Well…none of the other forums came close…so I thought I’d ask this here.
Since I have not seen 22LR ammo in going on 3.5 months…I have thought about selling a few of my “lesser” 22 rifles and getting one nice pellet rifle. 177 and even 22 pellets seem to be everywhere and not hard to find at all. Also…plenty cheap.
I was wondering if any of the 250 dollar or under pellet rifles are worth owning. Anyone have one of the Gamo or other pellet rifles?
I was wanting this mainly for short range plinking and maybe squirrels or raccoons at 25-35 yards. Things my cheapo 22s USED to do back in the good ol’ days when you could find 22LR ammo.
Anyone recommend an air rifle in the 250 dollar range? Several websites have Gamo and others in the 200-250 range (some with 4X scopes) but honestly…I do not know anyone that has one. The Gamo Big Cat looks interesting for the price.
Any advice on this…as well as an answer to the 22 vs 177 caliber pellet question would be appreciated.
My relatives have all manner of cheaper (sub $200) pellet guns and they clear out the squirrels quite well to 30 yards. It’s more shooter dependent than anything else, like most things.
It is a different shooting experience, pellet vs 22LR IMO - but for squirrel control it works well. I have a cheap pump pellet pistol and have tagged a couple squirrels from 10-15 yds and scared quite a few beyond that as well.
Glad I stocked up on 22 last ammo craze, when there was plenty to go around. Still shooting it and have 10K to go.
I would steer clear of Gamo. You’re better off with a pneumatic over a spring piston. Even a cheapo crosman multi-pump will give you better results than a Gamo. A little better than crosman is a Benjamin pneumatic.
Personally, I own PCP’s (AirArms and FX) but that’s far above your budget. And with PCP’s you need the supporting equipment, but if you want something “good” a PCP is the only way to go. I primarily shoot .22 JSB Exacts in all my guns.
One thing you have to understand about spring piston airguns like the gamo is they recoil differently than a powderburner so you cannot just put any scope on them. A PCP or pneumatic (pump-type) does not have the same scope limitations so you can use any scope you want that fits, although you might want to use one that can adjust for parallax at the distances you will be shooting.
If you’re going to be shooting squirrels etc. then IMO you’re better off with a .22 pellet gun. I’ve shot many vermin with .177 over the years but a .22 is more effective for that task.
Buy .177 unless you step up to a precharged pneumatic, then go .22
I have match air rifles, several European precharged pneumatics, Benjamin and Sheridan customized pump guns and a bunch of springers. They are a blast to shoot.
Keeps the yen and yang in harmony. Full auto one day, Airguns the next.
I recently found my old Beeman C1 w/blue ribbon scope in my parents garage. She’s in rough shape after 30 years but hope to begin the rebuild/refurbish soon. She’ll have to wait until I finish my AR though, LOL.
Yup, been a member there for years. Preoccupied with “stuff” so I don’t post much as of late. I jump on there occasionally to see if yrrah has done more amazing long range shooting or to see what’s going on.
Tryed a Gamo once took it back after 5 shots and bought the old Benjamin .22 air rifle, not what they used to be but still packs a punch. I was shocked at the power.
THIS SUPPRESSED STOEGER air rifle has been talking to me lately. We have a squirrel problem around Casa JV but I’d have to be awfully discreet about assassinating them since there are other houses around who might get irritated about unsuppressed high-power air rifle firing…
If you want a very quiet yet powerful Air rifle, look into a FX Whisper.
Made in Sweden, very quiet with an integral shroud. It is a precharged pneumatic, so you need a tank of N2 or scuba tank. High pressure hand pumps are available, I use 4000# N2, one charge is good for 15 to 20 shots.
I have one in .22, it has a rotary magazine that works well. It will easily kill squirrels and most small game.
Be wary of claims of spring piston 22s claiming to shoot 1000fps or 177 at 1200fps. I’ve shot many a pellet gun over my chrony and my FX Cyclone barely gets to 1000fps with 16gr 22cal JSB’s.
I picked up a custom Ben Taylor Cyclone at Airguns of Arizona many moons ago. It and a DayState Mk3 I got used from AOA resulted in becoming hooked on Field Target shooting. Just reading these posts will result in digging the field targets out of the closet this weekend.
The last I saw he moved his round stone target thingy out to like 300 yards. But yeah, his sub-MOA 100 yard groups are pretty damn good.
I usually shot 50 yards because the range I used to go to was exposed to gusty winds a lot. From 50 yards .2"ctc 5 shot groups were pretty easy with sand bags. I tried 100 yards once but could only manage 1.5"ctc with 5 shots. I used to work too much to be picky about what day I could go to the range, LOL.
