Powerful air rifle advice

I do not know for sure, but I would think any .22 or larger air rifle shooting over 150 m/s (500 f/s) would do the trick. Be aware that a PAL would be required for such an air rifle.
 
Been looking for the same. I've narrowed it down to three manufacturers/models Weirhauch HW 97, Diana RWS350 and Air arms TX200 all in .22 . Anyone of these would be great. PAL is required and is much more expensive than great .22 rimfires but still very interesting to shoot. Good luck with the search.
 
Any PAL rated .22 air rifle will do, providing perfect shot placement.
A Diana 350 or Weihrauch HW77 springer will do the trick.
There are a couple of PAL CO2 .22 rifles that will work like the Hammerli 850 AirMagnum.
If you go PCP .22 is fine but .25 cal would be better, right at you max price though.

Dan
 
Last edited:
Some good suggestions above. if you happen to already have a .22 rimfire, you may want to see how CCI Quiets work for you. They are quieter than any air rifle and with far more energy.
 
HW95 works good, change the spring to get a bit more punch but for shooting anything past a gopher unless the shot is just perfect and close doubt it will have enough stopping power, use to shoot gophers with it and many times the little buggers grinned back after getting hit
 
A large raccoon can be 20 or more pounds easily. If you want to ensure "no doubt" of his survival, you would do well to remember that all of the options suggested so far are marginal choices for an animal that size. Perfect shot placement is essential. Close range head shots. Shots will probably be taken under poor lighting conditions, making the small moving target (not just the raccoon...the raccoon's brain) even more tricky. A body hit with a .22-cal pellet at typical magnum airgun velocities will kill him...eventually...probably...but there's no way it could be considered humane.
 
I own a Hatasan underlever very good 22 air rifle ,, 800 fps with 14,5 gr pellets ,, killed a couple of jack Rabbits with her ,, will do the job on any racoon they Hatasan air rifles are very accurate good fully adjustable trigger ,, and are fairly quiet ,, shot cb 22 next to her and the pellet rifle is not as loud
 
Small and medium coons with a well-placed head shot from a magnum air rifle is doable. Large coons are another ball game. If they are wounded-only, they will attack. Personally, I'd switch to .22 LR and have a buddy as a backup with the same.
 
Finally someone with some common sense. Leave those springers for squirrels as raccoons are very tough critters. Be a sportsmen and be humane as we already have far to many anti hunters and anti gunners. Don't give them anymore ammo.
 
Just say NO to pellets. Use your .38!

magnumair said:
Finally someone with some common sense. Leave those springers for squirrels as raccoons are very tough critters. Be a sportsmen and be humane as we already have far to many anti hunters and anti gunners. Don't give them anymore ammo.
Click to expand...

:agree:

I use two rifles against our grey squirrels--
1) Savage .22rf: 40gr 750-1150 fps
2) Crosman .22 pellets: 12gr 495 fps

Although the Savage's 'Quiets' ("bang!") are NOT as quiet as the Crosman's pellets (">punque<") a good hit with the rf (e.g. behind the ear) brings instant death. A hit with the pellet however, is not guaranteed--it's more difficult to make, and the damage less certain. Even with the rf, a kill shot is not certain, esp if the shot is off the mark, or the animal is fleeing the scene. Wounded squirrels scamper into the salal, and you don't want that.
Another deficiency of the air rifle is its inability to have a quick follow-up shot at the ready in case your first is less than perfect.
Lately I've been using CCI Standards or MiniMags, and why not? It's not like I'm blasting away with boxes of 50--'One shot, one kill'--("CRACK!") and it's over for the day.

For a large racoon I'd choose my Winchester '73 with .38 Spl--
it's relatively quiet, fires a 130gr HP at ~1100fps and your shot does not need to be one to the head.
But going up against an alpha 'coon with a pellet, my confidence level would be zero. The result could get ugly.
 
Scopes and ammo has a Crosman Quest 1000 .177 1000FPS for 99$. You can take a 495 FPS 22 cal and upgrade it with the quest 1000 spring and piston and make a 1000fps 22 cal. For under 170$
 
" A hit with the pellet however, is not guaranteed--it's more difficult to make, and the damage less certain."

-In all due respect, your post says that pellet is under 500 fps. I have a Diana 34 in .22 cal that chronies 660 fps with a 16 grain pellet and passes through squirrels out 36 yards so far. We should be comparing apples to apples.
-Secondly, the original poster did not just say " 'coons". He specified LARGE 'coons. Good to keep that in mind while offering advice.
 
Another option is if you can find and import a used Career Dragon Slayer 50 from the States.

LeBarons sell .50 cal round balls. Scope dialed in, amazingly accurate rifle.
 
Same story as usual...................use enough gun. A cheap/economical air rifle is NOT enough gun. To get an air rifle in example 25 caliber, you will spend way more money than a good 22. Think wit your heart ( clean humane kill) and not you pocket book!!!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom