not noted a significant difference between it and my girlfriend's traditional spring powered Crosman.

Both have been used to rid backyards of critters, mine in an urban setting and without any undue notice from neighbors. In fact my next door neighbor has taken a dozen tree rats this year from his window aiming out.

I think the more important factor is not alarming people by displaying what looks to the average passerby to be a "high powered rifle". I spend more time scanning for people than I take setting up shots.

d2wing said:

CO2 gun will be quieter than a springer and easier to shoot. QB78 tuned would be very good. The target Daisy models are great plinkers accurate and very quiet also.

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The QB is a great family of guns....issue is they are a little like a black rifle...I just can't leave the stupid thing alone. Resist the desire to hot rod it...they can get a bit noisy if you do that...but man they are great shooters.