Lots of questions for an airgun nOOb!

[Until the Angels Fall]

So I am wanting to get an airgun and I have my PAL/RPAL BUT I do not want this gun to be over 495 fps because I don't believe in regersitering guns in general but we have to sadly so I want something thats not. I want ot use this for small game hunting/plinking and teaching my youger sibblings how to shoot ( 2 age 6 and 2 age 11). The only exp. with airgun "hunting" I have had has been shooting frogs in a creek one summer and I once shot a rabbit at about 20' with a .177 pellet gun (495fps) and I used a wad cutter round....I shot it in the lower shoulder trying to hit the heart, it rolled on its side and kicked for a few seconds then was dead. Ears, eyes both bled but the wound hardly did.

Questions!!!!

#1. .177 vs .22 which is more powerful and/or better for long range.
#2. how far can each cal shoot accuratlly and still have "deadly" force.
#3. what small game can I hunt with a pellet gun? are raccoons
the "biggest" you can go with a non PAL gun?
#4. are darts really effective?
#5. is the hunting type pellets my best bet....the pointed ones.
#6. can I get a good pellet gun for a reasonable price? Under $200 if possible?.... something like the Crosman® Phantom Break Barrel Air Rifle looks good and thats the price range I like.

 

[Wild-Wild-West]

Hey there,

You have a lot of valid questions, and I have lived through all of the same ones you have asked. However... In order not to create a huge spam of a reply, I might recommend that you have a look at this link:

http://www.beemans.net/field use.htm

http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/airgun_hunter.html

I learned a lot from Dr. Beeman's books, and have actually experimented to verify some of his writings. The bottom line is; "know your equipment, and know its limitations." My main rabbit and squirrel gun is my Walther Lever:
http://www.umarex.de/uxc.php?load=view&item=460.00.40&deptid=1

I have the older model that runs on the 2 x 12gr capsules. Its served me well, and I still use it today.

Follow the regs in your local area, and be safe!

w.w.w.

 

[jjbkozack]

1 personally i prefer .177, but if you want a 495fps gun then a .22 will knock down smaller critters
2 at under 500fps id definitly try to shoot anything furry within 30m, smaller feathered out to 50m, you wont have luck with squirrels but gophers will get all twitchy with a chest or head shot at 500fps
3 you'll severely piss off a racoon with a low power pellet gun, he will probably run but just might attack you before you get off a second worthless shot
if you want to hunt a racoon get a AIRFORCE CONDOR http://www.airforceairguns.com/condor.html
4 darts are for target shooting
5 depending on what you are shooting, feathered id suggest beeman cro-magnum / crossman destroyer, anything furry id tell you to get some saboted SKENCO pellets from D&Lairgun (using skenco adds 15-20% increase in fps)
6 around 200$ theres lots of $#!T out there, the hinge is extremely important in a break action pellet gun, it cannot have any play and has to lock up consistently in the same degree or it will not shoot any better than a red-rider

for sure pick up some spring gun lube for the piston, 2 drops every hundred shots keeps its fps up, dont use oil or anything of the like it will burn your piston it needs to be a special silicone base

canadian tire sells a decent beeman .22 for 300$ with a scope ive seen 2 of them chronograph at under 400fps, which is easily remedied if you have a chronograph to tune with: by putting a spacer behind the spring so it will hit closer to 500fps, mine had a 1/4" spacer behind the spring and chronied at 490fps, just make sure if you do dissasemble it you know what you are doing as the spring will shoot out under extreme pressure (even uncocked) and that the spacer is on the back side of the spring and fits over the spring guide tightly and within the chamber tight (washers work excellent for this) and obviously dont put a 2" spacer behind the spring as it will then be a firearm

 

[mwjones]

1. A .22 shooting the same speed will produce more kinetic energy and will retain more energy the further out you shoot. That said:

2/3. With a sub 500 fps .22 air rifle, you aren't going to be able to effectively or humanely kill anything bigger than a starling past 30 yards. No ifs, ands, or buts. The power to do so simply isn't there. I would never shoot a raccoon with a <500fps airgun. EVER

4. Not only are darts for target shooting. but they're steel. Pellet guns have very shallow "micro-groove" rifling, and shooting any kind of steel projectile (darts, bbs, etc) will wear out the barrel quickly.

5. You'll have to get a gun first, then try a bunch of different pellets to see which the gun likes Some will shoot better than others. Also keep in mind, you're going to have to break the gun in and most every kind of pellet will shoot all over the map for the first copuple hundred shots.

6. Teh crosman Phantom in .22 is a great entry level gun. I have one, and it's decent for the price. Here's a few tips though...

Have a look on youtube for Phantom/Quest disassembly videos (make sure you spend 15 bucks and build a spring compressor, it'll work for any spring gun and is a valuable tool). The ones by jgoodz420 are straightforeward and easy to understand. Get a grtIII of gtx trigger blade replacement. (35 bucks) It's a drop in mod that will increase your shooting pleasure tenfold.

Get a combo pack of wet dry sandpaper for 6 bucks that has 150, 220, and 300 grit sandpaper. You're going to want to lightly sand and polish the cocking slot in the compression chamber, the slot and outside of the piston, and the spring guide (top hat lookin thing) to remove any burrs or rough edges. Also, with the sandpaper on a flat surface, you want to smooth the ends of the spring so they're flat.

Buy yourself a 5 dollar tube of motomaster moly grease from canadian tire to grease the spring and piston, and tophat, a 4 dollar can of automotive silicone for the piston seal. Don't buy that chamber lube stuff, as it's wickedly overpriced and all it is is silicone oil. Never put drops of oil into the transfer port. Probably the most ineffective way to lube a spring gun.


If you add that all up:

Crosman Phantom : $107
GRT/GTX Trigger: $35
Spring Compressor: $15
Moly grease: $5
Silicone Spray: $4
Sandpaper: $6

$140 ish for the gun and trigger mod, under budget, plus another 30 bucks in reusable tools and materials, puts yuo at around $170, so you have some cash for a couple tins of pellets

Regarding crosman phantom barrel lockup: Once upon a time, these guns had problems with the barrel not locking up in the same position every time. This was totally fine if you used the stock fibre optic sights, as they're mounted on the barrel. If you mounted a scope, though, which mounts on the reciever, since the barrel locks up differently you would shoot all over hell's half acre. This is no longer an issue with these guns, or any spring guns other than the cheapest of the imported chinese springers, and even those have made leaps and bounds in the past few years.

 

[ciphery]

I completely concur with the fact that steel darts will ruin a good barrel in as little as a single dart/BB!!
I do have some superior metal finishing tips though Jonsey
Mind you these tips are more advanced and only if you have such tools as a drillpress,metal lathe,and dremel tool. a disk sander or belt sander will also be good choices.
Let me know how technical you want to be and how perfect the resault you want.
PS nice too finally find you MWJ.