Air Rifle Thread

[Motoplaner]

Originally Posted by chipgibbs

I had a 124 also.. a "regular". I put a peep sight on it. A wonderful and fine gun.

[lewismedlock]

I've enjoyed my RWS 34 for more than 15 years. It shoots plenty hard, and it's probably capable of better accuracy than am I.

[chipgibbs]

Here are a couple pistol for you who love short barrels

Crosman Mach 1 "LD" by Mac1 airguns. This is a fully custom limited production 22 cal pistol



Crosman 2240 with Valve work, Custom Breech, Laser, Custom grips & Trophy Red Dot site, Oh and a dead Ground Hog

[Fasttrak]

Originally Posted by Switchblade315

The Gamo .177 with pointed hallow points will fire through a deer skull at 45 yards. and at 50 I can take cloths pins off a line. I think a head shot will stop a squirrel with ease. and I really don't think it would survive a chest shot.

i got mine to take out feral cats.

I do agree a .22cal would have more punch. I got mine at bass pro. they have a nice selection of air riffles and you can pic them up and hold them ... i got the Wisper because of the scope and stock it had. had the best fill for my long arms and the scope was NICE...

Not arguing that a .177 can kill a squirrel or not, it is just the efficiency in which it does the job. Ground squirrels by their nature make it pretty easy with them poking their heads out of their holes to see what is going on around them; it's either a head shot or a miss. I really hate the idea of wounding an animal to have it slowly die from infection opposed to a clean kill.

And cats with a .177? Sorry but even a head shot will often result in a nasty wound and not instant death, the cat will eventually die but the manner in which it dies is pretty brutal. The .22 can push a 15 grain pellet nearly as fast as a .177 with a 9 grain pellet and has almost double the energy at impact. Plus the .177 hollow points do not so much mushroom as the skirt accordians to the head, the .22 will actually open up a bit plus the skirt accordians.

For some one going out to buy something new, I would highly suggest buying up to what you are comfortable paying and buy the larger calibre from the start. It will afford you a wider range of animals in the varmint world and long term cost is marginal in cost of pellets. Having had at least nine different springers over the years, I would highly suggest spending up to the precharge pneumatics if it is possibly in your budget.



K.B.

[Fasttrak]

Originally Posted by chipgibbs

Here are a couple pistol for you who love short barrels

Crosman Mach 1 "LD" by Mac1 airguns. This is a fully custom limited production 22 cal pistol



Crosman 2240 with Valve work, Custom Breech, Laser, Custom grips & Trophy Red Dot site, Oh and a dead Ground Hog

That is pretty sweet pistol, who did the custom work for you? Curious what kind of fps you are getting with the .22 in that pistol? Definitely something I could see adding to the arsenal.



K.B.

[chipgibbs]

Both if the pistols shown are 22 cal. The top one is made by "Mac 1". It is built on a Crosman Mk1 frame which has been out of production for years. The valve assembly is replaced with a new one machined by Mac 1 and the frame is modified to accept the Lothar Walther barrel. The break has three baffles to quiet it down. The velocity is a very consistent 640 fps.
The second pistol is a Crosman 2240 which is still available. A longer barrel was added to increase velocity, the valve was modified by me for more flow & velocity and the breech is from "Crooked Barn". It shoots at about 600 fps. Both guns are CO2.

Chip

[UnderNewOwnership]

Replacing the standard spring in a break-open with a compressed nitrogen piston is the best mod. No parasitic vibrations (caused by spring wobble), and no memory effect/metal fatigue either, or so I've heard.

[NikonsAndVStroms]

So I was looking at a 22LR but here in MA it would be a bitch to find places to shoot so looks like an air rifle is the way to go.

I know they go all the way to competition guns and I'm not after that, basically the best bang for you buck accuracy wise for some practice shooting. If the gun had good iron sites along with a scope that would be a plus.

[GSWayne]

How about one of these: http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/AirFor...ty_Hunter/1968
Looks like would ruin a squirrel's day.



I have an old FWB124 that has a disintegrated piston. I need to figure out if I want to try fixing it myself or sending it to someone for rebuilding.

[FPGT72]

I was talking to someone somewhere on this just the other day....can't remember where....sucks getting old....

I think you would get the most bang for your buck with a Gamo whisper line of air rifles....there are a few different ones to choose from, and they are VERY quiet. Some come with a scope others not. For the most part they are going to be in the under $300 range or so.

Not sure if you plan on pest control or just poking holes in paper and pop cans, but I have always had a bit of a problem with people using a 177 pelet on anything as big or bigger then a squirrel. To put a squirrel sized critter down clean I think a 177 is not going to hit hard enough.....yes yes I know all about shot placement...bla bla bla. But I remember not getting clean kills when I was a kid and how much better they went down when I got my Sheridan .20...but it also did move the pelet along a bit quicker.

I have one Gamo rifle....an old 440 hunter and it does seem to hit what I point it at...had it for years and no problems.

[Hay Ewe]

.177 for target shooting
.22 for everything else. (yes you can target shoot with a .22, its just that a .177 has a flatter trajectory)

[Cat Daddy]

I've got one of the Gamo Whisper 177 rifles. It's damn quiet if you need stealth.

[NikonsAndVStroms]

Originally Posted by Hay Ewe

.177 for target shooting
.22 for everything else. (yes you can target shoot with a .22, its just that a .177 has a flatter trajectory)

Can't shoot varmint up here and down in VA we have everything from 22LR to .380 to deal with em

[josjor]

RWS Diana 34. Excellent quality, good accuracy once you learn the springer hold technique, and it will be around for your great-grandkids to play with.

[Mr. B]

Originally Posted by Hay Ewe

.177 for target shooting
.22 for everything else. (yes you can target shoot with a .22, its just that a .177 has a flatter trajectory)

This topic is the "what oil should I use" of the airgun hobby. I won't claim to be an expert, but lets just say I've have spent a lot of time and WAY TOO MUCH money on airguns of different calibers.

I've taken countless squirrels and rabbits with .177's, and this was done with airguns that shoot in the 600-900 fps range. You don't need magnum-powered .177 or .20 or .22 for smaller critters. One of my favorite squirrel guns is a Feinwerkbau 10 meter match rifle that shoots around 650 FPS.

If anyone is really interested in this debate, go over to the "Yellow (airgun) Forum" where it is discussed ad nauseum with little resolution.

Oh, and what was the question?

Has anyone noticed that the OP asked what gun to get for squirrels and chipmunks nine months ago and never came back? It did give some of us a chance to show our cool guns. I'm resisting the urge to post pix of mine--and I am quite proud of them.