Canadian Airgun Forum

I've been on the look-out for a new rifle and instead of a powder burner , I'm tending for a decent air rifle.

It's been a little while since I used an air rifle for "semi serious" shooting..45 yrs actually ...when my ,well used, Slavia 620 disappeared in the closet to be replaced by a Winchester / Cooey 600 . I became a "hunter" with that Slavia 620 , taking my first rabbits and Bob-White quail as well !

Today , I'd be shooting mostly at targets but there will be some pest " hit contracts " to fill.
After watching hours of reviews on YouTube , a break-barrel action is preferred and I'm leaning towards the Umarex Octane .
$250ish (seems decently priced) , 3 year warranty , chron'd at around 900fps with lead pellets , decent accuracy at 50yd. , looks tough enough , nothing negative said about the Umarex scope...
Do any of you fine people have any input on their experiences with the Octane or maybe an alternative break action rifle ?
Still not sure on wether to go .177 or .22...

I haven't heard much about that particular rifle. We sell a fair bit of umarex guns at the store and seldomly hear any issues from them. We all have our biases, I'm prone to lean you more towards a Crosman or Benjamin gun tbh. IMO they generally have better QC than umarex as well as having better information provided for each model, as well as easier to acquire parts for modifications or repairs.I know nothing of umarex's gas piston guns, but have a few Crosman NPs which are great shooters.The Benjamin titan or trail XL are both in that same price range and are similar in velocity. As far as calibre is concerned it's kind of preference. 177 is a more accurate pellet with a better ballistic coefficient than a .22 but the .22 will have a higher fpe and more "stopping power".You have to decide how often you'll be taking "contract hits" and then make your decision. 177 pellets are also cheaper than .22 pellets, so if you intend to do a lot of shooting you might want to lean that way. Everyone's got their 2 cents , so i thought id pitch mine in.

I would love to see you back up your claim of .177 being more accurate than .22 and .177 having a better b.c. than .22.

oops! I apparently had my statistics switched.. the .22 has a slightly higher ballistics co-efficiency. Heres some information though. http://www.chronoconnect.com/pellet-list.html and a listing from a pyramid air forum in regards to accuracy of the two pellet guns. http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2005/04/ ... y-do-best/ . Thank you for correcting me and bringing it to my attention.. I'm still learning haha, I don't mean to misinform anyone at all and I appreciate it. But I was just voicing my opinion, and for longer shooting I've noticed my .22 drops a lot more and requires a little more skill to hit the target.
I should learn to keep my foot in my mouth a bit more, as I've apparently pulled it out and made a fool of myself

Eric at scopes and ammo has the Jim Shockey legacy using the original nitro piston for 249. Includes a half decent scope. I had one from CT a few years back, but its one of the very few rifles I have no damn idea where it went. Theres a real good possibility I got someone interested in shooting and gave it away. (I dont sell stuff).



http://scopesandammo.com/storefront/pro ... ifle-p-919

The " new" model uses a nitro piston 2. You can research yourself and decide if its worth an extra 50 to you. I like the red accents on the old style.

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When the 425-hp "street Hemi" version hit the street in 1965, it was akin to taking an M230 chain gun to an arcade shooting gallery
Peter

Well..it seems I've been around the world checking out all kinds of air rifles and I've come to a conclusion that a lot has changed over 50yrs and most importantly , many thanks for your inputs .
I checked out all the mentioned rifles and they all just made things ...well... .
The break-barrel , gas piston type is a definite for my search , which is still leaning towards the Umarex Octane ( .22 cal. ) , but now I've seen a pretty decent review on the Hatsan 125 Sniper ( .22cal. ).....
Any input on this rifle from y'all , or any input on Hatsan rifles for that matter , would be fantastic ! .

I stumbled on this the other day, which might be useful to you. In the meantime, when I read your question, and your requirements, I thought, "options are endless, but he's leaning toward a rifle that, I would say, has little to say for it from knowledgeable air gunners on this forum." "Target shooting with the occasional pest hunt" could describe just about anyone, but you happen to be a PAL holder. So, I could suggest a Crosman full-power 1077 because it has power, It is known as being very accurate in its class, and it's like $125 all in. I could also recommend one of more than a dozen PCPs costing anywhere from $1k - $4k because they are deadly accurate, extremely capable if your pesting/hunting needs expand, don't suffer barrel droop, and they are power adjustable so you can get 100+ shots when you're just shooting paper.

Not trying to be critical; just sayin' there are hundreds of different types of active air gunners on this forum, and they all likely have a legitimate right to express their preferences based on their particular focus and experience; so, possibly every suggestion posted in this thread has legitimate support as far as the poster is concerned. We'd love to help you make a good selection for you, but we really can't given what we have to work with. Facts to provide, for example, may include the following:

- How do you make purchasing decisions for your PBs?
- What are your PBs, and what do you use them for?
- Why (really) are you considering a new firearm purchase, and leaning toward air guns?
- How many times per week (or month) for target practice? How many times for pest control?
- Do you choose thrift over best quality and consider your thrifty product disposable and replaceable if need be, or do you want quality going in so you can count on it for years?
- Are you physically capable of, and mentally prepared to pump for every shot until the product dies?
- Is the concept of a repeater of little importance to you now? Two years from now?

