Are airguns today the 22lr of previous generations?

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WestKentucky

WestKentucky

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Are airguns supplanting 22 rimfire? Perhaps the better question is should they supplant 22 rimfire? For decades 22 rimfire has been a fun round with which people learn to shoot and have informal target sessions at little expense. Guns are legitimately good, and are relatively cheap. Ammo prices have crept up, and seemingly continue to do so. The runs on supply and demand drive prices higher but prices never seem to settle back to where they were pre-panic and you can pick whatever panic you wish to view as an inflation event but they are almost interchangeable. That $10 brick in 2005 is now $25. Cost per round is still reasonable for now, but that is becoming more debatable as inflation drives prices higher.

Steel bbs and lead pellets however have not seen such steep increases. I have 2 identical containers of bbs one old and almost empty, the other new and unopened. 2010 price-$8 at Kmart and bought half price when they went out of business locally. 2020 price-$10. Pellets cost more, basically due to economy of scale but at $5 per tin of 250 that’s still very reasonable, and although I can’t say with certainty that price increases are consistent they do seem to be. I recall as a kid buying for about $3 the same tin of pellets I recently bought for $5 but can’t recall even roughly when that would have been. Likely mid 90s so again, cheap to shoot. Also less noise, less dangerous, and more legally friendly and easy to aquire for all items across the board because they are not “firearms”.

With those points in mind, has there been a shift more towards the airgun as a plinker and training tool? Are airguns more popular for light hunting applications where 22s would have been used in the past? Has ammunition availability pushed folks towards airguns more than 22s?

Personally I am scratching my head. I seem stuck on 22lr and own a bunch. The last few guns I have got are 22s and the next few I intend to buy are also 22s. They are simply fun. Perhaps I should look into airguns of similar build and quality. Perhaps other should as well. I’m not sure about my thoughts on it because I have mixed emotions on the topic. I would like other folks opinions. What I do know for fact is that I started my kids on a BB gun and they have stayed on it longer than I did simply because ammo is not as cheap and easy as when I was a kid. They have 22s as well but the primary gun that they shoot is a cheapo daisy lever carbine .177 BB gun. Maybe I should buy a decent air pistol to complement that instead of another 22
 
Although there are many similarities, I prefer 22 rimfire to my 22 pre-charged pneumatic rifle. Most decent rimfire rifles cost less, and do not require a $600 tank and/or compressor. Both are a lot of fun, and the PCP with shrouded barrel is quite silent, but the air gun requires much more adjusting and fiddling to produce consistent results.
 
As the population expands and open spaces shrink, more people living in closer proximity, I think air guns are a somewhat better way to practice shooting. My town in Central NJ rammed through a no firearms discharge ordnance in 1972 so shooting in your own back yard is forbidden, what you do inside your own four walls is still legal, but I'm sure some busybody would complain about the noise, there is the problem of ventilation, etc. And on a cold, miserable rainy/snowy/icy stay at home day......
 
Caliber for caliber no. For cheap training and fundamental maintenance absolutely. There are pcp air rifles of all calibers that are both more powerful than a 22 and suitable for hunting. I have shot close to 4K pellets through my pcp in 22 caliber and even with the modified custom valve and power tuned it falls short of the 22 rim fire. 18 gr pellet at 1200 FPS vs 32 gr bullet at 1250 FPS. I will say that there are inherent issues with air rifles that you don’t have with firearms
 
I certainly spend more time behind my air rifles than anything else. They arnt as versatile, size efficient, or cheap as a low cost .22 can be. They are quiet, cheaper to shoot (even burning 2 12gr co2 per 30-40rnds) and more adaptable/acceptable for urban/suburban uses.
Imo an easy to use airgun very much could be the modern equivalent to a .22lr as an early training rifle. Honestly if im not shooting big stuff or at ranges over 40-50yds my qb78 is the gun im most likely to use.
 
I have several .22's and several thousand rounds of ammo for them. However, just this year I bought an old Pionier .177 pellet rifle for the sole purpose of plinking cans in the back yard. Pellets are cheap enough, too. The only reason I did this is because I cannot replace the ammo I expend in my 22's now. I like to plink, and if I can't use my 22 then I'll find another way. Same reason I go into reloading; I can't replace the ammo I expend, but I can darn sure find the stuff to "roll my own". C'est la vie.

Mac
 
For near housing shooting, I've used airguns since I was a kid in the 1970s up to now. The simple reason is lack of noise, low cost ammo, and lack of real penetration if you let a shot go astray.

.22 LR and the like were always reserved for shooting in fields, quarries, or anywhere well away from housing.

