Recommendations for pellet rifle for pigeons

[rangerruck]

I just dropped a pidgeon at about 20 yds, straight up in a oak tree, with a power line 880. the best choice here, is to use your bolt action 22, and try super colibri rounds; they are quieter than a springer rifle.
but if a pellet gun is a must have, then the new beeman or benjamin PcP rifles, are the best. travel by air, no sound or recoil, and can use with co2 carts, a foot pump, or an airtank like the paintball guys use. and they are 300 bucks, which for a PcP rifle, is just amazing, normally you would never pay less than 500 bucks for a PcP.

 

[badbadtz560]

if you want sub $200 price point, gamo cfx and gamo shadow have been given some good reviews for accuracy vs price pt.

They're both spring piston, which I believe spring piston pellet rifles are the quietest... tho pcp gives most accuracy. I'm not sure about the PCPs that the other guys were talkin about, but the Talon one that my roomate had made a lot more noise even on low-medium settings.

After a few hundred shots, the springs will break in and settle down in the 700+ fps I believe... and the noise will go away for even the light pellets. Until then I'd use crow magnums or something of medium weight

be aware that gamo triggers are disgusting.

either caliber will serve you well for pigeons. .22 is easier to load for ppl with big fingers... I have small fingers and like smaller holes in the paper so that I can gauge my accuracy more at shorter distances...

I recommend crow magnums or crosman premiers/premium? depending on if you want maximum punch or cheap'n effective.

I'm still experimenting with silver arrows, as they seem to really pack a wallop... and have heard stories of killin two birds in one. I'll definitely tell you that silver arrows do the most damage to soda cans.. but I haven't had time to compare accuracy w/ the crow magnums (my current favorite)

 

[Jefferson Herb]

If you want to stay US made,Benji Discovery in 177 or 22.Air gun nuts say .177 for feathers and .22 for fir.The benji in duel fuel,ie pcp oe co2 and is accurate.CO2 gives you 600+ in.22 and 800+ on air at 2,000 psi,good for up to 20 lb varments,so you can't use it inside a tin roof.Also use flat nose pellet for better energy transfer on the rats.

 

[hinton03]

When living in a 400 year old farm house in Belgium I had a real Pigeon problem. Bought a Sheridan Blue Streak and had a Pigeon Safari;
I must have killed 50 Pigeons with that air rifle over 3 years.

 

[Maverick223]

A bit off topic...but my choice of a "air" rifle would be a 10/22 with Aguila Colibri rounds. Okay, so its not technically an air rifle, but quieter than most. The loudest part of mine is the hammer falling. They offer very good penetration (about 10" of water) and have a decent trajectory (like a pellet gun). If you have a .22lr (if not get one ) and are willing to pull the bolt back after each shot (in a semi) then I would at least give em' a try. Note: The rounds are less-than silent in a pistol.

 

[arizona98tj]

Having shot my fair share of 22 short ammo 40+ years ago as a kid, I can vouch for the fact that they are MUCH louder than an air rifle.

However, a CCI "CB Cap" is certainly a possibility if you want to keep things on the quiet using a rimfire cartridge. I assume they still offer them but haven't looked to see if they do.

 

[Maverick223]

Having shot my fair share of 22 short ammo 40+ years ago as a kid, I can vouch for the fact that they are MUCH louder than an air rifle.

Things have changed quite a bit since then... The Aguila Colibri rounds are primer actuated (no powder), and are extremely quiet, more so than many air rifles. Try em'...b4 you rag on em', they are much quieter than CCI CBs, although much less powerful as well.

 

[elmerfudd]

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

I've had an S410E for about 8 years now and it is an absolute small game killing machine. I've popped starlings at over 100 yards and last December I made a headshot on a peahen at 80.

It's just like you say; very quiet, powerful, very accurate and you've got a 10 shot magazine.

