Air Rifle vs 22

[Dusty Stevens]

I dove in. Got myself a daystate red wolf, air compressor and some scba tanks. I love the electronic trigger and with the silencer on there the noise is very nice. It shoots very very well out to 100. Now i need to find some field target matches to go to

 

[7887mm08]

In a perfect world, if you fill up your pcp with a full charge of air, how long is it good for? (without shooting it)
Hours, days, weeks? I have a springer at present but looking to buy a pcp but i will definitely
be using a hand pump.

 

[Adam in WI]

In a perfect world, if you fill up your pcp with a full charge of air, how long is it good for? (without shooting it)
Hours, days, weeks?.

I've gone months

 

[moorepower]

I have more PCP's than anyone needs, seems like a trend? I have several .22's, a couple of .17's a .30 and a couple of .25's. My .25 Marauder with the factory Green Mountain barrel is a sub .5 shooter at 50yds IF the wind is not blowing. I shot a 1 1/4" group at 100 with 4 of the pellets into a 3/4" group, but a puff of wind did me in on the last shot. It shoots 25 grain JSB pellets @860-880 fps, so it is quite adequate for pest birds, ground squirrels and Pdogs out to 100yds. Another really nice thing about them is no NFA needed for a non firearm device on the end. The $50 ebay CCP pumps work as well and last as long as any. If you go with SCBA tank and or pump, you would have to do a ton of shooting to save money over a .22lr. The pellets and slugs are cheap, but the rifle, tank and such are not. If you go with a FX or other high end rifle, you could easily get $4-5 k in the whole setup without optics. Pyramid air has a lot of choices to look at with reviews, even if you decide to buy elsewhere.

 

[justinp61]

I've been shooting air rifles for five or six years. I started with a Diana 48 in .22 and just sold it about three months ago, it was a certified scope killer. My Diana 34 in .177 is a fun accurate little rifle. Since August I've been fooling with an AA TX200 in .177, after a spring kit and some trigger work it's showing promise. I've been shooting it at 50 yards a little, it's a humbling experience.

I also have some older 10M stuff, three FWB 300S's and FWB 601. I use them in 10M indoor benchrest fun matches during the winter months. The 300's are springers and the 601 is a single stroke pneumatic. The 601 is just dead on the shot, no movement, vibration, just a pop. It's so accurate it's almost boring to shoot. The 300's are my favorites though, almost as accurate as the SSP but a bit of a challenge to shoot. If you ever get a chance to shoot one of these rifles don't pass it up.

I don't see me ever crossing to the dark side, it's to easy to just grab a tin of pellets and a rifle and go shoot.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I've been shooting air rifles for five or six years. I started with a Diana 48 in .22 and just sold it about three months ago, it was a certified scope killer. My Diana 34 in .177 is a fun accurate little rifle. Since August I've been fooling with an AA TX200 in .177, after a spring kit and some trigger work it's showing promise. I've been shooting it at 50 yards a little, it's a humbling experience.

I also have some older 10M stuff, three FWB 300S's and FWB 601. I use them in 10M indoor benchrest fun matches during the winter months. The 300's are springers and the 601 is a single stroke pneumatic. The 601 is just dead on the shot, no movement, vibration, just a pop. It's so accurate it's almost boring to shoot. The 300's are my favorites though, almost as accurate as the SSP but a bit of a challenge to shoot. If you ever get a chance to shoot one of these rifles don't pass it up.

I don't see me ever crossing to the dark side, it's to easy to just grab a tin of pellets and a rifle and go shoot.

Youll save money in scopes if you went all in pcp

 

[justinp61]

Youll save money in scopes if you went all in pcp

I sold my scope killer, hope the TX200 isn't hard on them.

 

[PigButtons]

In a perfect world, if you fill up your pcp with a full charge of air, how long is it good for? (without shooting it)
Hours, days, weeks? I have a springer at present but looking to buy a pcp but i will definitely
be using a hand pump.

I have several quality PCPs and they'll hold air for years if the seals are good. But usually I shoot them enough that that doesn't happen. But a couple of times it has and I was pleasantly surprised.

Hand pumping isn't bad IMHO. But you have to pump slow and don't let the pump get hot or you can damage the seals.

 

[Rsadams]

It requires a lot of research to get exactly what you want in an air rifle.... I assure you that you will spend what a good .22 cost for a decent one and the price only goes up from there.... Of course if you can't get ammo you can't shoot a .22.... But I watched pellets disappear also... My only problem with a good air rifle is it will be as load as a .22 , so if you're thinking of playing around were noise is a problem be warned... If I bought another it would be the Pcp type in a large caliber like .22 or .25 etc...

