Educate me on airguns

[Derek Zeanah]

I rarely have time to get to the range, but I have acres of backyard. I'm thinking about an airgun as an alternative to dryfiring.

What's a good, inexpensive set-up? Not gonna hunt with it -- just going to use it to work breath and trigger control, shooting from different positions, etc. I'd like it to be accurate enough so that I can tell what I'm doing wrong, but competition-level accuracy likely isn't required.

So, where to start?

 

[Sunray]

A good one won't be inexpensive. However, have a look here. http://www.air-rifle.net/
Or here. http://www.daisy.com/
Just remember you get what you pay for.

 

[Seven High]

Airguns

I recently purchased a Gamo 1000 from Walmart for $125.00. It is supposed to shoot .177 pellets at 1000 fps. It is very accurate. I stuck a Simmons 4 power scope on it. It should work very well for your purposes. I would buy another one if I was in the market for one.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I second the Gamo vote. Pretty good product for the money. You can spend more but in the $200 or less range the Gamo is hard to beat. Mine does have a loud "boing" sound when I pull the trigger though that really hurts my accuracy. However, that's my issue.

Sports Authority had a big sale a while back and I got mine at 50% off.

 

[JohnKSa]

What do you want to spend?

Around $100 gets you a Benjamin/Sheridan.

Around $200 gets you into the Gamo class of springers.

Around $250 starts to get you into the low-end of the better class springers. (Beeman/Weihrauch/Webley)

Springers are good training devices since they are pretty hold sensitive. They will definitely teach you to hold consistently.

 

[BamBam-31]

How about a Beeman R7? Straight Shooters

 

[GunGoBoom]

ok, here

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=149881&highlight=air*
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=152483&highlight=air*
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=141197&highlight=air*
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=154996&highlight=air*
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=155494&highlight=air*
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=153738&highlight=air*

Lotta good info in there.

Can't say enough about the value of Mendoza-made Crosman airguns, such as the RM377, Quest 800, Quest 1000, etc., on the cheap end. Steel and wood. Better value than Daisy, Gamo, etc., IMO.

My setup, which is deadly accurate, is the Crosman RM377, Lynx rimfire rings, and Bushnell Banner 4-12x40 AO, in .177. The RWS 350 stays in the safe mostly these days.

Also, look & learn here: http://www.straightshooters.com/

 

[molonlabe]

+1 on the R7 and they are reasonably priced. You can put a peep sight on the rail. My wife and I uses to take it camping and popped cans at 40 yards. We got so good at it we could punch the bottoms out at the same distance. (That’s 40 yards). It is an excellent way to train and improve your shooting skills. If I had a sizable back yard I would have an air gun range.

 

[proud2deviate]

I bought a china cheapie pellet rifle at a tool show for about $20. Commie orange stock, crappy trigger, crappy sights, rifled barrel, the whole shebang. It was advertised at 900 FPS, but I'd be mildly surprised if it made it to 450. With that said, it was probably the most fun I've had for twenty bucks. The thing is shockingly accurate, even with the cheap chinese pellets I bought to go with it (you know the kind; no two look the same and they turn your fingers black,) I contemplated buying a scope for it, but I couldn't quite wrap my head around paying more for a scope than I did for he gun. It's still going strong after about a thousand shots.

 

[El Tejon]

For the money, the R7 is the best thing going, IMHO.

Just purchased a HW77. Excellent weapon but thrice the price of the R7.

If you shooting critters, get a .22 or .25, just my $.02.

 

[Oleg Volk]

I have a spare Daisy springer that I bought refurbished a while ago. It is fairly accurate. If you would consider it adequate for your needs, you can just have it. (I mostly use a similar Gamo 880 now, a gift from a friend).

whack-a-wabbit

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Go for a high end one and enjoy the raw accuracy!

Here is my beeman 400. A very nice sidelever target rifle. I don't have the palmrest or sling on it right now but for raw target accuracy these guys are truly great!

 

[Kestrel]

Are the RWS/Diana models good? (I think they are around $200?) Any problems with them?

 

[pittspilot]

Slight Hijack

How are the CZ brand airguns?

 

[slzy]

i have got a rws 45 that works fine,more powerful than colibri. but i bought a chinese under barrell cocker no safety or other such amenities that would probably work well for your purpose.

