Favorite Adult Air Rifle

2949 Views 55 Replies 14 Participants Last post by dartonmav60, Feb 4, 2012

mossyhorn

Discussion Starter · Jan 2, 2012

I have always shot bb and pellet guns but im getting into the whole adult air rifle thing. I just bought a Beeman and I love it. Its as or maybe more accurate than my 1022!

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hillbillycycles

· #2 · Jan 2, 2012

I have had an RWS model 36 (discontinued) for over 15 years. I have taken crows out to just past 40 yards and it has also thinned a few feral critters out of the yard as well. I have enjoyed the rifle but was looking at the AirForce Condor and Talon pre charged ones just the other day. Man, I would love to have one of those!

bonecollector22

· #3 · Jan 2, 2012

which air gun do you think would make a goo hunting gun or just all around gun would like to have one for hunting tree rats and maybe take out a hog

hillbillycycles

· #4 · Jan 2, 2012

Here's my barely educated take on air rifles:

First, don't fall for the speed advertisements. Those are typically obtained with the lightest pellet weight and won't do you much good in a hunting situation. My particular rifle shoots Crossman Premier domed pellets in 10.9 grain weight best. Read somewhere the RWS 36 will launch them about 875 fps. The two or three crows I have hit at 40+ yards didn't seem to know how fast the pellet was going.

If I had it to do all over again I would probably go with a .20 or .22 caliber rifle. Again, the speed will not be the 1000+ fps, but the pellets are heavier and would be better for hunting.

Shooting squirrels, you can use a .177, .20, or .22 caliber of any good brand rifle and probably do good. If you are serious about killing a hog with an air rifle you better be serious about how much money you are willing to spend. You could get yourself a 9mm pre-charged pneumatic rifle that would certainly kill a hog. However, you better have a pocket full of money when you go shopping. A gun like that ready to hunt will be $1000, give or take.

Shooting air rifles takes practice, especially the springer rifles. They have a two stage recoil that kills scopes, so shop for airgun rated scopes. Springer rifles don't like to be held tightly, you need to let them do their thing and walk around a bit when you pull the trigger. Also, the barrel time on an air rifle is longer than a regular rifle, so hold your sight picture as long as possible.

Just some ramblings on the things I have learned through the years.

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mossyhorn

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 2, 2012

Everything you said is right on man. My beeman will launch 177 at around 900, it says 1100. It also came with the 22cal barrel. Even thouth the 1177 is plenty for tree rats im going to have to try the 22cal

Deadi

· #6 · Jan 2, 2012

I used to own one of Beaman's 22 caliber spring piston guns. It was rated to shoot at 830 fps or some such number. Very powerful, but was hard to cock and was loud and twangy. I have since bought a Beaman R7 and I just love this little gun. It's supposed to shoot a 17 caliber at around 750 fps or so and is very easy to cock with a very good adjustable trigger. It is very, accurate and I hardly ever miss a starling at 40 yards and under, and if I do I know its me and not the gun. I don't know if you can still buy this model from Beaman but it is the same as the HW 30 I think.

Ekspurt

· #7 · Jan 2, 2012

I love my Beeman R-9 in .20 caliber. Beeman FTS pellets leave the muzzle a 789 fps. I had it tuned by Russ Best out of Connecticut and there is virtually no twang.

I would dearly love a PCP air rifle but to use one you need either a $200 hand pump of an even more expensive scuba tank and adaptor that you have to have filled at a dive shop. (Or fire station if you happen to know a fireman who'd do it for you)

Most of the air rifles you see at gun stores, big box stores, etc. are crap. (i.e. Gamo) Stay away from guns made in Spain, Argentina, China or the pacific rim. Stick with British (BSA, Theoben) or Germany (RWS, Weiruach, Anschutz) Go to a web site like PyramidAir or Arizona Air Guns for quality equipment and advice.

mossyhorn

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 2, 2012

Mine is part of the sportsmans series. Its a grizzly 2

gdpolk

· #9 · Jan 3, 2012

I've had tons and now I've kept my favorite. .22 Beeman R1 Carbine (re-labelled HW80K) It's been tuned and has a Leupold 3-9x33 EFR with mil-dot reticle. I've outshot a lot of people's rimfires with it and can easily take head shots on tree rats out to 60 yards. It's a keeper. I've also used it on ferrel cats, coons, rabbits, and a whole lot of old soup/coke cans.

