Simple .22 or .25 caliber Air Rifle for hunting.

[Andy54Hawken]

So while reading a different thread I saw a link which stated that it is legal to hunt grouse in Washington with a air rifle.
The caliber of the rifle needs to be .22 or .25 .

I have been wanting to get a air rifle for a bit now...but held off , since I couldn't hunt with it...now I can...

I also have been thinking of getting a break barrel spring piston air rifle....without breaking the bank.
Something in the $300 or less range would be nice...I ain't adverse to buying used...so what do I look for in that regard...?
Knowing that this is a very deep rabbit hole ...any suggestions for a simple air rifle to hunt grouse and other small game with ?
Thanks
Andy

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[ilikegunspdx]

So while reading a different thread I saw a link which stated that it is legal to hunt grouse in Washington with a air rifle.
The caliber of the rifle needs to be .22 or .25 .

I have been wanting to get a air rifle for a bit now...but held off , since I couldn't hunt with it...now I can...

I also have been thinking of getting a break barrel spring piston air rifle....without breaking the bank.
Something in the $300 or less range would be nice...I ain't adverse to buying used...so what do I look for in that regard...?
Knowing that this is a very deep rabbit hole ...any suggestions for a simple air rifle to hunt grouse and other small game with ?
Thanks
Andy

Having owned many different break barrel, co2, and a couple pcp guns I would say go for pcp. Break barrels simply do not have the accuracy unless you are talking air arms or other very high end ones. pcp offers WAY more consistency Imo. I would venture that if you talk to experienced air gunners most will say they moved away from break barrels to pcp (that includes me ha ha).

Ideally get a good barrel such as lothar Walther choked barrel and find pellets it likes would be my suggestion. Often people find jsb exact or h&n field target/trophy (available in very slightly different diameters) to be what their gun likes.

Benjamin marauder can be found for $300 used pretty easily (I think there is one in nfa ads right now but may not still be there). A Walmart pump for around $58 is what I would do for air supply. Mine hasn't needed service despite used for many years. Issue with marauder rifle though is it is a big, heavy gun. I have pistol version of marauder with folding stock that I prefer for hunting. Have taken about 2000-2500 pests with it over the years. As a data point for pellets mine likes jsb exact jumbo heavy, field target trophy copper plated the best. I often find the heavier pellets for that caliber in dome shape work the best although mine likes h&n sniper light too.

If you check out renos pcp post in the airguns section there was a recommendation for hatsan flashpup at $400 so that may be an option. Field supply often has low prices or clearance or refurbs on hatsan airguns fwiw. I have no experience with hatsan but people seem to
Like them from what I can tell.

Hatsan | Field Supply

www.fieldsupply.com

Also a YouTube channel I highly recommend for airgun hunting is tedsholdover. He has some review videos too but mostly shooting pigeons etc. most YouTube airgun reviews are not worth anything Imo as people are either too praiseworthy and not critical enough or simply not experienced enough. Gateway to airguns forum has some good advice also.

Almost forgot tko makes suppressors for many different airguns (I'm sure there are other makers out there) which to me are very valuable for hunting purposes. They can transform a loud gun into really quiet for low cost. Also suggest not going for overpowered guns. Even a well made gun at too high power will lose a lot of accuracy. Only the really high end guns can deliver accurately at high power Imo.

Funny I used to have a lothar Walther barreled .177 co2 pistol that people would say is underpowered for fox squirrels (about 5 fpe as I recall?). That's because they are used to taking body shots to get a decent hit. That little thing was so accurate you could put it in the ear hole or soft pallet behind chin every single time. Accuracy is everything when it comes to airguns imo. And it's not that hard to get an accurate .22 or .25 with more than enough power without getting into the overpowered and less accurate guns. All imo.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Thank you for that @ilikegunspdx
Gives me some more to think about for sure.
Andy

 

[NobullSKS]

Backyard fun just last night
I haven't invested in any serious air rifles and this is the best Big5 special I've ever shot. Even against Ruger
Right out of the box I was excited couple years ago.

Hatsan.Airtact .25 springer with 4 power……. And super lightweight

30 yards 2" targets standing after RE zero for these pellets a few I'd consider same hole back to back shots

I guess if you have money to spare after $135 you can only go up right?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Thank you for that @NobullSKS
Andy

 

[Alexx1401]

Looking at the results from that Hatsan NobullSKS put up above I don't know how you could really ask for more? That is some impressive groups. Years ago when I was having a problem with rats since dogs had gotten too old to run them off I almost bought a Gammo Swarm in .22. Looking at youtube several video showed them turning in accuracy that impressed hell out of me for something that was around $150.
Now of course since I have tried a PCP? I would never go back
They are just too damn nice. There are several to be had in .22 for sub $300. Again looking at video they seem capable of accuracy FAR better than I would have ever expected. The best part of the PCP's, any of them, is they are just too much damn fun too. The first PCP I bought is the one Sig imports and puts their name on. Looks and feels a lot like an AR and is semi with 30 round mags. They are around $300. With the fast follow up shots something like this would be great for ground birds.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

@Alexx1401
Thank you for that.
Andy

 

[Andy54Hawken]

After looking around a bit....
I think I am going to give up on this idea.

