Ruger Air Hawk 495fps or 1000fps ???

philhut

philhut

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I bought a Ruger air hawk over 15 years ago. To this day I am Thrilled with this rifle, best purchase I ever made. I never cleaned it until it was 14yrs old, stored it in a barn or similar type loft or tackroom etc for about 10yrs. Only the faintest speckling of rust developed on the exterior of the barrel and cleaned up fine with no function issues. Better yet it shoots tennis ball groups of multiple rounds with iron sights at 44meters on paper. I fired one round with the scope that came with it and popped myself in the eye back then and tossed the scope. It was used to down an unknown number of pigeons (hundreds).
anyway...
I responded to a question the other day for someone ask about a pest control rifle and I found a variance in what I thought I bought 15years ago

Current Ruger Air Hawks are advertised as 1000 FPS rifles..... I bought mine back before having a PAL license from Bass Pro when it was sold as a 495 FPS rifle

I never chrono'ed it but was there a mix up in what was sold or did this rifle get a speed upgrade? confused, im not sure if my air-rifle should be considered non-restricted or uncontrolled like I thought it was? Can anyone here clear that up?

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/ruger-air-hawk-177-caliber-air-rifle-combo(current link listed as 1000FPS)

https://www.replicaairguns.ca/ruger-air-hawk-combo-pellet-rifle (another listing as 495fps)

lol what did I buy and how would I know? Is a chrono the only way to tell?
 
Air Hawks are sold in both a pal and non pal versions. The sub 495fps version which is mild to shoot and very easy to ####. The pal version "jumps" during the shot cycle and requires a firm pull to ####. Maybe 30+ lbs pull? Treat the pal version the same as you would any other non-restricted firearm as that is exactly what law enforcement will do. If you are not sure use a chrony.

The airhawk is a great value. Walmart used to sell the non-pal version for $100.
 
I think I paid $150...it was full price. I remember going to Basspro mad after pigeons shat on my head 3x in one day while breaking some yearling Thoroughbreds. I believe my exact quote to the sales rep at the gun counter was "I want your finest pigeon killing gun"

There is not a single rifle in my collection that has seen more practical use. I will bring it out to the range next time I go maybe someone will have a chrono... From what you have described with the action being much stiffer on the 1000fps version I think I must have the 455fps but would be good to know. I have loaned it out to friends for pest control before, don't want to loan it out if its actually a firearm lol.
 
What range do you go to? I am planning to go to Silverdale next Friday if the weather is decent and would be no problem to bring my chrony along.
 
I go to Sharon, its 10mins from my house. Thanks for the offer Tinner, welcome to come up this way sometime. guest fee is only $20.
 
Here's my very quick and dirty test.
A 850-1000 fps air rifle using Crosman Premier round nose pellets will easily punch a hole through both sides of a metal can (think beans, coconut milk etc) at 40 yards
A 495 fps will not
 
The under 500 fps version has a C after the serial # They are a copy of the Diana/ RWS 34 while some parts interchange including mainspring.Get a full powered spring and then you can kill pigeons better.The scope and mt that came with the gun is crap enjoy crushing it in a vise.Replace with a one piece airgun mt and springer rated scope.Hawke is good.
 
Not every pigeon died outright when shot with my airhawk….

about 1/3rd of the pigeons shot would take 3-6 pellets to fall from the Arena Roof or hay lofts etc...with 1 in about 40 being found a day or two later on the ground. I had best results with lead Wadcutters compared to high velocity rounds. I only recently found the copper plated hallow point .177 pellets likely they would be very effective as well. If they were still alive after hitting the ground I would finish them off as quickly as I could with a Tile Scraper. This was used as pest control with the priority of not putting holes in the tin roof so likely mine is the slow version.

Before I picked up the Ruger I was Using a Boomerang to knock em down, so it was a huge improvement of effectiveness.
 
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