Recommendations for pellet rifle for pigeons

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gravelyctry

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I'm not sure if I'm just looking for a reason to buy another gun, but I'd like to shoot some pigeons for dog training. I can shoot them on my neighbors' farms, but they don't want me to spook their calves and cattle with a regular rifle or shotgun. I'd prefer not to have them shot up as much as well, which would tend to make me think an air gun or pellet gun would be best.
My question is, .177 or .22, and how much power should I be looking for? I usually tend to buy decent quality stuff, and would prefer to get an accurate shooting, decent quality, durable pellet gun.
Does anyone have any ideas on what I should be looking for? Also, I'm a decent size guy, and so I don't think cocking force is going to be a big deal. Thanks, Neil
 
Any proper pellet gun that can do 650 FPS or better will be more than adequate. A .177 is fine. You can get a Daisy or any of several other brands. Daisy's are cheaper, but are accurate and hold up well enough. Plus the fact that you can buy 3 or 4 Daisy Powerlines for the price of some other pellet guns.
 
When I was a kid I used to take them down in our hog barn with a Crossman 66. I think it was somewhere in the 600 FPS range, but I took them with a head or neck shot. I doubt if a body shot would have done it.

I should really buy one of those again...I grew up and gave it to my brother who promptly destroyed it. That was a nice, accurate gun for a kid. I won a couple of county-wide airgun matches with it.
 
http://www.airguns.net/classifieds/classifieds.php

good source for used air rifles.

Best bargain in a quality air rifle -- Mike Melick tuned BAM B-26 in .22 cal, hands down. These will have been tuned, re-lubricated, and had the trigger sears polished so that you can actually shoot and hit something.

http://airgunartisans.com/flyingdragon/

Any air rifle you buy off the shelf from WalMart, Cabela's etc, is usually junk. Expect to spend around $200-250 before scope and mounts for a quality air rifle and go with a .20 or .22 cal gun for small game hunting.
 
Gamo's "Whisper" is suppsed to be about 52% quieter than regular pellet guns, it uses .177 pellets I think, I have a Bigcat from Gamo and I'm happy with it, the scope isn't that great however, might buy a cheap scope or red-dot later.

Hope this helps:)
 
Gamo "Whisper" is largely a marketing ploy. The noise made by a springer air rifle shooting subsonic pellets does not come from the muzzle. It comes from the spring and piston slap of the power plant of the springer air rifle. The Gamo Whispers have a rather cheap plastic stock (IMO), that, being hollow, sounds like a drum every time the air rifle is fired. If you are going to shoot pigeons at anything more than about 20 to 25 yards, go with a .22 cal air rifle, not a .177. Go with a relatively powerful air rifle of good quality or you will immediately find yourself wanting something better. The Gamo's can be quite good, but they all require trigger work and at least a low level tune to be reliable for popping small game at 30+ yards.

I would look at

BAM-B26 .22 (breakbarrel springer)
Mike Melick's tuned B26 is the best quality air rifle for the money, period.

Diana 34 Panther .22 (breakbarrel springer), T05 trigger
http://www.pyramydair.com/p/rws-34-panther-air-rifle.shtml

Beeman R9 .22 (breakbarrel springer) with Rekord trigger
http://www.pyramydair.com/p/beeman-r9-air-rifle.shtml

Beeman HW97 MKIII .20 (underlever springer)
http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/beemansportrifles.html
(this rifle is a perennial winner in all field trial competitions in the springer class)

What is your $ budget?

look here, also
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/
 
TEC - Great info - Thanks!

Both the Bemans that you listed showed up as .20 cal. I was leaning towards the .22 cal for the added pellet weight, as you suggested.
The Diana looks real good, and I'm a little worried about the BAM, as iit's a Chinese made gun. Maybe I shouldn't be.

As far as a budget, I was hoping to stay under $300. It'd be hard to justify more than that to shoot some pigeons.

I can't believe I just said that shooting some pigeons justifies a $300 pellet gun. My dad would kill me.
 
You don't say where you are, or where the pigeon shooting will take place, but you'd better make sure you can LEGALLY pop the winged rats before you do it. Seems that nearly everywhere now, vermin like that are "protected" by some inane law, and even discharging a pellet gun is illegal within in most city limits.

If you're outside of town, pop a few for me! Just CYA first.
 
Rondog, I live in Iowa, and some of the people here still have a brain in their head. Others don't, which is why we now have legal same sex marriage.:banghead:
I should be OK for shooting pigeons in my neck of the woods, though.
 
Rondog, I live in Iowa, and some of the people here still have a brain in their head. Others don't, which is why we now have legal same sex marriage.
I should be OK for shooting pigeons in my neck of the woods, though.

Cool! Then bust a few for those of us who can't! And I also second the Daisy Powerline 880. It's a cheapo, but I can shoot nickle-sized groups with it. It'll damn sure take the squirrels off my bird feeder.
 
