Anyone else shoot air rifles?

[pluspea]

Cheap ammo a plenty, and pretty darn powerful. I have one that has interchangeable barrels .22/.177, and the other is just .177., both are a single shot springer type. Carried the .177 to my Sisters new place in the woods this past week and we had a blast competing with each other. I haven't shot any small game, but a squirrel would have a headache with a properly placed shot.

 

[ralph7]

I have a Diana model 34 in .177 and a nickeled Benjamin 392p in .22.
Lately my newest acquisition, a Crosman 2240 in .22 has been getting all my attention.

Great practice for us city guys.

 

[walkin jack]

Here's my Cheap-o. I don't remember how much I paid for it but I'm thinkin' is was just about 30 bux. Like 29.95 or something. It is a Crosman pump. I was very surprised at the accuracy and the power of this little .177 pellet rifle. 6 or 7 pumps and you are puttin' some real stank on the pellet. I bought a can of 250 "hunting" pellets. They are shaped kinda like a badminton birdie and made of very soft led. They flatten out and expand nicely. They load by use of a magazine (or clip) not sure what you'd call this gizmo. It holds 5 and you put it in the breach from the right side and line up the first pellet with the barrel. Push the bolt in and you are chambered and ready to go. Fire, pull the bolt back and advance the magazine/clip to the next pellet.

With all the pumping and manual loading you won't be burnin' up your ammo too quickly and it's a real hoot.

Mr. Rat don't come around any more. Don't know where thay are raising their families these days but it ain't around here.

 

[zzzippper]

I have a factory rebuilt Crosman, I don't know what model. It is deadly on rabbits and vinyl fences.

 

[cowboy45]

I have a RWS Diana in 22 and a target on a light pole at 75 ft, from my patio smoking chair. Got a big wad of lead in it.

 

[arjay]

I've got a cheap Crosman for pigeon killin.

 

[pluspea]

I think the . 22 is pushing 1000 fps and the. 177 about the same determined by what ammo one uses. When I started shooting the screws were backing out so I locktighted them and seemed to correct the problem plus helping in maintaining the accuracy. Not having to clean the bore but occasionally is a big plus.

 

[S&WIowegan]

I have a Gamo .177 cal. that I bought at Cabelas in MN 15 yrs. ago. I put a cheap red dot sight on it which withstands the spring-piston recoil perfectly. It does yeoman duty removing squirrels from bird feeders.

 

[soFlaNative]

Replaced the Crosman 760 I had since the 70's with an update a few years ago. Miss being able to drop a pellet into the breech but the accuracy within plinking range remains. Being able to control the velocity of a BB or pellet with a few pumps means I can discourage local critters from spraying my tool box or drop a Knight's anole out of the treetops. Handy little rifle.

Looking at the WalMart website at a Benjamin Nitro pump in a .22 for some more backyard shooting.

 

[3dots]

I have a Benjamin Franklin model 347, .22 cal, rifled bore.

 

[Dandecoteau]

When I was 8.

 

[Rangerpat]

I had a Benjamin Silver Streak in .20 caliber but my son wanted it more than I did, so.....

I recently I bought a Benjamin Titan NP .22 caliber with a really nice wooden stock for $110. The scope that came with it is **** so I replaced it with a extra crossbow scope that I had laying around. The rifle shoots 2" groups at 30 yards all day long, not bad for backyard plinking.

 

[Wyatt p. Tato]

Yes, RWS 34, Benjamin Discovery, 2 Sheridan blue streaks.

 

[mojave30cal]

I'm old school. We had a Benjamin model 312 in .22 cal. as
kids growing up in Hawaii in the early to mid-60's. Shot mostly
doves. Very accurate rifle. My current collection includes a
1962 model 310 in BB cal., two model 312's made in 1960
and 1967, and a model 347 in .177 cal. made in 1970. All
resealed in excellent condition.

 

[nodpete]

I have a Feinwerkbau 124 Sport .177 that will put 10 shots in a dime size hole @ 30 yds. all day long. And a Diana 34 .22 that is just a accurate. I use both for rabbit control and 1 well placed shot is all it takes. I also have a Diana LP8 pistol in .177, fun to shoot but not good for much more than pigeons. Air rifles are great practice but much harder to shoot than PB's. But a LOT cheaper and you can shoot them just about anywhere.

 

[DeathGrip]

I'm old school. We had a Benjamin model 312 in .22 cal. as
kids growing up in Hawaii in the early to mid-60's. Shot mostly
doves. Very accurate rifle. My current collection includes a
1962 model 310 in BB cal., two model 312's made in 1960
and 1967, and a model 347 in .177 cal. made in 1970. All
resealed in excellent condition.

Nice collection! I have a couple that need some work. Where did you get the seals done or did you do them your self? I think there's a special tool if memory serves me.

 

[H Richard]

Not rifles, but I do shoot a fair amount of air pistol. Currently a Biakal IZH46M .177 which is an entry level Olympic grade pistol. It is single stroke pneumatic and the accuracy is phenomenal. Dime sized groups possible at 10 meters and smaller. In the past I used a Crossman Skannaker (CO2) model. I did shoot in a couple Olympic qualification matches, but I never made it past local competition. My top score was in the 530's (possible 600).

