ruger air rifles?

[Mica_Hiebert]

Im kind of a ruger fan, 90% or my guns are rugers! My son is about that age I was at when I had my first pellet rifle and I see ruger has springers in 177 and 22 cal. Are they any good?

[PoisonIvyMagnet]

I had a Ruger Blackhawk 17 cal air rifle two years ago. Accuracy was horrible, even at close range. Even making sure all the screws were tight, the barrel wouldn't always line back up true after cocking. I ended up just giving it away to a friend's dad who wanted to play around with it. Picked up a Benjamin Genesis nitro piston in 22 cal, been a whole lot happier.

[Mica_Hiebert]

This is sad to hear.

[nagantguy]

Sad but true, first one I had was such junk I took it back to place of purchase, second one has been great, the cheap scope seemed to wander off zero if left sitting for any long period of time but once I upgraded it's been a very dependable little springer. Don't look e it like my old benjamin s but it shoots true, hits hard and has the "feel" of a hunting rifle which I like out to 50 yards or so Bluejays and garden pests are in mortal danger.

[Duster340]

I like mine. Good medicine for squirrels and rabbits. Has the heft annd feel a "real rifle "

[Mica_Hiebert]

I was kind of gravitating tward the 22 cal, I like the idea of the 1000 fps with the suppressor I kind of expected the scope to be garbage as long as the rifle was repeatable I could live with that. Problem I had and still have with entry level guns that dont shoot well is it does not install confodence on a biginner shooter if they dont know weather they missed because of the gun or because of their technique.

[mulespurs]

The 177 Ruger air hawk that lives at my house has killed cottentail rabbits at 40 steps repeatably. My record is 60 steps.
Pellet choice is a very big deal. Air rifles can be as fussy as 22lr about ammo type. I would suggest Crossman Premier hollow points. My walmart carries them and they are cheap. My Ruger.177 is interesting. Give it a chance.

[chutesnreloads]

Don't expect 1000 fps in .22 cal.But that's ok....you don't want pellets going above sonic only to drop below sonic soon after leaving the barrel.

[Mica_Hiebert]

Sub sonic was the key... Im not likely to shoot it across the chrony to see what its getting.

[aspangler]

I have a Blackhawk Elite. Squirls are DRT with head shots at 25 yards. Mine likes the RWS 8.5 grain Super Dome pellets for best acurracy But will shot the Crossman HP's almost as well. IF you get one be sure to get a .177 cleaning kit and USE it. Mine shoots better with a clean barrel.

[Kestrel4k]

A few folks have posted that Ruger will not even provide any customer support on these - IIRC they are mfg. in CN and are about as much "Ruger" as if I took my Diana Model 27 and wrote "Ruger" on the stock with a sharpie.

Edit: When people ask about purchasing beginner 'springers', many folks recommend a used German-mfg. Diana/RWS Model 34; they can often be found for ~$200 shipped. Depending on the vintage, you get a fair amount of steel parts unlike the new-production T06 RWS M34's.

[Kestrel4k]

BTW there is a beautiful Diana Model 36 (discontinued, and the upgraded version of the classic M34) on Gunbroker right now, no bids @ $175+$35 shipping.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=533827867
Would be my very first choice, as the M36's are much less common than the base-model M34's and are very desirable.

Edit: Looking closely at the pics, it is a later model with the plastic trigger guard but it still has the steel front sight.
I can't ascertain the rear sight construction but the steel front sight is a 'must' IMO.

[jcwit]

I bought from Midway a Ruger AirHawk when they had the refurbished ones for $49.00. Not a bad shooter at all, for a plinker/pest rifle it's a winner.

While not in the same category as my Beeman R7 or R1, or my Anschutz Target Master, it was hundreds of dollars less.

Pellets used? Crosman premier from WallyWorld.

[grizzlyadams]

not sure how old your boy is yet, but i see you mentioned the 1000fps in 22. if you are referring to the airmagnum model, you may want to rethink that. they are a huge gun (48 inches long) and the cocking effort is not really for a beginner. also being a magnum they are hard on scopes, especially untuned.

[Silverboolit]

My 10 yr old grandson is just a little bit too small for my springers. They are too heavy, too long, and just too hard to cock. I purchased a Benjamin Discovery and use CO2 instead of HPA. It is still a little too long, but the weight is right and no cocking. I go the Disco off the internet and a 24 oz. bottle from Academy. We can now go and have a good time in the backyard.

[Kernbigo]

Got a air hawk 177 about 10 days ago, it is a tack driver. At 10 yrds in the bacsment, my best group was 6 shot .300 spread center to center.I did a trigger job on it got it down to 1# with the first stage down to 1/8" travel. Lot of information on the net how to do the trigger on a t05, great gun at $129. My friend has a rws 34 and mine out shot his, doing it himself.

[cbashooter]

I like the Stoeger X3.they shoot very nice up close and cock so easy.it's smallish but even a bigger kid up to about 5'4" won't have problems.

[Mica_Hiebert]

I didnt think about the size or cocking effort he is 8... so all shooting would be supervised but would be good if he could cock it him self. when I was a kid I had an old benjamin pump that was bolt action to feed the pellets but had a shorter length of pull, wish I could find some thing like that.

[cbashooter]

The x3 is perfect for that age.my kids had them and could cock them.auto safety as well.

