Airgun Pellet Rifle

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DCoats

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I'm looking at getting an accurate pellet rifle, and understand that you usually get what you pay for. Main purpose is target shooting, hopefully in my suburban backyard.

I found a good deal (about $75) on a Winchester 1000FT at Bass Pro Shop, and noticed that its basically the same model as the 1000X which was priced at about $139.00. I read a few reviews of it online and it seems okay. I'm sure the scope is junk. Just wondering if anyone out there has some good advice on affordable entry level break barrel pellet gun. I would really like something that is accurate.

I have heard good things about Beeman, Gamo, and DWS, but don't know anything about the difference or what justifies an extra $150 above the $75 Winchester.
 
You pay more for a better trigger, better stock wood, smoother spring-piston action, better quality barrel, better (and easily replacable) seals, perhaps easier cocking, etc.

The cheap rifle/scope packages are generally not real good.
A good scope costs more then the package.
And a good rifle costs more then the package.
Combined, you aren't getting much of a scope, or rifle.

The big magnum-class air rifles are so big & heavy and hard too cock they aren't much fun at all for an old man like me.

If you want a really good, fun shooting one, look at a Beeman R-7.
http://www.beeman.com/r7.htm

It's only money, and you can't take it with you!

rcmodel
 
The RWS line depending on the model, to meet the demand of affordable, has like all other manufacturers out sourced their entry lines.
Along with Beeman and others the entry level models are Chinese and Korean made.

If you are looking for a quality air rifle do you home work and make sure you are getting what you pay for.

The Gamo line has become very popular latley due to slick advertising .

But the true quality guns are usually of European heritage and the price reflects it.

It is amazing how the lowly BB gun can show the gunmakers art, some of the higher end rifles are masterpieces
 
Beeman R7

RCModel's got it right. The Beeman R7 is without a doubt a very fine choice for a target shooting airgun. It's fairly light, cocks easily, and has a very smooth firing cycle, key if you like shooting a lot. The trigger is also easily adjustable for weight and has a very precise feel. (Warning: the R7 is very addictive to shoot:D).

The best part? Accuracy of the R7 is nothing short of astonishing. Shooting it is just like threading a needle. I've put thousands upon thousands of Crosman premier 7.9 gr. pellets through mine and I swear it only gets more accurate with age. I bought it and a Bushnell 3x9 scope from Straight Shooters, who I highly recommend doing business with for your airgun needs. They have an excellent airgun site to browse around too.

http://www.straightshooters.com/beeman/r7.html

http://www.straightshooters.com/crosman/crppremiers.html

Mine's been worth every penny!
 
that is actually a very good start up model, no probs getting the winny. Now the others listed here are also all good, as is Gamo, but just remember, you really have to keep yourself under control on the air gun stuff. the scope you use should allways be airrifle rated, as air rifles are extemely hard on scopes, because of their bi-direction recoil. Also you may wanna look into PCP -pre charged pneumatic- airrifles. they are far more quite, dont' shake your teeth loose, and generally produce zero recoil, and super fun. I think Benjamin just introduced a truly intro production PCP rifle , for somewhere between 250 and 350 dollars, which if you know anything about PcP rifles, that is like giving them away. Try pyramidair.com or Arizonairrifles.
once you start shooting tiny groups out to 30 yards, and it is so quiet, and ammo is so cheap,
becoming addicted is very tough to avoid. I know have 3 cheapy type airguns, no wait 4; a replica ww2 german luger pistol that is sweet, a chinese pistol 6 inch bbl, A Dale Earnhardt model snapon tools rifle, and believe it or not, A Daisy red ryder.
 
So, basically, what I am hearing is that an RWS 34 at around $200 or a Beeman R7 around $300 are about what I am looking for? Then perhaps get a scope later on? How much should I expect to pay for a decent scope?
 
D,

I shoot a R9 Beeman with a Bushnell Sportsman 3X9 variable in .177cal.

The sound level is a level of a full soup can dropped on the kitchen floor from shoulder high.

Accuracy is outstanding with the right pellet selection. The pellets are the key some are usable some are pure garbage .Stay with the Diana Or Beeman. The heavier pellets show great accuracy out to 75 yds in the
R9, can keep them in a 9" pie pan if the wind isn't up. At 33 feet off a rest you can get one hole groups.

Hunting ground squirrels (we call 'em chipmunks) or starlings at 25yds can give one shot kills with the heavy hunting pellets. Grey and fox squirrels are a little to large for even the heaviest .177 but the .20's and
.22's will kill with authority.

Don't know if the RWS line has the
.20 cal .

On scopes you want to make sure the model you buy is made to stand up to the reverse recoil of a spring piston air rifle, some are not and will shake loose with a little use the reticules fall apart.

A word of caution with the spring piston guns , never dry fire the as it can cause damage to the seals, also they use a special non-combustible oils as the air that is quickly commpressed by the piston reaches high enough temperature to ignite petroleum based oils!

Addictive can not describe how you can become with you new air rifle , I honestly think mine grafted its self to my shoulder I shot it so much.

You will look at the 500 round tins of pellets and think how in the world could I shoot that many, I've shot that many in 1 session so if you buy them do it in quanity.

The triggers on the higher end models are excellent, and adjustable.

The air rifle will quickly become one of you favorites, they enforce all the shooting techniques. The olympic shooters have to be some of the most disciplined shooters punching paper. With the pellet in the barrel for such a long time, relative to faster launched powder projectiles
all of the techniques have to be exact to give high scores on the target.
 
dagger dog has stated some of the views of air rifle shooting that I have to agree with. I have owned my Beeman R7 for close to 5 years now and it certainly is easy to go through a lot more pellets than you thought possible.