If you want quiet, go for the Air Arms S410 XTRA FAC with full barrel shroud. Pfffft! 28 ft-pounds of varmint popping fun. Lefty thumbhole walnut stock. Hawke 4X16X 50 mm R/G lighted mill dot scope. One of my favorite air rifles, along with my Walther LGR-U and Walther LGR
 

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When I was 10ish a friend had a .20 or .22 pump-up (a nice and accurate Benjamin/Sheridan pellet gun - it was really his dad's but nobody minded - I really enjoyed shooting it and could make some shots I'd be proud of now) while I had a .177. One day he was bragging up how powerful it was decided to shoot at a pigeon. AT a pigeon since he was a lousy shot. Unfortunately he hit it. He then freaked out because it was flopping around cooing distress and not dying. After several minutes I finally went over and killed it. Not something I liked doing.

I don't know if I ever spoke to the kid again...not often if so.

Don't know if that represents negative bias or real world experience, but I'd be leery of pellet rifles with the pigeons I've seen, unless you can guarantee head brain shots every time...

Just something for you to consider.
 
I've killed hundreds of pests, from point blank to past 50 yards, using an RWS .177 Model 36.

.22 drops too much in a pellet gun, they also didn't seem to penetrate as well for me.

My .177 made one shot kills on crows, wood chucks, and many ground squirrels. It's all dependant on where you hit them, and .177 will give you the accuracy and penetration that you need.

I broke my spring once, through my own error, and RWS fixed it free of charge. I will be buying another air rifle from them as soon as I move later this year and have a yard again.
 
The Benji pumpers are fine shooting rifles. Plenty of punch, accurate, and no recoil.

The .22's do drop, but most air rifles in .22 are more efficient than .177 and a mil dot scope will put a .22 on target just as easily as .177. Either will do nicely out to 30-35 yards. The .22 will of course carry more energy down range than a .177. And beyond about 50 yards, either becomes "Iffy" as far as a clean kill unless you are shooting PCPs or a supermag springer. The Supermag springers are hard to shoot accurately in my experience. If you want to shoot varmints at ranges more than 50 yards, look seriously at the PCPs, particularly the Air Arms S400, S410s, and the Air Force Talon and Condor models. Or just get yourself a Ruger 1022 and save a bunch of money. I will say that my AA S410 is quiet enough to take out a squirrel at 50 yards without startling other potential nearby targets. PffffT!!

The best varmint pellet is the JSB or Polymag Predator pellet, but at longer ranges, the ballistics of the diabolo or domed pellets seem better, at least in my air rifles. And I am too lazy to zero and range my scopes for multiple pellets. In general, the JSB's are the best down range pellets I have found.
 
You know, I've heard that a .22 Short fired out of a rifle-length barrel is actually quieter than most pellet guns. You could try it. If it really is that quiet, just load it in a .22 bolt gun and wreck their day. Savage .22's are in the same price range as a lot of pellet guns, and old Stevens 73's are also available.
 
Super Colibri from a bolt rifle are quiet enough to use in an apartment ;) ...quieter than a spring pellet gun. They are accurate too. Not super high velocity though... energy wise a spring will probably beat 'em.

Outside... depends on local laws.
 
My .177 Crosman Phantom with a one-piece scope mount and cheapie Walmart Tasco scope is as accurate as I'll ever need it, cheap, and quite powerful. It's only $89.95 and I love it. It will go through 1/2 inch plywood at 5 yards, that means lights out for any pigeon within 100 feet (or more if you trust your aim). I've taken squirrels galore up to 50 yards, with run of the mill Walmart-grade hollowpoint ammo.

Stay away from PBA alloy ammunition. It's too light to be accurate and will create a sonic crack when fired which will make it just as loud as a .22LR. Also, be careful during general cleaning, because if any oil gets into the compression chamber, it will diesel upon firing, and it'll sound like a bomb went off.

Have fun, airguns are my first love! I just couldn't think to spend more than $150 on one that I only needed for plinking.
 
my daisy .22 cal from rogers, ar is accurate, and powerful enough to drop squirrels with one shot at 25 to 30 yards.
 
You can go pretty cheap w/ any of the walmart recomendations listed in this thread & be GTG for pigeons & squirrels. If you are wanting to really get into airguns, Beeman, Ruger & Gammo all make great spring piston break barrels. Get a scope combo w/ a proper airgun optic; traditional scopes WILL NOT work on a spring piston airgun. (negative recoil breaks them every time) My Beeman cost me a small fortune before finally calling a hobbiest for advice & investing in the proper rig.
 
Here is what my AA S410 PCP will do at 100 yards - under 4 inches
 

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Aa s410 pcp

Just a tad outside my price range :what:

I sent a note to Mike Melick and am waiting for a response.

Thanks for all the help!
 
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