New air rifle….

[Panhandler80]

So i thought i had found a 22 pcp air rifle that fit the budget and came well reviewed. Then research indicated what a PITA the manual pumps are. Looked into bottles and/or compressor and suddenly the required paraphernalia and increased cost made whole proposition less appealing. So looking at orthotics options. Have a springer (.177 Diana / RWS) that really slings them, but I’ve never been very accurate with it.

Been reading that gas pistons pretty quiet, but lack of fixed barrels reduce accuracy.

Of greatest importance is accuracy and noise level. Hence the initial PCP consideration. If going a different route is there any particular manufacturer And model you all might recommend?

 

[yfarm]

Bought a chinese single pump rifle at a gun show for $19.99. Chinese scope for $9.99. Squirrel killer, taught a son to shoot rifles with it. Still works well 30 yrs later

 

[Southern Lights]

Air Arms TX200 spring air if you can swing it. Accurate, quiet, extremely well built. Shrouded barrel is quiet.

I have one in .22 shooting GTO lead free pellets at 850fps and puts down rabbits with head shots like lightning.

I looked at PCP rifles as well, but like you point out they need lots of support accessories. So unless you are shooting a lot of rounds, it may not be worth it. Just depends on what you want to do. I would not use manual pumps as you should be shooting dry air like you get from a proper scuba shop. The manual pumps will pump in moist air and can damage the rifle over time. So you need to add a proper scuba tank and fill costs into the PCP as well or buy a home electric pump which again is expensive.

Air Arms TX200 MkIII | Small Game Hunter | Pyramyd AIR

We've got a great price on the Air Arms TX200 MkIII Air Rifle. Get a great price and expert advice at Pyramyd for your next outdoor adventure!

www.pyramydair.com

 

[Panhandler80]

Air Arms TX200 spring air if you can swing it. Accurate, quiet, extremely well built. Shrouded barrel is quiet.

I have one in .22 shooting GTO lead free pellets at 850fps and puts down rabbits with head shots like lightning.

I looked at PCP rifles as well, but like you point out they need lots of support accessories. So unless you are shooting a lot of rounds, it may not be worth it. Just depends on what you want to do. I would not use manual pumps as you should be shooting dry air like you get from a proper scuba shop. The manual pumps will pump in moist air and can damage the rifle over time. So you need to add a proper scuba tank and fill costs into the PCP as well or buy a home electric pump which again is expensive.

Air Arms TX200 MkIII | Small Game Hunter | Pyramyd AIR

We've got a great price on the Air Arms TX200 MkIII Air Rifle. Get a great price and expert advice at Pyramyd for your next outdoor adventure!

www.pyramydair.com

Thanks. And i don’t think a standard scuba tank even works. Have to buy one that is good to like 4,500 psi, but I could be wrong. If I’m correct then I couldn’t even us a larger dive tank (which i have) to fill the new PCP bottle cuz i think dive tanks stop at 3,000. Again could be wrong. . Was already aware of the humidity in air. Saw some Mickey Mouse in line vapor filters you can get form the manual pump, but that’s about when I said enough is enough with all this ancillary stuff.

I’ll take a look at gun you referenced. Was just a bit worried about consistency with the spring design. Have read over time it simply WILL happen due to nature of design. I can live with that, but also a lot of talk of them being loud (my old RWS sure is) and even losing consistency if cocked for long time.

Will look though. Thanks!

 

[Southern Lights]

The Air Arms TX200 is very consistent because the charging lever is under the barrel, not the barrel itself like a break-barrel design. The rifle is used by air rifle field shooters to win championships so it is very consistent.

I don't leave mine cocked though and wouldn't advise that. I did order a spare spring kit to have on hand but have not needed it yet. De-cocking is a bit of a trick as you need pull the charging lever back, then pull the trigger, and release the safety ratchet while slowly letting the lever forward. You'll see what I mean if you get one.

The shrouded barrel is extremely quiet. I'm not going to say silent, but not an obvious noise. The pellet impacting the target stop makes more noise than the shot itself.

 

[jzeblaz]

I have an AirArms 410 Xtra I got used many years ago. It's a bit large and heavy to carry in the field, but it's accurate as hell and has taken many rabbits, squirrels and a few turkeys. I did invest in a SCUBA (carbon) tank with a buddy after using the bike pump style for many years. Mine is 22 and shoots under the sound barrier (no crack), but I've heard some models at the range that are dead silent.

 

[LeftyWilbury]

what's your price range?
and what are you trying to do with it?

I've had/have a few springers. Beeman R9 in .20 from the 90s. Sig ASP in .177 (sadly sold the .22 ASP to a buddy before I found out they discontinued them). Had a .22 Gamo gas piston Whisper or somethin like that.
Have a .22 Benjamin Marauder PCP that I fill up with a Hatsan Spark compressor.
And a bunch of CO2 and pneumatics....

