Airgun as a survival tool?

magneto said:
I do expect to miss every now and then.:D Especially when I get cocky, so perhaps a brick a year if I am real lucky.

OK, let me change this up a little bit. What if I took along my .223 for bigger game. How would the .22 air rifle play out then??? Any better? Small game is some what scarce out here but there are plenty of birds.
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LOL, I have my 12 shot .22 LR lever action so when I miss the first time I get 11 more tries to kill my rabbits :o. The .223 would be great for just about anything, but I think it may destroy the birds unless you are going to much down on wild turkey (not the whisky or jerky but the actual bird :D). There is a really cool looking Benjamin Crosman that looks a lot like an old musket but it is a .22 air rifle that shoots about ~600+ fps. That is a bit more force than the .177 at my 1000 fps assuming of course that the shot is going to weigh more. Either way, fish would probably be my diet for 3 years of missing my shots :p.
 
magneto said:
This would be for a worst case scenario in that you are forced to leave your home and flee to the wilderness with people possibly pursuing you. I would assume you could harvest enough birds, squirrels, rabbits and other assorted critters to help you survive. And I also assume it would be quiet enough to not give away your position as well as you being able to take several thousand rounds with you.

What are your thoughts on this idea?

Does anyone have any experience with airguns that they would be willing to share? Any recommendations for a great airgun?
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As mentioned before, air rifles can last quite a long time as long as you take care of them. If you get a "springer" (single-stroke pneumatic) make sure that you don't keep it cocked for extended periods of time, as the spring will take a set and you will loose power. I have a .22 Beeman RX-2 (http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/model.pl?model_id=568) which is a different variation of this type of rifle. Instead of a actual steel spring, it uses a gas piston. With this system you can keep it cocked and loaded as long as you want. The downside though is that this rifle is a whopper at 10 lbs!:eek: I use it mainly for target shooting with a rest, and get 1.5"-2" groups at 50-55 yards with a scope. I've used it a few times to take small game (rabbits & ground squirrels), but get tired of it really quick due to the weight. I really like the fit and finish of the higher end Beeman's and think a R9 in .177 (http://www.pyramydair.com/p/beeman-r9-air-rifle.shtml) would work great for the situation you mentioned. The .177 would take rabbit sized game with head shots and easily take squirrels and birds. This rifle also come in .20, but I would avoid that as it is not a very common caliber. You can find it easily enough on the web, but I very seldom see it in my local sporting goods stores. With either types of single stroke pneumatics (spring or gas piston), remember to never dry fire them, as you can damage the gun in short order!

Another option would be a multi-Pump pneumatic, such as one of these Benjamin Sheridan's (http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/show.pl?cmd_rifles=show_guns_manufacturer&Manufacturer=Benjamin%20Sheridan). The advantage to one of these is that they are light and you can keep it pumped up and loaded with out worrying about a spring taking a set. Recoil is also non-existent and they are very easy to shoot accurately. The downside is that you would have to pump it multiple times to to reach the same power level of a single-stroke pneumatic and they can also be much louder (depending on how much you pump it up). When the rifle is not in use, it is also good to store it pumped up with one or two strokes. This keeps the rubber gasket on the air valve from coming loose over time. There is a guy over here in California that sells modified Sheridan rifles. He beefs them up and modifies them to take more pumps, which mean more power. I really want to get one of these in the near future! Here's a link, (http://www.mac1airgun.com/steriodags.html)

With whatever air rifle you choose, I would say the max distance you should attempt to take game at is 30-40 yards with open sights. You might be able to extend that range a bit with practice, and/or a scope, but the kill zone on small game is pretty small. If you wound the target and it runs off, good luck trying to get a follow up shot!:D Its best to make sure you can make one shot kills. Anyhow, hope this helps and remember to be safe!:thumbup:
 
Thanks for the input El_Toro, I too wouldn't suggest trying to kill something with an air rifle any more than the distance that you gave, 30~40 yards. After that the shot will be inaccurate (wind) and not as high in speed at the distance as it would have been closer up.
 
batosai117 said:
Thanks for the input El_Toro, I too wouldn't suggest trying to kill something with an air rifle any more than the distance that you gave, 30~40 yards:thumbup:. After that the shot will be inaccurate (wind) and not as high in speed at the distance as it would have been closer up.
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Exactly, I've noticed with my rifle that the .22 pellet starts to drop very quickly at ~50 yards. A .177 may start to drop a little bit further out, but wind is definitely a large factor since the pellet is much lighter. I can hit a soda can with peep sights at 50 yards, but after that it's more of an artillery piece, lol. That upon itself can be pretty fun with a scoped rifle. Set up some soda cans filled with water at 60-80 yards and lob them in there!:D
 
For some reason I don't fully understand my Gamo .177 single stroke rifle will diesel, at least it used to. Whatever oil it was that did that seems to be gone now. It is quite surprising to get a muzzle flash from an air rifle! Ka-Rack! Smoke drifting up from the barrel, etc. If that could be prefected it would make an interesting weapon. Mac
 
The dieseling is from the type of lubricant used. Spring air guns need a special high temperature lube. The dieseling is not desirable and can blow seals.
 
I know its not good for the gun. It would be interesting to use the principle in a gun designed for that kind of pressure loading pellets with enough mass to handle that kind of velocity. There is certainly enough power there to handle .22 caliber bullets. Mac
 
I want to thank everyone for there input, it is very much appreciated! :thumbup: With all this info I can now make a sound decision. You guys rock.
 
