Air Rifle vs 22

[Dusty Stevens]

Accuracy of air rifles is amazing! No personal experience, but I have read numerous accounts of low Chrono SD which are much better than a 22RF.

The digital controlled daystates are so surprising im not even going to post numbers. The red wolf and delta wolf. Best triggers ever on a rifle and the finish is about like a rolex. You cant even find a spot you can see the grain thru the finish on my laminated red wolf. Only issue i have is the non friendly stock shape and the height of the magazine under the scope

 

[martini]

Pre charged pneumatic (PCP) air rifles are very accurate and a dream to shoot. The biggest obstacle for most people is being able to fill up air tanks to around 3000psi. If it is a very small volume air tank it is possible to get up to around 3000 psi with special hand pumps that cost $200 to $300. It takes time and work to do it, but you can fill it any time and any place. The next option is to get a scuba type air tank that you have to get filled somewhere, then use that tank to refill your rifles tank many times. Extra cost and very hard to find a shop that will fill a tank to 3000psi depending on where you live. There are also several compressors that you can buy to fill your rifle tank or a scuba tank. Their price continues to drop and they can all go to 3000psi. Prices can go as low as $530 to $1300 for the compressor. A carbon fiber air tank can be from $550 to $700.

There are plenty accurate PCP rifles for a fairly reasonable price. Start looking at several air rifle sites and you will get a lot of information (airguns of arizona, airgun depot, pyramid air are popular). The Umarex Gauntlet is a real bargain. It is available for around $300. Its air tank is regulated - that means the pressure used to fire each pellet is much more consistent even as air is used up in the tank and the tank pressure drops. Most PCP's are not regulated. Due to the mechanics of how they work and how they open a valve to release air from the tank, they will have a velocity curve which will affect point of impact. I have expensive air rifles (over $2000) but my Gauntlet shoots almost as well as they do - very little difference in group size at any distance. It is also fairly quiet.

There are plenty of good pellets to choose from. You can get .25 caliber pellets for around 5 to 6 cents per pellet. The most expensive pellet might be the FX Hybrid Slug hunting pellet - they are about 16 cents each.

PCP shooting is great. You can also shoot indoors any time you want to keep your fundamentals sharp. Wide variety of pellet traps are available. I shoot in the basement throughout the winter to keep my trigger pull in shape.

Do some research on the air rifle sites. Do some Google searches. It is a relatively inexpensive way to shoot.

Feel free to contact me if you want to talk in more depth.

Good luck!

I was recently put off from trading for an Air Force Talon due to the lack of information on places to get the scuba tank charged in my area (I'm about 35 miles of Ft Worth.

Randy

 

[JEFFPPC]

The digital controlled daystates are so surprising im not even going to post numbers. The red wolf and delta wolf. Best triggers ever on a rifle and the finish is about like a rolex. You cant even find a spot you can see the grain thru the finish on my laminated red wolf. Only issue i have is the non friendly stock shape and the height of the magazine under the scope

They are very nice indeed as they should be for 2500 to 3400 dollar rifles. But still tied into a need of air, electricity, and some with a battery to run the trigger. They are very nice pieces of technology. Have you competed with them in BR or Field Target? Closest matches to me I have found other than 10meter which I am no longer interested in is close 8 hours of driving. Are you shooting slugs or pellets?

 

[Schutzen2]

The pcp's are so accurate it almost isn't fair.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I was recently put off from trading for an Air Force Talon due to the lack of information on places to get the scuba tank charged in my area (I'm about 35 miles of Ft Worth.

Randy

You need to look for scba not scuba. Any fire dept can fix you up or get your own compressor for not much money

 

[Dusty Stevens]

They are very nice indeed as they should be for 2500 to 3400 dollar rifles. But still tied into a need of air, electricity, and some with a battery to run the trigger. They are very nice pieces of technology. Have you competed with them in BR or Field Target? Closest matches to me I have found other than 10meter which I am no longer interested in is close 8 hours of driving. Are you shooting slugs or pellets?

I have just begun. I have a red wolf, fx crown, and brocock concept. I have shot mine for groups at 50&75 and at my own field targets and silhouettes. I plan on going to extreme benchrest so i only shoot pellets. I use the jsb redesigned pellets

 

[rkittine]

I did not say as expensive as the BEST Benrch Rifle build, but some are close to $4,000.00 new. I have at least 2 custom built BR rifles (without optics) that cost under $4,000.00.

