Xmas Air Rifle

Ruger Air Hawk

It doesnt have stopping power but I can kill all the small game I need and ammo is cheap and takes up very little space.

Obviously you must have weapons with real stopping power. But in SITX I would use this gun to kill anything I could. Save the high powered ammo for when its needed.

If gun powder ammo comes in short supply, this weapon could become incredibly valuable. I think with some practice I could make my own ammo as long as i had some lead.

These high powered air rifles are capable of taking out most smaller animals if you are a good shot.

I have a Gamo Shadow-matic, it fires at ~850-1000fps.

I am able to take small game with it and is quite reliable, even though the forend is duct-taped on.

You are absolutely right, when ammo is short, airguns are definitly the next best thing, if only you could make your own pellets.

reply to post by iamcamouflage


Another good thing about this air rifle is that from a distance someone might not be able to tell whether you have an air rifle or something more powerful. So it could still have some intimidation factor as long as you dont "fire" it. Most people will only see that you are carrying a weapon and wont mess with you.

Although I will say this air rifle is louder than most, it will not be mistaken for an actual rifle. It being quieter than a powder rifle is also an advantage so that you could hunt and also keep yourself hidden. I could kill rabbits, squirrels and fowl all day and remain quiet.

reply to post by iamcamouflage


My nephew bought his son an 'age appropriate' air gun, it looked like a real shotgun, and shoots plastic bb's out of it. It is now in 200 pieces and then burned to smithereens. His son shot their just a little older than one year old ( out of warranty) hdtv.

Originally posted by GrOuNd_ZeRo
I have a Gamo Shadow-matic, it fires at ~850-1000fps.

I am able to take small game with it and is quite reliable, even though the forend is duct-taped on.

You are absolutely right, when ammo is short, airguns are definitly the next best thing, if only you could make your own pellets.

Well its not impossible and I think if you had the mold, and the extra lead, you could pull this off with very little in the way of equipment. Buy/build a mold for pellets, have a container suitable for melting lead, gloves or a handle for grabbing this container and the lead could probably be melted in a fire if you get it hot enough. Pour melted lead into mold, allow to cool and presto.


My only concern with making pellets is the lead exposure from melting and handling lead. Here is a DIY on how to make your own pellets.

Link

Don't you have to have CO2 cartridges too? Lead does melt easily and you could make molds for your pellets. I think this would be valuable for small game in a sitx. Might even keep the rat population from eating your leg off while you sleep

Now that you got yourself a Red Ryder (you're gonna shoot your eye out), you are going to need some of these:

Armor piercing pellets:www.metacafe.com...

Incendiary pellets: www.metacafe.com...

Poison pellets: www.metacafe.com...

Explosive pellets: www.metacafe.com...

Tracer pellets: www.metacafe.com...

Fragmentation pellets: www.metacafe.com...

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Nope, no CO2 carts and no pumping 20 times. These newer air rifles use a one cock system. The barrel breaks and folds over to expose the chamber. This is what pressurizes the system. Very few parts to break. The weak spot I would guess is probably any of the seals that keep it pressurized.

Originally posted by 12GaugePermissionSlip
Now that you got yourself a Red Ryder (you're gonna shoot your eye out), you are going to need some of these:

Armor piercing pellets:www.metacafe.com...

Incendiary pellets: www.metacafe.com...

Poison pellets: www.metacafe.com...

Explosive pellets: www.metacafe.com...

Tracer pellets: www.metacafe.com...

Fragmentation pellets: www.metacafe.com...

Nice links, thanks a lot.

check these out most powerful ive ever seen blew a dogs leg into one time with a pellet for trying to attack my puppy at the time

www.airgunsbbguns.com...

I have the crossman storm xt, pretty nice wally world spring powered pellet puffer

very accurate with the right pellets ie more expensive

then for shooting multiple pellets there is my mossberg 8 shot cruiser

for the hollow pointed pellets a glock 20 - 10mm

and for the long range pellets a stag arms ar-15

reply to post by watcher73


Agreed on the ammo. The standard flat head pellets are not very accurate. I have found that the round tipped pellets are probably the most accurate. Hollow points do a surprising amount of damage for an air rifle but they are not accurate at all.

This gun is ideal for under 50yds and probably best used in the 20-40 yd range. But its not that difficult to get that close to most small game.

I have found that the HP pellets are more accurate "esp crow magnums" than the rounded or pointed styles, I think it is like the HP rounds in high powered real guns, it creates an air void and seems to be more accurate, at least for me any ways. My next choice in pellets is the meisterklugen flat nose "blue tin" heavyer pellet "yellow tin" lighter recomended for pistols usually.
But my ole gun is an anschutz sp? 1972 olympic rifle, the ones the guys use in cross courty skiing and time shooting.

The papers in the box from the manufacturer gauranty it to be accurate within .03" @ 25 meters, its slow by modern standards 750FPS
has a 24x lyman scope on it, side cocking lever, my grandfather brought it back from germany.

But I still like my benjamin pnuematic 6 pumps and it will swack anything really really hard, has killed many 10-15 pound critters.
Its also amazingly accurate, starlings out to 50 yds are a sure hit.