Alright, it sounds like you are into getting meat. SO I would recommend a .22 rifle because it simply works. Some can handle the .22 shorts, which if you get CB shorts are like a benjamin pellet gun in power. But then you can shoot regular loads for more power. Really, a .22 is what I would take.

But for airguns....

I would get a crossman 760. Yeah, I know, the little kids gun. It's actually quite a good gun. It will work for small game, although using it on squirrels I would not really recommend. You can take the stock of it, to make it fit into a smaller package. Use: target practice, teach people how to shoot, frogs and small game like that, which you don't want to waste .22 ammo on. Spend 20 bucks on ammo, and walk away with 2000 pellets, which is a LOT of shooting.

The next airgun I would get would be a more powerful, higher quality, .177 to share the ammo with the 760. My 2100 Crossman is still very quiet like the 760, but has more power. Maybe a nice springer that shoots pellets over 1,000 feet per second, enough for hunting. Benjamin Sheridan look very durable from what I have seen.

I good, high quality, pellet rifle will put meat on the table, using cheap ammo.
The nice thing as pointed out about airguns is the ammo, shoot from a good pellet gun, it will put game down like a .22 rimfire but cheaper. Even rimfire ammo is rising in price, .177 pellets are still under a penny a shot. For general small game hunting, a pellet gun will be quite useful.



Aim small, miss small. :)
 
Well, I've mentioned air rifles on other sites and was told they couldn't kill anything, not to waste my time with them, get a good 22 rifle or shotgun. I was almost called a liar when I mentioned my grandfather and dad shot rabbits with 22 pistols. Some guy in AZ or NM said he had to shoot rabbits with 45. Heck, I killed a big old grackle from my back door with my daisy red rider.
 
I like the benjamin pneumatic/(pump up) air rifles. As far as them not killing, my son killed 4 squirrels sunday with an air rifle and we had a good meal of fried squirrels, gravy and biscuits, hardly survival food, good eats in anyones book.

I totally agree that a 22 rimfire is a better choice than an air rifle, however, one point that has not been brought up, in a lot of situations an air rifle will be acceptable and a powder burner is not. Kinda like knives, I can pull out my Vic farmer and not get a second look, in a lot of situations I flip open my BM AFCK and get some strange looks. Me and my son have been camping and plinking with my Benji 392 and people see us and smile and wave, if I were bouncing cans with my 10/22 I don't think I would get the same reaction, both are squirrel and rabbit killing machines though. Chris
 
Speaking of pulling out a knife; I was told by a LEO, that if I pulled out my knife to clean my fingernails and a person a block away saw me and thought I made a "threatening gesture" with said knife, I would be arrested.
 
bltjr1951 said:
Speaking of pulling out a knife; I was told by a LEO, that if I pulled out my knife to clean my fingernails and a person a block away saw me and thought I made a "threatening gesture" with said knife, I would be arrested.
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I have a real hard time believing that, not to mention it would be thrown out of court in a heart beat.

My point was that certain things in todays PC world are more acceptable than others. Chris


EDIT: If a woman tells a LEO that you raped her you will be arrested also, I guess you can leave that at home with your knife.
 
I agree with runningboar. A Benjamin 392 is perfectly able of getting small game. It feels like a real gun. And will last a lifetime. And sometimes, a powder burner will simply not be appropriate.

Shooting rabbits with a .45? I'm sure it will work. But that would put a hurt on my wallet the way a rimfire or airgun won't.
 
bltjr1951 said:
Speaking of pulling out a knife; I was told by a LEO, that if I pulled out my knife to clean my fingernails and a person a block away saw me and thought I made a "threatening gesture" with said knife, I would be arrested.
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Where was this LEO from? Might have been pullin' your leg. I hope. :(
 
They can work well in capable hands,pheasant,partridge,pigeon,rabbit&even hare close range. But they can make a surprising amount of noise&the lever open style can be tiring to use,especially when weak with hunger....catapults(slingshots)make an excellent back-up too,as does fishing!

Otherwise, stick to a rimfire or small bore shotgun, 16 say.
 
"But they can make a surprising amount of noise&the lever open style can be tiring to use,especially when weak with hunger."

I don't own a break barrel but I can't imagine that they're that hard to cock, I seem to remember like 28 lbs of force is required.

As for the noise level: my very old crossman 760 is what I would call quiet, my crossman 2100 seems strangely quieter, and an old .20 cal benjamin that I borrowed once was louder than both.
 
bltjr1951 said:
Well, I've mentioned air rifles on other sites and was told they couldn't kill anything, not to waste my time with them, get a good 22 rifle or shotgun. I was almost called a liar when I mentioned my grandfather and dad shot rabbits with 22 pistols. Some guy in AZ or NM said he had to shoot rabbits with 45. Heck, I killed a big old grackle from my back door with my daisy red rider.
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That's funny that they didn't believe you, cause my best friends grandpa killed deer with his .22 when he was little and his family was not well off. He told us that he thought a .22 was a deer rifle up until he was old enough to know better. He'd shoot them right between the eyes and that was that, then put another bullet in the head when it went down.
 
I think I am going to forgo the airgun and get a high quality .22 and use the little CB CCI shorts or longs when I want to be quiet. Then I can change ammo and it would be like having another gun. The best of both worlds.
 
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