Tell me about an Air Rifle

[Dave Lehnert]

Ran across an old pellet gun we had as kids and got to looking at them online. Looks like the newer "Air Rifle" has gotten a lot more advanced.
I saw a video on line where a guy was dropping Groundhogs like nothing. I would have never guessed a pellet gun could be that powerful.

So tell me about your pellet gun.
Anyone own the Gamo Big Cat .22 cal? can a Single cocking system be that powerful? The gun we had as kids you had to pump 6 or 8 times and don't remember it being too powerful.

[Tom M King]

When I was a kid in the 1950's, I had a Red Ryder that would shoot a consistent curve. I could hit something behind a tree with it. I have a single cock smaller caliber pellet gun, and the one pump does put plenty of velocity on the pellet. It was bought for a persistent woodpecker. It's not as accurate as a regular .22, but does reasonably well.

[G. Brad Schmidt]

Yes Dave, air rifles have come a LONG way.
A progression from pumpers & CO2 to springers and finally PCPs (Pre-Charged Pneumatics).
As an example, Jim Chapman has several blogs (http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/airgun_hunter.html) detailing his hunting excursions (http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/hunting/). From the US to Africa Jim takes game from birds to wild hogs and deer via his pneumatic pee shooters.

I own 12 shooters in .177, .22 and .25 caliber. All are either break barrel (springer) or PCP.
Four of them ran well over 3K with glass.
And turners think their addiction can be expensive.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Lewis and Clark packed an air rifle on their little walk about...

[Jim Matthews]

The origin of Hans and Franz "We vill pomp YOU up!" -

The Girandoni air rifle was carried by the Austrian army.
No powder to keep dry. Ten pounds of kit required to
pressurize the reservoir, by hand.

[Mike Cutler]

I have an Anschutz made, Crossman 6500, in .177. Single cock, spring operated. It won't drop a groundhog, but I can take squirrels out of trees with it if I want too. Pretty darn accurate for it's price range. I used to be able to hit Necco Wafers all day long with it, out to some pretty impressive distances for a .177.

[Lee Schierer]

Modern air rifles can easily get velocities over 1500 fps. I have a 50 year old Benjamin 22 cal. Pump air rifle that can penetrate a 3\4" pine board at 30 feet wit lead Bbs.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dave, just got the Gamo Big Cat .177 cal and it is night & day different than my old pellet guns! Power is amazing but it sounds a lot like a .22 when it goes off! One issue I have with it, so far, is experimenting with different weight pellets to find something that can handle the increase in speed - regular weight pellets tend to go wild. Been reading that the domed pellets around the 10.7 gr size will work well but haven't been able to pick any up to give it a try.

[Phil Mueller]

I have a youth model Gamo .177. Keep it handy for pesky chipmunks. Only down side is the rail is poorly formed to take a scope mount...won't tighten up enough to keep from sliding due to the spring action. I've tried a scope mount stop to no avail. I think I'll just epoxy the mount.
I had the pump it a dozen times model as a kid as well...they have come a long way.

[Myk Rian]

I wore out a Crossman pump. Really liked it. A little under powered. I now have a Ruger break barrel. This one will drop rabbits, no problem. Chipmunks explode.
When you oil it as directed, it sounds like a .22 rifle. It's a heavy sucker, but accurate at >1,000 fps.

[Kevin Bourque]

I have a Crossman Storm XT .177 pellet rifle.
I have killed groundhogs from 100 ft. but it has to be a head shot to do the job.
Its also amazingly accurate. I paid somewhere about $125 for it.

[ken masoumi]

When I was a kid my cousin and I used to target practice with a German made Diana pellet rifle, 3 years ago I bought my own Diana but the difference was like night and day, the new one is much more refined and more powerful than the old one.
Since then I bought myself another springer (Beeman) but the most powerful gun that I own now (Crosman Nitro Venom) , powered with a gas piston rather than a spring, it's a .22 cal,close to 1000 feet per second.very accurate the best thing is you can leave it cocked for a long time unlike the springers.
I recently got a pellet handgun (Walther CP88) but for some reason I don't enjoy shooting with it as much as the Nitro Venom.
One thing that has not been mentioned is the quality of the new pellets,they are more accurate and heavier if you like varmint hunting , my favorite :Exact Jumbo heavy .

[Jerome Stanek]

I have an old pump up Sheridan rifle that I take out woodchucks with usually around 100 t0 150 feet

[Bert Kemp]

Actually PCP's have been around for hundreds of years.