Beeman R9 is the softest, quietest of the bunch, probably the most accurate too. But it's seen a lot of tins of pellets and got a tune around 1999. 760 fps .20 round nose pellet at 25 yards is barely acceptable for taking out squirrels. But lots of fun to ding a steel target. Easy to cock, smooth, legendary trigger. Cost me $500 back in 1997 with a bushnell scope mounted.

The Sig ASP's are beasts. Amazing accuracy, solid power, great trigger. Terrible shame Sig stopped making them. Gas piston so you could theoretically leave it cocked as opposed to a springer. Pretty loud though, because they're beasts. Sig even made a decent 4-12x40 scope for em.

The Marauder is just fun. Mostly because I can just rack the bolt and hit my target and repeat for ten shots and throw another mag in there and keep going. Think I can get 40 solid shots before I run the compressor again. Can't recall if it's all that loud, but I've been shooting it in a basement and haven't noticed it.

I would totally not discount a break-barrel springer, they've served me well for practice and knocking down squirrels. But air guns like most things are you get what you pay for. The $150 gamo was as powerful as the Sigs, but the trigger was garbage, accuracy was unimpressive, and the optic they sell it with wasn't even worth using as a halloween costume. When I buy airguns I expect to pay at least $500, hopefully with an optic but usually not. Speaking of optics, the problem with spring/gas pistons is you have to use a scope that's rated for such airguns. The multi-direction recoil of the piston slamming the column of air our a little hole dismantles firearm scopes. That said, it's totally possible to get a $200 chinese springer and have a hell of a good time with it. Just depends on your expectations and needs.

 

[Panhandler80]

what's your price range?
and what are you trying to do with it?

I've had/have a few springers. Beeman R9 in .20 from the 90s. Sig ASP in .177 (sadly sold the .22 ASP to a buddy before I found out they discontinued them). Had a .22 Gamo gas piston Whisper or somethin like that.
Have a .22 Benjamin Marauder PCP that I fill up with a Hatsan Spark compressor.
And a bunch of CO2 and pneumatics....

Beeman R9 is the softest, quietest of the bunch, probably the most accurate too. But it's seen a lot of tins of pellets and got a tune around 1999. 760 fps .20 round nose pellet at 25 yards is barely acceptable for taking out squirrels. But lots of fun to ding a steel target. Easy to cock, smooth, legendary trigger. Cost me $500 back in 1997 with a bushnell scope mounted.

The Sig ASP's are beasts. Amazing accuracy, solid power, great trigger. Terrible shame Sig stopped making them. Gas piston so you could theoretically leave it cocked as opposed to a springer. Pretty loud though, because they're beasts. Sig even made a decent 4-12x40 scope for em.

The Marauder is just fun. Mostly because I can just rack the bolt and hit my target and repeat for ten shots and throw another mag in there and keep going. Think I can get 40 solid shots before I run the compressor again. Can't recall if it's all that loud, but I've been shooting it in a basement and haven't noticed it.

I would totally not discount a break-barrel springer, they've served me well for practice and knocking down squirrels. But air guns like most things are you get what you pay for. The $150 gamo was as powerful as the Sigs, but the trigger was garbage, accuracy was unimpressive, and the optic they sell it with wasn't even worth using as a halloween costume. When I buy airguns I expect to pay at least $500, hopefully with an optic but usually not. Speaking of optics, the problem with spring/gas pistons is you have to use a scope that's rated for such airguns. The multi-direction recoil of the piston slamming the column of air our a little hole dismantles firearm scopes. That said, it's totally possible to get a $200 chinese springer and have a hell of a good time with it. Just depends on your expectations and needs.

Looking pretty hard at the Stoeger XM1 Ranger. It’s a PCP. Would be pest control / fun, and just plinking. It’s a 250cc air tank which should be good for 40
Shots. Thinking about that and an affordable compressor to begin with. Can pick up light carbon high pressure refill tank later. Understood on double recoil with springer chewing through scopes.

Well shall see. I’m on again / off again with whole prospect. The Stoeger has a lot of high end features and I’ve heard a lot of first hand praises from folks with lots of guns 2x+ the price. 5 year warranty, regulated, two metal magazines, shrouded barrel that’s threaded, very accurate, light enough to hunt with.

 

[Panhandler80]

Leaning pretty hard towards the Stoeger Ranger. Checks a lot of boxes. Not sure if 250 or 300cc, but dead nuts accuracy With 5 year warranty with regulator. Ugly gun, but whatever. $350 ain’t bad. Don’t like main tank gauge being inline with muzzle…. Just feels creepy, but other than that, it seems like a very economical accurate shooter with lots of tuning to be done.

This is not the combo. I’ll need to buy my own moderator and scope. And that’s fine. Everybody knows what you get with any combo…. Be it a gun, a boat, a fishing rod, etc.

I think I will skip a carbon tank to carry around for now. Probably get a semi cheap compressor. Just load the gun at the house and see how much I use it. If I fall in love with it, maybe get a small carbon high-pressure tank.If