Need info on quality/economical pellet rifle...

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MIL-DOT

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Well, i got me a squirrel problem,i've been ignoring it hoping it'd go away, but now the little bastages seem to impersonating beavers up on the roof,if not in the attic. It's probably a little too crowded around here to get away with using a .22,at least without putting the occasional hole in a neighbors roof or having the cops show up, so i think a decent pellet rifle may be the ticket. I've kinda wanted one of these for years, but haven't had one since my Crossmans and Daisys back in the 70's, and that's about where my knowledge ended. I was looking at some Benjamin/Sheridans and their reviews, looked decent enough and didn't cost a mint, which is good,'cause i'm not likely to go over $200. Anyway, i'd appreciate any recommndations on what to look for,what to avoid,you know the drill. Many thanks in advance.....M.
 
If you want a pellet rifle you want a pellet rifle but if you're just trying to take out squirrels I would suggest rat traps baited with peanut butter. Cheaper, easier and more effective. These things have the potential to make your bug out gear a lot less cool but a lot more practical.
 
The trap idea worked for me but I had to keep changing bait and trap location. The more powerfil pellet guns make more noise than a .22 sub-sonic out of a longer rifle barrel. CCI CB 22s make even less noise.
 
I use a Daisy .22 cal Powerline with a 4 x 32 scope. good out to 40 yards for tree rats.

I wanted my old crossman 2200 magnum. it was better than the Daisy, but the daisy works.

The Daisy has wood not plastic for the buttstock and forearm. $85 and up to 725 feet per second with a 14.5 grain pellet. not bad.
 
I bought one probably 10 years ago for the same reason. That blasted thing won't shoot 2" groups from across the yard. I have tried every danged pellet I could find too. I know it's got a good air rifle scope and I have not over cleaned it so I always just felt I wasted $2 bills.

Use rat bait. I just found a couple dead rats - or rather my schnauzer did - after throwing some around.
 
mil-dot, check out Gamo. a very good, accurate rifle at decent price. you'll find one to your liking. many shoot 1000 fps or faster with their pba ammo & that should ruin the day for the tree rats.
 
Now your asking about something i really know about. Where i used to live i seemed to have owned the only Pecan tree on that side of town. Every squirrel for a mile around liked to come there to dine.

I have killed squirrels with 22 CBs, Super Colibries, an old Whammo Wrist Rocket and of course an air rifle. I have killed way over 200 tree rats from that one tree.

My air rifle of choice has always been a 22 Benjiman pump. I had a 20 caliber until i wore it out and replaced it with a 22.

The range you are talking about is not mentioned. Most of my shots were not over 30 yards. Most were closer. Three to four pumps will kill a squirrel. Also at this power range the gun is much quieter than using the allowed 10 pumps. Pellets are very important. I like the Benjiman Diablo style. They have a solid head and small skirt and penetrate very well.

Those guns can be bought new for around $120.00 or so. I still see used ones in pawn shops for $50.00 or $60.00 or so. Frankly i think the older ones are nicer guns. The new ones are made cheaper and cheaper.
 
as an avid airgun shooter, i am going to give you two brans to chose from. gamo and crosman. hands down they are the best deals for money.

i wouldnt get a spring powered rifle, some people have to change their shooting style just to hit well. a risk i wouldn't take. stick to co2 or pump. a 2250 or 2260 will do great, or a benjamin.

good luck.
 
I have owned a Feinwerkbau (Beeman) 124 for over 25 years. As far as I am concerned there has never been a better general purpose pellet gun made. Velocity of >850 fps and if I do my part will hit an aspirin at >50 ft everytime. In the late 80's early 90's my wife kept the family in rabbits with the rifle. She never had to shoot twice. The pellet penetration was all there. Squirrels, never a problem, just a matter of accurate shooting.
 
Are the .22 air rifles much better the .177? It seems the .177 is much more abundant. I can imagine the .22 packs more of a punch, but is it needed for something like rats or squirrels? Are there any downsides to the .22 such as costs or hard to get repairs or anything?

If I got one it would be mainly for plinking and for occasional pests. Would a .22 be sufficient for either scaring off or taking out a raccoon?
 
If you want to take out raccoons you need more power than many airguns have. I wouldn't want to do it with anything less than 18 fpe and I would prefer 30+. .22 airguns tend to pack a little more energy and usually have a more loopy trajectory. They tend to kill small critters like rats and squirrels a little more effectively, but on a bigger animal like a raccoon it's going to be 100% a matter of shot placement and penetration. The cost of pellets is pretty insignificant regardless of the caliber, so long as you're not talking about the big bore stuff.

