Air Gun Home :: View topic - Requesting help choosing my first "adult airgun"

Smaug · Member

"adult airgun" sounds so funny to me. Like it should have porn scenes painted on the stock or something..."

Hi guys. I'm a new member and would appreciate some tips on choosing my first good rifle. The first rifle I shot as a kid was the Daisy 880. Later, as a teen, I had a Crosman 760 Pumpmaster. Now, I have my brother's Crosman 66 Powermaster. I'm looking to get my first "adult airgun"

Here's my situation: I'm a shooting and firearms enthusiast. Among my gun collection, I have a couple 22s that I really like. (Marlin 60 and Ruger 77/22) My goal is to be able to have the same fun with an airgun as I do with my 22s, and maybe even expand on it. I'd use the airgun for informal target shooting and plinking mostly. But one day, when we live in a place with more space, I'd also like to be able to hunt and shoot animated targets in the back yard.

I'm pretty sure I either want a spring gun or gas piston gun. The first thing I'm having a hard time deciding is what level of power I need. For now, an accurate low power airgun would be adequate; I'm not hunting anything or shooting pest animals. But I don't want to pigeonhole myself later unnecessarily. For instance, what if I need to shoot a squirrel, bird, or raccoon, and I've only got a .177 caliber, 500 fps gun, and it is in city limits so using the 22 is illegal? Is this too much "what-iffing?" Should I just buy what I need now, and not worry about it?

Am I better off with a .177 cal., 600 fps shot to the head on a pest with the more accurate airgun, or with a magnum class .22 moving at 900 fps, but with less accuracy, due to the recoil?

Practically speaking, how much cheaper is .177 ammo? Is ammo cost even worth considering?

What lessons have you guys learned in purchasing airguns that you can pass on to me?

I was originally thinking I'd get a $100 airgun. But after reading up on them and seeing that better triggers, fit, finish, and accuracy can be had, I'm prepared to spend up to $600 when I do buy something.

Am I being silly, thinking I can do everything with one airgun? Should I get the accurate, affordable 600 fps .177 plinker now, and worry about bigger animals only later? Or should I get an accurate mid-range gun? Not 1100 fps high power, but more than 600 too?

rsterne · Moderator

Raccoons with an airgun are questionable unless you have a PCP putting out about 30 FPE.... I know that they have been taken by perfect shots to the fusebox with medium powered .177s.... but I'd never try it.... too much chance of the wounded 'coon attacking you....

For squirrels or most birds either caliber will work.... but I always prefer a .22 cal for hunting.... I would recommend you start with a "medium" powered springer (or gas ram) that shoots in the 850 fps range in .177 or ~680 fps in .22 cal.... I'm talking with "normal" weight lead pellets and real world results, not hyped up manufacturers claims.... Most springers that are rated 1000-1100 fps in .177 will shoot ~850ish.... and in .22 cal the ones advertised at ~900 fps are ~680ish.... The great thing about guns in this power range is that they have enough power to do the job and yet don't kick like a mule, destroying scopes and causing excess accuracy problems.... Yes, you'll still have to learn how to shoot a springer.... but at least you have a chance of mastering it with a gun in that power range....

The best quality gun you can get in that power range is a Weihrauch HW95.... Another excellent German made gun would be the RWS Diana 34.... There are Chinese clones of both for less money as well....

Bob

SMP · Silver Status Member

Wow that's a big list of what if's.

It sounds like you have been reading so many reviews and opinions that you've lost sight of what you really want in the first place.

I would not be afraid to buy a $100 springer to start out with as long as you buy a proven platform. I have both quests and phantoms that will perform very very well. Both of them can put 5 shots in 3/4" at 50m. They are very fun to shoot and fun to work on. The quest will fire .177 Premiers at 900fps all day and the Phantom throws .22 Premiers at 720fps. Because it's the same platform the energy is roughly the same between the two at the muzzle. With a 900 fps quest I would not hesitate to take any small vermin but I don't know if a raccoon is really appropriate with any springer. Using the 1.5 fpe per pound you would be looking at 30fpe and that is a lot to ask from springers...there are a few though.

Of course a .22 will carry more energy to a target but this is only important if your real aim is to hunt at some fairly decent distances. I prefer .22 but most formal and informal target shooting is done in .177 and .22 is frequently not allowed. Just something to bear in mind. And .177 is really easy to find when you need to restock the ammo box.

If you want to be a one gun shooter then the RWS Diana 48 or 54 that you were asking about are simply impeccable rifles. It would be hard to argue that. And the accuracy with the right pellet would be deadly guaranteed.

And just a quick note on gas rams. They are not quieter from the muzzle perspective. The shooter doesn't hear the spring but anyone in the sound cone of the muzzle would say it's actually louder. I have two identical phantoms. One is spring driven one has a gas ram. They both shoot 720fps with 14.3gr premiers. The gas ram sounds lets out a much louder sharper crack

HTH's

edit 1 fpe to 1.5 fpe

Jr. Squirreler · Veteran Member

You could look into the Crosman Venom Dusk. It is lightweight, Nirto Piston Powered, and only shoots 1000fps. The accuracy is superior!

sniper · Silver Status Member

If you're letting go of $600 and want a break barrel- HW-95/R-9GF.
With a solid one piece mount and good scope it won't let you down.

Bob and I both have B-26's (HW/R-9 chinese clones).

I have a thread not yet concluded on my B-26. It's crapping out around 7000 rounds. Crying or Very sad

To do over again the real thing woulda' been my choice.

