I am in the market for a .22 air rifle, and a decent scope, but would like one with irons as well. Wanting to keep the rifle around $125 or so and am open on scopes as well. I want someones advice that has used them, not what you read in a add. I am wanting the .22 to be around 1000fps velocity also. Will be used for varmints around the barn and squirrels in the yard. All replies appreciated.
There is no $125 Air Rifle in .22 that will do 1000 fps. In fact there are no .22 Springers that will do 1000 fps at any price.
And also there is no $125 Air Rifle that is NOT JUNK!
Good Air Rifles start at about $400 and go up, they are made like real firearms, and will last lifetimes.
Here's a pic of one of the most powerful Spring Powered .22 cal. airguns made. It does around 600 fps with 18 gr pellets. The gun is worth $600 and the Leupold Scope is worth another $200. This gun is a solid 50 yard gun, and you could maybe stretch that out to 75 yards if you got lucky. I have hit Rimfire Silhouettes at 100 yards with it but the trajectory is like a Rainbow. Still had enough beans to knock over the Rams and so it should kill a Ground Squirrel if you hit it in the head.
If you are serious about this you need to adjust your budget and start looking at more advanced Air Guns. Don't buy anything from China because that is where the JUNK is made!!! They make Virus' there as well, so anything you buy from China probably has Covid 19 attached to it somehow!!! .
This is a place where paying a little more will get you alot more and that "Lots More" will last over a longer period of time. I bought the gun in the second picture in 1978 and it still looks like new and shoots just as hard as it ever did. It has been responsible for the death of countless pests, as well as countless hours of target shooting. It is one of my most cherished possessions, and if you value certain things, a quality Airgun will quickly become one of those cherished things as well.
Hint: The Germans and English make the best ones. Look at Weihrauch, RWS, Feinwerkbau, Air Arms TX2000, and look at threads on this forum by Idaho Ron and others showing the game taken with their Quality Airguns.
Hope this gets you started on the right track !!!.
Randy
I don't think you're gonna get a .22 springer that will do 1,000fps at any price, 700-750fps is more realistic. .177, yes but not a .22, PCP, maybe, but not a springer. I have one that's about worth what I paid for it, and that's almost 3X what you want to spend, an RWS 34 accuracy at 25yds. is always at least minute of rat/squirrel head with decent pellets, (wally-world Crosman hp). Better with good European pellets, about 1'' groups at 25yds and it will kill squirrel, bunny, rat size critters at that range.
I tried a Crosman Vortex I think it was, (around $150.00) I gave it to my grandson to plink with. Also a Hatsen 95 gas piston I got on sale at around $150.00 also. More power, but dismal accuracy as far as I'm concerned, 2.5-3'' groups at 25yds. I did no tuning, just broke em in normally and shot them, but for what I spent on the guns and scopes I should have just went first class to begin with and got a Weihrauch HW97K Blue to begin with, $740.00 and I would have saved money. There are other under lever and side lever cocking guns that probably shoot as well as the HW97K blue laminant stock, but I just like the features and stock.
The break barrel guns aren't the best, they require a particular, ''artillery hold'' or even the really good ones tend to spray. A under lever or side cocker is probably best where the barrel stays stationary. You'll get what you pay for.
I recently purchased a walnut TX200 HC 22 cal. I am still shooting my first 200 pellets in my backyard. I limit my shooting so as to not irritate one neighbor. Not expecting stellar accuracy yet.
I like the second rifle. Is that a rear aperture sight?Quote:
Originally Posted by W.R.Buchanan
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I bought a Benjamin "Nitro-Piston" a few years ago. It is right up there in power with the strongest spring piston guns.
It gives best accuracy with the lightest pellet tried so far and so of course highest velocity as well. That id the RWS meisterkugeln wadcutter
at an average of 714 fps. Accuracy is right about one inch at 25 yards and beyond that if there is ANY wind you need to be very good at judging your windage. All that power comes at a cost..... I've broken two airgun rated scopes since I got it. The "magnum" springer are VERY hard on scopes. You really don't need that much power with an airgun shooting pellets. If you got one that could shoot pellets at 1000 fps, you'd find accuracy to be horrible. Pellets can't handle that velocity. Even the high dollar PCP guns you'd want to keep a pellet at 900 fps or less.
