air rifles

hey i see allot of people talk about bullets and usefulness of firearms in long term survival but what about air guns and rifles they operate on oxygen don't they and the amunishion can be a simple sharpened stick if modified correctly.
If anyone knows something about this rifles and hand guns could you please share

These can be nice but no terribly strong. You can find a Beeman or something with similar power. Theyre about as strong as a .22 or a .17. Youd be able to get varmits like large rodents, rabits, squirrels, raccons. Not much bigger.

I have a fairly good one and its good for anything up to rabbits. Anything bigger and you will just make it angry. In a survival situation its better than nothing if your looking to get some fresh meat.

Using anyhing other than the proper slugs probably isnt such a great idea. You get more ammo packed into a tighter space than with gun bullets so maybe thats a big + but the stopping power is a little lacking

I've got an air rifle that shoots both 4.5mm BBs and pellets. In a survival situation, you'd want to be using pellets versus BBs (bullet-shaped lead projectiles vs round steel balls), because the pellets actually penetrate. BBs will normally bounce off.

You will want a pump-action air rifle, since there will be nowhere to get CO2 cartridges in a survival situation, and once you run out your gun will be useless. You'll also want some form of pellet gun oil to keep the moving parts lubricated, so they don't rust or break. It's best to oil it every 500 shots or so.

I'd also just like to tell you that it is good for hunting small game, but it's generally pretty useless for defense purposes. If you go up against someone with a real gun, you'll get owned. If you shot a pellet into someone's head or eye it might kill them, but normally you'd just wound them. If you're shooting at someone unarmed to defend yourself, it might be enough to scare them off though.

And no, you wouldn't be able to shoot a sharpened stick. First of all, your gun would jam. And secondly, I don't think you know how small BBs are. The stick would be a twig and would probably break under the pressure, or break when it hit the target.

You may also want to buy a scope. The iron sights built onto the gun are very accurate, but at a distance you might want to use a scope (more than 20 yards). Although then you will have to adjust for wind and elevation and make stuff more complicated.

Anyway I'd recommend you get at least 2000-5000 pellets, plus a few hundred BBs to practice with. You can re-use BBs (although they say not to), but pellets are made of soft lead and bend when you use them, and can't be re-used.

[edit on 22-1-2007 by Yarcofin]

In England the legal pressure for an air rifle is 12 foot pound i believe, A mate of mine is an engineer and he has upped his rifle to way over this and should really have a firearm certificate for it 30fp he claims it is.

He goes shooting Hares and knocks em dead from way further than an ordinary air rifle could. His shooting partner uses a .22 rifle and has no more success.

Mates is a pre charged rifle, Spring powered rifles start to loose power from the first time you cock them.

Gas ram conversions are a good way (i'm told) to get decent power from a rifle.

I remember years ago when i had a gat gun you got these darts with a feathery end, They can be reused time and time again and dont crush on impact like pellets, I have used these in air rifles for target practise before.

A sharpened stick wont shoot straight and will wander off target very. quickly

I've been wondering, would it be possible to make an air rifle system like the German V-3 weapon of world war 2? It would of had a system where the shell would be pushed by multiple charges along the barrel, to get more power.

So could you build an air rifle like it? Well it would be more like an air howitzer, but is it possible?

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by Yarcofin
You will want a pump-action air rifle, since there will be nowhere to get CO2 cartridges in a survival situation, and once you run out your gun will be useless.

I think a spring piston airgun will provide infinitely better performance than a pump pneumatic... There's no 'leak down" or incessant pumping, and the performance is unparalleled in both accuracy and power.

I do agree CO2 is an extremely poor choice.

I have a 27 year old Webley Hurricane that still shoots like a champ, and has been my faithful companion on many a nefarious "hunt."

My newer Beeman R1 is scary for an air rifle in terms of power.

Here is some interesting historical information regarding the use of airguns in military applications:

www.beemans.net...


[edit on 22/1/2007 by Mirthful Me]

I have a phneumatic pump .22 cal. pellet rifle. I think it would be fine for small-game survival hunting - rabbits, squirrels, birds -- something that can be eaten without having too much wasted meat, like shooting some deer species with a firearm.

Pellets can kill people at close range, and with certain shot placement. If I had nothing else, I'd fire it once at the opponents head, then use it as a club if they were closing in faster than I could reload.

