choosing a break barrel air rifle.

[J.O.B]

Lets just say that todays air guns are not your dads old bb gun. they are more powerful, much more accurite, ... and more expensive. I will start by saying that they're still not a .223. and most shots should be within a 100 yards. However I feel more comfortable inside 50-60 and head shots most of the time
the first thing you need to choose is caliber. Now a lot of this has to do with the power level of the gun you choose but I will do my best to explain it. In general you are going to find that 177 has almost nothing going for it in terms of killing power or terminal performance. i did hunt with a 177 for about 3 years and did kill quite a few rabbits, squirrels, possums, and coons. if you want a .177 I would go with a Crosman valiant .177. should have the power for fox sized animals with headshots out to 50 yards.
now we start getting into the more legit calibers. its time to start thinking about what your doing with the gun. it is important to note that the minimum fpe required to consistently kill predators is 25 foot pound of energy. I live in central Texas so we have a lot of brushy woods but also some open areas but I normally hunt close in the woods, so that would be my criteria for picking an air rifle. I like .25 cal for close in because the velocity is in lower so it would drop more on long shots. also the bigger pellet packs more of a wallop than the .22 cal pellets do. these are some of my favorite .25s. Gamo magnum gr, Hatsan 135 carnivore, and the Bejamin trail np xl magnum.
Now for .22. .22 can do everything. you can get pellets as light as .177 with more head diameter for more impact than .177 and the same velocity. or you can get pellets as heavy as 25 cal pellets and get more penetration than a .25 because its the same amount of wheight with less diameter. there are many good .22 cal guns but here are some favorites. Gamo magnum gr .22, Gamo swarm magnum gen 3i, Hatsan 135 carnivore. Hatsan 125 vortex. most guns can be found at airgundepot.com. the Gamo guns can be found on gamousa.com. as far as pellets go in .22 I want at least 16 grain but I really like 18 grain + depending on the gun and critter your shooting at. I have found minimal difference in terminal performance between domed and hollowpiont pellets.

I went with the Gamo magnum gr .22

good hunting

 

[J.O.B]

Thought it would be good to mention that most of my shots while predator calling are inside of 30 yards!

 

[AWS]

Great info, thanks.. I keep a little scoped .177 behind the door for garden raiders so far the largest critter is a ground squirrel. Nothing fancy, a Gamo Raptor Whisper 1300 fps.

 

[hunt0168]

I’ve got a Gamo Swarm 2nd Gen 22 cal. Got it after a friend passed and his wife wanted me to have it. I played around a bit with it but not much. I kinda like my guns that go bang or boom better! Lol.

 

[J.O.B]

swarm magnum is definatly powerful enough for up to coyotes with a good headshot out to about 75 yards. Same power level as my Gamo magnum gr .22

I’ve got a Gamo Swarm 2nd Gen 22 cal. Got it after a friend passed and his wife wanted me to have it. I played around a bit with it but not much. I kinda like my guns that go bang or boom better! Lol.

 

[hm1996]

No doubt you have done your homework on air rifles and their attributes and have demonstrated their effectiveness in the field. Very good information to help others interested in air guns. Thanks for sharing.

As a youngster, I grew up with a Benjamin pump but switched to .22 rimfire without exploring air rifles as you have. Many years later, while shooting NRA highpower competition, took up .22 rimfire rifle competition. The switch was very humbling, which only air rifle and RF can teach you, and the value of follow through quickly became obvious. The air guns can be an extremely valuable training tool in improving marksmanship.

No longer having an indoor range to shoot RF, I set up an air gun backstop in my shop; IIRC the range was approximately 35' or so and an engineer friend of mine photographically reduced the NRA 200 yard SR target appropriately for the shorter range. The SR target 7" 10 ring became .120" and all other rings appeared proportional to the SR target @ 200 yards. The resulting scores closely approximated my 200 yard scores. Since 99% of my points were dropped in the 200 yard standing stage of the matches, that was where I needed practice and the shop range w/.177 cal. RWS , under lever fitted w/sights similar to my match rifle quickly revealed my problem was not following through after the trigger broke and was invaluable in bringing my offhand scores up to par. Another advantage of the air gun was the quite audible report and noticeable recoil which, while much less than the 30-06, did help simulate firing a centerfire rifle better than a pump or C02 rifle.

Was never capable of cleaning the offhand stage but did get into the upper 90's, an improvement of an average of 7-8 points/match due to the RWS.

Then, when flocks of nuisance birds raided my avocado tree, threatening to destroy the entire crop one year, the .177 came out. Practicing on nail heads in my fence, about 40' from supported positions, when I could count on 100% touching the head of a #8 nail, I started picking off the birds. Longest shot was across my back yard and the neighbor's, estimated range 140'. Biggest obstacle, being in the city, was catching the birds directly in front of a larger limb to serve as a safe backstop and then being able to see the critter through the iron sights. That ship too has now sailed, however, sigh.