That being said, the real deal is my next break barrel.

.22 of course.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

I'd go for the German one. If you can afford the HW95 you'll find less to get used to, the Diana 34 can be a bit of a trick to shoot. Learn shooting it with the artillery hold and you'll might find yourself a hobby of a lifetime. Wink

one shot · Member

dobiman · Veteran Member

Look up the HW77. Fine air rifle for the price.

oddtodd · Silver Status Member

My personal fave isn't a springer, it's a crosman 2400 custom. I got all the bells and whistles with mine so it ended up costing about 200 bucks. I love mine, but springers is what I shoot when it's wintertime because frankly CO2 is useless below about 55 degrees and I live in ohio. My main wintertime gun is a beeman RS2. I also have a storm, but the RS2 fits me better. I wish CO2s were good at low temps because that's about the most stable platform at less than PCP prices.

PCP is nice if you have the money to buy all the toys and whistles along with it like a shoebox pump, SCBA tank and all the toys, but pumping it up by hand sucks out loud with purpose for me. I refuse. lol I had a discovery but I sold it like 3 weeks after I bought it because it just wasn't worth it so me to pump for a half hour for a measly 30 shots. I am not in the best of shape which is one of the many reasons I am on disability, so PCP is out for me, both in effort plus time spent on getting everything ready. I would honestly throw in the towel on airgunning and buy a 22lr if PCPs were the only options.

Every type has it's pluses and minuses, but my advice is think about what you would mostly want it for and buy it for that. If you just want a paper puncher to play with, a storm or quest in the 100 to 125 range is fine. if you want to hunt with it in the wintertime, a springer from around 250 to 300 is good. if you only want a summertime pest gun, which is what I bought my 2400 for will run you between 200 to 300 dollars. a cheap PCP which does everything well starts at 400 for the barest basics to a grand or more if you want an electric pump, scuba tank and a small field fill bottle.

Personally, if I was starting out again, I would buy a nice midpriced german springer and decide from there. It's really easy to spend a lot of money quick buying the wrong thing in this sport, but if you buy a crosman springer to try your hand with, you won't be out much if you can't seem to get the hang of the artillery hold. Then you can decide better where to go from there.

Some guys can get the artillery hold in 20 minutes, others can take months to learn it. It took me about a week, and I still get flyers occasionally after a year, but it doesn't happen nearly as much as it used to. You can read from my list what I own and it has always worked for me. If it didn't work I got rid of it. Ignore the pistols though. I am a lousy shot with any kind of pistol but they are fun to play with even though my 10 year old son can outshoot me with one. Cool

one shot · Member

Odd, are there small electric pumps with necessary fittings available to attach to the PCP guns where you could those instead of the laborious manual pumps? For example I have a small electric pump to air up my inflatable kayak since it took forever with manual pumps but I wouldn't know if I there are fittings available where I could attach a PCP gun to it.

WhitleyStu · Veteran Member

oddtodd · Silver Status Member

jimineecricket · Member

I love the pcp they shoot very well and have a lot of versitility I have a carbon tank $750 and a shoe box compressor $450 and a sumatra500 $500 and I can shoot in my back yard in a town of 15000 people quitely on low power and have amazing accuracy and enough power to take out bunnies or squirels out to 75 yards. Or I can turn it up and shoot 70+ FPE and hunt coons or coyotes or any other medium sized vermin Smile

I was holding dime sized 6 shot groups all day long with jsbs on low power at 75 yasrs and 50 yards YES DIME SIZED. I was simply amazed at how accurate this gun is. You can dial up 13 different setting in the point .22 version. I can get it to shoot a variety of pellets well from crossman premiers to barracudas eujins or polymags to name a few. Plus it has iron sites which are nice and it is a 6 shot repeater. I get 70 plus shots on low and 18 to 24 on high. It is a fun gun!! Anyhow it is just a thought I have several pcp and like them all. The disco is nice and affordable and pumping it aint bad plus you can run it on co2 which would only cast $500 for the gun and everything you need to run it on co2 I really liked mine plus hand pumping to 2000 is a breeze for me, my marrauder in .25 was nicer love the repeaters it is nice to have a follow up shot hunting right at your dissposal. I have had springers and they are all good fact is I would like 1 nice springer yet but PCP is by far nicer for hunting and plinking im my opinion. I guess lastly you get what you pay. I dont like the cheaper guns I enjoy shooting alot more tuning. anyhow just my thoughts.

justsayno · Member

ODd todd, I followed his link... 4500 psi. seems plenty to me... Great link...

I run my Nitrogen tank to a hyd cylinder, one side only, base side. Fill it at 1k give or take.. 10k enerpac strokes it back, (check valve) and pushes it into my Daystate..

If i would have seen shoe box.. I'd buy it at that price.

Smaug · Member

I wound up getting a Crosman 1377 and a Stoeger X20.

Just broke in the X20 this past weekend. Need to clean the bore now and try it again for groups.

The best ones I shot after a couple hundred rounds of cheapo Crosman Premier HP pellets was probably 1-1/4" @ 25 yards. Seems like it should do better, but I can't blame the gun yet, hehehe. For one thing, I've only got the 3-9x40 scope on it, and for another thing, the heavy trigger may have prevented top accuracy.

I'm ordering a GRTIII trigger for it in the next couple days, and we'll see how it goes.

I'm really liking the 1377 for an indoor gun. I'm too cheap to buy CO2.