Some good rifles and suggestions for sure...so thank you.

It's the rifles that are out there ...none of them in that price range ( $300 ) really look good to me.
As in actually how the rifle looks...
Not into synthetic stocks or plastic front sights.
Or the , for lack of a better word "futuristic" / Science Fiction rifle look.

The Diana 350 has the look I like...but beyond my budget.


Thank you for all the replies.
Andy

 

[Alexx1401]

After looking around a bit....
I think I am going to give up on this idea.

Some good rifles and suggestions for sure...so thank you.

It's the rifles that are out there ...none of them in that price range ( $300 ) really look good to me.
As in actually how the rifle looks...
Not into synthetic stocks or plastic front sights.
Or the , for lack of a better word "futuristic" / Science Fiction rifle look.

The Diana 350 has the look I like...but beyond my budget.


Thank you for all the replies.
Andy

Given your love of the old style guns wonder if anyone makes a copy of that one Lewis and Clark carried? Be right up your alley.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Given your love of the old style guns wonder if anyone makes a copy of that one Lewis and Clark carried? Be right up your alley.

You would think so However.....

I don't think that Lewis' s air rifle was all that and a bag of chips....Lewis did , that is for sure.
I just ain't convinced that other folks saw it the same way he did.
Andy

 

[bivy53]

Andy,
don't be so quick to give up. Although I am a big advocate for the pcp world, seeing as you are a flintlock shooter, a piston gun may be right up your alley. They shooting techniques are quite similar. Just don't fall for the high velocity hype. Most common pellets start to become very unstable as they approach 900fps or so. A .22 caliber airgun at 830-880fps will most times give you the best accuracy and still deliver plenty of power out to 50yds for about any small game. So will a .177, which will penetrate heavy feathers better. British air gunners are limited to <12fpe which equates to speeds closer to 700fps or so, and they kill rabbits easily out to 50.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Given your love of the old style guns wonder if anyone makes a copy of that one Lewis and Clark carried? Be right up your alley.

That was a pcp gun so it took a century to "refind" that technology ha ha. Actually it used same pressure as most current pcp guns and some modern guns have incorporated a removable bottle into the stock (but not AS the stock, that I'm aware of).

I think for traditional looks there are only springers that I'm aware of (though it seems like Seneca made some lever action pcp guns but I don't recall). Air arms being the traditional high quality "gentleman's" British air gun. I have just never had enough accuracy with any springer to recommend one on good conscience. I understand the groups shown above would be acceptable for most but I would want as close to same hole accuracy as I could get. That little $150ish lothar crosman pistol Fe it would make one hole shots (I don't mean a ragged hole, I mean one hole the size of a pellet) indefinitely if you do your part and take time in between shots so as no temp effect on the co2, and also select only pellets with perfect skirts.

So choice for Andy seems to be, from my perspective, is to see if there is a traditional style springer with acceptable accuracy, or go for a pcp gun with wood stock such as marauder rifle and live with the looks. I actually don't think marauder rifle Fe looks worse than air arms tx200 and the air arms is about as traditional as you can get. But appearance is a personal preference thing of course. There are quite a lot of springer wood stock traditional looking guns out there, the question would be what level of accuracy is acceptable and cost to get that.

All just my 2 cents.

 

[powermad]

More than a couple to choose from here.

.22 Caliber PCP Air Rifles

I Have the Best .22 Caliber Pre-Charged Pneumatic Air Rifle for Any Purpose that You can Think of!

topairgun.com

You'll either need a fill tank or your own compressor for PCP guns.
They have portable ones that can be used with AC or DC voltage.
The hand pump does not look fun to me.

 

[Joe13]

Older Marlin 60 .22lr $200 or less and no mods or whatnot needed.

Dunno if that's on topic but i would take that over anything other then a much more expensive air gun setup.

Unless things have changed, air gun and firearm discharge is treated the same as far as when and where you can use one.

 

[powermad]

Unless things have changed, air gun and firearm discharge is treated the same as far as when and where you can use one.

That's what kept me from diving in.
I don't get to shoot regular rifles as much as I would like due to lack of places to go lately.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Older Marlin 60 .22lr $200 or less and no mods or whatnot needed.

Dunno if that's on topic but i would take that over anything other then a much more expensive air gun setup.