These questions are not, by any means, all-inclusive, and are not presented in any priority order. They're just examples to stimulate more info from you, if you're looking for good recommendations rather than posts of member favourites.

FWIW
$.00

My Benji Legacy is for sale. Purchased Aug. 2016 - $170, comes with camo bag

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Walther CP88c
953 TargetPro
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Learn to Love To Do Well - And You Shall. - C. Poseidon

I would recommend a Diana 34 Panther, about $75 more than the gun you first mentioned (@ $329) but it is well worth the extra money. That is usually my recommendation for someone getting into air rifles with a spring gun, for what it is worth; nitro pistons are over-hyped and not much of an improvement in my experience, also significantly more expensive/difficult to fix if you have issues with your powerplant down the road.

The Diana is a quality German made gun at a very reasonable price, it is the sort of gun you can pass down to your kids, not the sort of gun with parts stamped out in China and burrs everywhere.

https://www.specialtyshootingsportsoutd ... oduct_info


I have had terrible experiences with Crosman/Benjamin lately and will never buy their products again, their Canadian warranty center is an absolute joke as well; recently had to return 2 Benji Trail NP2's as they had groupings like a shotgun at 10yds (even though Gravel told me the second one was tested and shooting 1" groups at 50yds, guess I need more practice ) finally ended up with a Benjamin Maximus...that arrived completely empty as it was leaking and needed to be repaired. All I will say is that a quality product and reliable QC is easily worth paying for in the long run, especially if you are not into tuning or repairing the internals of your own gun.

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"It's just a springer..."

I agree with the above poster.

I was also not at all impressed with the nitro piston. I found it recoiled harder, was louder and less accurate than a traditional spring-piston power plant. Perhaps there are some out there that are decent but those I've tried were bad.

Crosman and many others (gamo, ruger, Benjamin to name a few) all have their guns done in China so you get what you pay for. If you get lucky you can end up with one that's decent and will last, but if you think you'll hold onto the airguns for years, get the good stuff and avoid head aches or replacements ($$) down the road.

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No scopes on any, just open sights:
- For the power: Norica Marvic 2.0 Luxe rifle (.22 cal)
- For the pleasure: Weihrauch HW30S Rifle (.22 cal)
- For the challenge: Weihrauch HW45 Black Star Pistol (.22 cal)

Exactly, the shot cycle is faster, but much more harsh and as you said; they are very loud, especially with the higher power stuff.

In theory they are a great idea, but in execution they are just not where they should be IMO (and they have been out for many years)

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"It's just a springer..."

Thanks for the feedback guys ! NP systems are new to me and your input will definately be put into my search efforts. This is the type of info I need. Knowing the "con's" to these units are essential and are greatly appreceiated .
I looked into the Diana 34 and I see they are made in Germany by Umarex , BTW..thx again for your input .

Now Ed ..I feel you may be overkillin' this abit and the above posts are examples as to why I made a post here , where there is a plethora of info , for all kinds of tid-bits of info...yupper , I do know enough to ask the right people , but maybe I was not being specific enough .
Why do I want a air rifle ?..because I do..enough said...lol

My options are open with exception to PCP 's . I know of their benifits but I do not want to carry a bottle .
I'd like to see 900fps ( + or - ) coming out of the hole and reasonably shootable out of the box. Later test n' tune is all part of the fun.
Spring or NP ..and reliable !
Targets at 50yd plus and the ability to take a cottontail sized critter out to that range as well.
I'm leaning more to the .22 but .177 is still an option.
$350 ,give or take' seems to be an average price these days for a decent air rifle ...considering I am still looking into a Troy PAR at 5 times the cost.
Keep 'em coming guys ! ..pro's - con's ...lets hear them all !
BTW , wtf is PBs ?

I would go with Powder Burners is my guess.

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Geoff - CAFTA Governor

If your budget is $350 perhaps you can just splurge and get a good german-made rifle. Like this one:

https://www.dlairgun.com/Air-Rifles/Diana/051_280.html?

Or, you could try Norica - I have not shot any myself but word around the street is that they are ALMOST just a good as the german stuff but much more affordable. I'd say that would be a in-between option and much better than the chinese stuff.

A forum member and I recently discussed the Norica black eagle. He also added a review of it in equipment review section of this forum. It's $299 so I think this one fits in your budget nicely:

http://scopesandammo.com/storefront/pro ... ifle-p-972

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No scopes on any, just open sights:
- For the power: Norica Marvic 2.0 Luxe rifle (.22 cal)
- For the pleasure: Weihrauch HW30S Rifle (.22 cal)
- For the challenge: Weihrauch HW45 Black Star Pistol (.22 cal)

That older version sure looks sharp! I really like the looks of the whole gun. How did it shoot for you? Pretty accurate gun?

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

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Website: https://airgunarcheryfun.ca/