Air rifle power.
- Thread starter Polish-Jack
- Start date
sillymike
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
While I've spent somewhat silly $$ on airguns
- The high power airgun stuff doesn't make sense to me... (Then again, shooting is seldom about making sense)
A FX Impact in .22 will push the 50 FPE...
50FPE for a .22 is impressive for a 0.22 airgun
A TX200 in .22 is a 16 FPE airgun
A 22 short is around 50FPE, a 22lr is +90FPE and a 17 HMR is +200FPE
+*+*+*+*+
If I was to rationalize the purchase, I'd have to be in a place that don't allow powder-burner... but somehow allowed airguns... and I've have a mold to cast my own slugs.
- The high power airgun stuff doesn't make sense to me... (Then again, shooting is seldom about making sense)
A FX Impact in .22 will push the 50 FPE...
50FPE for a .22 is impressive for a 0.22 airgun
A TX200 in .22 is a 16 FPE airgun
A 22 short is around 50FPE, a 22lr is +90FPE and a 17 HMR is +200FPE
+*+*+*+*+
If I was to rationalize the purchase, I'd have to be in a place that don't allow powder-burner... but somehow allowed airguns... and I've have a mold to cast my own slugs.
I bought a nice rifle because I wanted the best accuracy combined with a great stock. I only have this air rifle plus a .22 rifle. I can shoot the air rifle in my house...
Shoots a heavy .177 pellet at about 1000 f/s and down to about 600 f/s (5 power settings)
10 shot magazine - 60 regulated shots at full power
Shoots a heavy .177 pellet at about 1000 f/s and down to about 600 f/s (5 power settings)
10 shot magazine - 60 regulated shots at full power
sillymike
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I bought a nice rifle because I wanted the best accuracy combined with a great stock. I only have this air rifle plus a .22 rifle. I can shoot the air rifle in my house...
Shoots a heavy .177 pellet at about 1000 f/s and down to about 600 f/s (5 power settings)
10 shot magazine - 60 regulated shots at full power
Nice Air Arms!
- Being able to shoot in the house (Basement) sure is nice
Talking about Air Rifle Power, I posted this a couple of years ago about a guy (not me) harvesting a bison with his:-
An interesting read. (Stolen from Albertaoutdoorsmen forum):-
Well got really interested in the hi power pellet guns this winter. Porky's, Coyotes, foxes all succumbed to a 30 cal pellet very quickly. I started thinking about hunting Big Game with one. In Alberta, as long as you are 45 cal and up you can hunt with them. I started looking for a big bore air rifle that would work and finally found an Airforce Texan in .457 caliber. The rifle is big as it boasts a 36 inch barrel, runs at crazy pressures and pushes very heavy bullets out at amazing air gun velocities. U-tube videos really got me excited so I ordered one along with a compressor to fill it's tanks. My first impression when it arrived was this ain't your grand dad's Red Ryder!!!
Holy crap....loud. Earplug loud and the recoil will open your eyes and make your nose run LOL. I experimented with quite a few bullets finally settling on a 525 grain cast flat point sized .458 from Jet Bullets. When run at max pressures, which are 3625 psi this bullet left the muzzle at a 804 fps avg. To give you an idea check this photo of it standing beside a 177 pellet.
The shot was at a 2 year old bison cow at 34 yards, slightly quartering away. At the shot the bison lurched ahead, crow hopping about 6 times to hit the earth hard. Much to my amazement she stood back up and went stiff for a few seconds only to hit hard a second time. A very lethal hit and extremely fast death with a friggin air rifle .When we dressed her out, the slug centered the heart and went through the off shoulder and exited for a complete pass through. I had no idea this combo would offer this much penetration. It totally exceeded all expectations.
From what I have seen, it is totally a lethal weapon on big game and I would not hesitate to use this on all big game within 100 yards. I guess you can kill a bison with a air rifle!!
An interesting read. (Stolen from Albertaoutdoorsmen forum):-
Well got really interested in the hi power pellet guns this winter. Porky's, Coyotes, foxes all succumbed to a 30 cal pellet very quickly. I started thinking about hunting Big Game with one. In Alberta, as long as you are 45 cal and up you can hunt with them. I started looking for a big bore air rifle that would work and finally found an Airforce Texan in .457 caliber. The rifle is big as it boasts a 36 inch barrel, runs at crazy pressures and pushes very heavy bullets out at amazing air gun velocities. U-tube videos really got me excited so I ordered one along with a compressor to fill it's tanks. My first impression when it arrived was this ain't your grand dad's Red Ryder!!!
Holy crap....loud. Earplug loud and the recoil will open your eyes and make your nose run LOL. I experimented with quite a few bullets finally settling on a 525 grain cast flat point sized .458 from Jet Bullets. When run at max pressures, which are 3625 psi this bullet left the muzzle at a 804 fps avg. To give you an idea check this photo of it standing beside a 177 pellet.
The shot was at a 2 year old bison cow at 34 yards, slightly quartering away. At the shot the bison lurched ahead, crow hopping about 6 times to hit the earth hard. Much to my amazement she stood back up and went stiff for a few seconds only to hit hard a second time. A very lethal hit and extremely fast death with a friggin air rifle .When we dressed her out, the slug centered the heart and went through the off shoulder and exited for a complete pass through. I had no idea this combo would offer this much penetration. It totally exceeded all expectations.
