A Hunting Air Rifle?

A weak 22LR makes ~100ftlbs, which is a tall order for an airgun, but possible. I think the Benj Marauder in 22 is an excellent choice, but it is pcp so that bicycle pump thing can be used, which I refuse to do so as well, but there are a few other options. You can use a scuba tank to fill it, but then fill the gun twice and it's dead and you gotta go get the tank filled. Bogus... The high pressure carbon fiber tanks are way cooler and they hold many many more charges. The prob w/ those is the initial cost and if anyone can actually fill them to 4500psi.... Then the ultimate is buying a pump, like the Shoebox pump. Then you pump all you want. Ideally you get that and a small 4500CF tank to carry into the field.
A pcp is nice in 22, but 25 does make more power. Mine it 22 made ~32ftlbs and was plenty for rabbit and stuff. So the 25 version would probably make 40+.
If you don't the cost or hassle of pcp then it's rather hard to hit 30ftlbs and be accurate.
So if not pcp you'll probably want a magnum break barrel of some type, like going from cheap to great would be a Trail XL, Diana 350, Weihrauch HW80 or 90. Theoben are sweet but much more expensive. Each of those guns has pros and cons. Like the Trail is the cheapest and least accurate in avg, but it makes more power. The Diana is much nicer but they still have quality issues. The Weihrauch will be great quality but more $. Whatever flaws they have can be improved, and power can be bumped up, but still you're looking at maybe 28ftlbs in .22 or 30 in .25. In 25 the pellet is rather slow so I consider it not worth owning.
If you're really only doing head shots on Grouse and Rabbit then no need for 100ftlbs, or even 25ftlbs so you could get a regular break barrel making say 18ftlbs. Either 177 or 22, I prefer 177. What are your thoughts on that?

I would look for a spring-cocker in .22 caliber.

The best are made over seas, and are pretty expensive as most fine guns are.

For hunting, the larger caliber preforms better then the .177, which shoots flatter, but doesn't hit as hard.

.20 and .25 are great too, but you won't find pellets at Walmart.

I have a Beeman ( Webley) .22, and a Beeman (Weihrauch) R7 in .177.

Neither are magnum class, but are easy to cock, and head shot accurate on squirrels to 40+ yards.

But the .22 is decisively a better killer on squirrels.

http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Weihrauch_HW80_Air_Rifle/36/3853

http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Weihrauch_HW50S_Breakbarrel_Rifle/2152/3935

The Magnum class air rifles are very heavy, hard to cock, and I'm not convinced they offer any real advantage over a 800-900 FPS rifle that are much easier to carry & cock.



Rc

Well, you can buy a spring cocker at Cabalas, or probably even Walmart for around $100.

It won't be as smooth, accurate, or well finished as those German guns I linked.

But it will get your feet wet and you can find out if they will do what you want.

Stay away from pump-up guns, or Co2 guns.

http://www.walmart.com/c/kp/air-riffles

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/brow...51/Ne-10000051?WTz_st=GuidedNav&WTz_stype=GNU

rc

quackenbushairguns.com trust me on this.

Look at the Airforce "Condor". It should have the power and accuracy you desire. Most certainly not .22 powder burner levels but will dispatch small game out to 50 yards with ease. Once again PCP rules apply. If money is not an issue check out the Bobcat by FX. Most modern PCP's will do what you need. Capital costs are just high to get started in the PCP world. For air gun hunting videos check out Teds Holdover on You Tube. Dude has skills.

This is obviously more complicated that I had planned.

I had hoped for something self contained (pump or spring cocker). I'm not carrying tanks in the field or eternal pumps, etc.

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I don't know how many rabbits and squirrels my 35+ year old Benjamin 342 has killed in it's lifetime but it has been many, it's a pump.

If you want a spring powered, the RWS 34 is a solid performer for the money.

There are lot of rifles that will do what you want without going to a PCP.

I have two air guns that would do what you want...(not offering to sell, just tell about them). Both are Nitro Piston guns, first a Crosman 22 which I'm getting about 825 fps ouit of with 15 grain pellets. Two rabbits and one raccoon so far with one shot each (head shots). The other is a Bejamin Trail Nitro in .25 cal and I shoot 28 grain pellets at a little over 750 fps. Seems to hit harder than the 22 (duh, twice the weight) but I haven't had the opportunity to try it on game yet. First one was about $130 with scope and the .25 was $125 used..think it runs about 150 or so (Amazon).

The Alaskan said:

So, I'm really thinking about buying myself a hunting air rifle for Christmas this year, but Im not sure where to start. Does a hunting air rifle even exist in the marketplace?

I'm basically looking for something to do the job of my 22LR. Similar bullet performance. It needs to be accurate enough for head shots on grouse at 15-ish yards and head shots on hares at 20-25 yards, aaaand have the power, at those ranges, to make a clean kill. It will, preferable, be made in America (if that is even an option anymore).