 

[Dusty Stevens]

It requires a lot of research to get exactly what you want in an air rifle.... I assure you that you will spend what a good .22 cost for a decent one and the price only goes up from there.... Of course if you can't get ammo you can't shoot a .22.... But I watched pellets disappear also... My only problem with a good air rifle is it will be as load as a .22 , so if you're thinking of playing around were noise is a problem be warned... If I bought another it would be the Pcp type in a large caliber like .22 or .25 etc...

I was always able to pay a tiny premium and get any pellet i wanted on ebay if i searched a few weeks to get the best price or one of those make offer auctions. Also be sure to get a threaded, shrouded barrel so you can put on a silencer and its very quiet then

 

[Herzo]

While not the high performance of some of the other rifles mentioned here, the. 177 Daisy Avanti series are incredibly accurate for not a lot of money. I have one of their CO2's along with one of their gas piston rifles. They come with a Walther/Lothar barrel and if you feed them good ammo (RWS R-10 7.0 grain work well for me), they can put 10 rounds in one hole at 10 meters. You will probably decide to improve the sights at some point, but the rifles will justify the expenditure.
The CMP has a less refined version of the same gas piston for a little over $100. They are not particularly pretty, but with a little attention, the will shoot with the best in their class (I also have one of them).

 

[Schutzen2]

In a perfect world, if you fill up your pcp with a full charge of air, how long is it good for? (without shooting it)
Hours, days, weeks? I have a springer at present but looking to buy a pcp but i will definitely
be using a hand pump.

If you buy one, you could ask whoever your buying it from to do a leak test. They just pressurize it and let it sit for about a week. Utah airgun will do this for you. At least you'll know your not starting out with an issue.

 

[Thomasconnor]

I had a couple nice huge air rifles, including the RWS recoil-less one, and enjoyed them until I got rimfire suppressors for my 22s, which are probably quieter and definitely kick less than the springer air rifles...Tom

 

[longbow]

Been shooting air rifles over 55 years. Shoot in the basement @50' offhand,both scope and iron. Rare Tyrolean FWB 300S recoiless springer. FWB P70 PCP,rainbow stock. Also my Thomas,switch barrel 177 for 25-50 meter.22 cal barrel for up to 100yds ,Nightforce 42X( Weaver 36X in pic). Been to a couple Nationals,Air Rifle BR is one of the most challenging Matches out there! But I love the cheap shooting! Lets say 2 cents a shot...thats 8-12 shots for ONE 22 RF. depending on quality. I get alot of practice with my guns year round and can hold my own at ppc matches and back when I shot 1K. All have suppressors...sounds like a mouse fart........The Thomas pic before I mounted the suppresor... These all have 2-4 oz triggers

 

[longbow]

If any of you are looking for A quality,and easily rebuildable air rifle Springer. The Feinwerkbau ..or FWB 300S is A good way to go.They were used in the Olympics in the 70's.there cost back then a whopping $154.00..an Anschutz Mod 54 22 Rimfire was the same cost. Today the Mod 54 goes for $2500.00 so you can see they were/are one of the best. They are also recoilless so no backward kick that destroys scopes.An old guy won the 2014 Nationals with a 40 year old 300S,beat out 42 shooters and doubled the X count over the 2nd place shooter.Tells you something about a gun with a "consistent" velocity of only 500-600 fps depending on pellet weight. It is the spring in these guns that set them apart. Have owned over A dozen of these fine guns. Just to share with you.....Pete
A 2-4 oz trigger helps also.......

 

[MRT949]

great thread

 

[JEFFPPC]

300s on Gunbroker right now.

 

[Brsam]

Lots of info over on TargetTalk.com. You can pay a lot more for a competition air rifle than a custom .22 RF Bench Rest Build.

Bs I've never seen any form of pellet rifle go for 10k$ . The best 22br rifles will cost much more than a pellet rifle.

 

[Intell]

I went PCP earlier this year. I was laid up in the house after some medical work. I set some targets up in my back yard to beat the bordum and keep shooting something.
I picked up an FX 25 cal and it’s a hard hitter. This fall I took a squirrel at 55 yds with it, head shot no pass through.
I even got some 100 yard groups under an inch, the weather has to be calm for me to do it.
I bought a little compressor off Amazon for $350, it recharges in about 5-8 mins.
One that I’m impressed with for the money is the Benjamin Kratos PCP for $600 range, mines in 22 cal and it shoots very well with the right pellets.
I don’t miss my springer at all.

 

[CharlieNC]

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.