Best $400 Hunting Springer?

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Max-4

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Southern Ontario
I have $400 to spend on a good springer for hunting squirrels, rabbits, grouse, starling and maybe the odd garden ground hog. I would like it to have a nice wood stock and good quality open sights. I am going to go with the .22 cal because it hits harder. I do have my PAL so lets try for some good velocity here. What would you reccomend?
 
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Don't get .177 for hunting, go with .22 cal..

In that price range I would look at the following airguns .

Diana 34 in .22 will shoot around 685 in .22 - Nice rifle, good shooter and reliable.

Bam B-21 - a Chinese copy of a Diana48 made my BAM airguns. I have one myself and they are excellent shooters BUT they are not always smooth out of the box. They require a good polishing/debur before shooting but the price is very reasonable. This is a true magnum springer that will shoot 800fps in .22 Built like a tank and will last forever.

Bam B-30 - Basically the same rifle as the B-21 with slight differences.. It has a little fancier stock but doesn't have the power.. The B-30 averages around 700fps in .22

The only .177 I would consider in that price range is the Ruger AirHawk Elite which is a Diana 34 copy dressed up with a scope and thumbhole stock.

Check out www.airgunsource.com for all these rifles.. They're located in Ontario so you wont be waiting long to receive your gun.. They're good to deal with.
 
Spring guns are cool, 34, 36 350, 460, HW 50,77, 80, 90 97 ,etc, I like 'em aloth, the PCP rifles hit very hard, also fun, and very light, The Discovery with pump sure can pack a punch, very accurate, and not picky for a scope.tasco Varmint would work fine.
Check around, the airgun forums, and take your time to pick a first, cause their will be more:D
Yes hunting , if not going to a magnum springer in 177, stay with the 22, or 25
 
I would go with the best HW that fits your bill, I use a .177 to hunt with it is super fast and flat. 22 hits harder and would works very well. I think if I did it again I would get an HW 77 in .22 although I have not tried the heavy .177 pellets in my gun yet that gets close to the .22 pellet weights.
 
luftmech said:
I would go with the best HW that fits your bill, I use a .177 to hunt with it is super fast and flat. 22 hits harder and would works very well. I think if I did it again I would get an HW 77 in .22 although I have not tried the heavy .177 pellets in my gun yet that gets close to the .22 pellet weights.
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You got the 77? I do also, .177 cal, its sweet, heavy gun, and a big gun:eek:
put a 6x20 GS, on it:D field tgt gun.
 
Rws

I know I do want a wood stock with nice open sights. I have decided that I will get a .22 because it will be used to take small game mostly. I dont know I may be leaning towards the RWS-34 in .22, seems like a good bargain and a well made gun.

I like quality and fit/finish more than I like the idea of a China made knockoff of a better gun. I havn't held any of the BAM gun so that being said if they are in fact evrey bit as good quality fit/finish wise as a RWS I may be persuaded. Any thoughts???
 
Has anyone tried a MENDOZA RM-2000 specialty shooting sports has them on for 219.99 specs.

TYPE 7-Multi Shot Spring Piston Powerplant With Break Barrel
CALIBRE .22Cal (5.5mm) Pellet
LENGTH 45.3" (1132.5mm)
BARREL LENGTH 18.5" (462.5mm)
STOCK Walnut Stained Hardwood, w/Raised Cheekpiece
BARREL Rifled Steel Barrel
SIGHTS Fiber Optic Front Sight, Micrometer click receiver w/Open Blade Rear Sight
TRIGGER PULL 4 LBS
COCKING EFFORT 33 LBS
FITTINGS 11mm scope rail
FINISH Blued
RIFLE WEIGHT 7.7 LBS
MAX VELOCITY .22Cal--900fps
SAFETY Automatic Safety

Sounds kind of intresting! other then that a diana model 34. Good pellet rifles are soo expensive 300bucks is barley entry level, I've been looking at them for years now and cant bear to take the plunge. the bam b40 looks to be the best bam has to offer, I may go that route but their also expensive for a chineese air rifle :confused::confused::confused::confused:
 
Max-4 said:
I know I do want a wood stock with nice open sights. I have decided that I will get a .22 because it will be used to take small game mostly. I dont know I may be leaning towards the RWS-34 in .22, seems like a good bargain and a well made gun.

I like quality and fit/finish more than I like the idea of a China made knockoff of a better gun. I havn't held any of the BAM gun so that being said if they are in fact evrey bit as good quality fit/finish wise as a RWS I may be persuaded. Any thoughts???
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Not even close to German quality fit or finish. They may be functional, but not smooth, nor pretty. It'll probably need some work out of the box to shoot well. We're talking sharp edges, bad quality wood and metal finishes.

However, the price point is a lot easier on the eyes. Most times, anyway...
 
bobc said:
Has anyone tried a MENDOZA RM-2000 specialty shooting sports has them on for 219.99 specs.