Single shot with no magazine is fine, even preferred, but I don't want one of those with the external bicycle type pumps. Is there an advantage to a spring powered over a pneumatic or vice-versa?

I have no preference for caliber (177, 22, 25) but I need to be able to buy target and hunting ammo for it easily and readily available, either locally or online.

So, with that in mind, what am I looking for and how much am I going to pay?

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If short range grouse and hares are what you'll be hunting, then a .22cal airgun will definately do that job. Myself, I wouldn't feel hampered by a good .177 piston rifle. The best ones are HW(German) and IMO well worth the bucks. Beeman offers break-barrel R7 and R9 versions and a sweet underlever HW77. These will more than do the job at the ranges you're looking at. Advantages of a spring piston are that you won't need CO2 cartridges or compressed air supply. Disadvantage would be that you can't leave them cocked for too long for fear of spring set. The HW's have adjustable triggers and at top quality that will last a couple of lifetimes.
If you choose to go with a spring piston type and plan to scope it, make sure you use a scope rated for use with these types. They tend to destroy the very inexpensive .22LR scopes.

my $69 vantage 1200 took a bunny at 15 yards.
spring guns work just fine

Correct, I think a 22LR is overkill for those animals, plus you specifically said head shots which most air rifles can do. Plus an airgun that makes 100ftlbs will be pcp, expensive, plus all the pump/tank or whatever stuff.
This is why cheap $100-200 chinese made break barrels are so popular, they're cheap and make enough power for Crow, Rabbit etc, Being chinese the accuracy is iffy. Some get accurate ones, if not it can be improved with a little work. If too far gone you can return the gun. Crosman sells parts very cheap so to me that's an important advantage over other brands, so if a Crosman barrel is fubar then it's easier imo to just buy a new barrel.
If you want made in the US you will likely need to go pcp again, I don't think any break barrel guns are made in the US. The Benjamin 397 and 392 are pump guns, which is also a pita, and I don't know what % of the gun is US made.
You might also consider very low powered 22LR ammo like Aguila Colibri, if you can find them.

air

Hunting. Yes....22 cal or larger.
If you are making head shots as described, then just about any of the .22 pump ups or break barrels will work.
Note:

You can use a scuba tank to fill it, but then fill the gun twice and it's dead and you gotta go get the tank filled.

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That is just not so. I have a 3KPSI 80 cu.ft. scuba tank and I get a whole lot more fills than two. It is true that there is a drop off in fill pressure but, given the size of the scuba tank (2,265,344cc) and the size of the air reservoir on the gun (500cc), the effect is minimal. (I also have a 4500psi tank and a Shoebox to fill it)
Hunting....a .45 cal. PCP 200 grain bullet at 600 fps = 160 ft.lbs ME

How many fills you get depend on what rifle, what tank, starting pressure of tank and ending pressure of the rifle.

I have two carbon fiber 4500 psi SCBA tanks and get around 60 fills to 3000 psi on my marauder then use it to fill the Discovery until it falls below 2000 PSI or I have them both topped off. Well over 500 shots per tank with both rifles.

It all depends on the tank and gun. A generic 3kpsi 80CF tank will fill a Discovery many times, but it won't fully fill a Marauder even once. A 4500 tank is the way to go but it's hard to part with the big $ and finding a place to fill it. Another drawback is life span; I now have a very expensive paper weight that's too big to be a paper weight. I can put other stuff in it but it's 4500psi days are over. To me there are two options, break barrel or pcp with an elect pump, which ends up being ~$1500 to over 3k. to shoot your first pellet.

Again depends on gun, tank and start/end pressures of both, here is a calculator you can use, if you have one of the guns on the list.

http://www.crosman.com/discover/airguns/pcp-resources/fill-calculator

This is the least expensive "work free" way I have to fill them though. Cost $300 including the rifle that came with the pump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJVoZzBGBhs

The NRA Riflemen magazine usually has some listed .

rcmodel, just looked at your weblinks. That's wayyyyyyy beyond what I'm willing to pay for an air rifle. At that price, I'll just stick with a 22. Talk bout sticker shock. I'd pay as much as I would for a new Marlin or 10/22 but not as much as I would pay for a centerfire rifle.

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Then you are cheating yourself out of one of the great gun sports out there. I bought my first HW50 break barrel springer 37 years back or so and it is still a fine gun with a fine trigger with accuracy aand class. It and a Sheriden pumper served me well until about 2000 when I found the internet and some local auctions/estate sales that let me acquire some older models I lusted over as a kid and some of the newer ones I spent likely DOUBLE on that HW50 of what a 10/22 cost back then and it was well worth it. Target practice-garden and yard pest duty plinking etc. Many many hours of fun-practice and practicality and it is worth more than I paid for it today than it cost back then. How do you loose on that?

I have said for years and firmly still believe that every shooter should have at least one quality air rifle in their collection and a quality springer is a relatively simple choice.

