Air Rifle vs 22

[CharlieNC]

With the ammo shortage, which will now only get worse, I'm thinking about an air rifle as an alternative. Watching a few recent tv shows and YouTube's, the new rifles which are charged with compressed air, appear to shoot quite well even out to 100yd! Like a competitive 22, you can spend quite a bit to achieve the desired accuracy. Pellets are readily available and low cost. Anybody have any experience and recommendations?

 

[rkittine]

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.

 

[AccelR8]

Watching with interest. I too have the same thoughts. Trying to keep costs down, I bought a 22 cal. break barrel. I had hoped for better accuracy. Best I get is about an inch at 25 yards, which people tell me is not bad but it's not what I'm looking for. I've been thinking of a pre-charged pneumatic.

 

[linebaugh]

I was into this for many years. They will indeed shoot well enough and hard enough to compete to 100 yards. .5 and less at 50 yards and 1" to 1.5" is possible in good conditions at 100. Pellets are not exactly cheap but they are for sure cheaper than ammo options.

If I was buying at this point it would be FX and .25 caliber.

I have tanks, compressors, pellets and rifles for sale as a very large package if interested but It's to much to ship. Price is right though.

PM me if you want to talk about PCP airguns and I will give you my number. I'm behind on the up to date offerings but have quite a bit of background.

 

[bennett ford]

Over the years I have dabbled in pellet rifle shooting to augment my other competitive rifle shooting. In 1980, I bit the bullet and bought a Fienwerekebau 300. It is an outstanding rifle and still sought after by serious spring gun shooters. In the early part of this century, Crossman put out an upper that fit any AR lower in an attempt to start a CMP game to provide indoor practice for service rifle shooters. Unfortunately, the game did not catch on but I've still got that upper and shoot it regularly. Now comes Covid and old age (80) and with it staying close to home. I wanted something to duplicate F class shooting and I've found it in 25meter benchrest air rifle shooting. I'm fortunate to have understanding neighbors and enough back yard to get a 25 meter range laid out. The older pellet rifles are accurate enough to be interesting and I've added a Benjamin Marauder with a Lothar Walther barrel to the pie. This rifle represents the low end of the top of the line rifles and has turned out to be a real sleeper. using the instruction manual, I have tuned it to be a very competitive rifle.

Like all other shooting games, it's the accessories that run the bill up. Pay close attention to choosing your air supply. Scuba tanks are not a good choice due frequent inspection requirements and low pressure limits.
Hand pumps are really hard work. That leave compressors and Carbon Fiber tanks. I spent most of my working life dealing with compressors and that was enough. the carbon fiber tanks are expensive but simplify things a lot.

Sounds like I may be trying to discourage you but that is far from the case. You need to look before you leap but it has helped me get through the nightmare that was 2020 and will continue to give me pleasure what ever time I have left.

 

[mchees1]

With the ammo shortage, which will now only get worse, I'm thinking about an air rifle as an alternative. Watching a few recent tv shows and YouTube's, the new rifles which are charged with compressed air, appear to shoot quite well even out to 100yd! Like a competitive 22, you can spend quite a bit to achieve the desired accuracy. Pellets are readily available and low cost. Anybody have any experience and recommendations?

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!

 

[Charliephoo]

a lot of airgun info here https://www.airgunnation.com/
Crossman has some good stuff

 

[Jefferson]

do some research about field target rifles, they work into small groups just like the 10 meter rifles but only out to 55 yards

 

[CharlieNC]

I was into this for many years. They will indeed shoot well enough and hard enough to compete to 100 yards. .5 and less at 50 yards and 1" to 1.5" is possible in good conditions at 100. Pellets are not exactly cheap but they are for sure cheaper than ammo options.

If I was buying at this point it would be FX and .25 caliber.

I have tanks, compressors, pellets and rifles for sale as a very large package if interested but It's to much to ship. Price is right though.

PM me if you want to talk about PCP airguns and I will give you my number. I'm behind on the up to date offerings but have quite a bit of background.

Thx

 

[CharlieNC]

Over the years I have dabbled in pellet rifle shooting to augment my other competitive rifle shooting. In 1980, I bit the bullet and bought a Fienwerekebau 300. It is an outstanding rifle and still sought after by serious spring gun shooters. In the early part of this century, Crossman put out an upper that fit any AR lower in an attempt to start a CMP game to provide indoor practice for service rifle shooters. Unfortunately, the game did not catch on but I've still got that upper and shoot it regularly. Now comes Covid and old age (80) and with it staying close to home. I wanted something to duplicate F class shooting and I've found it in 25meter benchrest air rifle shooting. I'm fortunate to have understanding neighbors and enough back yard to get a 25 meter range laid out. The older pellet rifles are accurate enough to be interesting and I've added a Benjamin Marauder with a Lothar Walther barrel to the pie. This rifle represents the low end of the top of the line rifles and has turned out to be a real sleeper. using the instruction manual, I have tuned it to be a very competitive rifle.

Like all other shooting games, it's the accessories that run the bill up. Pay close attention to choosing your air supply. Scuba tanks are not a good choice due frequent inspection requirements and low pressure limits.
Hand pumps are really hard work. That leave compressors and Carbon Fiber tanks. I spent most of my working life dealing with compressors and that was enough. the carbon fiber tanks are expensive but simplify things a lot.

Sounds like I may be trying to discourage you but that is far from the case. You need to look before you leap but it has helped me get through the nightmare that was 2020 and will continue to give me pleasure what ever time I have left.

I have stumbled onto that Marauder setup you mentioned; looks very interesting.

