my air rifle. any others?

[boom]

i bought a .22 air rifle a while back. on a NM deer hunt i finally sighted it in properly. i hit a dung beetle thing walking over a berm at 20 yards..then i hit a hovering yellow jacket at 17 yards. i turned it towards critters during the midday lulls..cottontails, and eurasion doves. both legal. what fun!! and a challenge.

hitting a turkey in the head at that range should be no problem. although a strutting turkey turns me to goo.

i just looked it up. i can hike that rifle into the Sierras and shoot grouse!!

any others hunting with air? this opens up all new avenues and challenges. i need to look into buying an air tank to refill the rifle. running back to the truck to handpump the thing is great for my ab-muscles, and it's free..but that is it.

 

[5MilesBack]

I have a Benjamin .22 air rifle, but I've sent it it three times now because after awhile it fails to hold any air. Bought done with that.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I've wondered how effective a Crossman 1322 pistol would be on grouse at closer ranges ~15yds. Right now I use a 22lr pistol when hunting but I have to pick and choose based on if I think the sound will be an issue. If it wasn't for the hassle of getting a suppressor tax stamp I'd consider getting an aluminum can and call it a day, that sound wouldn't travel very far.

 

[JWP58]

I'd like to get an FX streamline in 22 or 25cal. I got hooked on tedholdover's youtube channel a few years back.

 

[hodgeman]

When .22LR ammo got scarce a few years ago, my wife bought me a .22 cal GAMO airgun for a gift. What a hoot, I've shot a pile of red squirrels with it and it's become a favorite for plunking grouse. It's pretty accurate but the .22 pellet loses steam quick and it has an arc like a rainbow...but it works great out to 25 yards or so. I'd rate it on par with a .22 CB cap.

My next air gun will be a PCP.

 

[qwerksc]

I shoot a Beeman R9 goldfinger in .20 cal. it's a springer, solid pest killer. Hunted quail on small private properties, pest control pigeons and ground squirrels. Super fun, I'll let the property owners shoot it and check it out, for some reason they feel comfy with the "toy gun" on their land, but I'll tell ya the thing is a slaying machine. They open up a lot of off season fun.

 

[kodiakfly]

We get rats and mice come to our birdfeeder in the back yard and somehow they're adept at avoiding any traps we put out. I shot a couple rats with my bow, but that gets old after about...a couple. My Wife went to WalMart and bought the Bone Collector Gamo .17 rifle. I wasn't home and she just had enough and shot it at a rat. The dang thing was somehow sighted in (with it's cheap plastic scope) out of the box and my Wife is lethal with that thing. As in, head shots at 20+ yards. I was honestly impressed. Haven't shot legal game with, but I just enjoy my old Ruger Single Six for that. But the Gamo Bone Collector rifle does really well on killing rats (and I'd assume pigeons/pests as well) in the back yard.

 

[Dobermann]

Air rifles are amazingly under-rated ... modern springer air rifles don't need pumping, and can reach some pretty impressive FPS in both .177 and .22 cal.

Low-end options, such as Hatsans and Gamos, are reliable. The Diana Panther 350 is a great, synthetic stocked rifle for woodland hunting, and deals with small game well. The Air Arms Mk 3 is the Rolls Royce.

Pyramid Air (and their online 'Airgun Academy' series of videos and articles) is a great source of information about power options, pellet design, sighting in and testing pellets, and more.

The pressures are different in airguns, so scopes need to be made especially for this use, and they need to be held differently from firearms ... again, all this info is available quickly and for free over at PA.

 

[LostArra]

Another springer man here.
Weihrauch HW 95 (basically the same rifle as the R9) and Diana 45, both in .177

After $2000+ in roof damage, no squirrel gets within 50 yds of my house.
These are great weapons for training that carries over to center fire rifles without heading to a range.

 

[nickstone]

Another springer man here.
Weihrauch HW 95 (basically the same rifle as the R9) and Diana 45, both in .177

After $2000+ in roof damage, no squirrel gets within 50 yds of my house.
These are great weapons for training that carries over to center fire rifles without heading to a range.

I have the same weihrauch in .22, my wifes horse trainer gave it to us as a wedding present. I love it

 

[Fish N Chips]

Weihrauch HW 95 in .22 caliber for me as well. I love that gun, I shoot squirrels, Eurasian doves, starlings and jackrabbits with it all the time. My last jackrabbit was at 67 yards and a head shot. I use my range finder and strelock pro for my hold overs (Weihrauch mil-dot scope). It is a lot of fun for hunting and pest control, and a great way to practice in the yard for rifle season.

Got a lesson my last trip to the high desert, went from 500 feet to 6000 feet and was shooting a lot higher, forgot to take into account the altitude change!

 

[LostArra]

Weihrauch HW 95 in .22 caliber for me as well. I love that gun, I shoot squirrels, Eurasian doves, starlings and jackrabbits with it all the time. My last jackrabbit was at 67 yards and a head shot. I use my range finder and strelock pro for my hold overs (Weihrauch mil-dot scope). It is a lot of fun for hunting and pest control, and a great way to practice in the yard for rifle season.

Got a lesson my last trip to the high desert, went from 500 feet to 6000 feet and was shooting a lot higher, forgot to take into account the altitude change!

Did that Weihrauch scope come with the rifle or purchase separately?

 

[Fish N Chips]

I got it in the package deal from Airguns of Arizona, it was the field pro package. The scope has adjustable parallax, and is very clear. Not sure if its the made in Japan or China model, but no complaints and have a few thousand pellets through the gun. It came with a sun shade, but I cant use it with the break barrel.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[nickstone]

Mine was from Airguns of Arizona too, and it came with a vortex scope. It also came with paperwork, and a bunch of targets they shot with it-I think it was something to do with how different brands of pellets grouped. I never really read it. I just shoot it

 

[Fish N Chips]

I drank the cool aid and went through the whole pellet selection regime, I have dozens of cans of pellets now. I was amazed how much of a difference it made between pellets, just like with a center fire rifle. Mine did ok with Crosman Premiers (I would shoot them in a pinch with a slight re-sight), but I finally settled on H&N FTT with a 5.53 or 5.54 head size. My rifle LOVES those, I get one ragged hole at 50 yards. They are heavy enough to protect my spring, and a great hunting round. It is worth trying pellets if you have the time, if nothing but for the confidence.

I do not go to the point of measuring, sizing and weighing and lubing my pellets. That was too much

 

[Sodbuster]

Pellet guns have come a long way. I have several laying around the farm for varmints and they underrated killing machines.

Even the lowly BB can be very effective as head shots on squirrels and rabbits.