Air Rifles

alldodge

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Looking into getting an air rifle and want it to have a bit more power then then one I had as a kid. Currently looking at the Benjamin Marauder and the Umarex Gauntlet in the 22 and 25 cal. Both use PCP so filling is either a hand pump or scuba tank.

Marauder seems to have more abilities for fine tuning, and Gauntlet has some nice features like removable tank, and bleed off port. Both are accurate enough.

Might be some others out there which would work, and the 300+ price tag is getting up there. Anyone use any of these or like these?
 

Scott Danforth

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as a kid, I had a bolt-action 5mm air rifle with the safety relief brazed shut. pump it 10 times and you couldnt get an 11th pump. made a great squirrel gun.

the PCP's of today are a much nicer with 10-round clips. other than test firing the M-rod, no field experience with it or the Umarex.
 

alldodge

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My old 22 cal Benjamin was the same 10 pump and was nice, Dad gave it to me. I gave it to one of my Grand kids a couple years ago after rebuilding the piston valve

One of the things that get me about the two above is this is just for the gun only, they don't come with the pump or a clip.

Maybe MTboatguy
 

joeanna

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I also had a Sheridan 20 cal. pump. I had a 3x9 redfield scope on it, with silverjet pointed pellets it was a awesome small game and pest rifle
 

harringtondav

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I can't add anything to you decision. Price is over my head. But I'll add a story. I still have my Dad's Sheridan "Blue Streak" 5.5 mm pump up, bolt action. I think he bought it used in '63. He fitted it with a Weaver scope. It tops my arm at 10 pumps also, but seems to shoot wild after 5-6 pumps, or I need to sight it in at that power. 4 pumps will take out a fox squirrel if I get a head or chest shot. I've got no remorse. Those tree rats chewed into my rgh sawn cedar siding and cost me $1200 in repairs.

I bought a cheap ($100 rifle & scope) Crosman 4.5 mm break action load and spring piston ****. Intended to keep gray squirrels out of the feeders at our river place. Sighted in it will drop a fox or gray squirrel with a hit anywhere. But it won't hold it's scope adjustment. Thinking about putting that Weaver scope on the Crosman.
 

alldodge

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Been looking for some time (off and on), and for the most part don't need a 400 gun, but figure at my age if I'm going to get one, its going to do more then I need it to. The latest thing that go me thinking again is the dang starlings. I had only one pair and now I have 4 pairs, so they got to go.

Also can use it for rabbit, squirrel and occasional varmint

The sky is the limit on the air guns, many over a grand
 

gm280

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AllDodge, you do realize that also make large caliber air guns don't you. I mean like 357 cal and such sizes. And they pack a lot of ft/pds of real knock down capability. Of course with such capability comes the cost as well. But that are very capable for sure. JMHO
 

alldodge

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Yep, I know about the larger cal guns. For larger game hunting I'll use one of my center fire rifles, just looking for a nice well made air rifle for some cheap fun, as well as a couple other small uses.

Have a couple 22 cal (mag and LR) but really don't want to use them for small stuff
 

BWR1953

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Have you considered CCI Quiet 22 ammo? It's a lot quieter than many of the pellet guns, especially those which push the pellet to supersonic speeds. And the Quiet 22 ammo has a lot more punch than the majority of pellet guns. And since you'd be using a .22 that you already have, you save the cost of buying a new gun. And you can always use your regular .22 ammo when needed.

I have snowbird neighbors and about a decade ago I popped a pest in the front yard with my .22LR and the neighbor lady's head swung around as though a stick of dynamite had gone off. She then gathered up her gardening stuff and went back into their house. Sheesh. :rolleyes:

From that point on I stopped using regular .22LR (I guess the Velocitor was a bit much :p) and started searching for something quieter. The usual CB ammo with 29gr bullets sucked. Not accurate and still pretty loud. Next, I tried the CCI Quiet 22 and it was very accurate with the 40gr bullets and nearly the same loudness as the CB ammo. I liked it a lot but then it became quite scarce during the big ammo shortage of several years back.

And that's when I ended up with my Gamo .177 caliber pellet gun. I really don't like it much although it does the pest control job. It's heavy and clunky and a single shot break barrel type. And with the lighter pellets it still has a supersonic CRACK sound that alerts the neighbors. BUT... I found some heavier pellets which don't break the sound barrier, so the only sound is a SPROIIINNG sound from the spring in the rifle when it fires. So quiet that it can't be heard at all from more than 15 yards away.

It's okay for quiet pest control. One thing I also learned is that regular rifle scopes don't like the shock of the recoil going forward instead of rearward. Air rifle scopes seem to hold center better.
 

alldodge

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I'm in the country so no issue with sound for the most part. I don't want to fire a 22 and have the possibility of it going maybe a mile. Did find out using a air gun under 900 fps keeps to sound way down (not breaking the sound barrier). A heavier round also does better for knock down power, and the Maud still has enough at 100 yards to take down a fox or so
 

MTboatguy

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Currently my goto airgun is a Benjamin .22 caliber break over rifle I got a couple of years ago, it has a velocity of over 900 FPS and will easily take coyotes at 50 yards or less, I paid less than $200 for it on a year end close out at Sportsman guide and I am impressed, a lot of what you do with an air rifle has to do with the pellets you use, don't cheap out on the pellets, they make all of the difference in trajectory and hitting power. Send me a note AD, I keep apprised of new developments in air rifles just like I do with centerfire rifles.
 

harringtondav

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AllDodge, you do realize that also make large caliber air guns don't you. I mean like 357 cal and such sizes. And they pack a lot of ft/pds of real knock down capability.

...been pondering on this since I read it. Interesting. .357 mag chamber pressures are 35000 psi. Muzzle energy +-550 ft-lbf. I'm curious how they pack this much punch into an air charge. Reminds me of of a story about a pneumatic ship mounted "Dynamite gun" used during the Spanish-American war. Witnesses reported it sounnded like "a giant coughing".
 

hvymtl939

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I want one so I can snipe squirrels wrecking my garden from our bay window.
 

southkogs

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Just think if "Ralphie" had one of these......
^^^ :p

If you've never seen this, it's pretty interesting. I saw the rifle in Springfield a couple years ago.

Most of the guys I know 'round here taking the squirrels and such down are using .22s. My neighbor has a pellet gun with co2 cassettes that he uses. Though occasionally, I'll hear the .357 touch off.
 

alldodge

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^^^ :p

If you've never seen this, it's pretty interesting. I saw the rifle in Springfield a couple years ago.

Most of the guys I know 'round here taking the squirrels and such down are using .22s. My neighbor has a pellet gun with co2 cassettes that he uses. Though occasionally, I'll hear the .357 touch off.

Now that is a cool vid
 
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