FYI - Results of a little research on magnum air rifles

[Futo Inu]

If you like airguns and want the most powerful ones possible, like me (important when dealing with not-too-powerful guns to begin with), then you might be interested in a little research I did. This research focused only on the the most powerful, not any other factors. This is based on actual vels, not claimed vels, from various sources, mostly from straightshooters.com. It may very well be incomplete, but it's what I have so far - I'll update with new info, but not solely on claimed vels; only if I can get actual unbiased data. What I found was that which maker makes the most powerful rifle depends on which caliber you're talking about. The power considered took into account the gamut of bullet weights available in the caliber. Also, you can see that RWS and Beeman dominate the competition. Here's the breakdown:

Most Powerful:

1. .177 cal - RWS model 350 (spring piston); Beeman RX1/RX2 2nd place (gas piston); RWS model 48/52/54 3nd place (spring piston).

2. .20 cal - Beeman Super 12 (pre-charged); Beeman Crow Magnum 2nd place (gas piston).

3. .22 cal - RWS / ShinSung Career 707 (pre-charged); Beeman Super 12 2nd place (pre-charged); Beeman Dual Magnum 3rd place (spring piston); Beeman Crow Magnum 4th place (gas piston), RWS Model 350 5th place (spring piston)

4. .25 cal - Beeman Super 12 (pre-charged); Beeman Crow Magnum 2nd place (gas piston)

5. 9mm (.356 cal) - RWS / ShinSung Career 707 (pre-charged)

6. .45 cal - Sam Yang Big Bore 909 (appears to be a knockoff or shared technology of RWS / ShinSung Career 707)

Others with very high power, but didn't make any the cuts above were: BSA Super 10 (pre-charged; excellent value gun BTW), Beeman Kodiak (spring piston), RWS RA-800 (gas piston); Webley FX 2000 (Tarantula) Hunter SK with high-power conversion (pre-charged).

My choices for each caliber, taking into account power, weight, ease of use, price/value, etc., with a hunting focus (weighting of factors for field use), would be:

1. .177 - RWS Model 350
2. .20 - Beeman Crow Magnum
3. .22 - Beeman Dual Magnum
4. .25 - Beeman Super 12
5. 9mm - RWS Career 707

The pre-charged pneumatics are very expensive a bit of a hassle to be re-charging all the time from scuba tanks, but they clearly have the most power by far. The RWS Career 707 is butt-ugly too, but the Beeman Super 12 is quite nice looking - very good rifle from all reviews, but it's also around $1,550.00. The gas piston rifles are next most pricey, but they are nice because you can leave them cocked for extented periods, without any spring to wear out. They tend to be a bit heavier than spring pistons, however. The Beeman Crow Magnum IV is an excellent performer, for example, but weighs 8.6 pounds. A really cool pre-charged pneumatic one is the AirForce Talon - very good weight to power ratio, and nice features - I want the suppressed one. http://www.pyramidair.com/cgi-bin/show.pl?cmd_rifles=show_guns_manufacturer&Manufacturer=Air Force Oh well, if you want more specifics, email or PM me.

Best prices on airguns were found at:

www.pyramidair.com
www.dnrsports.com
www.airgunsofarizona.com , and
www.basspro-shops.com

in that order.

 

[lee n. field]

http://www.glbarnes.com/

 

[Sven]

I've read that supersonic vels can crush accuracy.

 

[Futo Inu]

"I've read that supersonic vels can crush accuracy."

Yes, that's why you're better off (and I'm partial to) using the heaviest pellets available for any given caliber. For example, using a 10.5 grain Crosman Premier in a model 350 RWS .177 rifle gives you about 923 fps, or 20 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle, and more muzzle energy (12 ft-lbs) than a 14-15gr .22 cal pellet at 50 yards in the same gun (because of the better BC of the 10.5 grain .177 pellet).

Or, using a 14.28 gr Crosman Premier .20 cal pellet in a Beeman Crow Magnum rifle gives you 858 fps at the muzzle, for 23 ft-lbs of energy, and 16 ft-lbs of energy at 50 yards.

Or, using a 21.7 gr Beeman Kodiak pellet in a Beeman Super 12, .22 cal rifle, gives you 852 fps at the muzzle, for 34 ft-lbs of energy, and still 23 ft.-lbs of energy at 50 yards!

All these heavies are subsonic and hard-hitting, esp. at distance, and AYCS, have similar trajectories. Thus, more power is good.