Need suggestions on pellet rifle

SerenityNetworks · December 31, 2012, 07:14 PM

I have a friend at work that is wanting a pellet rifle that he can use as an introduction to rimfires, with his 10 year old boy, and also for practice/plinking when they can't go out shooting the .22. (He's looking at getting either a Marlin 795 or a Ruger 10/22.) I have no experience with modern pellet guns with which I could give any recommendation as to what might be a suitable and useful pellet rifle.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on suitable pellet rifles. For any given price, I have no idea what would be good and what would be junk.

Thanks in advance,
Andrew

BigD_in_FL · December 31, 2012, 08:29 PM

There are several different types and good forums for each.
I have a "springer", which is a break barrel cock on opening spring powered air rifle. Mine is a RWS 34 in .177, running about 1000fps, ( or so they say). These are better, IMO, than the pump guns, but not as good as the pneumatic ones ( or ad expensive).
My gun will kill squirrels at reasonable distances, and with a good scope, is very accurate

shurshot · December 31, 2012, 08:35 PM

Crosman / Benjamin 392 .22 pump air rifle. Classic design, rugged, more than enough power for pests, hunting, etc. and murder on tin soup cans. No Co2's to buy, as the air is free. Takes a bit of muscle, but what boy (or Dad), doesn't want to get stronger and have fun shooting at the same time?

Lemmon · December 31, 2012, 10:26 PM

I have had both the Benjamin and the RWS. They are good pellet rifles with plenty of power to kill squirrels and other pest. I have killed crows with the Benjamin pumpup. With the Benjamin I have killed and eaten hundreds of squirrels. As a kid I worked for my Uncle as the clerk in a country store. Some times I would kill time by shooting the rocks in the dirt road by the old wood frame store. Pure entertainment. A ten year old may have trouble pumping up the Benjamin but it has the accuracy of a 22LR. It did not take long to build up strength to be able to pump it up in no time at all. I got mine at the age of 9 or 10 myself and it was my constant companion pretty much where ever I went. I recently had the old Benjamin rebuilt and it shoots with the same accuracy as it did when I was much younger. I do also have the Benjamins in the modern .177 and .22. Both are good but I always fall back to the Benjamin .177 as my caliber of choice. Cheap to shoot and being a single shot forces you to take time to make the first shot count.

The Benjamin is much lighter than the side crank RWS. The RWS is accurate but not as accurate off hand as the Benjamin.

Lemmon from Rural South Carolina

tuck2 · January 1, 2013, 06:45 AM

I have a Beeman R-1 17 Cal, and Beeman GS 1000 22 Cal spring powered pellet rifles. The spring powered air rifles has a dubble recoil which makes them more difficult to shoot than the old pump up Benjamin, Sheridan, Benjiman Sheridan and the new pump up 17 , 20 and 22 Cal rifles now made by Crosman. I have open sites, peep, and scope sites on my pump up air rifles. My great grand son is now shooting a Crosman Mdl 760 BB air rifles and in a few years when hes 10 years old I ll start having him shoot the more powerfull Crosman C9a 20 Cal pump up rifle. Take a look at the Benjamin Model 392 22 Cal air rifle made by Crosman. There are far more weights and types of 22 Cal pellets . Some pellets are more accurate so try various brand , designes, and weights . The 392 will kill cotten tail rabbits at 35 yards , the more powerfull air rifles are not toys and should handled like any power burnning rifle.

solocam72 · January 1, 2013, 07:49 AM

I had a gammo of some sort (shadow I think?) It was .177 and single shot by breaking the barrel open cocked it, it was a super solid hard hitting pellet rifle and sounded more like a .22, I was shooting those (new at that time) raptor pba pellets. I remember that gun being somewhat hard to cock for a kid though. And if you go with a spring type gun you want to get the best scope rings you can and a scope for air rifles, I thought recoil was mild but they claim its hard on scopes

Chettt · January 1, 2013, 08:08 AM

I love my Sheridan Blue Streak .20. The spring guns I've shot took some real effort to get accurate with because of the weird recoil.

