Air Rifle .177 Pellet/BB, suggestions

[WhiteKnight]

We’ve had a Crossman .22 magnum for at least 20 years. I bought it for my son to learn gun safety. It has downed many squirrels, snakes and other assorted stuff from the back of my place.It’s quite accurate and about the power of a .22 short.

A .22 Short produces ~70 foot pounds of power. I find it exceedingly hard to believe your Crosman "Magnum" produces those kind of velocities.

If it's a .177 caliber, you'd have to fire standard 7.9 grain pellets at 2,000 FPS.
If you use 10.5 grain pellets, they'd have to go 1750 FPS.

If it's .22 caliber, you'd have to fire standard 14 grain pellets at 1500 fps.
If you use 21 grain Kodiaks, you'd have to fire them at 1225 fps.

Crosman's website lists the 2200 Magnum pneumatic airgun as having a maximum muzzle velocity of 595 FPS. The only way I could possibly imagine you achieving the power you stated was if you quadrupled the maximum reccomended number of pumps. And if you did that more than a handful of times, it's doubtful your gun would last for the 20 years you stated.

Power Source: pump
Caliber: .22 (5.5 mm)
Max Velocity: up to 595 fps (181.5 m/s)
Capacity: Single shot
Length: 39.75" (101 cm)
Weight: 4 lbs. 13 oz. (2.18 kg.)
Material: Barrel: Rifled steel, Stock and Forearm: Synthetic

 

[VictorLouis]

There are varying levels of quality in the Chinese airguns. The best of the lot are offered here:

www.funsupply.com

I would suggest the CO² QB-78 for your son. It's light, with an acceptable trigger straight out of the box. Gun is reportedly quite accurate, also. IF for some reason you didn't like it, they are a pretty quick re-sale in the ads of the same site's forum.