What is highest FPS self powered air pistol.

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BushcraftBill

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Looking for a pistol PAL rated that powers itself through pump or break cocking action. No air bottles or carts.

Is there such thing? Want for my backpack in woods.
 
Unfortunately PAL rated air pistols are the same class as a restricted firearm. Meaning required to be registered and range only.

You best best is to get a Crosman 1322 and a chrony. And mod it to shoot 499.9 FPS.

Ive been trying to get NS to change their airgun laws to allow hunting small game with it. So if you are caught by DNR using one, you could face some troubles.
 
As others have noted, there are no air pistols above 500 fps in Canada that would not be RPAL required and range only. In fact such air pistols are not readily available for that very reason.

Among the most powerful air pistols that someone could take in a backpack for hunting is the Weihrauch HW 45, a quality German-made spring piston pistol available in .177. .20, and .22 calibers. It's not inexpensive with a price over $500. The Crosman 1322 is a pump pistol that is powerful and relatively inexpensive at about $100. The CO2 powered Crosman 2240 is powerful and a little less expensive.
 
The 1322 is probably the most powerful out of the box, non pal air gun. Pretty close to 500 fps with .22 cal pellets. The 2240 is a few fps behind. Both are good though, and I have one of each. If you wanted to get into modding you could rebarrel and tune powerplants to get just under 500 fps with .25 caliber pellets.
 
If memory serves, I think it was the Diana Magnum LP8 which delivered the highest velocity of any self-sufficient air pistol. And a few years ago in some countries they introduced the 'tactical' version with collapsing stock, which for me at least actually makes a very ugly and poorly balanced, over-sized and heavy pistol kind of make sense as a compact carbine.
diana-lp8.jpg

That's from here - https://www.all4shooters.com/en/shooting/pistols/diana-lp8-magnum-tactical-air-pistol/ - where they mention a muzzle energy of 7.5joules, or 5.53fpe. Not exactly a hunting level of power, but for very close range (under 10 metres) on smaller rodents (wouldn't go that low on a squirrel, but rats are fragile enough) it should be adequate. But of course, as others have stated, unless your quarry happens to show up while you're at a sanctioned range for pistols this is a no-go in Canada. Far too dangerous, obviously...

Now, if you wanted to get into a PCP, maybe carrying a buddy bottle to top it off, you could stay within RCMP guidelines while also having more than enough power for small game by buying or building a big bore pistol. So long as either FPE or muzzle velocity is under the legal limit (5.7joules OR 499fpe), you're good to go. So if you were to build a .45" pistol and adapt it such that the lowest weight pellet in that calibre (about 180gr I think) and adjust it so that muzzle velocity was about 480fps, you'd have an energy of 92fpe, or similar to a .22lr CCI SV out of a pistol. Easily sufficient 'stopping power' for anything up to raccoon size, and perfectly within the definition of legal to use anywhere it's legal to shoot a non-restricted rifle. Weird little glitch in government/RCMP logic, I know. Seems when they wrote it they didn't bother thinking it through, that 6fpe is much, much less scary than 90fpe. And the trajectory at just under 500fps isn't too bad out to maybe 20 metres.
 
Why not a 22lr rifle like a savage rascal?
Weighs hardly more than a largebreak barrel pellet pistol.
Also easier to hit something with :)
 
bertn said:
Why not a 22lr rifle like a savage rascal?
Weighs hardly more than a largebreak barrel pellet pistol.
Also easier to hit something with :)
Click to expand...

My daughter of 11yrs old is a crack shot with hers. I dismissed them everytime I saw one until I saw her shoot hers. It weighs so little it feels like a wand. Very accurate with the peep sight, and I mounted a 2-7x33 on it to see how it was with glass. Even that scope was almost too big but I am super impressed with its accuracy.
 
OkayShooter said:
Unfortunately PAL rated air pistols are the same class as a restricted firearm. Meaning required to be registered and range only.

You best best is to get a Crosman 1322 and a chrony. And mod it to shoot 499.9 FPS.

Ive been trying to get NS to change their airgun laws to allow hunting small game with it. So if you are caught by DNR using one, you could face some troubles.
Click to expand...

How hard is it to mod a 1322?
 
BushcraftBill said:
How hard is it to mod a 1322?
Click to expand...

The thing about the 1322 (in my opinion) is how loud it is to pump it. It’s 10 pumps minimum to charge it for 1 shot, and significantly more if you’re going up in caliber. Each pump ends in a loud “clack” that gets louder as pressure builds. You can pump it up ahead of time, so you can have one “quiet” shot, but I found that even new-out-of-the-box mine would lose pressure while hiking for a few hours, and when it came time to shoot the pressure had dropped to a point where poi and poa were very different things. Then, as you reload, the symphony of clacks undoes any of your sneakyness up to that point.

As for modding them, there’s a ton of aftermarket parts out there for them. Pyramid has a bunch... there’s another vendor too that I can’t think of right now.


May I ask what the end goal is you’ve hoping for?
 
BushcraftBill said:
How hard is it to mod a 1322?
Click to expand...

They are like the 10/22/1911 of the airgun world. Alot of parts out there, but when said and done, can have a 500 + 80$ airgun.

kodiakjack said:
The thing about the 1322 (in my opinion) is how loud it is to pump it. It’s 10 pumps minimum to charge it for 1 shot, and significantly more if you’re going up in caliber. Each pump ends in a loud “clack” that gets louder as pressure builds. You can pump it up ahead of time, so you can have one “quiet” shot, but I found that even new-out-of-the-box mine would lose pressure while hiking for a few hours, and when it came time to shoot the pressure had dropped to a point where poi and poa were very different things. Then, as you reload, the symphony of clacks undoes any of your sneakyness up to that point.

As for modding them, there’s a ton of aftermarket parts out there for them. Pyramid has a bunch... there’s another vendor too that I can’t think of right now.


May I ask what the end goal is you’ve hoping for?
Click to expand...

You can put a piece of tubing around the pump arm, that dampens the noise alot. Some people put the softer side of velcro around the tube. Problem is they don't really make any heavy hitting break barrels in 22.


OP I assume this is for like a survival pack?
 
kodiakjack said:
The thing about the 1322 (in my opinion) is how loud it is to pump it. It’s 10 pumps minimum to charge it for 1 shot, and significantly more if you’re going up in caliber. Each pump ends in a loud “clack” that gets louder as pressure builds. You can pump it up ahead of time, so you can have one “quiet” shot, but I found that even new-out-of-the-box mine would lose pressure while hiking for a few hours, and when it came time to shoot the pressure had dropped to a point where poi and poa were very different things. Then, as you reload, the symphony of clacks undoes any of your sneakyness up to that point.

As for modding them, there’s a ton of aftermarket parts out there for them. Pyramid has a bunch... there’s another vendor too that I can’t think of right now.


May I ask what the end goal is you’ve hoping for?
Click to expand...

Thanks. This is for a survival type bag I am testing out
 
BushcraftBill said:
Thanks. This is for a survival type bag I am testing out
Click to expand...

Then, as others have said, I think a take-down 22 rifle is your best bet.

There’s a fella on here that goes by the name “way up north” that has torture tested all of the survival 22s. From shooting them to drowning them. Might be an informative avenue for you.
 
I had several" store bought" air pistols and tried to get them to 500fps with modifications......zero luck.

s
 
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