You can find some decent springers for cheap but the are chinese and kind of harsh compared to the really good ones out of the box but they can be tuned and tinkered with. Midway had just sold a remington express with a scope and mounts on closeout for like 57.00 and shipping. I hem hawed and should have ordered a few days earlier and got a .22- I did get a .177 and it seems pretty nice. It dieseled like crazy for about 20 shots and I have not really played with it much to see what it will really do yet but it seems really nice on the outside... not sure of the materials and such for long term yet . Crosman and others seem to have rifles of the same quality in the sub 200.00 range. None f them are as quality as the HW's but may be servicible for a lot of guys..

Go here and start to learn http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537 But be careful it may cost you a lot of money and space because good airguns are like potato chips... ya really can not have one....

i know people have problems with chinese built air guns, but with the help of friends at gta, i managed to take my springer apart n i now have a very nice trigger.
i suggest you find a cheap but powerful airgun on sale n see if you like it.
you can always sell it if you don't.
i see no advantage in buying an expensive pcp. for those prices, a powder burner is better

i see no advantage in buying an expensive pcp. for those prices, a powder burner is better

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Well there are plenty of great reasons... and some disadvantages. There are some less expensive PCP's such as the discovery and marauder that are a good bang for the PCP buck. I have used my marauder and air force condors to harvest about 50 groundhogs between 20 and 70 yards in areas that would be illegal , frowned upon or unwise even to use even a .22lr and with the ability to suppress or have the feature legally and cheaply from the factory without the federal paperwork really is a good option for hunting in some cases.

PCP takes less effort (when charged) which helps in target shooting and can be very easy to shoot compared to a springer also...

I also think that too much emphasis is placed upon power in a lot of spriger airguns... I am a big fan of accuracy and firing cycles vs raw power.

when you start talking raw power PCP wins hands down every time- even the powerful springers pale in comparision to mid power pcp...

Just another type of shooting and just like anything else there are many who like and many who dislike em and they all have their limitations and benefits. I myself have room for both in my toolchest...

"i see no advantage in buying an expensive pcp. for those prices, a powder burner is better"


I would have agreed with you until I got into the PCP arena when the .22 LR stocks dried up. Here is the deal. I like to shoot a lot. I shoot at cans , crows, steel, paint balls , paper and so on. I like to shoot 500 rounds in a sitting.

With pellets I can shoot out to 75-100 yards on my property without hearing protection and do so for 500 shots for about $6.00.

The other things I really like besides the cost factor about PCP rifles is there is no cleaning your guns per say ,no picking up shell cases , no cleaning a suppressor, no splash back from a can, no fumes, less of a chance of a errant bullet striking someone or something. With a suppressed PCP no one will even know you have taken a shot. They are super quiet and semi close neighbor friendly. I also believe they are much safer with the Diabolo style rounds in leu of the solid projectiles used in fire arms.

In my opinion air guns "PCP's" in particular are the most entertaining and relaxing way to shoot. If I go burn off 500 rounds of 7.62 x 39 it's loud , I have to have a solid back stop and more than likely I am covered in lead smoke and smell like a Tula factory worker not to mention it was a hundred bucks for 15 mag dumps.

Don't get me wrong I spent two hours reloading last night on a progressive because I like to shoot powder burners but air gun's for me have become a favorite.

Don't miss out on the fun because of a perceived high initial cost. Yes to get in initially it takes some money but look at the cost savings over time. It will allow you to shoot so much more than you would ever think. Value for fun is through the roof.

About that "a generic 3kpsi 80cu ft tank....won't fill a Marauder even once"
You are, of course, correct. A 3kpsi tank used to fill a 3kpsi air reservoir on an air pistol or rifle will result in both of the the two tanks being less than 3kpsi.
The important question is how much does that matter.
The answer is not very much at all.
You are not going to see much noticeable difference between a air reservoir at 2900psi and 3000psi.
The size difference between a SCUBA tank and the air reservoir is vast.
I have a big bore air rifle. I refill it with such a tank and have been filling this air rifle with it for some years now. Have not had to refill the large tank for quite a while.
Pete

The important question is how much does that matter.

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It really only effects how many fills you get off a tank and the number of shots you get from your rifle.

If your rifle operates fine down to say 2000 psi all you need is pressure above that but will get fewer shots.

Like a .25 Mrod, starting at 3000 psi, I get 20 shots down to 2000 psi. If I fill to 2200 psi I get 4 shots down to 2000.

Same thing with tanks, you will get more fills of smaller tanks with a higher pressure of the large tank.

I have a CZ 634 in 177 Cal….. It is absolutely accurate…. Use it mostly at the cabin for squirrels, goes clear through and still disintegrates on any rock it hits after the squirrel. This gun is over powered for city use….. You must be careful, I usually in city shoot from 2nd story window at varmints using the ground as a back stop.

http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Ruger_Air_Magnum_Combo/2354/5372 heres what I use and with crosman pointed field pellets it shoots very well,I recommend this one!