Air Rifles for Practice

[MMH]

I want to get an air rifle for practice. For me and my 10 year old boy! We will both get much more trigger time in the back yard than going to the range.

Wanting to spend as little as possible but want to get something good enough to get some good practice with. Looking mostly at Gamo (because of their marketing or availability???). I can get a Gamo Big Cat for $150 or so. The Whisper is supposidly 50% quieter & has a 3x-9x scope instead of a 4x, but is $250. Is it worth it?

I'm not locked in on Gamo, so if anybody has other suggestions, I'm all ears.

[imperialism2024]

For $150, why not just go for a .22 rifle?

ETA: Er, perhaps your municipality has regulations against it... but I'd also look into the regulations on the discharge of air rifles, as well.

[ReconLdr]

You can pick up a Daisy 880/881 or a Crossman 760 for less than $50. Either will work very well for practice. You could set up your basement or attic as a range and shoot there. I used to shoot competive air rifle/pistol and practiced for hours in my basement.

[Suburban]

Industry QB 78, 79, or the target version of it. . . if you don't mind buying Chinese. It's a copy of long discontinued Crosman model. The adjustable triggers are pretty nice.

http://bestairgun.stores.yahoo.net/rifles.html (warning, contains pictures of scantily clad women)

Fun Supply www.funsupply.com seems to be kaput, and I don't see them on the Compasseco website anymore. There's probably a few more places online to get these rifles.

The high-powered spring piston air rifles, like Gamo, are not the easiest to shoot well, they tear up scopes, and if you are just punching holes in paper, you don't need anywhere near that much power.

[Dredly]

I have the Gamo CFX, my dad has the Gamo Hunter and my mom has another gamo, not sure which model.

All shoot well, and yes it is similar to practing with a .22 but much much less lethal for shooting in residential areas. I shoot mine off my back porch all summer into a 3/4" piece of plywood and no issues at all.

With my CFX and hte right pellet I can shoot about a 1/2 - 3/4" group at 30 yards with 3/4" being the norm

The pellet guns feel very much like a "real" rifle (.22 or otherwise) with similar weight and techniue being needed. The recoil is different but everything else is very similar.

oh and ammo is cheap as dirt!

** If your kid will be shooting it as well and it is only going to be target practice you may want to look for a lower velocity rifle as they are normally easier to pump. I really like the CFX for this as it has a rod underneath the barrel (The barrel itself doesn't move). After shooting 30 - 40 shots one day my wife developed a nasty bruise from shooting the Gamo Hunter she was breaking it across her legs because it was to difficult to pump otherwise. she has no issue with mine due to how it operates

[nfafan]

I'd almost suggest airsoft, but accuracy is not their strong suit given that you are shooting a hopefully perfectly round .20G 6mm resin BB out of a smooth bore and at best; at 400-500FPS. Wind also plays a HUGE factor beyond say 15 feet.

If you wanted .22LR-like accuracy out to say, 100 feet or more - your into some really serious cash in the world of airsoft.

[Delcoadvocate]

My cousin just picked up the Gamo Whisper and I got to play with a few weeks ago.

1st off, it is not kid friendly. Kids will have touble working the break barrel action. You are getting 1200 fps (advertised) out of one "pump" so the compression is hard for kids to overcome.

2nd, it is not all that quiet.

3rd, the scop and rings that come on it are as cheap as cheap gets, and kept "spinning" off center, no matter what we did to it. The crosshairs kept rotating to about 30 degrees off from horizontal/vertical. For an air rifle with little to no recoil, that should not be happening.

I had a Crosman 760 as a kid, and after 30 years of shooting it, had to throw it away. All of teh plastic joints had finally worn beyond safely using it, or giving us "accurate enough" shot placement.

The new ones have even MORE plastic on them but all NEW metal ones can be found on the internet for a bit more, but still well within your price range.

Daisy and Crossman both market different models through Remington and Winchester. Nice rifles, just be careful though of the length. Some are not sized for youth. The 760 was a nice short rifle that I got when I was 6.

The rifle that I got my 6 year old a couple of years ago, the Remington "pump" is STILL too long for him. But it's comfy and fun for me.

[Karl/PA]

Got my Beeman at Wally World for around $120. It comes with two barrels, a .22 and a .177 and receiver mounted scope. Lots less chipmunks around here now. Recommend it highly.



BEEMAN RS-1
Like getting 2 rifles for the price of one! Includes .177 caliber and .22 caliber barrels. Each Beeman RS1 has a red fiber optic front sight and green fiber optic rear (fully adjustable). The Beeman 4×32 scope will help get the most accuracy possible from the gun. Everything fits neatly inside the included soft carrying case. Velcro tie-down straps secure the barrels, gun, scope & rings to stop things from shifting during transport.

Max velocity in .177 is 1000 fps, and in .22 it’s 830 fps. You could use this rifle for plinking, small game hunting, shooting cans and just plain fun!
When you change barrels, you MUST sight-in the gun again! It will not shoot to the same aim point, even if you sighted-in the barrel when swapping it previously. Every barrel switch requires a new sight-in session.


Specifications

* Loudness: 3-Medium
* Weight: 6.90 lbs
* Overall Length: 45.50″
* Capacity: 1 round(s)
* Cocking Effort:31 lbs
* Barrel: Rifled
* Front Sight: Fiber Optic
* Rear Sight: Fiber Optic
* Scopeable: 11mm dovetail
* Trigger adj.: Two-stage non-adjustable
* Apprx. Trigger Pull: 3.50 lbs
* Buttplate: Rubber
* Suggested for: Small game hunting/plinking
* Action: Break barrel
* Powerplant: Spring-piston
* Safety: Automatic
* Repeater: No/Single-shot

[Spishack357]

Look into CZ and RWS pellet rifles. They are top quality and both use the single pump break barrel design. Get something decent, pass it on...

[aubie515]

Look into CZ and RWS pellet rifles. They are top quality and both use the single pump break barrel design. Get something decent, pass it on...

I could not have said it better. RWS is a good air rifle for $200. Nothing wrong with trying to save money, but why waste money on junk. Quality tends to last much longer than junk products.

ETA: Gamo tends to be considered trash in the air rifle community.