What air rifle should I get?

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ThePunisher'sArmory

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I'm looking for advice from the air gunners out there. Im looking for a new break barrel rifle. I sold my old Gamo Hunter through this website and now im having regrets. I currently own a Gamo Expo from the 70's and its begining to fall apart. Im looking for something not too loud, not too costly, but still a quality gun. This rifle will mainly be used for backyard critter skirmishes, and plinking. Here are the rifles ive narrowed it down to...that is unless there is something better for around the same price. First is the Gamo Big Cat 1200. I like the all weather option and what looks to be a Houge treatment on its stock, but it lacks iron sights. Second would be the Crosman Quest 1000. It seems like a nice gun but have no experience with crosman products aside from ammo. Lastly the Ruger Air Hawk 1000. This has all the options and I really like the fiber optic irons, but again have no experience with this Chineese made ruger. To boot I do own alot of Ruger firearms. If anyone has any input please let me know.
 
I guess things have changed from when I was a kid and a Benjamin pump or C02 pellett gun was the ultimate. I guess I am old but why one would spend hundreds of dollars unless they were in competitive shooting is beyond me. I keep a pump up Crossman for nuisance cats and dogs just to sting em. what ever happended to the Red Rider???
 
i had a gamo whisper 22 for a while and liked it a lot. sights were pretty good. they were fiber optic and it gave a pretty consistent fps. i had a crossman when i was a kid but it wasnt single break.
 
What's you budget?

I'd recommend almost anything from Diana, Weirauch, or Feinwerkbau, with or without the Beeman name on 'em. Basically anything German. Once you try one you'll never go back.
I have a Gamo - about the only good thing I can say about it is that the stock was a decent copy of a hogue.


-Daizee
 
I own an RWS 350 Magnum break barrel .22. It's well made, has iron sights as well as provisions for a scope and flat puts a hurt on small furry critters. It is especially deadly when using Crossman Premier Domed pellets. I use it primarily as a ground squirrel eradicator and it does the job very well. While I've made kills out to 50 yards with it I prefer to keep my intended prey within 40 yards. It's not the cheapest out there, but it is well worth the money and has held up very well with heavy use for the past couple of years. Check them out. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. My gun safe has always had at least one pellet gun in the mix. there are times and circumstances that only it can do the job.
 
I own a Weirauch 57, wich is a springer with an underbarrel lever, so barrel is fixed and line of sight is very long.
It also has an adjustable trigger.
Very good value for the money IMHO

Diana and Weirauch are in a ligue of their own in the spring powered airrifles, according to my gunsmith

Greetings

Peter
 
If you were happy with the gamo you should be happy with just about anything. My shotguns group better than the one I had.


I'd recommend almost anything from Diana, Weirauch, or Feinwerkbau
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I can't disagree with the suggestions but I went a cheaper route for quite critter getting, I went with a bolt action .22 using CB long ammo. They make less noise than the air rifles and the firearm cost less.
 
I can't disagree with the suggestions but I went a cheaper route for quite critter getting, I went with a bolt action .22 using CB long ammo. They make less noise than the air rifles and the firearm cost less
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more, subsonic .22LR ammunition is the way to go, just as quiet as a pellet rifle. Want something even quieter?...Aguila Super-Colibri is the ticket, though range is limited.

:)
 
Yep, the RWS Diana. A few years ago, I decided to get an air rifle, and was looking at getting the Bejamin pump that I wanted so bad as a kid. But a little research ( and a few more dollars) led me to the RWS Diana. I ordered one, but before it even arrived, I'd sold it to my brother and ordered a Beeman R9 Goldfinger. But when the RWS arrived, we were SO impressed with the quality and hard-hitting accuracy,I realized I never needed to upgrade.
The Beeman is a great rifle, to be sure, but if I was buying for the first time, the Diana is the deal. This thing is not a light-weight toy, it is a RIFLE.
Also, there is supposedly a "barrel droop" issue with these, making scoping them a problem ( I can't remember the details exactly), but my brother used a standard $20 mount with a Bushnell Elite 3200, and never had any problems getting it dialed in.
 
As mentioned above, check out Pyramid Air. You'll find everything there. I have a Beeman R-9 .177 that sits by my door and gets shot every couple of days. Very accurate and very nice quality. It's much quicker to use with the single-break spring action than the old .20 cal Sheridan pump that I've had since 1969.
 
the subsonic .22's have way more of a ricochet risk and will carry much further due to their momentum. It's hard to justify shooting a .22 in a suburban backyard from a safety standpoint, IMO.

a .177 @750fps with the right pellets will handle garden pests up to medium groundhogs.
bump up to a .20 or .22 (still talking pellet guns) and you've got a surprising amount of power.