As much as I love my Sheridan, I would suggest your friend buy a used .22 bolt action firearm. You can still find them for less than $100, they are quieter when using CB shorts or Colibri's and more powerful when using high velocity rounds.

hooligan1 · January 1, 2013, 09:22 AM

We have the Gamo "Big Cat" and we like the accuracy and power a lot, we also use those magnum pellets in it, they give nice performance on critters.

OEF-Vet · January 1, 2013, 09:44 AM

I have seen a lot of good air rifles suggested but none take into account the size of the shooter. In order to practice to become a good shooter you must practice good form and the average 10 year old will be stretching to fit an adult size air rifle. I think your friend should buy 2 rifles. 1 for the boy and one for himself. There are some really good deals to be had on factory refurbished air rifles and since the young fellow will grow out of it in a few years i suggest

For the young lad

For Dad

Then they will have a matching set of father son rifles to hit the range with.

Neither of these are top shelf air rifles but for their purpose these will do just fine.

PetahW · January 1, 2013, 07:32 PM

I bought a "Ruger" (yeah) Airhawk break-open .177 that came with both bright fiber-optic open sights and a "Ruger" 4x scope, for $125 at a local BassPro.

I found it to be very accurate with the open sights - so much that I mounted the scope on a .22RF. .

It's a bit hard to break-open/cock, but everything good's worth working for.

.

December 31, 2012, 07:14 PM	#1
SerenityNetworks Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2012 Location: Allen, TX Posts: 416	Need suggestions on pellet rifle I have a friend at work that is wanting a pellet rifle that he can use as an introduction to rimfires, with his 10 year old boy, and also for practice/plinking when they can't go out shooting the .22. (He's looking at getting either a Marlin 795 or a Ruger 10/22.) I have no experience with modern pellet guns with which I could give any recommendation as to what might be a suitable and useful pellet rifle. I'd appreciate any suggestions on suitable pellet rifles. For any given price, I have no idea what would be good and what would be junk. Thanks in advance, Andrew __________________ NRA Life Member There are some ideas so preposterous that only an intellectual will believe them. - Malcolm Muggeridge

December 31, 2012, 10:26 PM	#4
Lemmon Senior Member Join Date: December 25, 2009 Location: Rural South Carolina Posts: 445	Benjamin 177......... I have had both the Benjamin and the RWS. They are good pellet rifles with plenty of power to kill squirrels and other pest. I have killed crows with the Benjamin pumpup. With the Benjamin I have killed and eaten hundreds of squirrels. As a kid I worked for my Uncle as the clerk in a country store. Some times I would kill time by shooting the rocks in the dirt road by the old wood frame store. Pure entertainment. A ten year old may have trouble pumping up the Benjamin but it has the accuracy of a 22LR. It did not take long to build up strength to be able to pump it up in no time at all. I got mine at the age of 9 or 10 myself and it was my constant companion pretty much where ever I went. I recently had the old Benjamin rebuilt and it shoots with the same accuracy as it did when I was much younger. I do also have the Benjamins in the modern .177 and .22. Both are good but I always fall back to the Benjamin .177 as my caliber of choice. Cheap to shoot and being a single shot forces you to take time to make the first shot count. The Benjamin is much lighter than the side crank RWS. The RWS is accurate but not as accurate off hand as the Benjamin. Lemmon from Rural South Carolina

January 1, 2013, 09:22 AM	#8
hooligan1 Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2010 Location: Independence Missouri Posts: 4,586	We have the Gamo "Big Cat" and we like the accuracy and power a lot, we also use those magnum pellets in it, they give nice performance on critters. __________________ Keep your Axe sharp and your powder dry.