Shooting the R7 at the indoor range during the cold weather months has actaully improved my shooting with my 22lr and centerfire rifles. The air rifle will really teach you to stay on target.

The report on the R7 is very quiet , not a hunting rifle really , about 700 fps max rating , but the accuracy is outstanding , cocking effort at 18lbs is very easy and a great trigger. If I get another air rifle it will probably be a R9 next time for longer range shooting. I also have an old Weihrauch HW30 which is very similar to the R7. I think Weihrauch is the actual builder of most Beemans.

Shooting a quality air rifle makes for a very satisfying range session.
 
I think Weihrauch is the actual builder of most Beemans.
Click to expand...
Beeman, like RWS is a distributor, not a manufacturer and has sold a number of brands under their label, but Weihrauch is probably the brand most associated with them.

HOWEVER, since they were bought by Marksman, they have considerably expanded their non-Weihrauch line of products in the "budget" direction.
 
I have a Daisy Powerline 22 cal. it has a 4x scope. It can shoot .5" up to 40 yards. The scope mount sucks. It has some varmint control power as well up to 40 yards.
 
JohnKSa

I was suprised to see Beeman on the shelf at Wally World for $79.
I even saw some Beeman .22cal rimfire rifle listed in the history books I guess they, or should I say he, had thier hands in everything.
 
It can shoot .5" up to 40 yards.
Click to expand...
I've also had very good accuracy results from the less glamorous domestic airguns.
I even saw some Beeman .22cal rimfire rifle listed in the history books I guess they, or should I say he, had thier hands in everything.
Click to expand...
I don't know who made their .22 rifles for them, they used to sell competition/match style rimfires, both rifles and pistols, if I'm not mistaken. The good Dr. was into a little of everything, it seems.

I haven't kept track well enough to know who's making the budget/Wal-Mart Beeman airguns these days, but it's not Weihrauch. ;)
Addictive can not describe how you can become with you new air rifle , I honestly think mine grafted its self to my shoulder I shot it so much.
Click to expand...
With ammo prices the way they are, it's kind of surprising we're not seeing more airgun talk.

There's something to be said for buying 1250 rounds of competition grade ammo for under $15.
 
I have a HW-30 and a R-1 both marketed by Beeman. You can't go wrong with either Beeman or RWS, both make excellant air guns. Both of mine are around 25 yrs old and shoot like new.
 
I went with the RWS 34. Thanks to all for your input and suggestions. It is more accurate than I am I think... this is my first time getting any marksmanship training. I have put over 150 trouble free pellets downrage in my backyard.

I've been trying to get it sighted in with the irons which is a new experience for me and is educational. When it came out of the box it was shooting about 6-7 inches low. I cranked up the rear sight and after some time, determining that my sight picture was as dead on as I could make it, decided that the pellets had a tendency to hit about 3 inches right. I brought the sight over and tweaked for a while bringing it somewhat center now. I haven't had any complaints from the neighbors so far but the noise and kick of the rifle did surprise me the first time I shot it. It kinda sounds like a nail gun.

Quick question: I noticed today after a firing session of about 60-70 shots that some smoke escaped from the breech when I broke open the barrel to load the next pellet. Is this normal or is some lubricant burning off that shouldn't be?
 
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It's perfectly normal for a new gun to smoke like that.

It's called dieseling, and the oil in the cylinder actually ignites from the compression, just like a diesel engine.

You may even notice a sharp "crack" occasionally and smoke coming out of the muzzle.

The gun will get smoother & more accurate after the oil all burns off.

Never use normal solvent or oil in the spring piston because it is worse about it then the special oil used in air guns.

rcmodel
 
D
The statement rc made about the type of oil is a prudent one as the wrong oil can damage the rifle.
If you really wake it up get a good scope mount and scope. I put a "muzzle break" but it is really a cocking aid, on mine to make the barrel longer therfore giving more leverage to ease in cocking.
The RWS line used to make a try out selection of pellets in different weights and profiles, they are very usful in finding the correct pellet,the Beeman line offers match grade individually weighed and swaged pellets for competition, but their Kodiak Match is a heavier pellet that is very accurate for longer range in the.177 cal line.
You didn't mention the cal. of your new RWS34 .
Another good acessory is a pellet seating tool, it's made to seat the pellet to the same depth on every shot so they stay consistant.Pellet seating depth can make quite a bit of difference along with pellet selection.
On cleaning use a non petrolem based cleaner most of them are some type of high power 409 or Fantastik hosehold cleaner,the oils are mostly silicone based there are piston chamber oils, (silicone) and rust preventitive, lubricating oils
(petroleum) so don't get them mixed up.
Give it about a month and the arm that you use for cocking the 34 will be an inch larger in the bicep, and you'll have to start cocking with the other arm!
 
Thanks guys. This forum is really awesome and I really appreciate your help.

It is chambered for .177 pellets.

I got Hoppe's maintenance kit for air rifles. It comes with Hoppe's Lubricating Oil.. will that do? I also noticed that the manual states to not use a bore brush so I was just planning on using the rod, oil and patches. Will I need to get different oil for the springs and other parts?
 
Be VERY careful cleaning the bore. First of all, it won't get dirty at anywhere near the rate that a firearm bore will so you should only need to clean it rarely. I've had some airguns for years that have never had a rod down their bores.

Do not use any solvent/lubricating/protectant product on an airgun that doesn't explicitly state that it's specifically for the particular type of airgun that you have. In your case, you need products oriented for spring-piston airguns. Other than wiping down the external surfaces to prevent rust, you should need to do VERY little lubrication/cleaning. Overlubrication is very common and can cause problems even when the proper products are used.

As far as the noise goes, a lot of noise/vibration is transmitted to the bones of your head from the stock. It's not as loud to others as it sounds to you.
 
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