 

[PigButtons]

A bunch of good advice so far. If you are in relatively good condition you can use a pump, but it is slow and the pump heats up, so every 500 PSI over 1000, you need to let the pump cool down. It'll also give you a break if you need it.
Depending on your use .22, .25, .30, are all good chamberings, and they get more expensive in that order. I tried the FX slugs and they shot patterns out of my rifle. Nielsenspecialtyammo.com sells much better slugs and at a better price. JSB Match, and Exact, are great pellets, most others are hit or miss in my experience.

My best rifle will do 1/4MOA at 50 yards, is .22 and is as quiet as snapping your fingers. For simple target shooting indoors my HW 30 in .177 will do 1/2 MOA at 25 yards and less and it's a break barrel springer so no pump required. PCPs are nice because they don't require special scopes like springers and gas rams. I have friends that have China made compressors in the $300 to $500 range and they like them. I just try to avoid Chinese anything whenever possible.

As far as pest removal, PCPs are my only choice. I'm a good shot but for whatever reason I need more than I'd expect to get humane kills. My .20 PCP will pass through a squirrel out to 35, and my .22 out to 55 and I always make head shots. Others can probably do better but I know my limitations. I only use my .25s for target practice out past 50 yards, and they get MOA or better to 100 yards. I would expect them to take small game like raccoon and fox out that far but I don't get that many shots that for out in my dense woods.

I hope this helps. Like others, you can PM me for any questions.

 

[Ggmac]

Co2 . AR 2078 beeman . Inexpensive, accurate , fully adjustable trigger . Excellent , ive got a few and all are great shooters . I went from maybe 200 rds of 22 lr a week to 100-200 rounds od 177 a day . 5 shots all touching at 10 meters ( home range ) they usually measure at .20-.23 .

 

[linebaugh]

Good info above. A little insight to fill in some gaps.

Many pcp guns will charge to 200-220 bar which is in the range of 3,000 PSI. This means you will need a carbon fiber tank that fills to 4500 psi for filling purposes. The reason behind this is if your supply tank is 3000 psi and your gun is 3000 psi you will technically never get a complete fill and it will only become lower. You cant move 3000psi worth of volume from a large tank to fill your guns reservoir and expect to maintain the same 3000 psi. Guns operate from just over 3000 psi down to just below 2000 psi the best so every refill drops your upper fill potential if "trying" to fill to 3000.
There are guns that do not require 3000 psi but all of the serious, higher end offerings will be 200 bar.

A hand pump works with a very high degree of labor and you will probably die of a heart attack during or shortly after filling a larger 500cc or bigger gun reservoir. Again if you are filling a lower pressure gun it may get you by and if you are filling smaller 3000 psi reservoirs it may also be useable but still not enjoyable.

 

[bobm]

A break barrel spring piston air rifle needs none of the mentioned compressors or tanks, etc. A tuned high quality gun like this Weihrauch model 80 in .22, using high quality pellets, can stack pellets on top of each other at 25 yards. Mine has a more powerful Vortek spring and piston seal. I have killed dozens of prairie dogs out to 75 yards. Think Germany, not China when you shop.

 

[Rustytigwire]

Get quiet ones. Shhhhh

 

[nilebartram]

I have 4 FWB air guns, 3 rifles,(124, 300, 601) and a pistol,(65). I forgot to mention 2 RWS pistols, (5G, 6G). All German made, accurate, fun to shoot, targets, pests, match sticks, indoors and out doors. I think everyone should own a couple. I remember when I paid $125 for the 124, everyone thought I was nuts to pay that much for a pellet gun. At one time I was offered $750 for it. nilebartram

 

[mjl650]

Been down that rabbit hole also. Good thing I kept everything as I will probably be going back soon.
Not much I can add to what's already been said but I'll point you to a good airgun forum with lots of good info and people. Just post up there and you'll get lots of good advice. Google Gateway To Airguns (for some reason I can't attach the link). They also host online matches. PM me if you want more info.

If you want to travel 6 hours I'd let you shoot some of mine to get a feel for them.

 

[CharlieNC]

A break barrel spring piston air rifle needs none of the mentioned compressors or tanks, etc. A tuned high quality gun like this Weihrauch model 80 in .22, using high quality pellets, can stack pellets on top of each other at 25 yards. Mine has a more powerful Vortek spring and piston seal. I have killed dozens of prairie dogs out to 75 yards. Think Germany, not China when you shop.

The springer is an attractive option vs the additional compressed air gear. It would seem that learning to deal with the recoil impulse of the spring, in a rifle with a "long" barrel time, would be good training for center fire shooting. This was the case for me when I started with a 22 trainer a couple of years ago whereby a year's worth of frustration translated into improved technique on the big guns, as my follow through deficiencies were magnified.

A lot of good input from everyone as expected!

 

[Rustytigwire]

Good pellets expensive and compressed air was a pita. I switched to center fire.
Now i have too much of both. Info is 8 years old.
Airguns in closet
Favorite? In order
Mac1 Hunter 22
Edgun 22
Edgun 25
Daystate 25, 22 177 (bottle type for many shots)
Spring guns are beyond my capability.
Up to 100 yards all good. Past 30 or so foot pounds just use gunpowder.
Best targets: small paintballs on gravel drive, grasshoppers, pocket gopher, starlings.
You will have fun!
PS; Airguns teach you hold technique and follow thru.

 

[AccelR8]

This thread has spurred my interest so I've been looking at available options. I know form follows function but beyond that it looks like a lot of designers go out of their way to create ugly!

Am I the only one that thinks this way?

The Diana 34 EMS wood stock has appealing looks in my opinion.