January 1, 2013, 09:44 AM	#9
OEF-Vet Senior Member Join Date: October 23, 2011 Location: Backwoods, PA Posts: 284	I have seen a lot of good air rifles suggested but none take into account the size of the shooter. In order to practice to become a good shooter you must practice good form and the average 10 year old will be stretching to fit an adult size air rifle. I think your friend should buy 2 rifles. 1 for the boy and one for himself. There are some really good deals to be had on factory refurbished air rifles and since the young fellow will grow out of it in a few years i suggest For the young lad For Dad Then they will have a matching set of father son rifles to hit the range with. Neither of these are top shelf air rifles but for their purpose these will do just fine. __________________ Jim "If a man does his best, what else is there?" - General George S. Patton Jr

December 31, 2012, 08:29 PM	#2
BigD_in_FL Junior member Join Date: December 20, 2012 Location: The "Gunshine State" Posts: 1,981	There are several different types and good forums for each. I have a "springer", which is a break barrel cock on opening spring powered air rifle. Mine is a RWS 34 in .177, running about 1000fps, ( or so they say). These are better, IMO, than the pump guns, but not as good as the pneumatic ones ( or ad expensive). My gun will kill squirrels at reasonable distances, and with a good scope, is very accurate

December 31, 2012, 08:35 PM	#3
shurshot Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2006 Posts: 1,819	Crosman / Benjamin 392 .22 pump air rifle. Classic design, rugged, more than enough power for pests, hunting, etc. and murder on tin soup cans. No Co2's to buy, as the air is free. Takes a bit of muscle, but what boy (or Dad), doesn't want to get stronger and have fun shooting at the same time?

January 1, 2013, 06:45 AM	#5
tuck2 Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2007 Posts: 208	I have a Beeman R-1 17 Cal, and Beeman GS 1000 22 Cal spring powered pellet rifles. The spring powered air rifles has a dubble recoil which makes them more difficult to shoot than the old pump up Benjamin, Sheridan, Benjiman Sheridan and the new pump up 17 , 20 and 22 Cal rifles now made by Crosman. I have open sites, peep, and scope sites on my pump up air rifles. My great grand son is now shooting a Crosman Mdl 760 BB air rifles and in a few years when hes 10 years old I ll start having him shoot the more powerfull Crosman C9a 20 Cal pump up rifle. Take a look at the Benjamin Model 392 22 Cal air rifle made by Crosman. There are far more weights and types of 22 Cal pellets . Some pellets are more accurate so try various brand , designes, and weights . The 392 will kill cotten tail rabbits at 35 yards , the more powerfull air rifles are not toys and should handled like any power burnning rifle.

January 1, 2013, 07:49 AM	#6
solocam72 Senior Member Join Date: December 15, 2012 Location: Great Northwest Posts: 222	I had a gammo of some sort (shadow I think?) It was .177 and single shot by breaking the barrel open cocked it, it was a super solid hard hitting pellet rifle and sounded more like a .22, I was shooting those (new at that time) raptor pba pellets. I remember that gun being somewhat hard to cock for a kid though. And if you go with a spring type gun you want to get the best scope rings you can and a scope for air rifles, I thought recoil was mild but they claim its hard on scopes

January 1, 2013, 08:08 AM	#7
Chettt Senior Member Join Date: September 30, 2006 Posts: 238	I love my Sheridan Blue Streak .20. The spring guns I've shot took some real effort to get accurate with because of the weird recoil. As much as I love my Sheridan, I would suggest your friend buy a used .22 bolt action firearm. You can still find them for less than $100, they are quieter when using CB shorts or Colibri's and more powerful when using high velocity rounds.

January 1, 2013, 07:32 PM	#10
PetahW Senior Member Join Date: September 19, 2008 Posts: 4,678	I bought a "Ruger" (yeah) Airhawk break-open .177 that came with both bright fiber-optic open sights and a "Ruger" 4x scope, for $125 at a local BassPro. I found it to be very accurate with the open sights - so much that I mounted the scope on a .22RF. . It's a bit hard to break-open/cock, but everything good's worth working for. .