.22 air rifle advice please.

manbearpig

manbearpig

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editing this post since the 2289 steel breech thing kindof sent me off in another direction:

i am looking for an air rifle for my mom to control pests around the house. shes not doing too well with my Weihrauch HW45 because its a pretty heavy pistol, so id ideally like to get a rifle, and preferably one that i can scope.

originally i was looking at getting a Crosman 2289 backpacker, modding it with a steel breech and valve mod and installing a compact rimfire scope for her. but by the time i buy the 2289, steel breech, tax, shipping, etc im over $150 - more likely $200 after i add a few other mods, and it will still be a plastic, somewhat flimsy pump airgun. im thinking it might be a better idea to just buy something better to begin with.

id like it to be .22LR, and as powerful as possible (below 495fps). preferably made of metal, with solid scope mounting options. im thinking that a traditional spring piston air rifle might be better for her. does something like this even exist for under $200?
how bad/good is the Crosman Phantom? the .22 is advertised as 495fps. but there are reports of it being really hard to break - having to slap it against something to break the barrel. if my mom cant break the barrel its useless for her. how is scope mounting on these? is the receiver railed? are the receiver/barrel all metal?

any help appreciated, thanks!
 
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ive bought from D&L airgun before, but their prices are a bit out of whack.
case in point: they are an airgun dealer and sell the backpacker itself for $100 whereas its $80 regular price at lebarons :rolleyes:

just how bad is the factory plastic breech, and the factory sights?
i wanted the steel breach because i have some rimfire scopes laying around and figure they would help her shoot it accurately. im not too confident in the typical plastic sub-$200 airgun sights. i dont want to mess around with the crosman 'scope mounts' for the gun because they look like an absolute joke. but $60 ($40+tax and shipping) for a steel breech for an $80 air rifle is ridiculous.

*edited my original post.
 
Factory sights are ok, but nothing special.

Look for a used one on the Crosman forum or the Canadian Aiguns forum. Or get a 1322 and buy a used shoulder stock and assemble the equivalent of the 2289 Backpacker model.

The older Crosman guns are a bargain, and easy to fix. Crosman was fond of 'parts bin engineering', assembling new models out of the parts already on hand, so the parts from newer guns, still in production, can often be used on the older ones. Seals are usually common O rings, and a guy with a little sense can figure out how to get them apart and back together without too much trouble.

Spring guns? Try to hook up on a used lower end German or European made gun like an HW or Weirauch. Consult the D&L site for details, look for the ones that are not detuned so much to meet the 499 fps. The ones that are detuned a lot, are larger, in general. But the German made guns are very smooth, well made, and your grandkids will be able to shoot them when they come along. The Crosman springers are made pretty cheap. Good value, but rough around the edges, sorta like a Norinco.

The CZ rifles are somewhat rough, but cheaper than the German stuff too. (530/531 models)

My best suggestion is to do some research and shop used, unless time is of the essence.

Cheers
Trev
 
thanks.
time isnt really of the essence (well, to a point - she is complaining to me daily that pests are destroying her garden and shed. i could go and shoot them myself but i swear whenever they hear my car roll up the driveway every critter within 1000 square meters goes into hiding), but theres something to be said for just picking something up in a store as opposed to spending days searching out a deal, paying for shipping, and potentially getting an air rifle thats a dud and having to pay/waste time tuning it up/repairing it/replacing parts.

if money was no object id buy another weihrauch and set that up for her, but its a pretty expensive investment for a non-gun enthusiast that just needs to cull pests.

the Crosman Phantom has the specs i need (.22, rifle, 475-495 FPS) but im really unsure of the quality. you cant exactly start pulling them out of boxes and cocking them at Canadian Tire. im just worried ill get another flimsy underpowered plastic POS like most department store air rifles.

surely theres some middle ground between the $300-500 Dianas and Weihrauchs and the $100 Crosmans? :D
when i was in Europe, generic Czech made springers were a dime a dozen, all steel/wood, easy to scope, quite powerful and lasted through decades of abuse by kids. is there anything like that (perhaps Russian, Czech, Chinese) at around $150 in Canada?
 
Within your price range, I'd look at a Xisco B-26.($180-230)
Alot of guys are going to badmouth the Chinese makes but I've got a B-26 in .22 cal. and the quality is impressive. Shoots 670 fps which is plenty of power for birds and rabbits within 50 yds. The B-26 and B-28 are great clones of more expensive rifles but I would avoid the sidelever Xisco(B-21?). The quality of that one is very poor.
 
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