The quality guns in this category are really fantastic precision rifles that will out-shoot anything within their effective range.

Personally I prefer the metal safeties and other details on the more expensive Weirauch guns to the Diana products, but I've shot a number of Dianas and they are very good guns and an incredible value.

-Daizee
 
In this general category I have an RWS 34 .177 - 3 ruger 10/22's, 2 Marlin .22's...when comparing subsonic .22lr ammo only (not the high-velocity stuff) The RWS pellet rifle shoots more accurately than most subsonic loads and is definitely quieter. No contest. Ammunition is cheaper, and the rounds have less tendency to bounce. The RWS sends pointed pellets at about 1000fps, very similar to the subsonic .22 velocities.

If there is a critter in the vegetable garden, i got to the RWS....not the .22's - the only except to this would be woodchucks: they have thicker skin, so if you're shooting one on the run and can't got for the head, your penetration will be slightly better.
 
TPA I was in your shoes about 6 months ago. I have 3 Benjimen pumps but wanted a break barrel. I did lots of reading and looking but couldn't make up my mind.

Went to walmart and they carry a Beeman that comes with a 177 & a 22 barrel plus a 4X scope for $135 OTD. I bought that gun knowing I could return it if I didn't like it. It is a very nicely finished gun rated at 1000fps for 177 and 800Ffps for the 22.

I have shot over 700 rounds through it so far. Its a shootin' SOB. I had no idea how much punch a 177 pellet has. It will shoot through a 7/16" piece of wafer board I use for a backstop at 22 yards and then buries up in the wood fence behind it. The 22 is even better. I like it and think this is the best $135 item I have ever bought.

Anyway it was just what I was looking for and the price was right. I still prefer my pumps if I had to choose but they won't quite match the power of the break barrel gun.
 
Thanks for all the advice, but i am still undecided. Def will not shoot a .22lr at critters in the back yard. I do traget shoot with the colibris in a well made bullet trap. Those super colibris and cbs will go right through a bird. I think I saw one of those Beemans at wally world. They now want $149. It had a nice wallnut thumb hole stock and scope if this is the one that was reffered to above. May go with the ruger though. I have read a bunch of good press on it. I dont want to spend more than $160 after tax.
 
I like .22 pellet guns. They can be a bit slower in muzzle velocity than the current hyper fast .177s, but still do the job very effectively with the double weight pellet.

Break barrel, pump, CO2. I like 'em all for different reasons, but I like CO2 for the way it can simulate a .22LR firearm for practice and short range critter control. Once the CO2 is in, just load, shoot, and repeat. No pumping, no breaking of barrels. Plus CO2 and pump guns aren't necessarily hold sensitive like some break barrels can be.
 
Just for grins, a few days ago I wanted to see exactly how quiet a .22 firearm could be versus my 600 fps rated .22 air rifle. The only ammo I had to compare with were Long Rifle and CB Shorts.

For informal testing, I had my closest shootin' buddy to lend an ear about 15 feet from the rifles so we'd have his opinion and my opinion. The rifles in question were my Marlin 39AS with 24" barrel and my Crosman 2260 CO2 rifle also with a 24" barrel.

Again, all I had was CCI .22 CB shorts rated at 710 fps out of a rifle barrel. The Crosman was shooting RWS Superdomes, if it matters. :D

To me as the shooter, and my friend as a bystander, the .22 CB Shorts were at least 50% louder if not 100% louder than the air rifle (in our opinion). For the record, we did not wear hearing protection for this test.

We also tried plain jane Federal Lightning .22 Long Rifle, and obviously the Long Rifle ammo was much louder than the CB shorts.

Anyone that has shot a CO2 gun, knows it can be a tad louder than the same muzzle speed rated break barrel rifle. My Crosman is rated at a max 600 fps and seems to be as loud as an 800 fps rated break barrel air rifle. Granted, I'm talking about the Turkish and Chinese air rifles rebranded as Winchester or Ruger. I can't speak for the German made air rifles.
 
In the UK the most popular springers are Weihrauch and Air Arms.

They aren't cheap, but they are of excellent quality and will last a lifetime. They are however generally very heavy.

In the US best places to look are Airguns of Arizona and Straight Shooters.

Pyramid Air also have a very wide stock of air rifles.

I'm British, and have owned both Weihrauch and Air Arms.

The Air Arms TX 200 is a very good rifle, but have to say I prefer the German stuff. The Weihrauch Rekord trigger is the best there is.
 
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