I've been shot in the head with a BB gun (as a child), which isn't as powerful as a pellet gun. It didn't imbed in my skull, or break my skin, but it knocked me down, hurt like heck, and I wasn't interested in anything but getting away and some attention to my pain.

BTW - I was shot by a neighborhood hoodlum who thought I was a good target for no particular reason - I was hit on the side of the head, near my eyesocket -- just a little more to the right, and I'd have been hit in the eye...just FYI

I have a break barrel Gamma 1000 Shadow that shoots at 1,000FPS in .177 calibur.

You can kill alot of stuff at short range. And as long as you find lead you can smelt your own crude ammo fairly easy.

I used to shoot feild target air rifle a little time back was even local north west champion your rifle can be as good or bad all depends on how much you are willing to spend the air powered ones can go for sale as much as £2000 177 or 22

Then comes the factor which is best for hunting people say 22 but I prefure 177 uses less air! some names too look up if you want good rifles are

AIR ARMS, FALCON, RIPLEY RIFLES,DAYSTATE, do a search and have a gander.

Finally, a post I can really sink my teeth into. Air guns these days aren't limited to low powered springers and pump -up Benjamin-Sheridans. They are many airguns that can take whitetail deer easily with head shots including some high-powered spring guns.
For larger game, there are now large caliber air rifles in 9mm and .50 caliber that will take game up to elk size and I believe at least one 400lb + wild boar has been harvested humanely.
For taking more dangerous game, some of these airguns have been converted to fire broadhead arrows or bolts faster and more accurately than any modern compound bow or crossbow. (500 fps+)
For more information, I suggest you checkout the airguns.net website. It is the most complete airgun information site on the internet. Adventures in Airguns webmaster Jim Chapman recently used his airguns to hunt big game in Africa.
These days even the lowly 4.5mm/.177 caliber airguns are very serious hunting weapons and can take all manner of birds and small game out very stealthily which is why they're outlawed in my home state for game animals.

Hi...I'm new, saw this thread.....this is what we have www.airgundepot.com...

The Drozd is powerful, I've been shot in the leg with it on the 3 round burst setting, it took me down and hurt like hell, I had to have the BBS removed at the hospital, they embedded. It is CO2 though.

Get the best of both words a 0.177 pump action air rifle and a 0.22 rifle will take care of most of your needs. Believe me a 0.22 rifle is more powerful than a air rifle, it will take down a deer or turkey if shot in the head or heart. air rifle is good for squirrel and rabbits.

I have Gamo .177 with a scope on it that shoots 1000 f/s. I bought it to practice with. I live in the city limits and a loud gun would get on peoples nerves soon. It breaks in the middle like a single shot shotgun. Bend it all the way around once and click it back and its ready to go. I love it. I have kept at least an air gun since I was seven. Got my first twenty two at nine, still got it today its a single shot.

hatsan.com.tr...
This one sure is powerful!

I have a Gamo Shadowmatic .177, it fires 850~1000fps and has a tube magazine on the top of the receiver that feeds a pellet everytime you cock it, it's a spring powered gun and very accurate, it delivers tremendous shock on small game and is sure to be an excellent survival tool for me.

YOU CAN GET AIR RIFLES OF UP TO 50 CAL. THESE ARE SEROIUS WEAPONS AND ARE VERY EXPENSIVE. JUST DO A GOOGLE ON 50 CAL AIR RIFLE. WEAPONS OF THIS SORT HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME THEY WERE USED IN THE AMERICAN REVELOUNTIO AND CARRIED BY LOUIS AND CLARK, CONAN DOYLE EVEN PUT ON IN ONE OF HIS SHERLOK HOMES NOVLES. these weapons can be refilled by a hand pump but it's a real job as the air tank is 5000 psi( this is from memory so a little hazy there) most people refill them using a scba tank.

Originally posted by crgintx
Finally, a post I can really sink my teeth into. Air guns these days aren't limited to low powered springers and pump -up Benjamin-Sheridans. They are many airguns that can take whitetail deer easily with head shots including some high-powered spring guns.
For larger game, there are now large caliber air rifles in 9mm and .50 caliber that will take game up to elk size and I believe at least one 400lb + wild boar has been harvested humanely.

Interesting, but in a survival situation where you're by yourself (or maybe your family), what are you going to do with a downed elk or 400-pound boar?

