I'm gravitating towards a Gamo Swarm Gen2

[Don1357]

I must admit, I'm not familiar with air rifles and I'm just beginning to research them. I'm still debating whether to get .177 or .22. I want it for plinking and small vermin.

Can I do better for around $200?

What are good molds for the pellets?

[chutesnreloads]

For the price you probably won't do better. Suggest you do a little home work on the spring piston type rifles.
Lot of folk don't care for their unique double recoil.
I see you're in Alaska. I had really bad experiences with .177 and snowshoe rabbits. Highly recommend going with .22
if you plan to shoot critters.
Even at the higher prices pellets are going for, I wouldn't try casting pellets. Just find a commercial pellet your gun likes
and then stock up on them

[Don1357]

Why would it be better to buy instead of casting? I'm already setup for casting and I'm pretty good at it.

[DCB]

I have a 177. // 22 interchangeable barrels. I hunt squirrel with the 22 or 177 head shots kill em dead.
chicken birds works just as well.

[chutesnreloads]

Why would it be better to buy instead of casting? I'm already setup for casting and I'm pretty good at it.

For the cost of a mold, you can buy a LOT of pellets. I would at least try and get some pellets from the mold you're interested in to test before buying a mold. Pellet shooters can be picky about what they like to shoot well. There's no guaranty the mold you get will cast pellets your gun likes.
Do some reading over here before getting into casting pellets. https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?board=236
With pecan and peach trees I've killed more than my fair share of tree rats. Yes the .177 will kill them.
But the .22 is unquestionably better at it

[fastdadio]

My input for what ya paid for it says, .22 and nitro piston.

[dverna]

Both my air rifles shoot the Crosman .22 Premiere pellets into under 1” at 50 yards. They go on sale for $6.24/500 delivered on Amazon regularly. I am a Prime member so shipping is free. Walmart has them cheap as well but my closest Walmart is 50 mile round trip so Amazon wins.

You have very little chance of casting a more accurate pellet, and if you can, is your time worthless?

Good luck with your choice but you will be better off with a .22.

[besk]

Casting makes no sense economically. Not counting the time involved. I consider the .22 the best all around caliber.

[Don1357]

I picked a gamo fusion. The ability to use the fixed sighs closed the deal. I guess the noise dampening is a nice torch. For my purposes of plinking and small vermin control it ought to suffice, anything bigger and that's what bullets are made for.

[chutesnreloads]

Doubt you'll be disappointed. Likely it'll grow on you and you'll want to invest in a nicer rifle on down the line

[Don1357]

I don't know about that. The list of nicer rifles I want are a lot louder ;)

My end goal was to get a decent tool for vermin and plinking, and I'm hoping this one is it. The next step above this would be a decent bolt action .22. most of my guns are large caliber.

[Don1357]

How about a mold for .22 slugs? Apparently this rifle can shoot some of them fairly well.

[chutesnreloads]

Now casting slugs is a whole other game. Not tried it myself because I can use powder burners anywhere a slug would help me.
Take a look on the GTA site for some specialized air power info

[dverna]

How about a mold for .22 slugs? Apparently this rifle can shoot some of them fairly well.

Very little accuracy data when I looked into it a year ago. Never went down that rabbit hole. Like CnR, I can use .22 RF or even .223 for critters so noise it not an issue. I was able to find cheap pellets that are sub 1” to 50 yards and doubt I can cast well enough to match that anyway.

[Don1357]

One more question... I just got the rifle in the mail. The focus is not maintained when I zoom, it has to be adjusted significantly depending on which level you are on. Is this a defect or just low quality?

[chutesnreloads]

Sounds like the adjustable objective typical of air gun scopes. Air guns are generally shot at much closer distances than powder burners
so the scope has parallax adjustment. The distance you have it focused to should stay in focus as you go up or down in power levels.
If the parallax is off just a little it will be more noticeably at the higher powers. Assuming this scope is part of a package coming with the
rifle, you can bet it IS low quality. That doesn't mean your AO scope is defective, that's just how they work.