Yes Dave, air rifles have come a LONG way.
A progression from pumpers & CO2 to springers and finally PCPs (Pre-Charged Pneumatics).
As an example, Jim Chapman has several blogs (http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/airgun_hunter.html) detailing his hunting excursions (http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/hunting/). From the US to Africa Jim takes game from birds to wild hogs and deer via his pneumatic pee shooters.

I own 12 shooters in .177, .22 and .25 caliber. All are either break barrel (springer) or PCP.
Four of them ran well over 3K with glass.
And turners think their addiction can be expensive.

[Tom Stenzel]

20 years or so ago I picked up a .177 Crosman 3100, a made in Spain spring gun. It's rated at 600 fps which by modern standards is pretty leisurely. It's been plenty accurate for target, Norway rats and one possum. Hit the possum in the head, he went right out.

Normally I leave possums alone but this one runs running in circles in my yard in the middle of the day. Something wasn't right with him. I was glad to have that pellet rifle handy that day.

Now airguns have gotten so powerful that dieseling can be a problem, the heat created by the air compression ignites the lubricating oil. Can really send the pellet out in a hurry but wrecks the gun.

-Tom

[Wade Lippman]

If they are as loud as 22 rifles, why not just get a 22 rifle?

[Phil Thien]

If they are as loud as 22 rifles, why not just get a 22 rifle?

There are some communities where it is legal to fire air but not powder.

Also, 22 rimfire ammo seems to have become quite precious (difficult to obtain in quantity).

I don't think I'd want to fire anything that sounded like a 22 as I would get a police response here after repeated firings.

[Jason Roehl]

There are some communities where it is legal to fire air but not powder.

Also, 22 rimfire ammo seems to have become quite precious (difficult to obtain in quantity).

I don't think I'd want to fire anything that sounded like a 22 as I would get a police response here after repeated firings.

On the flip side, I have some sub-sonic .22 LR that is quieter than my (common, inexpensive) air rifles.

[Myk Rian]

If they are as loud as 22 rifles, why not just get a 22 rifle?
What makes you think I don't?
I have one, and can shoot it off my deck since I have 33 acres of woods behind us. Just don't want to.

[Keith Outten]

Recently I got my very old 22 cal Benjamin air rifle out of the closet so I could scare some small critters from my garden. I don't have any idea that this old gun would kill anything but a very tiny animal but a couple of pumps will give them a sting that gets their attention.

I'm amazed at how advanced air rifles have gotten over the years.

I own a 22 rifle that I use to send ground hogs to animal heaven every chance I get. Ground Hogs are so destructive I can't allow their numbers to increase or I would soon be overrun.

[Myk Rian]

I own a 22 rifle that I use to send ground hogs to animal heaven every chance I get. Ground Hogs are so destructive I can't allow their numbers to increase or I would soon be overrun.
I did that with my .22
Shot at it as it was running from my deck, to the neighbors deck. 6 or 7 shots.
4 days later Russ was tearing his deck up. He was trying to find the source of the stink.

[Myk Rian]

I like the air rifle, as opposed to my .22 for little targets, which ar no farther away than 100 feet. After that it's in the woods.
Chupmunks as an example. I have 63 notches on the gun stock. Sometimes rabbits. (4)
If a squirrel figures out how to raid the bird feeders, he gets it too. (3) The hunting pellet will take them down.

[Scott Donley]

The gun club I belong to has an air gun range. One day I walked down to it when they were having a match, man, did that change my thinking about air guns. The range was packed, with targets at 15 to 50 yards. I don't know what rifles they were shooting but most looked like they were close to home built. I was amazed at the accuracy they were able to do. I did not see any one doing multiple pumping. Like I said , it sure changed what I thought about air guns. Not ready to give up my center fires for one but thinking about adding one to my inventory.

[Bert Kemp]

Now I have to go out and shoot some of mine to see how quite it is, and if the cops come I'm telling them you said it was quite and OK :D


On the flip side, I have some sub-sonic .22 LR that is quieter than my (common, inexpensive) air rifles.

[Dave Lehnert]

Thanks for all the info.
If anyone is interested, I found a TV show available on You-tube called "American Airgunner" The "Round Table" in the show has some good info for the beginner. The show is on TV, but have not figured out what channel.
I most likely will never buy an air gun, Just interesting to read how advanced they have become since the Red Rider we all had as kids.

[Jason Roehl]

Now I have to go out and shoot some of mine to see how quite it is, and if the cops come I'm telling them you said it was quite and OK :D

My address is 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington D.C.... ;)