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Getting a new air rifle

AAAOA

So I'm looking at getting a new air rifle to continue my war on the House Sparrows in my backyard. I've had a Hatsan 1000s but that poor thing has finally shot itself to pieces and I've grown tired of poor groupings resulting in wounded or missed birds. My budget is around the $300 area in either .177 or .22 (I'd prefer .22 but I've got about 1000 rounds of .177 laying around). I'm debating between either an expensive break barrel or a cheap PCP rifle and my options have been narrowed to the following:

PCP:
Diana Stormrider or Beeman QB Chief ii

Break Barrel:
Diana RWS 34 or Beeman R7

My main priority above all is accuracy but the repeating firepower of the PCP rifles seems nice, I just don't want wounded birds hoping around in my suburban neighbors yards. What do you guys think?

Anyone else on here use pellet guns for pests? What are you guys using?
 
Benjamin Marauder in 25 cal. I have one and am crazy about it.
 
GSPV said:
Benjamin Marauder in 25 cal. I have one and am crazy about it.
Click to expand...
Yup, I second this. Not in your price range but if you can swing it it is a great tool. I have taken rabbits and raccoons with it. A coyote I could not retrieve when it fell over.

It sounds like a baseball hitting a leather glove on doves.
 
GSPV said:
Benjamin Marauder in 25 cal. I have one and am crazy about it.
Click to expand...

Kevin Taylor said:
Yup, I second this. Not in your price range but if you can swing it it is a great tool. I have taken rabbits and raccoons with it. A coyote I could not retrieve when it fell over.

It sounds like a baseball hitting a leather glove on doves.
Click to expand...

I have heard get things about the Maruader, especially in 25 cal, but good Lord, hitting a house sparrow with that thing inside of 10 yards would turn it into nothing more than a puff of feathers lol. It is certainly over budget but maybe one day
 
It really anchors raccoons and possums when you head shoot them. Sounds like a broomstick snapping.
 
AAAOA said:
So I'm looking at getting a new air rifle to continue my war on the House Sparrows in my backyard. I've had a Hatsan 1000s but that poor thing has finally shot itself to pieces and I've grown tired of poor groupings resulting in wounded or missed birds. My budget is around the $300 area in either .177 or .22 (I'd prefer .22 but I've got about 1000 rounds of .177 laying around). I'm debating between either an expensive break barrel or a cheap PCP rifle and my options have been narrowed to the following:

PCP:
Diana Stormrider or Beeman QB Chief ii

Break Barrel:
Diana RWS 34 or Beeman R7

My main priority above all is accuracy but the repeating firepower of the PCP rifles seems nice, I just don't want wounded birds hoping around in my suburban neighbors yards. What do you guys think?

Anyone else on here use pellet guns for pests? What are you guys using?
Click to expand...
I have an RWS 34 and though I always wanted one I don’t like the break barrel now that I’ve got it. Id get something easier to cycle.
 
I have a 22 and 25 cal. Marauders. Great rifles for the money. Both will shoot 3/4 inch 5 shot groups at 40 yards. With the right pellets. The 22 would be my choice for shooting small critters. Shot count per fill is alot better than the 25. If you get a 25 hand pumping gets old fast. I ended up buying a Yong Heng compressor and a small tank. The 22 poofs window peckers at 40 yds.
 
Look into Flying Dragon Air rifles run by Mike Melick, he imports Xisico air rifles and personally tunes them for much less than the German designs they're based on. Mike is one of the top air gun tuners out there, and he offers a lifetime warranty on his guns.
 
Also, for close range stuff I used to use my Crosman 1377 and 1322 that I tuned the triggers on very effectively against rats in my garage for years. Tuning the trigger is easy and its a multi-pump pneumatic so you can do 4 pumps for small stuff close or 9-10 pumps for rats/pigeons further out.
 
Fast14riot said:
Look into Flying Dragon Air rifles run by Mike Melick, he imports Xisico air rifles and personally tunes them for much less than the German designs they're based on. Mike is one of the top air gun tuners out there, and he offers a lifetime warranty on his guns.
Click to expand...

It's the first time I've heard of them but reviews seem to be really good, he even has an underlever rifle that is affordable and reliable. I may need to dig a little deep into those guys, do you own any of their rifles?
 
At least take a look at the old school pump-up pellet rifles. The big advantage (IMO) is being in control of the power and noise level. Many times I’ve dispatched vermin using very low power. For example: a scurrying mouse in the house that is too smart to get caught in a trap. Give the gun a few pumps and plug the varmint without punching a hole in the wall. Also, high power air rifles make noise comparable to a .22 short - and in some cases even louder. If you don’t want to attract the neighbor’s attention, you can plink nuisance birds at lower power levels. Of course you’ll still have the option of going to maximum pumps for larger critters.
 
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I have had a .22 RWS 34 for 10+ years. Very accurate. Not shooting as hard as it use to though.
 
AAAOA said:
It's the first time I've heard of them but reviews seem to be really good, he even has an underlever rifle that is affordable and reliable. I may need to dig a little deep into those guys, do you own any of their rifles?
Click to expand...

I don't own one, but have shot several models and they are quite nice and the people that own them seem to really like them and have no issues. I did shoot a .25cal break barrel that was fully tuned and it was very smooth.
 
This one will do exactly what you want and is just inside of your budget. World class trigger. Easy to cock. Excellent accuracy ( think head shots out to 25 yards ). Famous quality. weihrauch-hw30s-air-rifle is so quiet that you hear the spring hitting the breach and little else; except for the pellet hitting the target of course.

I have an older model and it is boring to target practice because of such great accuracy.

https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/spring-piston/weihrauch-hw30s-air-rifle/
 
For your intended purpose I would go with a Beeman Chief (reborn QB 78) in .177. More than enough power to take out a sparrow and easier to shoot accurately than a break barrel. A QB78 is the only air rifle I’ve owned that I regret selling. No experience with a Stormrider.
 
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