Recommend an air rifle for my needs

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ABTOMAT

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I have a few bargain-basement-cheap air guns I use for indoors practice but I'm looking to step up to something more enjoyable. In addition to practice, having small game power (say, squirrel size) is a plus but not required.

Needs:
1. Air-powered only, pump preferred but PCP considered. No CO2 or springer, I don't like their mechanics and operating cost.
2. Dovetail for scopes or peep sights (in addition to iron sights if possible) as my eyes are terrible
3. As inexpensive as possible

Other considerations:
1. The fewer the pumps for maximim power, the better
2. Not a big deal, but I'd prefer something that handles like a rifle rather than an Olympic target device.
3. Good company support is a plus
4. Wood is nice

Any ideas? Off the top of my head I've been considering the Disy 953 (along with its much-more-expensive sibling 853), Benjamin-Sheridan, and some others I can't recall off the top of my head.
 
See the blog at Pyramyd Air and read some of his posts on the topic. Very informative.

Generally, people advise against putting a scope on a pump gun (makes it hard to pump). The Sheridans accept a nice receiver peep sight.

If you want to hunt, you want a .22, but a .177 is easier to find pellets for at Walmart. PCPs start at about $300 or so, unless you can find a used one.

If I were to buy a pump rifle today, I'd probably be a Sheridan.
 
What's wrong with a springer? With proper (minimal) care a spring gun will put out more power with faster followup shots than any pump gun, more power than CO2, and have zero operating cost except for pellets - unlike CO2. And unlike CO2 and to some extent PCP guns will operate in any old weather, not just when it's above 40 degrees.
 
Mike, how does a scope make pumping hard? One of the air rifles I'm currently using is a Daisy 880 with a scope, a while it makes loading harder I don't see any pumping problems. For me my eyes are bad enough that it's a huge help at moderate range.

Hunting is only a bonus, not a requirement. The 853/953 I'm considering is below the threshhold.

Zero, I simply don't like the mechanics of spring guns. They have a violent action and a lot of parts under a huge amount of stress. I've only fired one that felt natural to me, and it was a high-end target pistol with a counterbalance mechanism. I also don't like CO2 guns because there are usually so many seals to fail, and the cost of the cylinders adds up.
 
If you would consider a CO2 gun, look at a Daisy Avanti 887. Full size wood stock, accurate enough to put 5 shots thru the same hole at 10M, and enough power to whack-a-squirrel (out to about 20M only). The cylinder is refillable for $2 at your local Dick's, and lasts for 300 shots. Great for basement practicing.
 
The Sheridan fits all your needs and wants short of a dovetail for scope mounting, but they make a set of blocks that clamp over the barrel for mounting scopes.

The 5mm C9 Sheridan is a classic rifle that is light, points quickly, and accurate and powerful enough for hunting small critters.
 

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I've been impressed with the Sheridan ever since I saw one in a 1965 Shooter's Bible, but the awkward scope mounting and the number of pumps required have kept me from running out and buying one.

Any idea how the current .22 models compare to the traditional .20?
 
I would recommend the Beeman R7. I have many airguns, spring piston, CO2, and multipump pneumatics. All of them have disadvantages, but the well made spring piston is the most powerful, quietest, most accurate combination.
 
I have a number of air guns over the years, still have make them part of my battery. Very useful for a number of different things.

The Sheridan will fit the bill you are looking for. The scope mount is not that hard to use or that awkward. The number of pumps allows you to adjust the power you need for different uses. Just remember that it will get more accuracy the more you use it. I have found the new guns need broke in to be at their best. At first you may be a little disappointed in the accurately of it but it will get better, the barrel just needs broken in.

You may want to try a red-dot sight instead of a scope for fast shots. I put one on my older Silver Streak and it works great with my declining eye sight.
 
So you want a pump or a PCP? And this is an outdoors gun?

For the pumps-there's only a couple serious ones that come to mind, the rest are all walmart type guns. These are the sharp innova and daystate huntsman. They're both discontinued. Look for one used.

PCP's are good, but definately not cheap. You won't get one for anywhere close to the cost of the daisy you're looking at. After you factor in the cost of either a pump or a tank, especially.The BSA techstar is on sale at compasseco for around $300. It's very powerful (for an airgun), accurate. Also very loud. Look into the sumatra and career guns as well. Or you can look into the CZ s200/air arms s200. It's imported under a lot of names. Daisy is one of them too, I believe.

The gun you're looking at looks like a version of the 853. If it still has the lothar walther barrel, it is probably the most accurate you can get in that price range.
 
I'm thinking pump due to logistic and budget reasons, but a $300 PCP would interest me. I'll look into those. Isn't the Huntsman a PCP, too? That's certainly outside my pricerange, regardless.

Mainly looking for a target/practice rifle, but like I said, enough power for small game or pest elimination is certainly a plus.

For the Daisy I'm actually mainly looking at the 853 now, since the 953's plastic and non-Walther barell are turnoffs. 853's in the $250+/- new right now.

Used is fine. A old friend of mine is always getting amazing deals on high-dollar air guns, but they're not quite my style. Most recent one is some kind of single-pump 10-meter gun.
 
I have a benjamin 392, 22 cal. Very similar to the Sheridan blue and silver streak, but not 20 cal. I plink with 4-5 pumps, but 8 pumps would work for hunting. I don't have a scope because I just plink out to 60 feet are so. It's pretty accurate, and the 22 hits pretty hard.
 
Recently got the Beeman combo...

I recently got the Beeman SS1000T Combo in .22 at my local Bass Pro, spent $200.00, and after zeroing-in the scope, it's been nailing squirrels in the (sorta rural) yard without fail. Spring piston, 39 pounds to crank it, sends a .22 pellet at over 800 fps - squirrels never know what hit 'em, neighbors never know what happened. What's not to like?

7
 
Yeah, sorry, the huntsman is a PCP. It was the sportsman I meant. Probably the highest quality pump gun out there. The 853 would be good for what you're looking to do. I suppose it's gone up in price since last I looked. It looks like everything has gone up in price 10 to 20%. It's a single stroke pneumatic, like what your friend probably got, but a starter 10 meter gun rather than one of the hardcore target guns.
 
Gotta echo pretty much what Shadan7 said above; I bought the Beeman 1000H combo from Cabela's a couple of weeks ago.

Very accurate, and packs quite a punch.

Sawdust
 
ABTOMAT said:
Any idea how the current .22 models compare to the traditional .20?
Click to expand...
I have both and generally prefer the .22 it does not shoot as flat as the .20 (or .177) of course, but it drops game more reliably for me and cuts neater and easier to see holes in paper targets. I had my .22 modified by Mac1 and after the power increase, it shoots just as flat (flatter, actually) as my .20 cal Blue Streak.
 
I should mention that after it was modded by Mac1, the 392 was grooved to accept mounts and optics. After I scoped it, yes, it was awkward to pump, but not hard or impossible... not too big a deal for a dedicated hunting rig anyways. But the scope really let me take advantage of the gun's accuracy.

It's arguably my most accurate air rifle. The Air Force Talon SS I have is a PCP that's more accurate after you find the sweet shot for any given fill, but unless you do that prep work of finding the sweet spot, the 392 is more accurate just to pick up and shoot and any given moment.
 
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