Unless you have a larger group of your extended family, most subsistence hunting would likely be very small game - rabbits, hares, squirrels, birds.

I wouldn't mind having one of those, mind you, but I bet they are either beyond my budget, or the same price (or more) than a firearm which would be a repeater - those large airguns are single-shot, no?

Originally posted by Zhenyghi

Originally posted by crgintx
Finally, a post I can really sink my teeth into. Air guns these days aren't limited to low powered springers and pump -up Benjamin-Sheridans. They are many airguns that can take whitetail deer easily with head shots including some high-powered spring guns.
For larger game, there are now large caliber air rifles in 9mm and .50 caliber that will take game up to elk size and I believe at least one 400lb + wild boar has been harvested humanely.

Interesting, but in a survival situation where you're by yourself (or maybe your family), what are you going to do with a downed elk or 400-pound boar?

Unless you have a larger group of your extended family, most subsistence hunting would likely be very small game - rabbits, hares, squirrels, birds.

I wouldn't mind having one of those, mind you, but I bet they are either beyond my budget, or the same price (or more) than a firearm which would be a repeater - those large airguns are single-shot, no?

They're indeed about the same price as a typical standard production rifle (about $500). I know of at least one 9mm air rifle that has a 6 shot magazine.

But there's an added cost. You'll have to refill the air cylinder after only about 10 shots at full power. The only real option in a disaster scenario is to carry around a specially made air pump. There's another couple hundred bucks, not to mention the fact that its another big, bulky item to carry that itself may or may not be reliable in the longer term. Ammunition for a 9mm air rifle is also suprisingly expensive and is only slightly cheaper than 9mm firearm ammo.

While I wouldn't mind having one, either, its really not very practical. I've considered one of these air rifles in the past as a survival weapon, but given the costs involved and the equipment needed to support it, I've always concluded that a conventional .22LR firearm is superior in almost every way, especially the price tag.

In a true survival situation, you always are going to hunt in a group. Lone hunters are usually dead hunters even today. Did you see the National Geographic special about the hunters who went into the Alaskan grizzly country , one came out near death and the other didn't. Those heavily armed fools were stalking caribou alone in Grizzly country. Hunting is and always will be dangerous activity. At least once every other year in the lower 48, some hunter will get caught between his deer blind and his weapon by an enraged buck and gets stomped to death. And that's just a whitetail. Forget the fairy tale novels and Hollywood movies. Mule deer, 250-330 lbs, elk 700-1000 lbs, Moose 1000lbs + are you seeing the picture here? Angry, large horned creature, pitiful equipped human. Even with a firearm, many hunters return empty handed after a season of freezing their butts off out in the woods.

About the price of precharged pnuematic air rifles, they start at around $300 for the Chinese copy of the Daystate Huntsman, $180 for a decent quality pump and if your smart, good optics will cost you at least another $150. That $630. .22 pellets even the expensive ones run less than a nickel a pellet. Which is what you pay for good ..22 rimfire ammo. The larger caliber Korean guns go for about $550-600. Once again the ammo is cheaper than conventional cartridges. A good bolt action will set you back at least $400 bucks. Most quality bolt action rifles will set you back $700-1000. Every time you fire it, you'll spend anywhere from 11 cents to well over a dollar a shot for premium ammo. That doesn't include your gas money spent going to the range to practice, range fees or club dues. If you think, your just going to pick up a scoped bolt action rifle and peck off deer at 300+ yards without practice you're fooling yourself.

Every pick up 200 rounds of 9mm ammo much less heavier more powerful rounds like .308, it's a lot more than I'd want pack around. They weigh about the same as the air pump and once there used unless your packing reloading equipment, powder, primers and bullets with you, you'll just be humping around an empty gun. A tin of heavy Korean pellets weighs about a pound and you stop and top off your fill charge when have to and you're reloaded. My Korean .22 lever action gun will shoot medium weight pellets at 900 fps about 40 times per fill. It takes 40-60 pumps to top off the charge. I've done this at 7500 ft above sea level and it doesn't kill my tired overweight American butt to do it.

My friend who've taken white tail deer with airguns have done so with one shot at ranges up to 40 yards. The shots were brain shots and killed the animal instantly. The hawg killers all took one shot to kill their wild boar with their larger caliber airguns. A smart hunter knows the limitations of his weapons and doesn't exceed them and he never hunts alone! Walking in the woods and fields is fun because it is dangerous.