Edmonton<500 wrote:
Rob27 Quote:
I live in the city with one highly unfriendly neighbor who has bylaw enforcement on speed dial. So most of my airgun shooting is in the basement at 10yd max. Interested in getting something up to maybe 800fps, but unless I can find a friend with an acreage, anything more serious will likely wait until my indoor range opens again and I go burn some power.
You haven't disclosed what you have in the way of airguns at the moment, but let me suggest that if you're just biding time until you can get back to your powder range, let the folks here know, and don't even consider spending good money on a high-quality PAL rifle. 10-yard max requires at most, probably 300 fps to shoot accurately and efficiently. If, however, you're biding your time and thinking about how airguns may fit into your shooting experience, Then use the WANTED forum and offer a fairly clear description of what you're looking for. You'll quickly have many recommendations from members who may have very different perspectives on what they consider to be "the best air gun for you."
Welcome aboard.
Here is a more complete picture - WARNING - this turned out to be very long and somewhat rambling...
When the pandemic shut down my gun range I was disappointed since I had just gotten back into shooting fairly recently and was enjoying it. One day I was looking through the Princess Auto flyer and saw an add for a couple different CO2 pistols and thought, "what the heck"... I have shot many thousands of .177 pellets in my youth so I decided to try something different and get the Crosman 2240 which is a .22 cal CO2 powered bolt action single shot.
Since I am already rambling a bit, I will go further - writing this made me recall that for a birthday or Christmas my older siblings used to chip in and buy 1 big present. One year that was a Crosman Peacemaker revolver in .22 cal. At that time I had never seen a .22 pellet before and they were rare and expensive and the cost of CO2 cartridges was unthinkable... The gun was a neat idea, but it sat in a box a lot and I eventually gave it to one of my nieces or nephews.
Back to the 2240 - I find the grip position uncomfortable - I currently have a chunk of foam taped to the top of the grip to make it a bit more upright and to stop it from biting the web of my thumb.
Let's see if I can paste a pic
[img]C:\testpic\2240%20Bite.jpg[/img]
Other than the bitey grip, it was fun to be shooting again. I find the cocking and loading process a bit clumsy: Shoot with right hand, transfer gun to left hand, work bolt with right hand, pick up pellet with right hand and fiddle with it to get it in the breech pointing forward, close breach, transfer gun back to right hand - repeat. I got about 45 good shots out of the first 2 air cartridges, then I left the empty cartridge in and did a bunch of dry firing to try figure out my grip issues. When I tried to remove the cartridge it was stuck HARD. I tried many things, eventually drilling a hole in the exposed end, inserting a screw and pulling like crazy. It finally came out but now I only get about 30 good shots per tank so I suspect that I damaged something.
Since I had to fabricate a pellet trap for the basement, I thought I might as well break out my old favorite pellet rifle from my youth - Gecado Mod 22. Brought back many memories of shooting birds, gophers, many, many tin cans, etc. Found that it still shot pretty well. (this forum inspired me to later take it apart ... another post perhaps).
Next came another Princess Auto buy – what they had listed as a Glock 19 BB pistol – it is actually an Umarex and I am loving it. Many online seem to think that a pellet pistol needs to be a “blow back” gun to be any good. I cannot figure this out. In my opinion blow back/recoil is the annoying part of shooting a semi-auto handgun. I have really enjoyed plinking hundreds of shots with this one.
Enter the squirrels…..
At some point in this adventure we had a number of neighborhood grey squirrels decide that the tree in our back yard had the ideal bark to strip off to build nests with. They have stripped and killed dozens of branches. I have discouraged them with the garden hose but to little result. I bought a live trap and managed to catch a couple, then the others seemed to figure it out and avoid it now. The smaller red squirrels seem to think that it is a game – go in grab the peanut, sit in the box for a few minutes, then the nice man comes out and lets you go….
I do not trust the Gecado to humanely dispatch a squirrel
Enter the rats…
A few years ago we had a rat problem in the neighborhood and I discovered a few burrows around my house. I do not like poison, but after several other failed attempts, I broke down and hired an exterminator to put out bait stations. That seemed to work. Now they are back – I see them come in under the fence from the neighbors to grab some fallen seed at our bird feeder. Surprised that we are seeing them in daylight lately. As much as I dislike rats, I want them killed humanely and the old Gecado does not have enough oomph for me to be confident in a 1 shot, quick kill.
Started reading this forum and looking at a more powerful gun.
I have my PAL so looked at a bunch, my first post to this forum was asking about a quiet (recall my neighbor eager to find ways to make things difficult for me…) and reasonably powerful gun.
Found a used Beeman 1041 listed in this forum – bought it. Neat gun, ok basement shooter, more research tells me it may not have been the best pick since not many good options to increase power. Seems to shoot about as hard as the 50 year old Gecado but the first pellet rifle that I have had with a scope – liking that part.
Then Hobbyman2007 suggested the HW30S from the forum store. Looks awesome, decided to buy one but they are sold out. Was checking for sales at Princess Auto, Cabellas, Can Tire, etc. One day found a Crosman Optimus listed at Princess Auto for $120 – ordered it immediately. Thought I would get it, pop a stronger spring in it and have a 600-700 fps rat stopper. Turns out it was a return and PA did not notice a few issues before repacking it for re-sale. Several other postings likely to follow on this subject.
So for those of you who have read this far, I finally will get to the point:
I am interested in a gun that is basement friendly, but still packs enough punch to humanely dispatch a rat or squirrel at about 15 yards with 1 shot. It must be quiet. I am really enjoying shooting airguns again and I expect that when my indoor range opens up I will take my airgun along or perhaps instead of my powder burners on some days and try it out to the 25 yard max of that range.
Requirements:
Accuracy (I know that I am the biggest factor here – so needs to be something that I am comfortable shooting to minimize my faults).
Quiet
Power – likely 600-800 FPS should do it. Was thinking it had to be .177, but now thinking maybe a .22 is a potential. Reminder, since I see many references in many postings – I have a PAL.
Break barrel – This style has such a place in my heart, other airguns just do not invoke the same feeling as the motion of cocking and loading that is burned into my brain and muscles….
Cost – I initially was thinking $150, then started enjoying air guns again. Was willing to pop $350 for the HW30S but this is likely close to the top end.
The airgun list so far
Daisy ?? lever action bb gun - shot many many bbs as I learned how to shoot as a kid. First gun I remember taking apart to try fix (unsuccessfully). Lost in the mists of time
Slavia 618 - .177 break barrel, handed down to me - likely 60ish years old - recently restored to the point of shooting
Gecado Mod 22 - .177 break barrel – had this one since brand new, likely almost 50 years. Still shoots well.
Crosman 2240 - .22 CO2 pistol
Umarex / Glock19 - .177 BB CO2 pistol
Beeman 1041 - .177 rifle with included 4x scope
Crosman Optimus - .177 rifle with completely useless 4x scope plus wonky open sights.
Rob27