I'm referring to pump up or CO2 airguns as break barrel piston guns were uncommon at the local hardware or sporting goods stores around here back in the day.

A good non-PCP pellet gun still is plenty capable of taking out squirrel or possum sized targets at close enough range. Birds could be taken a bit further. Any thing further than pellet gun range was time to bring out the .22 LR or larger.
 
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I'm a firm believer in airguns for shooting practice not just because of ammunition costs, but primarily because so many people don't have range access. Most people can set up a BB or pellet trap at home and shoot daily year round which is a luxury few have for powder guns. It doesn't require 10 meter bullseye equipment (though that is fun and more challenging than one might think). There is a surprising variety of reasonably priced full sized airguns which very closely resemble your rifles and carry guns in size and weight that can do wonders for building shooting skills (sorry no good shotgun substitute for moving targets in your hallway). I do generally recommend sticking with low powered CO2 or spring guns so they are easier to safely range. Magnum springers and PCP guns are great for outdoor plinking and pest removal but don't fit too well for this purpose.
 
I would think most shooters back in the day started on air rifles, Daisy's especially, with some Crosman and fewer Benjamin's and Sheriden's thrown in.

My range in my NYC apt. as a kid was the longest inside hallway, with a cardboard box stuffed with newspapers, old magazines, and last years phone books as the backstop. Manhattan residential and yellow pages phone books were each about 5" thick. I also mined the box to recover ammo. BB guns were illegal in the city, so I couldn't tell anyone.

Aside from a couple of .22 shooting galleries, one in Times Square, and one in Coney Island, there was no place to live fire plink there. There were a few ranges/shooting clubs in the city, but not very well known. I joined a club at 12 and my parents bought me a .22 rifle, very unusual for a city kid.
 
I like my air rifles. I have killed the most game (small game) with my pump up Crosman and Sheridan air rifles in 20 and 22 caliber. I have killed over 200 squirrels with my pump guns. I love my air rifles and will always have one. I think they are one of the best guns a prepper/survivalist can own. I am not really one of those but understand the appeal of a quiet, deadly small game killer. I like the pumps because I can control the power and the noise. And there is no recoil with them like with the springer I have.

I feel the same way about my 22s. What great guns those are. As long as you have ammo you are well armed. I have a lot of respect for the 22 round. All guns are useful. Thats why I have so many.
 
I think they may be depending on location. Many areas that you could shoot a .22 or firearm you can't now. What was rural is now suburbs. Back in the 70s I could shoot my .22 with standard velocity ammo in the driveway into the garage with a solid backstop in a upstate city neighborhood. Most of the neighbors hunted so it wasn,t anything odd as long as you were safe. Today I wouldn't do it with a air rifle just because the sight of a gun will spook people. But look at all the air guns you can get today. Way more than in the past so shooters have good quality more power ones to use. I still live in the same neighborhood, my son has the old house and we live 12 miles from the gunclub I joined in 1975. So shooting .22s or any other firearm is a short drive. For now. it,s surrounded by upscale homes starting around 750K and into 6 figures. They would love our land and us out.
 
Haven't had my .22 cal. Crosman , Benjamin Trail break barrel out all summer this past year IIRC. Now it's calling to me, despite the fact that the Obama administration's 22 rimfire shortage caused me to now have enough 22LR that I'm probably set for life. Just seeing the current prices on 22 rimfire ammo makes me want to take it easy on my 22 rimfire stash. Just this past weekend I picked up a 500 round tin of 14.3 gr. 22 cal. Crosman Premier pellets at a Wal-Mart for a grand total of $6.74 OTD. I could see airgun ammo having big sales numbers in the coming year. I bet my air rifle will see more use this year than last. It's fun & accurate even if it isn't a 22 rimfire. May even squirrel hunt with it again, ( it's legal here and the seasons open until Feb. 28th). A decent air rifle is lots of fun and you can still plink without making too much noise; plus it's good practice for when the 22LR stuff comes out. IMG_1321.JPG ..
 
In a very real sense, yes. Airguns are more sophisticated than their 1930-40s predecessors and very capable of taking game. Today's society has a stigma against children running around with guns that shoot real bullets. Not so against airguns.

I still use an airgun today. Killed a couple of rats with it.
 
I don't think airguns can/have replace(d) .22LR for any practical purposes such as hunting etc. The guns tend to be cheaper and .22LR is far more powerful generally speaking and offer cheap repeating power. Yes there are PCP guns that offer power and repeating but even in their cheapest guise are more expensive overall and require far more support kit so to speak.

