airguns?

bandaidman

bandaidman

Basic Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2001
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1,149
any recommendations on a decent air gun for plinking and "pest" control? i know nothing about them.

looked at some breakbarrel pellet guns tonight. benjamin, crosman, daisy etc at the bix box stores but most were toy like.

how many fps?

what brands /models do you recommend?


edit...also need lefty friendly model
 
bandaidman said:
any recommendations on a decent air gun for plinking and "pest" control? i know nothing about them.

looked at some breakbarrel pellet guns tonight. benjamin, crosman, daisy etc at the bix box stores but most were toy like.

how many fps?

what brands /models do you recommend?


edit...also need lefty friendly model
Click to expand...

If you do a search, Daniel Koster had recently posted (6 months or less)a query on this subject, and it ran about 10 pages, with some excellent information.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
See if you can find any Gamo air rifles in your area. Pricewise I think they're probably the next step up from the Daisy/Crosmans. Never owned one personally, but they do seem to be significantly increasing their market share. Benjamin and Sheridan are also probably also in that class depending upon who now owns the names. After that you're looking at RWS and then Beeman as you move up the price and quality scale.
 
Quality springers?

Feinwerkbau

Weihrauch

For pre-charged pneumatics, try any spendy British type, e.g. Air Arms, Falcon etc.

All of the above will be better than you are, and last several lifetimes.

I personally run a Weihrauch HW77 in .177". It's industrial-strong, supernaturally accurate and has a superb trigger (a major failing in a lot of cheap and mid-price air rifles).

Over here we are limited to a top power of 12 foot-pounds before we have to have paperwork. That translates to a typical .177" pellet at ~800fps and a .22" at ~600fps. US-legal iterations will go a fair bit higher.

maximus otter
 
try the rws 34 in .177, great gun for a really good price. i've had a couple over the years and had a lot of fun with them. the webley vulcan is another dandy. i'd stay away from the spanish{gamo}and the american{daisy/crossman,etc} and go with something like beeman{check country of origin} or rws. I preferred .177 at around 1000 fps. just my opinion, ahgar
 
Hey Guys...

Maximus..

Your talking my language!!

Heres a couple I shoot..

fwb600b.jpg


Feinwerkbau 600 4.5mm 6X21X50mmAO Hawk Air Scope
RWS 350 Magnum 5.5mm 6X18X44mmAO Hawk Air Scope

Both use quality one piece bases, Webley and BKL

Keep in mind that if you buy a magnum Springer anything over 600FPS buy the absolute Best "Spring Rated" scope you can afford and a quality 1 piece base..

If you don't buy a quality scope,, the rifle will destroy it,, and if you cheap out on the base,, the recoil will move the scope..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Normark gives good advice. If you think that the rifle will be used a lot for "pest control" think about a .20 or .22 cal rifle. They seem to give a little more punch when they hit.
 
Hey Guys...

Kamkazmote is correct..

For pest control I prefer a larger, heavier pellet..

The RWS 350 pulls most of the hunting duty, however I do have 2 RWS model 48, one scoped, one not, that shoot a 4.5mm pellet at 1100 fps, but still like the 5.5mm RWS Super H the best.. That's what the gun is set up for and has decent knock down power..

Anything up to racoon sized animals even slightly bigger is no problem with a well placed Boiler Room shot with this gun...

The .20mm pellet is very popular with pest hunters,, however a little more difficult to find..You may have to order them,, or go to a good quality store to purchase..
Once they are found however you should be able to get an ample supply of them.

Although this doesn't look to most people to be a good grouping,, in fact with a magnum Springer it is a very good grouping.

Magnum Springers must be learned.. They can be very difficult to control, and shooting techniques must be re-learned as they require a completely different style of shooting...

Harnessing and Mastering a magnum Springer will make you a better rifle shooter, however a good rifle shooter may have to learn how to properly shoot a magnum springer.

1@25.jpg


Probably the worst thing to overcome with a magnum springer is the hold of the rifle.. One must learn to have a Very light grip on the rifle and let it cycle through it evolution.

Anyway,, I'm getting to in depth with it,, and may cause confusion...

If you have any questions,,please ask..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Beeman Kodiac in .20, or .25 and get Predator Pellets!! I have a Beeman 1050 in .177 and I took down a huge opossum 12-15lbs with 2 shots, amazing gun If I had to do it again I would have gotten a bigger caliber. Just dont get a gamo or anything that shoots supersonic, the pellets destabilize when they break the sound barrier and are less accurate
 
I've never shot an air gun of any type before and I have two questions.

Are they legal in Australia (Victoria)?
Can you take down a rabbit with them?
 
billy_cee said:
I've never shot an air gun of any type before and I have two questions.

Are they legal in Australia (Victoria)?
Can you take down a rabbit with them?
Click to expand...

1. No idea, sorry.

2. Yes. If you are accurate enough, and use a powerful, quality air rifle with good sights and appropriate pellets.

Set up a target approximately 1" across, and find the maximum range at which you can put 10 out of 10 pellets into the bullseye, using your hunting kit and firing from the position which you use when hunting live quarry.

That is the maximum range at which you should shoot rabbits.

maximus otter
 
thanks for the replies

how many fps are needed for rabbit/squirrel? how about possum...they are tough buggers

while i would prefer a .22 ... or .223 for that matter...my wife and neighbors would object :)
 
I personally run an Air Arms TX200 Hunter Carbine in .177.

Definitely the best rifle I've ever laid my hands on, and will outshoot and outlast me by far. Teamed with a good mildot scope, hunting is easy and enjoyable.

As a sidenote, if you are hunting in either .177 or .22, try a brand of pellet called Piledriver. As long as you're packing some power, it's a good 30 grain bullet specially designed for high power air rifles.
 
Am using a Gamo in .177 as pest control--squirrels/chipmunks; velocity is high enough that if they get hit, they go down and stay down. There are many great airguns out there on the market, some pricier than others. I went w/ the Gamo as it was on sale at the local sporting goods store and it seems to do the job.
 
www.straightshooters.com is the place I get my fix when I have the air rifle urge. Their superior service is worth the extra $10 it might cost me versus the some of the other web places with spotty customer service.
 
RWS 350 magnum will produce 1250fps with some .177 pellets, but why not go with a .50 caliber Dragonslayer, so you can hunt full sized game?
 
billy_cee said:
I've never shot an air gun of any type before and I have two questions.

Are they legal in Australia (Victoria)?
Can you take down a rabbit with them?
Click to expand...

Legal in Australia? I don't know but a phone call to the local authorities should answer that one pretty quick. You are probably limited in power to a certain level without paperwork. After that it is probably treated like a firearm but, this is all a guess.

You can kill a hog with one given the right pellet and a good (not exceptional and speciality) air rifle. Rats, rabbits, birds, etc. are all well within the means of a good shooter if they pick their shots. Shot placement goes a long way in air rifles. I have killed lots of pests (mice and birds) with a bb rifle that probably had ~6ft/lbs of energy on a good day when I was younger and on the farm.
 
mr.trooper said:
RWS 350 magnum will produce 1250fps with some .177 pellets, but why not go with a .50 caliber Dragonslayer, so you can hunt full sized game?
Click to expand...

Remarkable! Back when I was a young lad putting thousands of rounds through various BB and pellet guns, I used to fantasize about such a weapon. I knew from reading history that muzzle-loading air-reservoir weapons were made during the 1700s, and that they were capable of killing people and game. I seem to recall that Lewis & Clark had such a weapon on their expedition.
Why not, I wondered?

Why not indeed.
 
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