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Ekspurt

· #10 · Jan 3, 2012

Nice!

mossyhorn

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 4, 2012

gdpolk said:
I've had tons and now I've kept my favorite. .22 Beeman R1 Carbine (re-labelled HW80K) It's been tuned and has a Leupold 3-9x33 EFR with mil-dot reticle. I've outshot a lot of people's rimfires with it and can easily take head shots on tree rats out to 60 yards. It's a keeper. I've also used it on ferrel cats, coons, rabbits, and a whole lot of old soup/coke cans.

Man that thing is AWSOME!!!!!! Mine looks alot like it but yours is way sexier!!!!!

I got a couple of questions though. How did you tune it? How much did that bad boy sit you back without the scope?

headhunter_60

· #12 · Jan 4, 2012

I have a pump up daisy that shoots .177 that is 15 years old. It still works but I have thought about getting a new one but once my silencer rolls in I doubt I would ever use it.

gdpolk

· #13 · Jan 4, 2012

mossyhorn said:
Man that thing is AWSOME!!!!!! Mine looks alot like it but yours is way sexier!!!!!

I got a couple of questions though. How did you tune it? How much did that bad boy sit you back without the scope?

I bought this one used that was already tuned with the old Venom kit. It also had the Venom brake with brass end cap, brass screw cups, and a rear sight cover plate. I've since added a V-Mach resettable trigger, custom double adjustable brass trigger and brass trigger guard. I don't know what all I have in it because I got everything in on trades. To build one new would be kind of expensive.

I've been trading off a medium sized collection of guns for a while and now only have a few but the few that I have are proven shooters and those with scopes have good optics.

mossyhorn

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jan 5, 2012

I'm hitting a 1.5" steel target at 40 yards every shot from the prone position with a good rest!!! I can't ask anymore from it, i believe it will out shoot me.

gdpolk

· #15 · Jan 5, 2012

mossyhorn said:
I'm hitting a 1.5" steel target at 40 yards every shot from the prone position with a good rest!!! I can't ask anymore from it, i believe it will out shoot me.

I know mine can out shoot me. When I do my part it'll print sub-quarter sized, 15-shot groups at 50 yards. Right after I got the mil-dot reticle I went out for a hunt. The dots really help with estimating hold-over/hold-under with such a loopy trajectory. The first squirrel I came upon got this, he was out before he hit the ground...

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WillyB71

· #16 · Jan 5, 2012

The side cocking RWS models are top of the line, and are priced accordingly.

I'm told that at some point the break barrel models get sloppy...barrel & receiver, where the scope mounts, are not rigid. That's hearsay, however.

mossyhorn

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jan 5, 2012

My buddy just dropped 230 on one at DNW. He's heading to my house now to do some shooting!!!!! He said it was a Browning Leverage i think?????

dartonmav60

· #18 · Jan 6, 2012

After shooting springer's for the past few yrs,I purchased a Benjiman Discovery PCP in 22 caliber in Dec.All i can say is WOW,what an amazing gun.At 50 yds yesterday afternoon I put 8 shots under a dime before i pulled off on #9.It is by far the most accurate gun that I have every owned or shot!I am in the process of doing some serious mods to the gun(breech package from BNM Custom Airguns)new brass trigger plus a trigger job.Airguns are a lot of fun to shoot and work on.Here are some sites to check out!
http://www.youtube.com/user/EdgunUSA
http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537/
http://bnm111.hpage.com/
http://www.jgairguns.biz/

I have many more sites if anyone is interested!

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mossyhorn

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jan 7, 2012

Are are some sweet looking rifles darton!!!!

Has anyone ever tried the gamo gold pellets???? My manual says not to use anything but lead so I was just wondering.

gdpolk

· #20 · Jan 8, 2012

mossyhorn said:
Are are some sweet looking rifles darton!!!!

Has anyone ever tried the gamo gold pellets???? My manual says not to use anything but lead so I was just wondering.

Don't use them in a spring gun. They won't offer enough back pressure to keep from the piston slamming into the end of the compression tube and damaging the seal over time. They are mostly a gimmick to achieve higher velocities by using lower density materials. Most guns won't group them very well.

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