Bob

 

[7315br]

You need to look for scba not scuba. Any fire dept can fix you up or get your own compressor for not much money

We don't have a paint ball shop in my area, but the local scuba dive shop has the capability to recharge my scba (fire fighter) tanks to 4500 psi for a whopping $18 a refill!! I use about two refills a season. They get about 900 pellets for each tank before it needs refilling (about 3000 psi), soooo that's a lot of shooting. The recert on the tanks every 5 years is $35 per tank including a fresh air fill-up with the recert (cheap). Hard to beat in my opinion. Fire Departments as Dusty says are an option also. It's been so cheap to keep my FX Wildcat running for the last 4 years, I haven't even considered buying a compressor, but that may become a consideration in the future.

 

[JEFFPPC]

We don't have a paint ball shop in my area, but the local scuba dive shop has the capability to recharge my scba (fire fighter) tanks to 4500 psi for a whopping $18 a refill!! I use about two refills a season. They get about 900 pellets for each tank before it needs refilling (about 3000 psi), soooo that's a lot of shooting. The recert on the tanks every 5 years is $35 per tank including a fresh air fill-up with the recert (cheap). Hard to beat in my opinion. Fire Departments as Dusty says are an option also. It's been so cheap to keep my FX Wildcat running for the last 4 years, I haven't even considered buying a compressor, but that may become a consideration in the future.

Thanks.......sure beats c.f. cleaning and loading,lol.

 

[Tom Baker]

I chronographed my PCP Benjamin Kratos, started at 2,700 psi. FX 18.13 gr. pellets.

1st 10 shots: Av. 900 fps., ES 5, SD 2.
Shot 10 more without recharging.
2nd 10 shots: Av. 900 fps., ES 4, SD 1.4.

I love it.

 

[CharlieNC]

I have not measured mine, but reportedly the springers are amazingly consistent as well

 

[moorepower]

If I would have had one in my youth, the sparrow pest bird population on the farm with livestock and grain would have been greatly reduced.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I have just begun. I have a red wolf, fx crown, and brocock concept. I have shot mine for groups at 50&75 and at my own field targets and silhouettes. I plan on going to extreme benchrest so i only shoot pellets. I use the jsb redesigned pellets

Good luck with a new game. Keep us updated on your results I think your looking at the future.

 

[justinp61]

I need to check it again now that it has some more rounds through it.

 

[Thunder8]

I decided to give air rifles a try last year,I went the springer route Beeman R7 22cal
I have absolutely no regrets.I’ve was told go springer if you can master a springer you can shoot anything they are very unforgiving you really need to be disciplined but with a lot of practice you will get there.At 50 yards open sights you can go hole in hole but a good consistent nickel sized group is where I’m at now That’s with about 4000 shots down the barrel.At 100 yards with a scope consistent Quarter size groups are very achievable the wind really plays havoc on them.It has really improved my cartridge Bench shooting.I have taken three ground hogs down 50 yards out And squirrels 70 yards out.

 

[Jefferson]

I have just begun. I have a red wolf, fx crown, and brocock concept. I have shot mine for groups at 50&75 and at my own field targets and silhouettes. I plan on going to extreme benchrest so i only shoot pellets. I use the jsb redesigned pellets

try the Air Arms pellets if 8.44 grains

 

[Dusty Stevens]

try the Air Arms pellets if 8.44 grains

My guns wont shoot the lighter pellets

 

[CharlieNC]

Shot my RWS 54 again today using the JSB Exact 10.3gr which are the best accuracy for the 177. No change in dope 25-50yd, where it shoots 1/4 and 3/4in groups respectfully. Practice with this certainly focuses on trigger follow through. Nice warmup before moving over to the center fire range.

 

[coj0502]

I shoot 81 gr pellets out of mine, it does
a number on squirrels, rabbits and close range coyotes.

 

[Full Chisel]

Diana 34 - ex scope killer; tuned down by cutting some coils off the main spring; vibratite vc3 on all the screws and in the scope rings; foam bedded action; torque tuned; Hawke AirMax 4-12x40 with honeycomb filter; H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 at 750 fps to .25" groups at 25 yd; 12 squirrels down who have tried to make my attic their home.

Diana 240 - built to shoot indoor silhouette at club (10-18 yd) without destroying the pellet traps and knocking all the targets off with one shot ; all the same tweaks as 34 right out of box; cheap Simmons 4x scope with parallax changed to 15 yd; initially launched JSB Exact 7.33 at 525 fps to 3/8" at 15 yd; put the old barrel pickle (damper) from the Diana 34 on it and it is now one enlarged hole at 15 yd.

My next one will be a TX200, but after that I'll be looking at PCPs.