Air Rifle for Survival Food Procurement?

I sent my old[10$ at a garage sale] .20 Sheridan Blue Streak to Mac-1 Air Guns and for less than 100$ they "steroided' it into a 1000fps,quarter size groups at 30 yards banger. I took 50+ squirrels with it last fall.--KV
 
Kage, try H&N match wadcutters

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They are VERY uniform and highly accurate in most (but NOT all) high power guns that shoot at velocities under 800fps or so.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice PrimitiveMan. Do these wadcutters do well for hunting?
 
The wadcutters expand fairly well. For squirrels and rabbits you should be fine. Any bigger game than that and you might want something with a bit more weight. The beauty of them is that they are accurate and CONSISTENT in most guns. Air guns are finicky though, so when you buy, try several types and find out what your particular gun likes.

Each of my guns prefers a different pellet. My daisy match pistol loves the H&Ns

My buddy has a Gamo Shadow sport that is DEADLY with Crosman premiers.

Generally, you get what you pay for with pellets. Spend the extra couple of dollars to buy some that are uniform in weight and finish. If you look at them and they have casting flash and generally look lumpy, pass on them.
 
I have a .20 Blue Streak and at 100 feet the thing won't miss. I'm no crack shot but it's 35 paces from my back porch to my tree line and I rarely ever miss a coke can at that distance. Mine is about 12 years old and in that time I've probably put about 5000 pellets through it and I've never had a single problem of any kind.
 
When I watch the outdoor channel there's always commercials for Gamo Whisper.
Shows squirrels blasted at feeders.

http://www.gamousa.com/

On another site a guy says you can kill anything smaller than a deer with air rifle.

BTW, with your expert advice, does that mean my Crosman "hunting" pellets aren't any good?? They're made in USA.
"Warning: airguns are not toys. Misuse or careless use may cause serious injury or death."
 
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Kage,

Thought I should mention, most of the big online airgun retailers offer pellet "Sampler packs" that have 40 or so each of several types of pellets. That way you don't end up spending $15 per tin of 500 just to have 450 of them sit on a shelf.

Carl-
 
I like my RWS Model 48 in .177 but for survival I would say it's a no no because it's super heavy. But it's well built. As far as pellets my gun, and I, both prefer not to use any gamo pellets. In the last two guns i've had Crosman Premier Domed pellets and RWS Superdomes work wonders. I currently have Crosman Premier Hollow Points and they stay on target just fine and hit HARD.
 
In short, I think it's just about impossible to screw up with a Benji 392. They're hellbent for stout, lightweight, accurate, and common as dirt for replacement/ spare parts. The Peep sights make it quite a bit nicer, although I still don't know of an effective scope mount to put on them. I'm not a lover of scopes on them anyways, so it's not a big issue to me...

They're just fine in factory issue (although the trigger can sometimes be awful) in that case Airguns of Arizona sells a super sear to alleviate the issue, and has excellent instructions for installation.

http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/CustomParts.htm

If you want more power out of one, you can get the steroid treatment from mac-1, and get around 900 FPS out of it. As I recall, you can get one treated, tuned up, and ready to go for $250-$300

http://www.mac1airgun.com/

If you don't like pumping, and are happy with factory velocity there'sa real nice looking ACP option available at Airguns of Arizona. (cuts pumping in half)

http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/

It's listed individually on the scrollchart to your left, a little hard to find, but pretty neat.

I know it's not neat, novel, or very interesting, but to me it's a very tried and true option.
 
The ACP is a great idea. I often wondered why air gun companies didn't just put a check valve in so when you got to full power, over pumping just realeased the extra pressure. How much could it cost? Less than a rebuild I am sure.

In any case, the benji in any format from stock to steroid to ACP is an awesome critter-gitter and there are plenty out there with thousands of rounds through them.
 
Based upon the feedback from you all and others I'm narrowing my list down to the following - any specific input is greatlly apprecated to make the final decision.

Once again my critera for selection are:

Need a .22 hunting air rifle for hard core usage in a wilderness setting. This is no back yard plinker. I will harvest legal small game for a multi-week survival training session. I allready have a .22LR but need something that is much quieter for this mission. A low profile is require. Therefore, I need something ultra reliable as I will NOT have access to spare parts or replacement CO2 cartridges so pump or spring is the best for this purpose. Hunting accuracy is important and I'll probably not rely on the scope and use open sights.


My current short list is;

Walther Falcon Hunter .22 pro/cons: solid performer, good reviews, good trigger, great velocity. Nothing negative other than I don't know much about it. Noiser than the Gamo Whisper which is a mark against it - otherwise a very good choice. Pyramyd air is really promoting this rifle for my trip and said customers really like this rifle for a hunter. Again, I know nothing about it.

Benji 392 - .22 pro/cons: solid performer, long term track record, Benji has a great reputation for support and product quality, lots of input here for this rifle for this trip - nothing negative other than hard pumping and lower velocity for a lot of pumping

Gamo Whisper - .22 pro/cons: Mixed reviews but mostly good. Some reviewers said the gun is inaccurate and was very disappointed. Trigger is generally rated poor but workable. Less velocity than Walther but quieter. Overall I'm impressed with this choice, like the quiet factor which is important but again reviews are mixed and the trigger is a negative.

Okay, help me with your input on what you know.
 
I would strongly suggest you do not get the whisper. It is a great gun from what I hear, however some states are considering it a silenced firearm. The last thing you want is to buy a gun and then have it become illegal to possess.

Carl-
 
PrimiteMan,

Thank you for all of the advice. I've been using Crosman Premiers and they're very accurate at the short distances I've been shooting rats (less than 20 feet) but it doesn't always kill them right away. If it's a body shot then the pellet passes right through and they suffer. If it's a head shot they still don't die right away, but quicker. I've typically been only pumping it 4-5 times because I figure increasing the speed will just cause the rounds to pass through more efficiently, but perhaps it's not allowing them to expand at such low fps?

I bought a Gamo Precision Pellets pack, but haven't had an opportunity yet to try them out. It comes with 4 packs of 250 pellets: Magnum ("great expansion"), Master Point ("maximum penetration"), Hunter ("greater impact") and Match ("extreme accuracy"). I plan on using the 8.4 grain Hunter rounds next as it states: "Due to the heavier weight and dome configuration, this pellet performs with terrific impact, even when long distance is required."
 
Head shots are the ultimate answer! LOL

Heavier pellets might work for you. First, they are going to have a lower muzzle velocity due to the weight, second, there will be more mass to expand. If you are still shooting completely through rats, they are going to die, but then I would probably go ahead and switch to hollow points or try "predator" pellets.
 
Walther and Gamo are springers and may require you to learn an "artillery hold." Check out any of the many articles by Tom Gaylord on springers, harmonics, holds and accuracy.

The Benjie has very little recoil and can be held like you hold your .22

The Benjie may be difficult to pump but you are not shooting a lot of targets.

I would go with the Benjie, but them I am a multi-pump kind of guy
 
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