DavidD.

My brother and I have recently taken up hunting squirrels and varmints with Air Rifles. I just bought a cheap-o one to try out and I loved that I could hunt in my own back yard (5 acres), and ammo was cheap. I am looking to pick up a nice air rifle now. .22 caliber, with a scope. I'm looking to spend between $150-$300, but will pay more for superior quality. Does anyone here get a kick out of hunting with Air Guns? My brother and I are planning a little weekend camping trip soon, and I'd like a new gun to try out!

goatbrother

If your really serious take a look at this new Crosman.

http://www.crosman.com/airguns/rifles/pcp/BPE3571LE

A .357 caliber rifle that shoots a 175 grain polymer tipped Nosler bullet at 800 fps. Watch the video where they kill a hog with it, awsome.

scottycoyote

the 357 might be a tad much for squirrels, but the big bore airgun stuff is cool. I doubt i will ever own one but you never know.

You might want to check out yellow network or gateway airguns for airgun talk, bunch of guys on there who know their stuff.

I just recently bought a benjamin discovery in 22 that i absolutely love, awesome accuracy and plenty of killing power on small game. Its a pcp gun, which you pump up, and it makes an excellent entry level pcp gun (got mine ordered thru walmart at xmas time for 299, that included the pump(which runs you about $150 new).

You can get a nice spring or piston rifle for your price range, but now that ive gotten into pcp's i dont think ill ever buy another spring loaded gun again.

DavidD.

I picked up a Remington Black Magic .177. I wanted a .22, but I really liked the Black Magic and it was deadly accurate out of the box!

Sheridan

Isn't Gamo still the best ??

http://www.gamousa.com/rifles.aspx

scottycoyote

i dont think gamos have ever been considered "the best", but they used to be a decent springer back when they were made in england by bsa. There for awhile the quality really dropped off when they moved the manufacturing to spain, but i think theyve improved the last few years. Most of your really good springers are made by rws, Feinwerkbau, beeman, etc....although you can pay 300 up to several thousand for these.

hbf1031

Benjamin Marauder pcp. best hunting gun i have ever used. it comes in .177, .22, and .25. its around 500 dollars. or for break barrel the benjamin trail xl .22 is nice

scottycoyote

i got the benjamin discovery and i love it. I might go with the marauder pistol next, was thinking it would be cool to backpack it in when deer hunting and use it to pick off squirrels and rabbits.

MNDan

Why do you guys prefer loud, high maintenance air rifles to a .22 shooting deadly quiet CB Shorts? Just curious - the CB shorts are way quieter, more powerful, and i can load up my Marlin 39A with over 20 of em and shoot them as fast as I can work the lever...

scottycoyote

i woudlnt consider them high maintenance, especially the new pcp's. I use shorts and subsonics in 22's on occasion, but my discovery groups at 25 yards like a high dollar rimfire bench rifle. Hard to explain, you either get bitten by the bug or you dont i guess, its just neat to be able to go out and take small game at 50 and 75 yards with a silent air rifle.