 

[JohnKSa]

The Slavia (CZ) airguns are ok. They're pretty basic (not a lot of frills) and the power level is low, but the quality is good.

 

[chris in va]

I have one of those Gamo 1000fps airguns. It sucks, majorly. I think it's just too powerful to be accurate. My 650 Marksman 0035 is exceedingly accurate in comparison and cost less.

 

[karlsgunbunker]

I'm cheap!
http://www.cumminstools.com/browse.cfm/4,196.htm
$19.99

 

[slzy]

yeah,i got one like karls. remarkable for the price.

 

[JohnKSa]

I think it's just too powerful to be accurate.

The typical progression for a spring-piston airgun enthusiast is to buy the most powerful they can find first and then gradually work their way down in power.

My guess is a lot of folks just stall at the first step and decide airguns aren't for them.

I've tried to tell first-time buyers this, but it's useless. I guess it's something folks have to learn for themselves.

 

[Bridger]

I have one of those Gamo Shadow 1000 airguns and it's pretty damn accurate with the right pellets. Thankfully, those seem to be the hollow point and wadcutter Beeman pellets at wallyworld. I headshot chipmunks with it all the time.

I once tried some RWS pointed pellets and those couldn't even hold a 3" group at 25 yards. It was awful.

 

[JohnKSa]

It's not very common for pointed pellets to be highly accurate.

Ok, I've gotten to where I don't like discussing airguns much with non-airgunners, but I'll put in my 2 cents.

A lot of people decide that they want to use airguns to practice because they're convenient. They're practicing so they can be a better shot and probably shooting to have fun as well.

Then they go out and buy a piece of crap because they don't want to spend very much money--after all, it's just a BB gun, not a REAL gun.

The problem is that a piece of crap airgun isn't very much fun to shoot so they shoot it a little and then they put it away and when someone asks them about an airgun in a few years they say that they tried it once but didn't enjoy it much.

If you buy an airgun to practice and you're really serious about it, you'll probably shoot it more than you shoot your guns. So why wouldn't you spend enough on it to ensure that your practice time is enjoyable instead of low-balling the airgun and practically guaranteeing that you won't stick with it?

Other shooters look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them what some of my airguns cost. I don't even try to explain anymore that an airgun must do everything a firearm does but it must also generate the power to move the projectile. I've given up trying to tell them that of course a good quality airgun will cost as much as a good quality firearm or maybe even a bit more.

And somehow they never put my airgunning together with my shooting ability--even though I finally started handicapping myself in our shooting competitions so that I didn't win every match.

If you want to buy an airgun to practice shooting, get a good one or don't waste your money. Spend it on ammo and range fees instead. They'll be a lot more use to you than a "bargain" airgun rusting in the closet.

If you want to buy an airgun to pop the occasional varmint that shows up in your backyard then buy whatever--it'll probably get shot a few times a month or a few times a year--anything will work for that.

And if you want to find out what a good airgun is, don't ask a firearms forum--usually the most enlightening advice will be to either buy something for $25 bucks, to get the most powerful model on the market or to be careful not to shoot your eye out.

Here are some places that will give you good advice.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537
http://www.straightshooters.com/chat/

 

[slopemeno]

You'd be surprised what 1980's state of the art airguns are capable of...I have a Beeman/Webley C-1 that rocks. Bought it as a blem for $135.00 and never looked back. 800 some fps, probably much less with the 'cuda/kodiak pellet gives amazing accuracy,smooth firing behavior and very little noise. I've made shots at 50 yards with ease with it. If I was buying another airgun now, I would look at the Webley Longbow and put a receiver sight on it, so you dont have to drop major money on an airgun-proof scope.

 

[slzy]

Johnska, do you or anyone know if night vision devices are affected by spring guns as normal scopes are? and i can't get much out of pointed pellets either.

 

[slzy]

i also have a baikal izh61,which is a side cocking 5 shot biathlon trainer. the stock is adjustable,and with a slip on recoil pad,it is the same length as all my other rifles. it also has an adjustable trigger. i put a beeman aperture sight on it, and it is truly phenomenal. does not shoot very hard,but it truly is a tack driver.the front sight also uses interchangable blades.