All that said when it comes to sheer shooting pleasure, at least for me personally, airguns have largely supplanted my .22LR shooting and scratch that itch extremely well if not better. The VAST number of airguns that I own are far nicer then the VAST number of .22LRs that I own with better triggers, better build quality and a nicer pride of ownership. Now my airguns cost REAL money and it many cases are more then .22LR firearms available. I personally like spring/piston type airguns because they provide a level of skill that is both difficult and rewarding to shoot but can provide incredible accuracy out to around 50 yards, yet still provide the same rewards shooting at an abbreviated 10-20 yards. They require little cleaning, are easy to pick up and shoot on a whim, have ammo that is incredibly compact and easy to store and are fun to own.

Airguns to to me are sort of like Black Powder shooting. They are an offshoot of the shooting sports similar but different and provide a totally different experience, that I personally enjoy as much or more than firearms in general, but again I shoot purely for pleasure.

Keep in mind that while PCP or pneumatic guns are like cheating when shooting as they have little recoil, tend to have excellent triggers, easy optics mounting and your firearms skill swill translate over to them, spring or piston guns will be a totally different animal require completely different skill sets. I always tell people being a fantastic firearm marksman will NOT make you a good spring gun shooter but being a fantastic spring gun shooter WILL make you a better firearm shooter as hold, trigger press and follow through is absolutely paramount in shooting a spring/piston type gun.

All in all I would say airguns have been a major part of my shooting for a LONG time now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

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I have owned and shot air guns since I was five or six years old. Still do. I love pumpers and I would want and will eventually get a PCP in a .25 caliber or .30 caliber. But, I loath spring guns, they are heavy, clunky, weird to shoot, hell on scopes, zero drifts due to barrel lock up (if the rear sight is not on the barrel) and they are HEAVY and HUGE when scaled up enough for use on small game. So I guess my shorter answer to the question as given is no, not for me.

As to noise, the CCI Quiets and Quiet Segmented have more power than all but the strongest PCP rifles commonly available, are at least as accurate and are very quiet, more so than magnum spring guns and higher power PCPs or even my Steroid Benjamin.
 
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Cheaper still to shoot is a bow. I find shooting a bow a heckuva lot more fun than air rifles.

I’d rather see suppressor use because more common than switching to air guns for the noise.
 
I've had a spring piston air pistol and air rifle for years, that I use for indoor target practice. I like the convenience of being able to shoot down in my basement, instead of making a trip to the local gun shop or outdoor range.

For outdoor use, unless you are dealing with a situation the prohibits the use of an actual firearm, I don't feel that PCPs are a practical replacement for a .22 hand gun or rifle. The up front cost is generally more (often a lot more) for the PCP and supporting equipment, and even after you have all the necessary equipment PCPs seem to be a lot more effort to use than a .22.
 
cslinger said:
I don't think airguns can/have replace(d) .22LR for any practical purposes such as hunting etc. The guns tend to be cheaper and .22LR is far more powerful generally speaking and offer cheap repeating power. Yes there are PCP guns that offer power and repeating but even in their cheapest guise are more expensive overall and require far more support kit so to speak.

All that said when it comes to sheer shooting pleasure, at least for me personally, airguns have largely supplanted my .22LR shooting and scratch that itch extremely well if not better. The VAST number of airguns that I own are far nicer then the VAST number of .22LRs that I own with better triggers, better build quality and a nicer pride of ownership. Now my airguns cost REAL money and it many cases are more then .22LR firearms available. I personally like spring/piston type airguns because they provide a level of skill that is both difficult and rewarding to shoot but can provide incredible accuracy out to around 50 yards, yet still provide the same rewards shooting at an abbreviated 10-20 yards. They require little cleaning, are easy to pick up and shoot on a whim, have ammo that is incredibly compact and easy to store and are fun to own.

Airguns to to me are sort of like Black Powder shooting. They are an offshoot of the shooting sports similar but different and provide a totally different experience, that I personally enjoy as much or more than firearms in general, but again I shoot purely for pleasure.

Keep in mind that while PCP or pneumatic guns are like cheating when shooting as they have little recoil, tend to have excellent triggers, easy optics mounting and your firearms skill swill translate over to them, spring or piston guns will be a totally different animal require completely different skill sets. I always tell people being a fantastic firearm marksman will NOT make you a good spring gun shooter but being a fantastic spring gun shooter WILL make you a better firearm shooter as hold, trigger press and follow through is absolutely paramount in shooting a spring/piston type gun.

All in all I would say airguns have been a major part of my shooting for a LONG time now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

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Very nice. Kinda flinging a cravin on me.
 
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