SIG has a new pellet gun worth looking at, a break open, single pump. Good trigger and optics... Squirrels should be scared.

 

well I had a PCP 22 air rifle. it would go through a deer skull at 30yds. off the bench at 50yds. it would shoot a one hole group,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Today's .22 short throws a 29 grain bullet at about 1050 fps.
Standard velocity .22 long rifle ammo is barely sub-sonic at 1070 fps.
Not that much difference.
Hi-Speed throws a 36 gr bullet at around 1240 fps.
And the hyper velocity ammo uses 30-32 gr bullets between 1440 fps and 1700 fps at a sacrifice of accuracy.

Precharged air rifles are driven by high pressure cylinders at 3000-4000 psi. They can drive pellets hyper sonic.

The formula for kinetic energy (bullet) is 1/2x bullet mass x (bullet velocity squared).

Increasing velocity produces a much greater contribution to energy than does increasing bullet weight.

 

Interesting. I have been looking at sites today that compared .22s to air guns. My main focus has been target practice.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/alternative_practice.htm

 

i have a rolling block single shot 22 made by stevens i use to
shoot stuff i catch in traps. i guess an air rifle would work but i
like the idea of using a 22 made in the 1920's.

 

Air guns just aren't the same as a 22. I've had some hi dollar RWS in 80s. Not up to the high tech avaible today but they shot well and would do for small game. I'll stick with 22s, I like the smell of burnt powder.

 

Every now and then I have to kill a nutria or two. I have a 22 cal. pellet rifle that utilizes a nitrogen filled cylinder. The rifle gives good accuracy and will kill those 10-20 lb. rodents in their tracks with a head shot at 20 yards or more.

I also have a suppressed bolt action 22 and subsonic ammo. The suppressed 22 is just as quiet ,if not quieter than the pellet rifle. The 22 provides longer range and noticeably more energy on the target. A center of mass hit on a nutria = dead rat. Plus, the 22 reloads for follow up shots much faster than the single cock pellet rifle. There are times when I have more than one nutria to deal with.

T.S.

 

I had a German Air Gun that looked like a 98 Mauser. The bayonete lug was the end of the cocking lever. It had a rifled steel barrel and was made for lead BBs, no way to put a pellet in it. At 10yds it would penetrate a galvanized garbage can. It ended up missing but I still have pictures of it. It was suppose to have been made after WW1 when Germans weren't allowed to make guns due to treaty. I saw a similar rifle that was 25cal. and have herd they made them up to 8mm.

 

During the great 22 ammo shortage a few years ago I was delighted to find plenty of 22 short ammo at the local dealer and scooped up enough to keep me shooting with my Marlin 39A. I hadn't run shorts through that rifle in a long time and was glad that the Marlin didn't care if it was being fed shorts or long-rifle 22 ammo. My sons both have 22 semi-auto rifles and didn't have that flexibility, they had to have 22 long rifle for their rifles to work properly.

I would like to get an air gun again. Oldest son has an old Sheridan that shoots pretty well.

A good air gun is very useful, and inexpensive to feed. I like that.

Guy

 

I have been looking at one of these lately, just not sure I need one yet. but a 50 cal air rifle seems like a cool toy

https://www.umarexusa.com/the-new-50-caliber-umarex-hammer-is-an-air-rifle

I have a tone of grey squirrels in my yard and I beleive after I shot the first one the word would get out............and they would move to my neighbors yard..............

 

I'd love to have a rifle specifically chambered and rifled for .22 shorts. They come out of my rifles with a sound about like "thp". You can hear the hammer fall and the bullet strike the target, they're so quiet.

 

Dang this thread makes me hurt! Back in 1969 I traded a good friend out of a 1910-1920 mfg Winchester pump "gallery model", .22 short only rifle. That thing became a part of me in short order and was always considered THE gun to stick in the box when I was buried. Squirrels, rabbits and vermin in general just seemed to magically drop when the trigger was pulled ... I even dropped a coyote at near 100 yds (off a motor running/stopped tractor) with it in the mid-70's. Yep, it was really a part of me. Then, in 2006 we were having our 35th school reunion and I found out my old friend would be there. Due to me being the softie I seem to be, getting sentimental and all, I actually gave it to him. It hurt then, but it hurt a lot more later when I realized he wasn't even near as much "grateful" as I was grieving. I know from occasionally seeing (almost) similar copies of that gun at the gun shows, it would have been valued at a minimum of $750 or more, but the money thing was never even considered - still not. I never had any intentions of selling it and wish it was back.

In 1969, .22 shorts were still the absolute cheapest metallic cartridge on the market - but they were capable within their basic needs.

Sure miss that gun


jd

 

I’ve owned and shot many air guns.Too many to mention.Even the most powerful air gun does not come close to a 22lr.I can consistently shoot sub moa w/my CZ 452 @100 yrds.Not saying there aren’t any,But no air gun I have used can do that!
Still,I have used and continue to use my Beeman R7 to dispatch bushels of Squirrels and birds that dare to eat my precious southern peaches.Trees are 15-20 yrds from my window,where I am set up behind a curtain on a bench!