Pellet air rifle suggestions?

[ManAtArms]

Gee, I missed this post earlier. My apologies. I was busy redoing the tar paper on my roof in the 'backwoods'. Not all of us get to live in such 'nice neighborhoods'. Some of us just have to scrape by.
I appreciate that you, 'truly feel bad for me'. I appreciate that. Apparently you missed the point. A fiendish red squirrel is going to be just as dead if shot with $32 crossman as a preppy '$550 high end air rifle'.
I'm glad you can afford such things. I can too. It's just that I know better.

Although I agree that the $32 Crosman will kill a squirrel just as dead a $550 high end gun, there is quite a bit of difference in quality and accuracy. In Europe there are many countries firearms are illegal or difficult to obtain. This has resulted in a well developed high end airgun market, many of which are made to the highest gunsmithing standards. Lots of these guns are now sold in the US where the appreciation for fine air rifles has been steadily growing.

Of course these are REALLY expensive, some over $2000!

 

[ManAtArms]

Curious how that works...my understanding is that CO2 has a pressure of around 850 PSI. So how do they generate 2000 from it?

Skyco,

Sorry I missed this one...you're right and I mis-typed..it's 850.

 

[Dozernut]

ManAtArms have you seen one of these ShoeBox Compressor. Looks like they would be pretty handy for filling the PCP's or tanks. The price seems real good and sure beats the cost of the high dollar 4500 psi compressors.

Skyco is your Benjamin an older model? I have an old Sheridan that is 40 to 50 years old and the old gal has leather seals. You have to keep her liberally oiled to keep the leather seals swelled up or she will leak. The gun was given to me many years ago because the seals were bad. I fixed it by simply oiling up the seals. That old 20mm still shoots good and will still be going strong after I am gone.

retiredmgn come on man, you have to have a hobby of some type. Maybe you chase the little white balls across a manicured lawn. Bass fishing is not a sport for the wallet either. Could it be old cars, RV camping, maybe it is just rim fire or center fire guns. Everybody has some type of hobby that everyone does not necessarily agree with, what is yours?
By the way that sure is a beautiful home you have in your signature.

 

[ManAtArms]

Dozernut,

That is awesome! Thanks for the link. I currently get my tanks filled at the local fireman supply or my friend who has a compressor. But that shoebox would be really handy.

-Mark

ManAtArms have you seen one of these ShoeBox Compressor. Looks like they would be pretty handy for filling the PCP's or tanks. The price seems real good and sure beats the cost of the high dollar 4500 psi compressors.

Skyco is your Benjamin an older model? I have an old Sheridan that is 40 to 50 years old and the old gal has leather seals. You have to keep her liberally oiled to keep the leather seals swelled up or she will leak. The gun was given to me many years ago because the seals were bad. I fixed it by simply oiling up the seals. That old 20mm still shoots good and will still be going strong after I am gone.

retiredmgn come on man, you have to have a hobby of some type. Maybe you chase the little white balls across a manicured lawn. Bass fishing is not a sport for the wallet either. Could it be old cars, RV camping, maybe it is just rim fire or center fire guns. Everybody has some type of hobby that everyone does not necessarily agree with, what is yours?
By the way that sure is a beautiful home you have in your signature.

 

[Festoolification]

I have an Air Arms S410 E in .22 cal., a PCP (pre-charged pneumatic) made in England. It is a bolt action receiver with a 10 shot rotary clip. The power source is a mounted tubular air reservoir, below the barrel of the rifle. The reservoir is pumped up with a hand air pump or from scuba tanks or a high psi compressor. The air gun can be pumped up to 200 bars or about 2,900 psi. The gun comes with what they call a suppressor which does quiet the discharge down considerably. A large variable power scope tops it and when shooting targets you don't aim for the rings or bulls-eye but at the little numbers printed on the rings, the gun is that accurate! Accuracy starts to fall off after about 5-6 clips are shot but shooting at approximately 1100 fps that is not too shabby.

