Air Rifles Anyone?

Now admittedly, I'm a centerfire rifle/pistol guy, but there are times when a centerfire cartridge is not the right tool, and we have some of those situations on our property (i.e. in between buildings, short range, etc.). So I needed something which could take out vermin without worrying too much about stuff down range two miles. As a kid I always had a pump BB gun (Crossman 760), and that thing was a tack driver, but it's been lost for ages. I kept hearing about some of these modern air rifles, but was pretty 'meh' to the idea. Then I decided I really needed something like this.

I looked and basically you have two choices (well three, but the 3rd isn't really a portable option). The first is a CO2 rifle which requires a cartridge, and the other is a spring loaded break-action rifle. I opted for the latter. In the latter option I found two derivatives, silenced and unsilenced. Silenced???? Who would need to silence a BB gun, right? Well, these are no ordinary "BB guns"! That was my first lesson. These things will shoot a pellet at over 1,000 FPS, and they're not quiet. In fact, they're louder than a .22. So if stealth is your thing, silenced is the way to go. I bought a silenced version.

First shot. Hmmmm...sounds pretty loud to me, where's the silencer? Then I took my second shot at a pesty rabbit. I missed (gun was new), but he didn't hear a thing, and sat right there for my second shot. So I can hear it, but you can't hear the shot downrange. Perfect.

Power? Oh man! These guns shoot only pellets, no "BBs" like the days of old. And some of these pellets are pretty impressive. I opted for a .17 caliber (you can get .22 cal), primarily due to the variety and availability of pellets. A HP pellet at 70 yards will do a number on a gopher, or other destructive vermin, as in DRT (Dead Right There)! And they can't even hear it, the shot hits before the sound. (figure sound is about 760 FPS depending on elevation)

So, anyone else have experience with these things? Kind of impressive actually, and this is coming from a big time centerfire rifle guy.

It's been decades. As a kid I had several BB guns that had more bodies on them than a Chinese cemetary. I was a straight up squirrel and pigeon serial killer.

I had a Daisy 880. Pump rifles. Shot .177 caliber pellets. I also had a .22 cal pellet rifle.

The pistols used air cartridges.

You really dont need anything else for vermin. Sure the air rifles out now are more powerful than the ones I had 35 years ago.

Yeah they are fun. I used to shoot a RWS model 48 mag
You can kill an elk with some of them. 50 cal etc.They use an air tank.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
You might want to check out Benjamin, they have a .357 airgun, needs a tank/high pressure compressor, I think a dozen shots a fill..900fps, but maybe thats overkill

Lots of real powerful airguns out there, my old Crossman .22 did about 900 fps +/- a bit.

I have a fun one, 30 round circular belt, and uses the bigger co2 cartridges, but only .177//better versions to be found stateside I'm sure.
www.umarexusa.com...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
I have owned some medium price range pellet rifles in the 300-500 dollar range. The new pellet rifles are not toys. You can get PCP's that will kill a deer at a reasonable distance. Calibers range from .177 up to .50. The latter will do some serious damage.

A bit of history. Lewis and Clark carried an air rifle. Also, Napoleon executed anyone caught with an air rifle because they were "silent killers" and being used like sniper rifles.

Air rifles were a bit of a hobby of mine at one time, but it's an expensive hobby. Cheap to shoot though, once you've made the initial investment. Check out the guys who use them to hunt rats at night on youtube.

a reply to: Mandroid7

I need that!

The Benjamin..have seen it cheaper.
www.crosman.com...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I have an M-Tar look alike.
It's a battery operated air rifle.
The thing is metal, looks exactly like the real thing.
Came across it at a yard sale last year and ended up buying 2 of them, so me and the boy could shoot each other screwing around in the back 40.
Before I unloaded into my son, like a good father I let the boy shoot me from about 50 ft away.
Well needless to say, we don't shoot each other.
Too damn dangerous.
You need face asks, protective clothing.
I honestly didn't think the things could shoot with as much power as they can.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Yes they are pretty amazing these days and about ready to get the same treatment as live ammo weapons. If you want to push them up to live fire without the cost of having to buy ammo, just wipe a bit off Vaseline into the hollow part of the pellet before you load up. It diesels the Vaseline, some purest will say it ruins the weapon, but the Vaseline is great for lubricating and prevents rust, the kick is absorbed by the spring.