 

[elmerfudd]

I've done a lot of experimenting with rimfires in hopes of finding something that was both quiet and accurate and so far I've had zero luck. .22 shorts aren't quiet. If you were to start shooting these in a suburban neighborhood you'd have the police at your door in short order. .22 CB caps are quiet and reasonably powerful. Unfortunately their accuracy is quite poor. Same for Colibris only they're even quieter.

To be fair though, either CB's or Colibris could be effectively used to kill small pests within 10 yards or so without alarming the neighbors and if you've already got a .22 it's a cost effective method.

One cartridge that I think shows a little potential is the Aguila SSS. These have 60 grain bullets and about half the powder of a conventional .22. Because they're so heavy they still pack nearly the same punch as a standard .22 rimfire, but they make much less noise. They also are reasonably accurate within about 20 yards.

There are two problems with them though. Although they're much quieter than a .22 LR, they're still too noisy for shooting in a populated area and that long bullet needs a faster twist rate to stabilize it than most .22's have. As a result past about 30 yards the bullets start to keyhole and the accuracy suffers. With an extra long barrel with a 1-9 twist though they might really shine.

 

[tasco 74]

you get washed away yet??????? i'm in iowa too and i've been watch the weather from diffrent sources all day... imo the best air rifle for the money in the rws model 34 in 17 cal. i shoot my air rifle in my backyard all summer here in this small town....... the rws will put a pidgeon down in a hurry...... get a powerline scope for her if you are on a budget like mine..........


LIFE IS SHORT.....

 

[mickeydim468]

You know, when i was a kid, living on a small farm in Southern California, I shot hundreds of pigeons with my .177 caliber Crossman 166. It held BBs or you could load 1 at a time pellets. I shot most of my pigeons with BBs. It was a pump air rifle, but with practice and patience I was able to pump it 10 times and the bird would never know I was there. Pigeons are stupid creatures and are quite accustomed to having humans around. They have no fear of us, so even if you scare them they usually come right back and land where you shot at them. Just wait 30 seconds. Gives you time to pump the old BB gun again while you wait. Then shoot again. You're not hunting pheasant or some other "wild" animal. These creatures keep coming back for more. I would not wast my money on a more expensive .22 cal pellet gun that you can't shoot BB through. You don't need the extra impact to kill a pigeon, a crow maybe, but not a pigeon. I recently have seen at Wally World a package that gives you 2 barrels, a .177 and a .22. That may be something to think about. That would be a fun gun to play with. I think the muzzle velocity from one of those was rated at 1100fps, which would definately do the job quite nicely IMHO!

Mikey!

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Budget budget budget.

You said (finally) that you'd like to say under $300, but don't seem to be committed to this budget.

What's the REAL budget that you're really willing to spend, realistically, really? Because it's all about budget - you get what you pay for, generally.

Keep in mind that, unlike squirrels, pigeons & doves are extremely fragile and thin skinned (as are most birds) - you only need something shooting a .177 pellet in the 400-600 fps range, but if you want a little more versatility, get something that shoots them in the 600-900 fps range, but then you tradeoff some quietness to get this power.

I have killed both pigeons & doves with a Beeman P3 / Weirauch HW 40 PCA pistol at around 400 fps. Get within about 8 yards, and it's money in the bank.

But is $300 the real budget or not? If you can swing it, you can get a much better gun than on a lower budget, which will last longer, shoot more accurately, be more quiet, and look nicer.

Accuracy is THE most important consideration (but most all modern pellet rifles will be pretty accurate). Quietness *may* be a close 2nd, depending on how close your neighbors are, and how easily perturbed they are. Without knowing more, someone mentioned the Beeman R7 (R seven) is an excellent choice for your purpose, but you'd probably have to buy used to get under $300.

http://www.google.com/products?q=be...a=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

Elmerfudd, I'm with you - I've been saying for years that if Aguila would just make their super colibris accurate / consistent, they'd sell the crap out of them. They're only gonna hold a 1.5" minute of bird group out to about 12 yards, and that's out of a very accurate rifle! (CZ 452). I'd be in hog heaven if the super colibris were made more accurate (say, capable of 0.5" out to 15 yards). Usually I'll get 4 out of 5 within 1" at 10 yards, but then an ammo-induced flier (yes, I'm sure it's not user - induced) will be an inch from the main group - disgusting.

