What's my best "bang" for the buck in an air rifle?

[Raoul]

Shooting feathers, squirrels, maybe the stray possum.

177 or 22?

Favorite brand?

I hear good things about RWS.

 

What say ye?

[mmirob]

Benjamin Marauder.  It is a PCP nail driver.  Quiet, powerful, beautiful stock!  Look them up!  Great for pests, targets and all around fun.  Get a nice scope and viola!  I bought the .22

[kieefer]

Here's a good shopping/buying source if you haven't found them yet,

http://www.pyramidair.com

Been thinking about a pistol to practice with in the garage.

[mmirob]

+1 on Pyramid air.  Great source for pellets too!

[I am Groot!]

I have picked up two air rifles from Essex Bargain Hunt in Franklin. Both are Gammo and shoot great. They have two other air guns in the back at deep discounts. I bought both of mine for less that 40 each and there were more that 120 on amazon. If you are looking for a deal they are a good place to look. They will not have a huge selection, but you can't beat the price. You can call and ask what they have.

Bargain Hunt
Discount Store
4140 Carothers Pkwy, Franklin, TN 37067
(615) 591-0774

[hipower]

Had a Gammo a few years back. The only bad thing was the trigger. Like pulling truck to get it to break and fire. I assume these are better?

[I am Groot!]

They are not the best, but they are not bad. The Hornet and it is serviceable. Bought it mainly for my kids to shoot in the back yard. The other is a Showstopper. It is a good shooter and not a bad trigger. I was not planning on buying it, but the price was to good to pass up. The price of .177 is a lot cheaper than .22 and much easier to find.

[tennessee01tacoma]

I've got a gamo silent cat and I really like it. Its very accurate and deadly on a squirrel to about 40yds. I managed a headshot on a squirrel at about 40yds last week And it stopped in its tracks. The trigger could be a little better but for the price I think you get a lot. I'm going to put a little larger scope and better base on mine but the included scope and rings are decent

[SupaRice]

+27 on pyramyd air. Excellent service

I like the Benjamin Trail NP2 I just got, I can consistently hit targets at 50+/- yards out in .22 with alloy pellets

The NP2 comes with a pretty horrible Centerpoint scope though. I had a trail np before and it came with a much better scope.

[surfabilly]

i have the benjamin trail as well and really like it. the scope is pretty bad, though. replaced it quickly.

triggers on most popular air rifles are notorious for being horrible. check out reviews for an aftermarket trigger from charlie da tuna. i plan on ordering one to replace mine.

the ordering process is a bit wonky, but from all accounts this is THE trigger for the most popular air rifles.

http://www.charliedatuna.com

(i am in no way affiliated with this gentleman.) Edited November 21, 2014 by surfabilly

[SupaRice]

I ended up with this scope and I like it a lot:

http://www.pyramydair.com/s/a/CenterPoint_Optics_4_16x40_AO_Adventure_Class_Rifle_Scope_Illuminated_Mil_Dot_Reticle_1_4_MOA_1_Tube_See_Thru_Weaver_Rings/3909

I got it off Amazon for like $70.

I'd agree with the assessment of the trigger... though I'd say the newer NP2 Trail has a vastly improved trigger over the previous NP model.

The biggest downside to me of the new one is that it's quite a bit heavier, and very heavy by any measure. Also the build quality is lower, the NP is actually a pretty good quality piece.

[DaveTN]

I’m kicking around the idea of a PCP air rifle, so I’m bumping this back up for 2017.

[A.J. Holst]

Spiros from Greece has an Indy FX .25cal.

Aside seeing him use it in his borderline dangerous and entertaining videos, delivered with enthusiasm and energy, I know nothing else.

[Omega]

Are any of these quiet?  The ones I have seen still seem to be quite noisy.  I seen a video of someone hunting pig with a big bore air rifle and it seemed quite, more so than a silencer.  I'm not at big bore yet, but am interested in taking squirrel and other vermin quietly. 

[Nemo]

I bought the Hatsan 95 in .22 caliber for my war with the squirrels eating my house in our neighborhood. Where I was located at the time I was okay to shoot but didn't want to freak anyone out. The Hatsan shoots lead projectiles at a max 800 fps which I liked a lot. Most velocities given are for the alloys/plastics, it seems. And it is louder than some but still quiet for a piston gun. The Hatsan is a Turkish air rifle and is very well made. Mine came with a beautiful wood stock and has been used to train some kids about firearms. 

 

I know YouTube videos are not extremely accurate in gauging noise but here is a video for an idea.

 

[deerslayer]

On 11/20/2014 at 2:57 PM, mmirob said:

Benjamin Marauder.  It is a PCP nail driver.  Quiet, powerful, beautiful stock!  Look them up!  Great for pests, targets and all around fun.  Get a nice scope and viola!  I bought the .22

+1

A buddy has a .22 Marauder and it's awesome.  Accurate, powerful, quiet.  He killed a squirrel at 94 yards (according to my rangefinder).  My RWS .177 (Model 36 or 40?) is powerful and accurate, but sounds like a .270.  If I were planning on some serious backyard air gunning in the city, I might go with the .177.  My buddy has blown rat brains THROUGH his wood fence with his .22.  

[Raoul]

Holy thread resurrection Batman. I don't even remember 2014. Fwiw I just bought subsonic .22's and a long barrel CZ and had my fun......

 

 

[DaveTN]

I looked into it but decided to pass. The cost of the rifles isn’t bad, but the cost of air tanks and pumps is ridiculous.

For this to take off someone needs to market an air tanks that doesn’t cost hundreds of dollars (even used).

[brucelyn]

I heard the silencer is basically useless because most of the sound comes from the compression chamber, is this true? Yes, that's true. The Gamo Whisper is no more quiet than the average, medium power spring piston rifle.

Gamo Whisper - once a vastly overpriced gimmick($300), now only an overpriced gimmick($200) 
You can get the same performance from the $99 Gamo Hornet, but you don't get the basically useless "silencer" 

[hipower]

1 hour ago, brucelyn said:

I heard the silencer is basically useless because most of the sound comes from the compression chamber, is this true? Yes, that's true. The Gamo Whisper is no more quiet than the average, medium power spring piston rifle.

Gamo Whisper - once a vastly overpriced gimmick($300), now only an overpriced gimmick($200) 
You can get the same performance from the $99 Gamo Hornet, but you don't get the basically useless "silencer" 

Granted it's been several years ago, but I had a Gammo that didn't meet your comments. It wasn't Whisper quiet(sorry I had to do it. lol) but was quieter than those without the so-called suppressor on it. I got rid of it because it had a trigger worse than the worst of the little 22 mag derringers. Couldn't get a smooth pull to save my life out of it. Gave it to a neighbor I didn't like.

[digger]

I have a Sheridan pump 20cal that is 60 years old and still pumps up and gives the results of a 22 short (approx). Yes, it was new when I got it!!!

[Chucktshoes]

My 6yo daughter just got a Daisy Red Ryder for her birthday. I got to say that there's no better bang for my particular buck.