Recommendations for air rifle?

G

Guyon

New member
Having trouble with squirrels eating all my pecans, and so I've decided to "condition" the squirrels NOT to eat my pecans. Also, tonight, my wife discovered that we have a plump possum that is eating all of our cat's food at night. He might need a little conditioning as well.

So I need some recommendations for a decent (but not fancy) air rifle. I live in a city neighborhood, so I can't have a gun with a sharp report (no guns that break the sound barrier in terms of fps). The stealthier the better.

What do you all recommend? Spring, pump, CO2? .177 or .22? Any recommendations on brand names?

I should add that I really don't want to spend over $100, and I'm even wondering if some of those $50 guns at Wal-Mart are worth the money. With those (mostly Crosman) guns, I just am skeptical as to whether they hold up very long.

I'm not interested in a high end hunting or target gun right now. Just something that'll reliably hit a squirrel at 20 yards or so and something that won't fall apart after two weeks.
 
cool-i know how u feel

we have a bunch-talking like 100+ starlings in our neighborhood and they keep changing trees-1 neighbor had them in his tree for a few days-and they covered his playground with $HIT, and for thier grandaughter to play on it they had to hose it down and wipe it off. I bought a .177 caliber 865 powerline-at walmart for i think 45 regular price or 40-it works good because at 10 pumps its about 700 fps. U can use lower pumps for those shorter ranges-unlike those airguns that only pump 1 time. it works good-i shot a sparrow-thier infesting too :(-with it and it flew back about 5-6 feet from the fence i shot it off of-either hit a bone or hte spine but it flew-just a wadcutter too-that was about 10 yards-good luck-Btw it has fiber optic sights already on it :)
 
We have a Benjamin-Sheridan Model 392PA ... .22 Cal ( http://www.crosman.com/portal/prodl...enjamin&category=rifles&subcategory=pneumatic ). Marauding rabbits are our application, and this rifle works quite well on that problem.

Cost was $110 at Sports Authority, and we later added a scope and mounts for another $75 or so. Iron sights would work for most folks just fine.

It is a pump, so there are no CO2 cannisters to buy. It seems to be a nice middle ground between the really cheap, sometimes junk air rifles, and the super expensive and exotic rifles out there.

I've never had cause to regret this rifle ... it is very, very accurate.

Here are a few air rifle links for you ... they are pretty interesting tools. Good luck.

http://www.airgunstore.com/FRAMES.HTM
http://www.beeman.com/
http://www.crosman.com/
http://www.daisy.com/

Regards from AZ
 
Go to American Airgun web site. They have a wanted/for sale section. Look for and place an ad for a Sheridan made before Crossman bought the name. You can find them for less than $100 and they are accurate & powerful. I have tried some of the top of the line European air rifles and for hunting the Sheridan is superior. IMHO of course.
 
I could sell you my RWS Model 36-- its pricey, but it will blow the $h*t out of a squirrel. In my opinion, spring pistons are the only way to go. They are not much louder than the pneumatics, and they will last forever. I never get to shoot it, so if you want more info let me know.
 
I poked around today in Academy Sports and looked at air rifles. Only two stood out in my price range that didn't look like junk.

One was a Benjamin-Sheridan pump, model 397: I like the fact that it has nice stocks and that you can adjust the pressure based on how many times you pump it. There may be occasions where I just want to "sting" rather than penetrate. The sights, however, are atrocious.

The other was a Gamo 220 Hunter: This was the best feeling gun all around, and it had some very nice fiber optic sights, as well as a BSA air rifle scope. It is spring operated, so it has the double recoil, and it shoots at a consistent speed.

Seems like a trade off either way. With the Benjamin-Sheridan, I can adjust my pressure, but there's less consistency. With the Gamo, the pressure's the same, but I'm likely going to kill or seriously wound everything I shoot at. Here I'm thinking about neighborhood dogs I want to warn but not seriously hurt.

I suppose the Benjamin-Sheridan would be okay if I could put some decent sights on it. It has less fps overall, but plenty to take out a squirrel.

Any thoughts on these two air rifles from those who own them or have used them???
 
In my youth, I was very into airguns- mostly american pneumatics.

I had a Benjamin 342 .22 pump with factory peep that I bought for $50 at a flea market- an ungodly price for a pellet gun in my mind at the time. I went to a local airgunsmith for dome pellets-- who offered to tune it for me and he turned it into a pneumocannon. The thing boomed with 10 pumps and the heavy .22 pellets would destroy just about anything I cared to shoot with an airgun. The pellets shattered on impact. It seemed to never miss and achieved legendary status with my shooting buddies. In a fit, before I left for college, I sold it at the same flea market for $50 because I was into REAL rifles... I miss that damn thing dearly.

After college, I managed to pick up a battered Sheridan C 5mm pump for $20 and sent the metal off to Tim McMurray at MAC 1 for a magnum tune while I refinished the stock. At 14 pumps, the rifle booms the lighter Red Box pellets at over 900 fps with a warm valve. It's loud and powerful- excellent for squirrel and rabbit and the occasional close in ground hog... a keeper!

Good air rifles can be found cheap if you are willing to look and buy used... Tried gunsamerica?

Even a hit with a pellet with a few pumps on an small animal will create more than a sting- it will set up internal organ damage, broken bones and bleeding-- Go for the clean kill.
 
I bought my son a Gamo spring piston air rifle for his birthday this summer. I think it is a "Delta" model if memory serves. It works well. I chronographed the .177 pellets at around 535fps. I think this is considered a medium/low powered rifle. It has pretty good adjustable sights (though they don't look especially durable), and an adjustable trigger (though I haven't tried to adjust it yet). If I were buying one for myself, I'd probably go for a larger, somewhat more powerful model. But the Gamo seems to be decent quality for a reasonable price.

Doug
 
i have a crossman760 that mom & dad gave to me when i was 14 yrs old, 22 yrs later my kids use it and it still penetrates a tin can with 10 pumps.. yes they shoot birds, chipmunks,squirrel with it..
 
Crosman760

I got a crosman 760 when I was 7 for christmas, ah, great memories. I remember getting within a foot or two of thrashers(a type of bird for you that dont know) I remember I used to think that was tough to even shoot like that. The pipe leak where the water hole for the birds is now fixed and no longer do thrashers go to it. They now go to a horse trough, but, the thrasher population is low so I will sit tight till then, will have to pick on blue-jays, blackbirds and squirrel. Bugs, whats the reason for them shooting those chippers?
 
I believe my 392 is the .22 version of the 397. I put a BSA 2-7 scope on it, and it works great. However, adding the scope takes the total cost up to around $190, IIRC.

However, you can spend an impressive amount of money on good air rifles. All things relative, I like the Benjamin-Sheridan.

Good luck with your choice.

Regards from AZ
 
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