 

[TEC]

The Beeman R7 is pretty much the same rifle as the HW30 and HW30S. The HW30 has a plain beech stock and a Perfekt trigger. The HW30s has a bit nicer "select" but still beech stock, I believe but comes instead with the Rekord trigger, which is an excellent trigger. The R7 is much nicer wood, with checkering and a Rekord trigger. All are built at the same factory in Germany.

The HW30S is on sale at Pyramid Air for $300 now. That's a very good price. The HW30 and R7 both benefit greatly from a pro tune, though. Google Paul Watts and R7 and I think there is some good info about the pros and cons of the R7/HW30 out there.

I stick to my original recommendation. In the under $300 range, there is no better bargain than a Mike Melick tuned BAM B-26 in either .22 or .177. Forget the "Whisper" -- its all marketing ploy, the noise from springers doesn't come primarily from the muzzle, it comes from the spring and piston slap. The more powerful the springer, the louder the gun and in general, the harder it is to shoot the springer accurately. And generally the synthetic stock air rifles are louder than those with wood stocks.

 

[panrobercik]

I owned one spring rifle and I hated it. This was a 1100 fps ,177 rifle and the user opinions were fantastic for the gun but... if you have a habit of shooting a real rifle holding it tight than you might want to change this when using a spring gun. they have to be held very lightly or you loose accuracy. The solution would be getting a pump or PCP or even a CO2 rifle. Those use compressed air and shoot where you aim no matter how you hold them. My first air rifle was Crosman 1077 (CO2), semi auto , very accurate but heavy trigger. Right now I got rid of the springer and got a single pump/single shot Daisy 953. Constant power and great accuracy but not the greatest velocity unless you use light fast pellets.I shoot rats and iguanas up to 15 yards with it using heavy pellets.

 

[elmerfudd]

User opinions tend to be very optimistic. Generally people don't want to admit they got ripped off or can't shoot their new rifle worth beans. You have to be VERY selective about which users you actually listen to as not all of them have an adequate knowledge base in order to accurately judge the rifle.

And you're right. Spring guns do require a lot of technique in order to shoot well. I've got a TX200 that's a very accurate rifle. When I haven't had any caffeine and I'm shooting well, I can shoot 3/4" groups with it at 50 yards. Sometimes however I just can't shoot that thing worth a damn. Yesterday I fired about 100 pellets shooting about 2.5" groups at 35 yards from a sitting position before I was finally able to get my technique down and start nailing 1" spinners at that range. It can be very frustrating because you know that with a PCP or a firearm 90% of your misses would be hits.

 

[hawmanai]

I got this one to .25 spring gun to plink with.

I would go with the 22 version, would have a bit more range, but the 25 has a thump when it hits. 177 might be too small for pidgeons.

 

[KevininPa]

Being a former Airgun nut, I agree with......

............Air gun nuts say .177 for feathers and .22 for fur. I still have an Airforce Talon SS which is my pest gun, but not in the budget you stated. My nieces husband has a Benjamin Sheridan in .20, it's a happy medium. Flatter trajectory but still enough umph for bunnies and squirrels. Well within your price range with decent quality. Headshots are key to airgunning.

 

[thebaldguy]

A .177 is great for shooting. There are many decent entry level spring piston rifles for around $100 or so. I got a Gamo Big Cat 1200 with a 4x scope for under $120. With Gamo Match pellets, this thing is really accurate.

Here's a few links for you:
http://www.airgunwarehouseinc.com/
http://www.pyramydair.com/
http://www.eandk.com/links.html
http://www.airguns.net/
http://www.airgunsus.com/