I ordered some of those high dollar .44 cal pellets, and use a 209 shot gun shell primer and shoot them out of my muzzle loader, relying only on the primer for the charge...no powder required.
Great fun, for basement target plinking on a rainy day. shooting into phone books "no penetration" the pellets are seemingly re-usable for at least 50 shots or more, I know I have shot mine that many times and they are still good to go.

I am looking at big bore air rifles.

Some of these fire pellets or round ball up to 20 mm
common ones are .45 to .50 calber.
www.youtube.com...

These type air rifle have been around since the late 1700s when they were a feared weapon of the Austrian military.

www.youtube.com...
www.youtube.com...

www.beemans.net...

Some of the modern big bore air rifles
www.youtube.com...
www.airgundepot.com...
www.quackenbushairguns.com...
www.adventuresinairguns.com...

These big bore air rifles are a good long term survival weapon as you can cast your own pellets/balls they need no powder, primers.
Once you have your setup the government can not cut the supplies you need to use them.
In most cases the government will not even know you have them as they are not registered restricted or even classed classed as firearms.(US government)

I am in the process of building one of my own design based on a weapon build for use by a Austrian partisan group to knock off Germans during WW2

reply to post by ANNED


Old diving air tanks and a regulator, muzzle loading barrels are plentifull and cheap, all you need is the quick release trigger valve assy.
You can play with many calibers and pressures and grains of projectiles.

Using a .125" steel tube with another one welded/soldered into place about 120 degrees away from the exiting end of tube...precision is a must...
you can gravity feed BB's from a hopper type funnel at around 60 rounds per second, if using an argon tank"big one" you could fire lots and lots of ammo continually. Still need regulator and lots of caution/attention.
Most tanks are around 3000PSI and will do bad things to you and or your equip. if not regulated!

Sorry to keep posting odd stuff like this, I just get excited with anything that has the ablity to launch anything big, small, fast, numorous etc...etc...

Some of the early snipers 17-1800's got as much as 3000 PSI from foot powered bladder pumps, I think the French excelled at this but my history is a bit rusty.

Most tanks are around 3000PSI and will do bad things to you and or your equip. if not regulated!

All of the high power big bore air rifles use 3000 psi. without a regulator that is the driving pressure on the projectile.
www.quackenbushairguns.com...

reply to post by ANNED


Yes I understand, but you need to look @ it from my point, my stuff is not store bought or made for those kind of pressures, so to exercise extreme caution is an understatment in my experiments.

I have read about and seen a few of these air guns"cheetah come to mind", but thats just way too much $$ for me to spend on something I can do on my own.
Yes I understand I can't match the quality or accuracy of the big cal air rifles but I have no need for an air rifle of that caliber of manufacturing.
I'm just playing around.

Yes I would love to own one!
But in practicallity, needind to pack around a large air cylinder for a big bore air gun is just not high on my list of practical needs.

OK guys...

I need advice from you experts

I own a TON of guns, but no Air Rifles..

I want to buy one..

I want to buy the best one I can get for the price..

Let's see some suggestions..

I'm looking for one that shoots as accurate as possible, as far as possible and good for small game...

I plan on scoping it and going for ultimate accuracy..

Semper

reply to post by semperfortis


I have shot many small cal. air guns and IMHO the single cocking guns are not a good accurate choice, unless the side cocking style is more accurate than the break barrel ones..I think it comes from heat in the compression chamber.

I found on my RWS model48 that if I shoot it over and over waiting 30 seconds between shots its deadly accuarate, but....if you pick it up cold and carry it hunting and have not shot it to warm it up the first shot or two seem to wonder off, 2-3 inchs.

So I had to make a choice, to site it in as a cold sighted one shot type style.
Sight it in over a few days shoot it once every 2 hours and make adjustments as needed for a single shot "cold" gun.
If you go with this method of sighhting your limited to losing accuracy if multiple shots are made.

Same thing with my Sheriden model 7 hits different point of aim if gun is required to hit for the 1st shot

My Anshutz does not seem to have this issue, but it is a side cocking lever, with a fixed barrel and weighs 12 lbs...RWS makes a comparable model 54 I think. Its not as heavy as the Anshutz.

But hands down I will take my all brass Bejamin pump up pnuematic, 6 pumps is around 800FPS I have a scope on it and birds squirrels and anything within 50-60 yds is food on my table.
It was my fathers, and besides a new set of o-rings 5 years ago its never faulted in over 30 years.
The same gun, all brass, same specs and all is still sold to this day, the parts on my sons 2008 benjamin will interchange with my 1970's one.
I think that says a lot to still make the same gun for that long and change nothing...but thats just my opinion.

Don't fall for the big FPS guns either, do a little research on the grain of pellet and the FPS most pellets are between 7-9 grains "in the .177" and overpowering them loses accuracy worse than anything IMHO.

Pellets can be easily crafted from wood or twigs.

I shoot wooden kitchen matches from my air rifle. I have killed squirrel using matches as ammo.

Put them in head first. Shoot them into a tree or a soft target it wont fully penetrate. The matches light from the friction of leaving the barrel and stick into the target lit! Lots of fun.



[edit on 16-1-2010 by craig732]