TYPE 7-Multi Shot Spring Piston Powerplant With Break Barrel
CALIBRE .22Cal (5.5mm) Pellet
LENGTH 45.3" (1132.5mm)
BARREL LENGTH 18.5" (462.5mm)
STOCK Walnut Stained Hardwood, w/Raised Cheekpiece
BARREL Rifled Steel Barrel
SIGHTS Fiber Optic Front Sight, Micrometer click receiver w/Open Blade Rear Sight
TRIGGER PULL 4 LBS
COCKING EFFORT 33 LBS
FITTINGS 11mm scope rail
FINISH Blued
RIFLE WEIGHT 7.7 LBS
MAX VELOCITY .22Cal--900fps
SAFETY Automatic Safety

Sounds kind of intresting! other then that a diana model 34. Good pellet rifles are soo expensive 300bucks is barley entry level, I've been looking at them for years now and cant bear to take the plunge. the bam b40 looks to be the best bam has to offer, I may go that route but their also expensive for a chineese air rifle :confused::confused::confused::confused:
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I have no familiarity with a Mendoza, but it has been my experience with airguns that you often 'get what ya pay for'. Nearly every manufacturer inflates velocity numbers to sell guns; I doubt the rifle you mentioned hits anywhere near 900 fps in stock trim with a pellet of any considerable weight. If the notion of $300 for a decent new rifle is offputting, consider buying used. In the $300 range, you could get into a (used) medium power springer, such as an HW30/50, or a nicely tuned RWS 34. If you added $100 to your budget, your options multiply. A quality air rifle is an investment; the German/British guns can easily become heirloom items to be enjoyed for generations.
 
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you can get a Stoeger for less than $150.00. Given the right pellets they are plenty accurate and good enough to cap rabbits and earth pigs at 25yds.

Brian
 
While I totally understand that you do "get what you pay for" I also find that for an air rifle once I get to about 200 to 250$ I get the "it's a lot of money for a toy" feeling.
Which is completely unfair when you know the kind of rifle the Germans or the Czecks make.

I think one of those Bam rifles might make a good "first real airrifle" especially for someone who likes to do finishing work. It sounds like it would make a pretty good survival rifle for harvesting small game. A Bam ,some snares and a 12$ Mora knife would be a nice set to leave stashed at your hunting cabin.

I have been looking for a rifle that I can practice my aim with but I wonder if I might not be better off with a decent airgun?
 
.22!! the ammo is cheaper I beleive. From canadain tire or walmart you can buy bulk 500 .22's for 15-18$ and pellets last time I bought them I paid 10$ for a circle container (cant remember how much were in them). If you have ur PAL might awell get the .22 alot more fun, alot more plinkin and easily accurate up to 100 yards! so you have a great little target firearm+small game cant beat that!

I suggest a mossberg plinkster bought mine for well under 300$ semi auto, open sights and your able to put a scope on it. Winchester and remington make some nice wood stuck ones if your that interested http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/rimfire_rifles/model_552_speedmaster.asp My friend has that I love it, pull the rod out has an internal tube holds up to 20 I beleive. I'v seen him take down crows easily at 80 yards with his scope on it, if I were to purchase a new .22 that would be it right there!!

the reason I suggest semi auto, well every one I shoot with who is using a bolt action .22 after 10 mins they just always end up saying damn I wish I had a semi auto. The .22 is sucha little cartridge and its I find it more to be less exciting if your using a bolt. so I say again A semi auto is the way to go! Im sure some will disagree but I would never consider buy a bolt action .22 its not to much fun for me. (its different for every one though!)
 
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So I still have not bought an air rifle but I now have some money to put towards one. I want one for shooting squirrels, rabbits, grouse, magpies, pigeons and maybe the odd garden groundhog. I have $400 to spend on the rifle alone, no scope as I wanna get good with a nice set of open sights. Looking to buy a brand new rifle no used guns please.

I like the idea of German quality rifles and wanna go with a .22 cal rifle. I am looking at the RWS-34 and the Weihrauch HW-50S.

The RWS-34 is rated at 800fps in .22 but I know it will be more like 650fps real world. The HW-50S PAL rifle is rated around 650fps in .22, what can I expect as far as velocity with the HW50S? Anyone ever chronied one?

Between these two rifles which one would you reccomend, I like fit/finish and quality. Which rifle would shoot faster in .22?
 
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I haven't read through all the posts so I'm not sure if anyone recommended a PCP rifle. I think Levi bought one of the Benjamin ones for a very good price with a pump and is very happy with it.
 
I have the HW 50S and it is an amazing little gun for the money. Very light and compact for carry.

With the 11.9 Grain Hobby Pellets, it is getting in the range of 640fps to about 660 fps according to the Chrony numbers that were sent with the gun when I bought it from Speciality shooting sports.

This is my 3rd PAL airgun and is the one I am most happy with.
 
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