Canadian Airgun Forum

Hey folks, new member here who recently found a rejuvenated love for airguns. (See post in the “introduce yourself” forum.

Looking for some advice on my next purchase to get me back into shooting. Had many guns in my youth but my favorite was a gamo expomatic .177 cal, 495fps. That was my go to gun from age 6 to 14. Now 20 years later I was reunited with that gun and the damn thing still works. After knocking down a few cans; I’m hooked again!

It seems there different schools of thought on how to enter the world of air rifles. Ideally I’d love to be able to drop a grand on a beauty PCP setup but I think, and the wife agrees;), that a more budget setup would be better suited to my needs.

I’ve been researching and eyeballing guns for days now and while I haven’t been able to make a decision, I have decided what (I think) I do and do not need. So here’s what I’m looking for and what my choices are.

Ideally I want something similar to the old break barrel, springer I grew up with, although I’m not opposed to a side lever, under barrel or perhaps even a gas piston rifle. This gun will be used for plinking, paper targets, and rodent control. Would prefer to stay under 500fps, not for hunting but accuracy is important.

Not looking for anything C02 powered as this gun will be used in cold temperatures. It’s been on average -5c to -20C for the past few weeks in my neck of the woods. I have read that gas piston may have an advantage over a spring piston in these temps. Thoughts?

There are 2 rifles that stand out to me right now, as they are on sale and I have gift cards for both Cabelas and Canadian tire.

The Benjamin classic .22 495fps is on sale for $252 at CTC right now at my local store. Not listed in the flyer so I’m wondering if this might be a return or remanufactured unit at that store only?

Gamo Swarm .177 495fps at Cabelas for $279. Like the fact that it is a repeater break barrel but I’m concerned about reliability.

Looking for any advice or other rifles you think I should be looking at. Thanks!

Welcome Sgt Baker, nitro piston Benjamin are nice, I got that in .177 and .22, both are nice, you just have to mod the trigger and its pretty nice, most of the Nitro Piston comes in many flavor, but I think the core is just the same only the stock design was change, for CO2, there many to choose from, Airgun Archery and CSS have some good offerings.

Welcome!
Where IS your neck of the woods?
topic80653.html

I believe the Sgt is from NB assuming he hasn't moved far from where he grew up.
If there is a Princess Auto near you, consider the Crosman break barrel they sell, it's the same as the Benjamin Classic action in a normal stock and much less expensive (similar to a Quest, phantom, vantage, optimus and miriad other names used for this platform)..$130 or therabouts. These are very tunable and relatively accurate springers and for me a good choice for getting into it. If you have to spend your gift cards on a rifle then CT price for the Classic isn't too bad, it would also a good choice. The Classic does have nice furniture and typically comes with a 3-9x40 AO center point scope that gets the job done.

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Iacio, ergo sum

Have a look here . http://www.canadashootingsupply.ca/beem ... istol.html . The pistol posted is a must have for anyone that enjoys shooting airguns . On the same site they have a crosman fire ,which is a nitro piston in non pal .

Welcom to the forum . Ask lots of questions .

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I like air guns , and they like me

The Benjamin Classic .22 is a nice 495 fps rifle that comes with a fairly good AO scope but no open sights. Another favorite of mine is the Crosman Phantom .22 it is basically the same gun as the Benjamin classic but with a synthetic stock and open sights. I own both of these guns and at their price point I find them to be a good value and if you end up getting your pal you can easily upgrade them to full power. Personally I like the Phantom a little better than the Classic. If you are getting a sub 500 gun make sure it is a .22 and not a .177 as sub 500 .177's are very weak.

Thanks for the welcome and advice guys. My neck of the woods is indeed New Brunswick, updated in my profile;) Duke, I stopped by Princess Auto yesterday to check out that Crosman but they didn't have any in stock. From the website It appears that this is a Crosman Optimus CO5M77X which retails for $272.86 on the Crosman website. If so, that's a hell of a deal at $130 for the princess version. Are these actually the same gun or possibly a remanufactured version? If so, is the quality still comparable?

Hobbyman, I have added that Beeman pistol to my want list, love the idea of a single pump pellet pistol. But the first one I need to pick up is the classic 1377. Always loved the look of that gun, just wish I could find a new one with the older style brown grip and pump with the gold bolt action. I always wanted one as a kid and in my opinion the new all black version just doesn't look as good as they used to. I wonder if the old brown grips and pump are compatible with the new model.

And finally, how do I go about convincing the wife that I need all of these guns now, ya know, for "research purposes"?

Cheers fellas

Same gun, same quality. These guns benefit from a good internal clean and lube.

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Iacio, ergo sum

What I always did with bows and crossbows is get a new one I would stick it under her bed. Then in a week pull it out with her seeing and she would say "when did you get that" I would say "I had it a long time". Get so many when new ones would come my wife just laughs.

You mention you have your old rifle, does it still work well? Perhaps it just needs a bit of maintenance. I just read your introduction and see that you have a new rifle but don't throw out you old rifle, some of the older versions were better made than new ones.

You may want to look at the Artemis LR700W in .22 if you are OK with a multipump rifle. Except for the sights, it feels really good quality and IMO the two stage trigger is great (after cleaning the excess grease as I couln'd feel anything before). The cold weather shouldn't have have an effect on a multipump if I'm not mistaken.