I'm looking at the RWS-350 and the RWS 460, both in 22 cal. The muzzle velocity on the 460 is impressive at 1150 ft/s, but how does pushing an air gun pellet above the speed of sound (1130 ft/s) work accuracy-wise. I'm thinking the RWS 350 would be more accurate and quieter. Any air rifle experience out there?
Air Rifle Question
- Thread starter riverdog
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rcmodel
Member in memoriam
What do you want to use it for?
Hunting?
Target shooting?
Firearms practice?
The magnum velocity air-rifles are fine for hunting, but you will get awful tired of cocking it if you just want to shoot at paper a couple of hours straight.
rcmodel
Hunting?
Target shooting?
Firearms practice?
The magnum velocity air-rifles are fine for hunting, but you will get awful tired of cocking it if you just want to shoot at paper a couple of hours straight.
rcmodel
I guess it all depends on what you want to use it for. My old Diana springer puts out a .177 pellet at around 900-1000 fps and I haven't found a squirrel or rabbit yet that can shrug it off. Going after bigger stuff or targets?
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
I have a Beeman C-1 carbine that puts a .22 pellet out at less then 800 FPS. I'm presently at 8 one-shot 35 yard kills on squirrels in my tomato plants this summer.
Also have a Beeman R-7 in .177 that is also under 800 FPS, but is just a joy to shoot for long stretches because it cocks so easily. It kills squirrels quite well also, but not as well or quickly as the .22 caliber C-1.
With air-rifles, it's more about shot placement then magnum power anyway.
Get an accurate one at 800 FPS and make head shots!
Works every time!
rcmodel
Also have a Beeman R-7 in .177 that is also under 800 FPS, but is just a joy to shoot for long stretches because it cocks so easily. It kills squirrels quite well also, but not as well or quickly as the .22 caliber C-1.
With air-rifles, it's more about shot placement then magnum power anyway.
Get an accurate one at 800 FPS and make head shots!
Works every time!
rcmodel
Ed Ames
Member
I remember that... but beating a hog-tied animal (and since when is something a hog just because it was hog tied?) over the head with the stock can hardly be called "shot placement" no matter how drunk you are.
The fast spring guns I've played with were just as accurate as the slower spring guns I've played with. Not sure they were worth the extra money depending on what you were shooting at though. I guess some people hunt turkeys with airguns nowadays.
Don't worry too much about the pellet going hypersonic. Those velocity numbers are achieved with very lightweight pellets and when you use a good hunting/target pellet like a Crosman Premier or JSB Exact you won't be shooting at hypersonic velocities anymore. Go with dome pellets. They just tend to shoot the most accurately and retain the most energy. When you're hunting with an airgun it really is all about pellet placement.
theNoid
Member
My mom shoots the RWS 350 and my dad shoots the 5G pistol around here locally at prairie dogs and ground squirrels and they love their guns.
I have heard of air rifles shooting at upwards of 1600fps and possibly higher, I can't imagine the high speeds affecting a .17 caliber pellet any more than it would a .17 caliber bullet. Although most pellets are about half the weight of a comparable diameter bullet.
Noidster
I have heard of air rifles shooting at upwards of 1600fps and possibly higher, I can't imagine the high speeds affecting a .17 caliber pellet any more than it would a .17 caliber bullet. Although most pellets are about half the weight of a comparable diameter bullet.
Noidster
In smallbore target shooting you don't want the bullet going transonic between the muzzle and the target. Either start out below the speed of sound or have an MV high enough that it's stays supersonic to the target. With the advertised 1150 ft/s it seems they're starting just above the SOS so going transonic is almost a certainty. If elmerfudd is right and the muzzle velocities are exaggerated this might not be a problem. Still, for my purposes, the RWS 350 just seems a better choice.
I have had a Feinwerkbau 124 since the early 80's. Back when we were first married and poor, with 2 little boys and a nursing girl my wife would shoot cottontails as fast as I could clean them. She never needed more than 1 shot to get a rabbit. A little salt and pepper + a couple of hours in the clay oven roaster and dinner was on. We still use the 124 to keep starlings at bay, but I've eaten 1 too many rabbits. Times are better and now its "beef thats whats for dinner".
RecoilRob
Member
A supersonic pellet is an aerodynamic disaster in flight. Everyone who shoots airguns knows this and has known to stay subsonic if they want to have decent to good accuracy.
Enter the Marketing Genius.....'Faster is Better' and, being humans and being susceptible to this ploy, the company who started it whom I will not name..cough, cough, gamo, cough...sold gazillions of rifles saying that they were faster than everyone else.
Marketing hype aside, the really powerful guns ARE useful for situations needing more ft/lbs but they normally work best with heavy pellets going subsonic. The more powerful, the heavier the payload they can shoot so the whole 'Horsepower Race' isn't totally useless.
Look at the velocities of the really accurate pellet guns. Normally around the low 500's.
Enter the Marketing Genius.....'Faster is Better' and, being humans and being susceptible to this ploy, the company who started it whom I will not name..cough, cough, gamo, cough...sold gazillions of rifles saying that they were faster than everyone else.
Marketing hype aside, the really powerful guns ARE useful for situations needing more ft/lbs but they normally work best with heavy pellets going subsonic. The more powerful, the heavier the payload they can shoot so the whole 'Horsepower Race' isn't totally useless.
Look at the velocities of the really accurate pellet guns. Normally around the low 500's.
Roswell 1847
member
The whole point of the boatail bullet design is to ease the transition between supersonic and sub sonic as the bullet loses velocity. Air rifle pellets aren't made with boatails, all but a few solid pellets have hollow bases and a pronounced waist.
With a properly designed solid pellet ,perhaps fired using a sabot, the transonic disruption would be overcome.
PS
I never had a Red Ryder BB gun when I was a kid, but I found a 70's issue of the gun in an antique store for ten bucks. Its in need of serious rebuilding though all the parts are there. The cylinder is roughly pitted and I haven't been able to get a hone into it yet.
Nice wall hanger though.
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