[grizzlyadams]

agreed x3 or x5 would be better

[MT Chambers]

Rugers and Remingtons are kinda crappy and made in China, the cheapest that I would go would be Diana 34.

[cbashooter]

Rugers and Remingtons are kinda crappy and made in China, the cheapest that I would go would be Diana 34.

The Diana 34 is too big for a young kid.the Diana 24 is good but hard to find.I had a pair of the Stoeger X3's and the we're very good for chineese guns.they would both do all pellets touching at 10 meters and slip cans at 25.

[Black Beard]

The Diana 34 is too big for a young kid.the Diana 24 is good but hard to find.I had a pair of the Stoeger X3's and the we're very good for chineese guns.they would both do all pellets touching at 10 meters and slip cans at 25.

The HW99 might be worth a look. The .22 version is meant to be a really nice shooter at 12ftlb. It is designed for smaller frames.

[wch]

I have a Ruger in .177: after 1 summer I named it "Rabbit's Regret".

[cbashooter]

The HW99 might be worth a look. The .22 version is meant to be a really nice shooter at 12ftlb. It is designed for smaller frames.
Not sure that's available on this side of the pond.

[murf6656]

My 9 year old has been shooting a Stoeger x3 for a couple of years. Only thing I have done to it is cut a chamfer on the chamber to make the pellets easier to load.

[HollowPoint]

The Ruger Yukon is just a clone of the Umarex Octane. (or vice versa) The only difference is that the Ruger has a wooden stock while the Octane has the synthetic stock.

I own and shoot a Umarex Octane and I've been extremely happy with it. A friend of mine owns a Yukon that he uses to shoot squirrels with at his winter home up in northern Arizona. Both brands are assembled by the same little chinese kids and both of these air rifles (at least the ones I've shot) appear to be well made.

It's inevitable that a certain percentage of all these air guns made will find their way into the hands of end users who are not happy with them. My only gripe with mine was that it weighed a tad over nine pounds out of the box and once you put a scope on it, it may be a little on the heavy side for a child. The Ruger Yukon weighs a little less due to the wooden stock.

I put peep sites on my Umarex Octane and I have no problem hitting feral pigeons out to sixty yards. It came with a scope but because of the weight I opted not to use it. With a pellet gun that I use for pigeon shooting my effective range doesn't go beyond those sixty yards. That's as far as I can confidently make consistent kill shots. Beyond that I'm just wasting pellets; with or without a scope.

Wanting to stay with the Ruger brand is a sign of customer loyalty. There's nothing wrong with that; nothing at all. Things generally cost a little more when a known brand is embossed on it; even if the item is just a clone of several different brands.

Why don't you ask the child in question what he would like? Remember when we were kids and we got our first BB gun or pellet gun? We didn't really care about the brand. We were just happy to have what are folks bought us. I'd be hard pressed to number all of he sparrow, doves, pigeon, etc. that I killed with my first daisy BB gun. Same when I graduated to my pump master pellet/bb gun. Neither gun was particularly known for accuracy but when I was a kid I shot those air guns so much that I figured out how to shoot accurately with them despite the fact that they weren't the most accurate air guns available.

HollowPoint

[tacklebury]

I've had good luck with my Ruger Air Magnum. It's definitely not a kids gun and takes some strength to cock. That aside, it'll rip through a coon using Beeman Silver arrows and the Crosman Premier Super Magnum domes shoot well for squirrel and chipmunk removal. Definitely not a Match grade accuracy, but I'm pretty satisfied and killed like 15 critters this past summer. For $135, there's not too many out there that have it's power level in my research. I just cannot see paying $300 plus for a plinker and pest killer. I knew it was an Umarex made item for Ruger, but I've had good luck with my other Rugers, so decided to try it. I don't use a scope, however, so have no comment on it's damaging scopes. I removed the "rail" thing they mounted the scope it came with on also and use the fiberoptic sights.

[jcwit]

I realize all the Chinese air rifles and pistols are nothing other than crappy, just as are all the laptops and I pads we all use!

[cbashooter]

True,I dont mind some of their airguns.most are copies of German guns and with a little love come alive.

[grizzlyadams]

yukon is a gas rammed b25...... octane is a gas rammed b28...two completely different guns. b28 is a long stroke magnum with much more power and harder to shoot well

[canyon-ghost]

Declared war on grackles. No. 12 rat shot from my 22 proved to be too noisy. I bought a Ruger Air Hawk from walmart. Nice rifle with just open sights. I hunted every weekend in the backyard. I like my little break action Ruger!

[Kernbigo]

I own a ruger air hawk and mine will out shoot my buddy's diana 34, with his own hand. He was saying they were junk so so let him shoot it and he out shot his own gun. I did a trigger job on it no fist stage, less than a # pull, great gun ,i have shot at 10 yrds, 3 shot group one hole.

[Pro Gun]

I just bought the Ruger Impact in .22 caliber. Yes, made in China under license. The Ruger I have has a fantastic scope mount. My Gamo, on the other hand, I paid more than $300.00 for, has such a crappy scope mount, I took that 3-9x40 scope and placed it on my Ruger. My .22 Ruger blowes through 1/2" plywood from 25 yards away with authority. I really like mine. Its a good, cost alternative to spending money on firearm ammunition. My wife and I raise chickens, so once in a while I'll zip a rat from out the back window of the barn, lol!

I found out, some of the more expensive air guns are a solid waste of money. I'll never own another Gamo.

[Mica_Hiebert]

Great feedback guys...