Unless things have changed, air gun and firearm discharge is treated the same as far as when and where you can use one.

.22 with good ammo is a blast. For me reason for air gun is can be used in areas where it's less comfortable than using a .22 and that's really about it.

One thing about airguns is the massive drop with distance and the huge susceptibility to winds. So it does increase the challenge for what that's worth. Let's say you were a long distance shooter with a high power rifle. You have to calculate holdover and adjustment for wind at long range. With an airgun the same amount of holdover/adjustment can happen at pretty short ranges. At 100 yards it almost becomes an art form ha ha. Quite satisfying to get those long range airgun shots. So that part is kind of unique due to the lower power airgun vs 22 and also due to the Diabolo shape of the pellets which makes them lose energy fast compared to bullets. I'm not saying airguns are more effective at all, just different.

Some guys even use huge slugs to hunt boar or other game with them. Check out this 275 lb boar getting taken out. Big bore airguns are catching on. Quite different shooting a 700 fpe big bore vs 5-15 fpe .22 I would guess.

 

[Alexx1401]

Older Marlin 60 .22lr $200 or less and no mods or whatnot needed.

Dunno if that's on topic but i would take that over anything other then a much more expensive air gun setup.

Unless things have changed, air gun and firearm discharge is treated the same as far as when and where you can use one.

The law here where I live is like that, they consider both air and powder the same. Many decades ago when I found this out it was pre net and I had no damn clue they had done this.
As for me I got my first PCP since I could use it in the home. Still not legal but, they are never going to know and it works great. Now the next one I am getting is really off the deep end price wise. I could buy a couple nice Ruger .22's and a lot of ammo for what I paid for it.
Difference is its select fire, .30 caliber, and I will be able to shoot in where I live and none of the neighbors will even know what I am doing. I could get to the part of shooting on my place here with any of my .22's but I would need to buy a can for them. That of course adds a bit to cost and still of course no select fire.
Still I am sure many who know me are going to roll their eye's at it when they hear what I paid for the damn thing. Also expect they will be grinning ear to ear when they get to try it out here. Especially at select fire. Believe me not long ago I would have never believed I would spend this much damn money on a damn air rifle. I also just spent over 2K getting one of my dogs teeth fixed.
Never would have believed myself capable of that a few years ago either. Hope that damn mutt knows how special she is
Edit:
Buddy of mine who knows what I am about to do sent me some info. Turns out I can set up to shoot this on the property I live on since I am no longer in the city. Only "violation" would be noise. So if I was to start popping rounds with powder guns with no can I would suspect get a "visit". With the air rifle no. Happy days!

 

[Alexx1401]

.22 with good ammo is a blast. For me reason for air gun is can be used in areas where it's less comfortable than using a .22 and that's really about it.

One thing about airguns is the massive drop with distance and the huge susceptibility to winds. So it does increase the challenge for what that's worth. Let's say you were a long distance shooter with a high power rifle. You have to calculate holdover and adjustment for wind at like 800-1000 yards or whatever. With an airgun the same amount of projectile movement can happen at maybe 50 yards. At 100 yards it almost becomes an art form ha ha. Quite satisfying to get those long range shots. So that part is kind of unique due to the lower power airgun vs 22 and also due to the Diabolo shape of the pellets which makes them lose energy fast compared to bullets. I'm not saying airguns are more effective at all, just different.

Some guys even use huge slugs to hunt boar or other game with them. Check out this 275 lb boar getting taken out. Big bore airguns are catching on. Quite different shooting a 700 fpe big bore vs 5-15 fpe .22 I would guess.

DAMN!!!

 

[Spitpatch]

Darn it, @Andy54Hawken ! You were gonna be my guinea pig for exploring a decent air rifle (.25 cal)!

My old pump-up Benjamin (that has killed more critters than all my other guns put together) just isn't enough to scratch the itch after I shot a Rock Chuck at 90 yds with a loaned .30 caliber air gun.

I had a RWS 52 (breaker) for a while, but I like the pcp concept better.

 

[Member 34319]

Andy I recently started a similar thread. Thus far everything I got in that thread is pointing towards the Air Venturi Avenger for price to precision. It is right at your price point. I appreciate the wooden stock and I imagine you might as well.

Air Venturi Avenger Regulated PCP Air Rifle w/ Wood Stock – Air Venturi. The power of air.

www.airventuri.com

Yes this is not a break action, but I think you are a lot like me when it comes to hiking. Err I mean walking around in the woods to be in the woods, but with a gun just in case a bird pops up. You might like the idea of a quick second chance shot with the pre-charged pneumatic too. I know it's on my mind.

I used to slay pigeons in my NV neighborhood with a break action RWS and if you don't like the idea of a PCP those are really nice. Folks in my thread also said to keep an eye out for Walther barreled air guns over other options.