I have heard of people putting a drop or so of diesel into the cylinder of a break gun, the compression detonates the diesel giving extra velocity.

a reply to: anonentity
Ha, I have heard of diesel being used too.

a reply to: vonclod

Yes but the charge is stable and predictable with Vaseline. You just need a good excuse for walking around with a bottle .

originally posted by: anonentity
a reply to: vonclod

Yes but the charge is stable and predictable with Vaseline. You just need a good excuse for walking around with a bottle .

I'm gonna try it, have a few break guns.

Was a big air rifle fan once over, I had a beautiful air arms tx200, underlever with a nice walnut anti recoil stock, silenced and decent Simmons 8x30 scope ..... loved it I did...... sigh!!

a reply to: vonclod

Heres one

a reply to: anonentity

Wow! That's pretty cool!

I did not know this!

I'm used to raw power from primers and smokeless powder...who knew????!!!

Wow!

ETA - I'm already over 1,000 FPS with a standard pellet, so I wonder how much faster I can get with that? I guess I have to be careful though because the barrier of sound is not far off...which defeats a silencer with the supersonic 'crack'.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I was fortunate as a kid in the UK, back in the days when they hadn't banned guns of any sort possible to belong to a shooting club. I was a friend of someone who ran the club and boy was it fun.

We went to an arms fair, and I was looking for my first air rifle. I ended up with a .22 pellet rifle called a "LION". It was apparently what was issued to the Chinese army trainees because it was cheaper to use because it didn't need proper ammunition. It is "breach" loading with a lever underneath to charge a single shot and really good rifling down the very solid barrel. I love it. I made a good silencer for it too but I love the noise without.

I was in my element and had many jealous shooters at the range who would see me plinking better grouping and hitting targets they were struggling with on the 50 yard range and it was with open sights.

I still have it all these years later and it has been beefed up, broken and repaired many times and now has a really nice scope and works just as well as the first shot I took with it.

A friend a few years ago bought himself an Olymic quality BSA air rifle, pump up chamber adjustments everywhere and 10 shot magazine etc etc and a HUGE high quality scope. I was able to match his grouping at 65 metres. My gun cost £30, his was about £1000. lol

I love my little Lion.

I really miss shooting real rounds though and remember with great fondness spending friday and saturday evenings casting bullets, de-priming and priming cases, charging and filling endless boxes with rounds to shoot on a very fun sunday. What a lucky kid I was.

My favorite gun of all time (other than my air rifle) was a Ruger Redhawk with a six inch barrel. It just fit and fired so well.

I also have a Crossman 10 shot Co2 Revolver which is fun for plinking.

Bang Bang!

a reply to: anonentity

Didn't know it was called "dieseling" but I've "lubed" pellets for years and it works a treat. I love the smoke effects too.

I used to use a mixture of vaseline with a little extra thinners/turpentine for added ignition.

I have had issues with a slightly clogged silencer after years of doing this so be aware and clean well afterwards.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I've tried it with .22 and it sounds and performs like live ammo. You can use a lot of stuff grease works as well. Their was a guy who made up an arrangement that injected the charge just in front of the piston before firing Wesley I think his name was, he aerosoled it in, so he got a full diesel effect in the compression chamber. He even had the oil worked out that gave the best bang. But these days if your getting about a thousand feet per second , a twenty percent increase is enough.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk I`ve used mine on small game up to raccoons.There are some .50 calibersmade now that are powerful enough for bison.Check out the air rifle shows on Outdoor or Pursuit channels.They`ve come a long way since Daisey bb guns.