From what I have seen, it is totally a lethal weapon on big game and I would not hesitate to use this on all big game within 100 yards. I guess you can kill a bison with a air rifle!!
luckythirteen
CGN Regular
- Location
- Yukon Territory
The chase is better than the catch. The rabbit hole has no bottom
I think if you want 22lr power, cheapest way is to stick to 22lr.
But the funnest way to get to the bottom is chasing that magic shooter
I think if you want 22lr power, cheapest way is to stick to 22lr.
But the funnest way to get to the bottom is chasing that magic shooter
To answer your question directly: Yes there are "air rifles" with power as great or greater than a 22LR.
You can only get that sort of power with the type of rifle which used a pump (or scuba-diver style tank) to fill up a smaller reservoir (tank) on the rifle. Generally good for up to 10 shots these guns are accurate, quiet and can get the sort of power you would associate with a hand gun. Downside is the scuba-tank / pump you need to keep close. Typically this is not the sort of air-gun you see being used on the British YouTube videos.
Much more common is the "use a lever - often the barrel, but may be underneath - to compress a spring or gas ram (which acts like a spring) which then drives a piston when the trigger is pulled". This is what most people think of as an airgun. These tend to max out at ~20 ft/lbs of energy. This compares with ~80 - 150 ft/lbs for a 22LR.
A peculiarity of British law is that you can own a 12 ft/lbs air rifle there with no certification or licensing. This is what you will see on 99% of the you tube channels you see from the UK. ie a gun shooting at ~ 2/3 the power you normally see in Canada for a high powered air rifle.
12 ft/lbs is easily capable of hunting rabbits, squirrels, feral cats (if you are confident of your accuracy) or most game birds. There is a decent argument to be made that ~12 ft/lbs is where most spring / gas ram airguns perform their best in terms of accuracy and you will see gun deliberately tuned to below max power used in field target shooting competitions. Personally I shoot an inexpensive gas-ram powered rifle at around the 18 ft/lbs range - mostly squirrels and rabbits.
People debate .22 or .177 - honestly there is little to choose. .177 shoots a bit flatter and will get better penetration through feathers. .22 holds its energy longer (at the cost of greater drop off at range) and may perform better on small mammals. This is the type of debate you hear old guys have over beer in English country pubs for hours...
You will need a PAL (firearms license) to own this type of high powered air rifle in Canada.
Without a PAL you are restricted to sub 500 fps guns (this is about half the power quoted above). You can buy these at Canadian Tire etc over the counter... Basically good only for target practice - but still a lot of fun. People claim to use them for hunting - but IMHO this just indicates that they are irresponsible or cruel. You may kill something with a perfectly placed shot - but few people can achieve those levels of accuracy in a hunting context. Again - just my opinion.
Get one - they're cheap to buy and almost free to shoot.
You can only get that sort of power with the type of rifle which used a pump (or scuba-diver style tank) to fill up a smaller reservoir (tank) on the rifle. Generally good for up to 10 shots these guns are accurate, quiet and can get the sort of power you would associate with a hand gun. Downside is the scuba-tank / pump you need to keep close. Typically this is not the sort of air-gun you see being used on the British YouTube videos.
Much more common is the "use a lever - often the barrel, but may be underneath - to compress a spring or gas ram (which acts like a spring) which then drives a piston when the trigger is pulled". This is what most people think of as an airgun. These tend to max out at ~20 ft/lbs of energy. This compares with ~80 - 150 ft/lbs for a 22LR.
A peculiarity of British law is that you can own a 12 ft/lbs air rifle there with no certification or licensing. This is what you will see on 99% of the you tube channels you see from the UK. ie a gun shooting at ~ 2/3 the power you normally see in Canada for a high powered air rifle.
12 ft/lbs is easily capable of hunting rabbits, squirrels, feral cats (if you are confident of your accuracy) or most game birds. There is a decent argument to be made that ~12 ft/lbs is where most spring / gas ram airguns perform their best in terms of accuracy and you will see gun deliberately tuned to below max power used in field target shooting competitions. Personally I shoot an inexpensive gas-ram powered rifle at around the 18 ft/lbs range - mostly squirrels and rabbits.
People debate .22 or .177 - honestly there is little to choose. .177 shoots a bit flatter and will get better penetration through feathers. .22 holds its energy longer (at the cost of greater drop off at range) and may perform better on small mammals. This is the type of debate you hear old guys have over beer in English country pubs for hours...
You will need a PAL (firearms license) to own this type of high powered air rifle in Canada.
Without a PAL you are restricted to sub 500 fps guns (this is about half the power quoted above). You can buy these at Canadian Tire etc over the counter... Basically good only for target practice - but still a lot of fun. People claim to use them for hunting - but IMHO this just indicates that they are irresponsible or cruel. You may kill something with a perfectly placed shot - but few people can achieve those levels of accuracy in a hunting context. Again - just my opinion.
Get one - they're cheap to buy and almost free to shoot.
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A further suggestion - check out Canadian airgun forums ( airgunforum .ca is one) to get more info. And many have an "Airguns for sale" sub-forum where you can get a 'deal' on used equipment. CT & BassPro/Cabelas are way overpriced, altho convenient if you don't have other options.
Lower power airguns are great for basement practice, but as was said b4 the .177 pellet/BB is way more affected by wind - even a light breeze when outdoors.
Lower power airguns are great for basement practice, but as was said b4 the .177 pellet/BB is way more affected by wind - even a light breeze when outdoors.
NovaNewfie
Member
- Location
- Advocate Hbr NS
If you want a whole other rabbit hole to go down, look into air archery. Air powered guns that shoot arrows...
