do you air rifle?

[SSN Vet]

I've had a .22 cal Benjamin Air Rifle for some 25 years.....

it's deadly on squirrels, and get's put to use every year when the little monsters get unruley

 

[MIL-DOT]

(quote) "RWS makes the best, IMO."

I was told on one of the air-rifle forums,that when i shoot my Beeman R9, i'll never shoot the RWS again. Had i known how solid the RWS 34 was going to be, i likely never would have sold it......great gun.....but after shooting the beeman?
We're talking flintlock versus Weatherby !!!! Shoot and compare yourself before declaring RWS to be "the best".

 

[malakas07]

wow thank you guys for all of you thoughts and comments.
I started researching it a little more and man those RWS's, Beeman R9 & R7's look like a really nice rifle. A rifle that I can
pass down to my kids. on the price.

I'm going to have to put more thought time and research this a little more. I plan to shoot with my brother and also
have "Covert" range sessions. We don't plan to kill anything just shoot targets................but I am starting a Garden this year since I now
have the big backyard. I guess there is no shame in defending your crops. right?

Question for you guys - So pretty much any Air Rifle from Wally world, Sports Authority, Dicks or Bass Pro Shops is Chinese made ?? None of them are worth the time and money??

 

[chupacabrah]

i have a cheap ($30 @wm) pumpmaster 760 bb.pellet gun. good for shooting <50 yards. havent tried farther. bbs are CHEAP.

i kinda wish i'd gotten a higher end airgun, but i still have fun

 

[Fast Frank]

Question for you guys - So pretty much any Air Rifle from Wally world, Sports Authority, Dicks or Bass Pro Shops is Chinese made ?? None of them are worth the time and money??

I wouldn't say they are a waste of time...

Think about it like you would a car.

If you buy a cheap car, it will take you to work just like the nicest, most expensive stuff in the showrooms does.

But the guy with the nice car sure seems to enjoy his drive a whole lot more than the guy driving the cheap stuff.

Sure, there are twenty dollar Chinese air rifles that will shoot, and might even be some sort of accurate, but they are not comparable to the nice stuff.

I used to shoot a Benjamin pump up, and still shoot my Benjamin pump up pistol. They are quite workable, fun to shoot, offer some power, and pretty much do the job.

But when I was introduced to REAL air guns, that all changed.

I have a Beeman Kodiak now. It's a .25 cal break- barrel springer that offers some pretty impressive power. (You can google it)

It's beautiful. The bluing, the stock, everything about it is as nice or nicer than any of my "Real" guns.

here's a pic.



It shoots a 30 grain pellet at somewhere around 750 feet per second, and that's just shy of the .22rimfire "CB cap" in power.

here's a pic of those big pellets.



Yes, this rifle cost as much as some of my "Real" guns, and more than either of my .22 rifles did.

Would I do it again? you bet! shooting this rifle is a sheer joy! The only "Real" rifle I have that has a trigger that can compete with this one is the Accu- trigger on my Savage 93R17BTVS.

The accuracy of this rifle is as good as my "Real" .22s until it gets out past 50 yards, and it doesn't make enough noise for people to notice it.

If you can get somebody to let you shoot one of these serious air rifles, do it.

once you see what it's about, you will never look back.

 

[MrBorland]

I've never shot an RWS, so I can't comment on them. I hear a lot of positives about them. I've never shot one of the chinese and/or Wally World rifles, either. Again, I suspect they'd do for pest control or casual plinking.

My Beeman R7 is a newcomer. Bought it for $325 a few weeks ago. Before it, I used a Winchester 1000x I bought for around $100 2 years ago. To me, and for what I want the gun for, there's no comparison between the rifles, and the extra money was well-spent. Besides, I tell myself I could've bought a Feinwerkbau match air rifle for almost $3,000, but didn't.

Air gunning seems to be a whole area unto itself, so I think it's a wise move to want to do some research. Given the ease & convenience I can shoot with an airgun in my backyards (and it's legal where I live), it's been one of my smarter shooting investments. My next "firearm" purchase may very well be an Izzy 46M.

http://www.pyramydair.com/p/izh-46M-match-air-pistol.shtml

 

[Oohrah]

Live in the country. Use a Gamo .177 NRA commerative at about
1200 fps. Use it on occasion for small squirrels that attempt to set
up home in the attic. The reason for the accurate air gun vs a .22
is over penetration. A squirrel or a pesky Flicker get paralized with
body hits and in two seconds an instant death. I use the flat nosed
RWS target style pellets. So far two of each above varmits were one
shot, pretty much instant kills

 

[foghornl]

I have 2 airguns...

Daisy Red Ryder, and the Crossman that looks sorta like the Rem XP-100 bolt-action pistol.

 

[Billy_H]

We've got 2. One multi-pump .177 and one single cock, spring fired .22. They are a lot of fun for messing around with out in the back yard with targets, old beer cans, pellet traps or whatever.

I'm also toying around with the idea of starting a youth precision air rifle team out of the American Legion Post that I'm involved with.

 

[MIL-DOT]

If the Beeman's too expensive, the RWS 34 (widely considered a great gun,and i concur) is going for $187 W/ free shipping from Pyramydair. They also throw in a free tin of ammo for every three you buy, so jump on that and save the extra shipping.
If that's still too much than you'd like to spend and still know better than to get any Chinese junk from Wally world, the old Benjamin/Sheridan pump is about $130 at pyramydair. This is the gun I was after till later research led me to the RWS,and then on to the Beeman.Still, these are great,accurate guns that'll last for decades.
ALSO....IMPORTANT INFO for those new to air rifles. They can be easy to screw up, so check into maintainance before treating it like you would a regular firearm. They rarely need cleaning,and even then, never with a brass bore brush, just a patch, like every thousand rounds. Also, oil should be used VERY sparingly and infrequently, and NEVER in the spring chamber. Also, NEVER dry fire one,especially the springers. Much of this info is included with a new gun, or can be found my digging around the inter-web.

 

[tallpaul]

While I am a BIG proponent of quality airguns even I concede that there is a place for the cheap ones. I truly believe any shooter deserves to "treat" Themselves to a high quality airgun. My HW 50 is 30 some odd years old and I had it since I was 12 or so. I bought a couple that may be older and they work great. They are great for practice,fun and yard patrol... and don't be sucked into the high FPS salesmanship. The little r-7 has plenty of oomph for short range peast contol aout to 30 yards or so for rabbit bird n squirell... accuracy rules airguns...

 

[Legionnaire]

Yup. Beeman R7 rifle and P3 pistol. Both are great shooters.