 

[samuelrp]

I have a .22 RWS 34 with a fancy scope. There is so much barrel droop I had to use a special mount AND add plastic in the back ring to be able to sight it in. Even though recoil is not noticeable, it shoots the scope loose after a while. It is accurate, but very heavy. I only use it when I'm concerned about noise. But yes you can hunt with it.

 

[finesse_r]

With the price an availability of .22 caliber ammo being such a problem I do shoot my Red Ryder BB gun a lot more than I used to.

 

[Big Cholla]

My City allows a home owner to shoot pigeons with air rifle/pistol as long as the pellet does not leave the owner's property. That law is specific and has gone a long way to reducing the number of the local "Rat of the Sky". I am doing my part by owning and becoming very good with a Diana 100 full-blown target rifle. It is a side handle pumper and with the 'heavy' 17 caliber pellets is deadly on pigeons out to about 60 ft. If I have any sort of rest head shots are possible to 40 ft. If my shot is offhand, I just shoot for center of mass. I have a steady supply of victims because a misguided home owner about 200 yards away from my house and across a small park feeds the pigeon population totally against the law. I have killed enough pigeons out of a tree with a seed that they like or off the slope of my roof that the older pigeons are wary of my home and shop. But, the young are still stupid and will land on my property to some of them's dismay. .............

I wish the City would allow me to use a .410 shotgun, but that is wishing for too much fun. At a SHOT show not long ago I saw a Beretta O/U in .410 that I want so bad it hurts, but I can't afford $6,000 for an O/U that would be worthless for any other game. :-( .................

BTW.....the Diana 100 is a wonderful firearm in design, finish and accuracy. It was built before the advent of precharged high pressure air-rifles.

 

[Stainless44]

Don't even get me started on air guns. I started out a few years ago with a cheap 10-pump type gun from Walmart. It was primarily for plinking in the back yard while drinking beer...with the occasional squirrel killed.

Then the squirrels started getting out of hand and i had to up my game. I got a Crossman TR77 break barrel. It was good at killing squirrels...way better than the old pump gun. Eventually I needed more range, so I dropped the money for a Benjamin Marauder (.177)...and oh...my...goodness.

I put a 4-16 power Adjustable Objective scope on top. Inside 50 yards it will do everything a .22 LR will do...and I can shoot it in the back yard. Super quiet, super accurate...I'm totally in love with this gun. At 25 yards it will park a magazine of 10 pellets inside of a dime. Once word got out a friend asked to borrow it...then another heard how awesome it was. It's reputation spread like wildfire and at this point at least 5 friends have borrowed it to use on their squirrel problems. In fact, it's out on loan as I type this!

Since then I've added a .22 caliber pistol/carbine version of the Marauder. It's crazy cool. I take it deer hunting with me...if the squirrels are moving and the deer aren't...i'm taking a bag of squirrels for the pot.

Below are a few links to funny stories I've written on my downward spiral into the world of air guns:


Of Squirrels and solutions...one mans problem:

Southern outdoors: Of Squirrels and solutions?one mans problem

Confusion and Chaos:

Southern outdoors: Confusion and chaos

 

[Cyrano]

A few years ago I decided I wanted to do some shooting around the house since it's about a half hour drive to the Ft Bliss Rod & Gun club. That meant an air rifle. I can get about 16 yards from my utility room to the end of the garage, and I bought an 8 inch cube of Crossman styrofoam for a backstop. The Feinwerkbau 300 air rifle was Olympic quality in the 70s and a lot more accurate than I off hand. But it sure improves my ofhand shooting if I practice regularly. It's penetration is pretty impressive; I first tried a backstop of 8 thicknesses of corrugated cardboard; it slowed the pellet down somewhat. The Feinwerkbau 65 air pistol is a lot more difficult to shoot, but I've been doing more with it since i find I've lost a lot of my never abundant pistol skills and i'm desperate to get them back. We dont have many pigeons around here and no squirrels, but there are a lot of dove perching on the phone lines at the edge of my lot; dinner if things go wrong.

 

[model70hunter]

Nice German one in 22.

Told my wife what I wanted and she found it at Cabelas. Scoped it and it was my city gun. Rabbits came to eat spoken for produce.

One PFFT and a patch of hair made a slight movement on their little head.

And then all was quiet in the garden.

 

[geddylee10002000]

I shoot a scoped RWS 34 .177 cal. I am shopping for a PCP .25 rifle now. Here in Missouri you can hunt deer with a pellet rifle.

Check out the following.

http://www.mrhollowpoint.com/1401.html

Quackenbush Air Guns

 

[jughed440]

Have a hard hitting RWS Model 48. It's .177 and would prefer .22, but the price was too good to pass up. Rabbits are no match...wish i could say the same about the thick skinned groundhogs that had burrowed under the garage. A trap worked well in that case.