What I got has been adequate for dispatching uncountable numbers of squirrels in the backyard but I'm scared to shoot it "just for fun"
because I don't want to replace another scope.
Recently I bought a Benjamin old style multipump and am fairly pleased with it. Slightly more accurate than the springer and plenty powerful
Been meaning to do a write up comparing the two as I think it would interest the folks here. BTW one of the cool things about the multipump is seeing the pellets go downrange and strike the target.
If you're dead set on a springer, I'd advise setting your sights lower on power and spend the $$$ for one capable of half the group sizes mine are getting.
++++RWS meisterkugeln those are fantastic pellets!
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358429: it is a Weihrauch HW35EB and I bought it in 1978 for $189. Had to drive all the way to Huntington Beach from Ventura to get it.
I was single back then and shot across my Living Room for the door of my bedroom 33 feet on the nose. Had a Target Box filled with Duct Seal called Motac.
Yes that is a Williams Peep sight that was made for Beeman. My gun was a Beeman Gun hence the "EB." It has a 16" bbl.. I also have an HW35E "E" for "Export." That has the 19" bbl. I paid $60 for it out of a Surplus Store that didn't know what it was. I had to refinish the stock and clean it up as it was in someone's closet for 30 years and was kinda dirty. I kept the Open Sights in it, and I use both guns as Iron Sight Practice Guns. Both are excellent shooters even though they were both made in 1976-7. All of these guns will easily outlast me and probably whomever gets them down the road.
I also have a Bug Buster Scope I can run on it and have used it for figuring out which pellets it likes best. JSB's seem to rule all the Weihrauchs.
Randy
Thanks for all the replies and info. I beleive I will wait on one of the new RWS rifles coming in soon, spend a bit more money on both scope and rifle. If I dont do that, I will stick to rimfires.
I just got a Crosman shock wave Nitro 950 combo with scope. Blew the scope apart. I just ordered and mounted a Hawke scope it seems to be holding up so far. I have a close to 40 yr old Beeman imported Webley Omega springer that shoots very accurate but isn't as powerful as it once was. Truth be told the more powerful pellets guns are loud & once you break the sound barrier the pellets aren't stable. I'm shooting a 14.3gr pellet at somewhere in the 750 fps range as a guess. It has a noise suppressor which tames it somewhat but it is still louder than CCI quiets out of a single shot long barrel rifle. The CCI Quiets are 40gr at about 700fps. A springer/nitro piston in .22 cal can produce somewhere close to 18-20ftlb energy at the muzzle. The CCI Quiets produce about 45ftlb energy at the muzzle. CCI Quiets for semi-auto are 45gr at 835 FPS producing about 70ftlbs energy at the muzzle. Truth be told the CCI's quiets are a better deal if your looking for quiet yard gun.Quote:
Originally Posted by koger
1st off it IS legal to use an air rifle in my neighborhood. More concerned with squirrels getting across the fence than loudness.
If I were concerned about the noise... I'd just camoflauge my shooting by using a hammer once in a while but then I do that anyhow
For popping the occasional varmint around the barn, set up one of your .22s with CB shorts. 29gr at 700 fps.
I am getting into PCP .22 air guns (see my post in this forum), but I shoot a lot and it makes sense for me. For the box or two a year you will need for varmints, spending $500 for a decent air rifle and scope is hard to justify.
If you go cheap on either the gun or scope you will be disappointed.
I recall you have had some health issues so bear in mind springers can be taxing to cock. I had an RWS and it was not fun to plink with. I sold it to a guy 15 years younger who does not shoot it much.
.22 ammunition currently can be difficult to find and expensive but that will end.
BTW, just checked and Shooters Choice has 100 round packs of CCI’s for $15. 127 packs in stock
My .22 is a PCP, but my .177 Springer is a Weihrauch HW30. It WILL do in Tree Rats. Weihrauch Springers are solidly built and have a fabulous fit and finish.
In the past 2 years I have sent at least 2 dozen tree rats to heaven. The tool: 17 cal Beeman R7. All were 15 yards and under. The Tx200 has not yet lost its [emoji523]
The newer rifles are made much better that stuff made years ago. They will take less time to break in and
settle down. It used to be 1K to 2K shots for parts to wear in an seat them selves.
Now with higher quality guns made an the use of nitro pistons make them better than ever.