My own thoughts on hunting pellet guns are that you want at least 600 fps regardless of caliber and out of a rifle, I'd like at least 12 foot pounds. Spring guns work really well until you start to get up to about 16 foot pounds. At that point their recoil starts to make them difficult to shoot accurately and they start to get heavy. By the time you get up to 25+ foot pounds they can be very challenging to shoot well. I had a Beeman Kodiak, (28 fpe), that would shift it's point of impact up to 6" at 50 yards depending on how you held it. It was still a reasonably accurate gun providing you held it perfectly each time, but when you're shooting at live game perfect form tends to go to hell. Despite this, spring guns are the best plinkers, bar none. Multipump pneumatics are great hunting rifles and very affordable, but they make lousy plinkers. There's just too much work involved in getting off a shot. PCP's are phenomenal hunting rifles, great target rifles and halfway decent plinkers, but they cost an arm and a leg. CO2 works well in warm climates, but there are few choices out there that are good hunting guns in stock trim. They make excellent plinkers though.

My recommendation for a first airgun would be a medium powered spring gun. You can get an RWS34 for around $200. I'm not a big fan of Gamos. They tend to have rough triggers and twangy firing behavior. The Chinese guns can be surprisingly good for the money, but you have to view them as project guns and be willing to fix them as their quality control is lacking. Don't buy the rifle solely because of it's power. You want enough to do the job, but if you get a very powerful spring gun you'll find you've got a very heavy rifle that eats scopes and requires a great deal of practice to shoot accurately. If it's advertised at 900 fps in .177 or 750 fps in .22, that's enough to hunt with.

Lastly, I'd recommend spending more on an airgun than you originally planned on, because in all likelihood it will get shot more than any other gun you own.
 
get a gamo a benjamin or sheradin. heck even crossman would work. we used to shoot squirrels in the barn with a couple 40-50 dollar crossmans.
 
RWS

I shot well over a million pelltes out of this air gun,with no problems,no breakage,i like 177,lots of fps,lots of power.i killed ground hogs with one shots,all over 20 yards,RWS are not a cheap gun,but you will shoot it alot,I had mine since 1980,and it will be the go to gun for everything,crows dont lkie them either,,:neener::evil:Cheap is not the way to go,
 
A million pellets, huh?

That would be 100 shots per day, EVERY day without ever missing one for illness, school, work, child birth, weather, etc for 27 years, 4 months and 3 weeks.


Roughly. Just how old is this miracle RWS airgun? Got any pics? I am sure RWS would pay a tidy sum to use that in advertising.
 
I just got a Crosman "Storm XT" spring gun in .177. I have an old Benjamin .22 that STILL shoots. I killed my first rabbit with it at age 7 and I'm 55 now, you do the math. But, I wanted a new high performance spring gun. I wrote up details on another thread, but it's sorta pellet specific, will shoot sub 1" groups at 25 yards with Gamo "Rocket Ballistic Tips", got a little BB in the nose. Package says for hunting. I've killed a lot of squirrel with that old Benjamin .22 and I've chronographed 10 pumps at about 430 fps. This Crosman thing is a lot faster and BURIES the pellet in plyboard. I think it'd be almost overkill for squirrel. The trigger sux, supposed to be adjustable, but I've been all over the place with that adjustment screw and I swear it don't do squat. Lots of creep in the trigger. Sorta have to take up the slack before it breaks, which can be tricky. Feels like a really bad SKS trigger, but I seem to be able to shoot pretty well with it, especially over a rest or against a tree or something. Forget the cheap POS scopes these things come with, increase group size by about an inch. I don't think the barrel locks in the same place twice, but as the iron sights are on the barrel, it don't matter with the irons. It was a hundred bucks at wallyworld.

Now, if I really wanna kill something with a gun that's really, really quiet, I'll get my old Remington bolt gun and load it with CB shorts. THAT thing is a tack driver with those CBs or about any other ammo. It don't care what you feed it, just drives them tacks. But, for the money, the Crosman is as good as any and, I swear, I think Beeman, Gamo, and EVERYone sources these things from the same Chinese manufacturer. THEY ALL look identical in the pictures, same safety, same adjustment slot for the trigger in the trigger guard, same everything. That Gamo I was looking at MSRP was 279, the Whisper, but looks exactly like my 100 dollar Crosman except for the silencer on it. I haven't looked at high dollar RWSs, maybe they're different, but all the affordable spring guns look like they were made in the same factory, and, even some of the high dollar stuff. Me, I got this thing for my backyard range, not for the Olympics, and it works for that and would hunt if I needed to shoot something with it. Sure would like a better trigger, though, just ain't willin' to spend two or three hundred more for a good trigger on an air rifle.

My old Benjamin's trigger sux, too. I hadn't fired it in a long time, since I was a kid, then about 25 years ago I dug it out to play with, was used to my real rifles, and MY GAWD, I didn't remember that trigger being so bad. I guess, when you don't know any better, don't have anything to compare it to, well...LOL

Markbo, toss the scope. Like I say, the barrel never locks in the same place twice (assuming you have a spring gun). The scope will double the size of the groups. The irons that came on mine have day glow inserts and are very visible. I'm shooting sub 1" 25 yards with decent pellets, but it was over 2" with the scope. Scope that came with it is a POS anyway.
 
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