Squirrel hunting with this gun is different. The sound of the impact of the pellet on the squirrel is louder than the guns report. The S410 E is a very effective small game gun. The down side is they are pricey and pumping the air tank up with a hand pump is a work out. The rotary clip will only handle a flat faced pellet so you are limited in pellet selection.

As mentioned before a spring type air gun will destroy a scope made for a rim fire rifle. If you do put an air gun scope on a Springer, you will need to put a scope stop at the rear of the mount. The recoil will vibrate the scope to the end of the grooves and the scope will simply fall off if you don't.

None of my air guns will replace my rim fire and center fire guns but likewise they will not replace my air guns. The air guns have their niche and are a heck of a lot of fun to shoot and you do not have to wear ear protection.

These are not BB guns. Lewis and Clark carried a .46 caliber, 20 shot, air rifle on their expedition and it was a powerful and accurate weapon. Their mission would probably have failed without it. You can get .17, .20mm, .22, 9mm, .45 or .50cal. in an air rifle. These larger calibers are used for deer hunting in Europe.

Attached is an air gun forum that will answer some of your questions. Keep in mind there are fanatics and air gun fanatics are as bad as tractor fanatics. Airgun forum

Also have S410 - brilliant gun - bit pricey with a ll the kit (and only restricted Uk version). Had an Air Arms TX200 Spring gun before - very well engineered, if a little heavy. Prosport is nice too.

 

[Carl Bert]

I think you missed the point. The original op asked for suggestions for an air rifle and we were having a nice discussion and you came in and dissed them. I too thought your original post was a tad obnoxious.

Was this meant towards me or retiredmgr? Your more then welcome to state your opinion, I just dont see where I was the one dissing air rifles or being obnoxious.

 

[ManAtArms]

Also have S410 - brilliant gun - bit pricey with a ll the kit (and only restricted Uk version). Had an Air Arms TX200 Spring gun before - very well engineered, if a little heavy. Prosport is nice too.

I assume you're from across the pond with a non-FAC 410? What's the difference between the 410 and the 510?

 

[Festoolification]

I assume you're from across the pond with a non-FAC 410? What's the difference between the 410 and the 510?

Yes, 12ft lb limit over here without FAC. IIRC the main (non cosmetic difference) is the side cocking lever (a bit like the Weirauch one) replacing the 410's bolt action. Actually got a Weirauch moderator on it - very, very quiet with that on!

 

[tawilson]

Was this meant towards me or retiredmgr? Your more then welcome to state your opinion, I just dont see where I was the one dissing air rifles or being obnoxious.

Uh, I was on your side here.

 

[Skyco]

Skyco is your Benjamin an older model? I have an old Sheridan that is 40 to 50 years old and the old gal has leather seals. You have to keep her liberally oiled to keep the leather seals swelled up or she will leak. The gun was given to me many years ago because the seals were bad. I fixed it by simply oiling up the seals. That old 20mm still shoots good and will still be going strong after I am gone.

Yep older..I believe I bought it about 25 years ago.
Actually it failed to hold pressure a few years ago and I took most of it apart trying to see why. Sat for a few years until I saw this thread, which coincided with my current need to get even with some squirrels.
Anyway I ordered the kit to repair it finally. It includes a tool to remove the valve, which is where I originally stopped work because I didn't have that tool. The pump seal works, the pressure leaks out where the trigger operated valve releases it.
I've also found all over the net to store the gun with at least one pump in it or it will go bad. If that was in the original manual I missed it.
Hopefully the kit will be here anyday and I'll get it working again.
Mine is a 392 the .22 caliber, and I can say from experience the 650fps .22 knocks a squirrel dead way better than my 1000fps .177 Gamo.
I saw a chart somewhere and ft lbs of energy of the .22 is almost double the .177 IIRC:thumbsup: