Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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Make sure you check local laws. I can't fire one of those in my yard here. I considered one during the last 22LR drought/panic, though.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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senorgrand wrote:I paced my side yard -- 60' long and it goes into a 6' high berm.
If there's no local restrictions against it, I'd say you're good to go for a backyard pellet range :)

Reactive targets can also be fun for pellets. As a kid I used to use these old circular stove covers that my mom didn't need anymore. They were originally coated in some sort of ceramic which quickly wore off, but I'd spray paint them every so often.

Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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So, I looked-up "artillery hold." That sucks because I was thinking I could practice shooting with a sling, which you apparently can't do with a springer.

So, I either need an affordable PCP/pump setup or a good multi-pump rifle if I'm going to shoot with a sling.
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Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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Just learn to shoot it without a sling. I think you’re a huge dude and all the weight in a springer is in the stock. Learn the modified freestyle sitting position. It’s super accurate, no sling required and if you tighten up your grip works really well for powder burners, too. A very good position in the field. Look up Field Target Shooting.
'Sorry stupid people but there are some definite disadvantages to being stupid."

-John Cleese

Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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I "confiscated" a .177 Gamo Silver Shadow 1000 springer air rifle from my dad late last year. I cleaned it up and zeroed the iron sights when I got it home, mostly because it bothers me to have any type of firearm in the house that has not been recently zeroed, even an air rifle. I was impressed by the consistent accuracy. I also quickly realized that a .177 pellet at 1000 fps is no joke. At the time I thought: why shoot an air rifle when I can shoot my real rifles at the range any time I want?

I dusted off the Gamo on Sunday and did some careful shooting for accuracy. Maximum available distance of my set up is 75 feet, and I was getting okay results with the iron sights. The 3-9 x 32 air rifle scope I ordered arrived yesterday and I got it mounted last night. Apparently the recoil pulse of powerful air rifles can mess up a scope made for use on rifles, so make sure any optic you purchase is rated for air rifles. Weather permitting, I hope to get the scope dialed in this afternoon.

https://www.pyramydair.com/article/Gamo ... ly_2007/43

The Gamo Shadow is no longer in production, but I believe they have something similar in their current line up. It's a barrel break model which actually requires a bit of force to cock it. Keep in mind for this type of air rifle if you have issues with wrist or shoulder.

Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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Like many things, if I have one, I have several. Might I suggest going in a different direction for your first one? A Daisy Buck could be had before the lockdown for under $20. You can get something on Amazon now for $25. You can't hunt with it, but it's a lever action or pump action repeater. I made a reactive target with a big box and hung a bunch of aluminum cans from the top on a piece of string. It's amazing how fast you can cut a can in half with a BB gun.

I have three Bucks, although two are getting loaned out today to people who need backyard recreation.

I also have a Crosman pump pistol .177 (600fps) which is pretty cool. A Daisy Powerline 856 (670fps) and a Crosman Nitro Piston rifle (about 1000fps). The recommendations here are all from people way more knowledgeable than I am. Those airguns are much nicer than anything I have.

However, if you want to plink, a cheap BB repeater is hard to beat. I had to dig out the other guns just now to check the models, but the Daisy Buck lives right next to my office desk, where I can shoot it daily. In fact, I think I'll shoot it now.

Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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Think about what you want to do with it. If Gilt-edged accuracy is important, then this is going to be very expensive. I have a pair of .177 Walthers, top of the line accuracy air rifles from the 1970s, and still very good today. I have had back-yard pest control problems. and a scoped .177 RWS 34 was absolutely fabulous on hundreds of squirrels and pigeons, some rabbits and one skunk, but have a really good backstop. The 34 was not match accurate, but it never missed a squirrel or pigeon. There are lots of relatively cheap entry level airguns available. Take a look at what is available on the Pyramid Air website.

The Chinese have made a lot of copies of European designs, some of them high-end. There are several importers who specialize in reworking them for better performance.

Give some thought what you will use as a backstop. The metal ones make a lot of noise. I eventually built a (sort-of) silent trap, using duct seal in a steel box, giving a "splat", instead of a "clang". My dogs are much less bothered by it.

Be careful about the airguns with integral silencers. Michigan law used to make silencers illegal on airguns also. I don't know what California law is.

Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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I made a pellet gun backstop this weekend from scrap wood, an old Corian cutting board, and some odds and ends I had lying around. That's an 8.5 x 11 size paper target mounted on the face plate with push pins. The replaceable face plate is made from a piece of corrugated plastic cut from an old yard sign, then covered with black duct tape on both sides. The tape is necessary to keep the fragments of plastic from scattering everywhere as the face plate gets hit by high velocity pellets. The angled cutting board absorbs the impact and deflects the projectiles. The cutting board is allowed to move freely and flex back against a wedge of foam rubber behind it. I added some wads of fiber fill in the hollow area behind the board to help dampen sound. Spent pellets fall to the bottom of the interior recess where they can be swept up and collected periodically. My previous backstop was a cardboard box stuffed with magazines and scrap wood, but that was not sustainable because there was no way to retrieve the lead pellets for proper disposal.

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Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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I have an AirForce Talon but once in a while I'll look longingly at a Benjamin Marauder (.22). I tell myself one of these days when I am consistently shooting my air rifles again, I'll buy one :)

. . . this is an old thread and I am just shamelessly padding my post count to 10 :)

Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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My recommendation of an air rifle to do most everything would be a Diana Model 34, and in .177. I bought one 25 years ago when they were imported by RWS, and shot it a great deal, with complete satisfaction. I bought a high quality telescopic sight for it, and proceeded to shoot hundreds of squirrels and pigeons with it, and the occasional skunk. Most of them were shot at ranges of 20 yards and less, and all DRT. Most were shot with wasp-waisted flat point target pellets. I gave it to my daughter several years ago, and it soldiers on. I recently replaced it with the same model, which now has a replaceable barrel.

The rifle is easy to work on, if anything ever gets out of order. Maintenance is minimal. Accuracy is excellent.

Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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I never understood how a “break-barrel” air rifle could keep zero (well enough to hunt small varmints) when the glass is mounted to the rifle and the barrel moves on a swivel. I mean the damn thing is designed to move after all.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: Air Rifle Suggestions

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Mine is a Browning (Umarex) Leverage in .22. After tuning a bit, It needs heavy pellets to stay subsonic. It already did, but now they have to be heavier...
Jim

"What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves." Robert Anton Wilson
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