|
ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
Last seen: 2 hours, 34 minutes
|
Modern air rifles...not your Granddads pellet gun! 3
#27910411 - 08/19/22 09:53 PM (1 year, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I've been shooting since I can remember. Dad put a .22 rifle in my hand and taught me to shoot as soon as I could hold it. His passion for sport shooting has always run deep, and as a result I too developed a fondness for guns. Dad was always going new places with the hobby. Interesting and rare guns, reloading, and tinkering around with his firearms always in the quest for that perfect shot. But a few years back he went off in a direction I didn't see coming. Air rifles.
I've had a good 'ol Crossman pump air rifle since I was a kid (several of them over the years actually). Killed more birds and chipmunks than I could count when I was just a wee lad. But this is not what we are talking about when we discuss modern air rifles. In many places outside the U.S. firearms are either completely banned or so hard to own its not worth it. So as a way to satisfy the desire to own guns, and even hunt without having to own a "firearm", the modern PCP (Pre-charged Pnuematics) guns were developed.
Modern PCP air rifles are amazing. They come in a variety of calibers. They use compressed air in very high pressures to shoot lead pellets or slugs and are even used for hunting small game up to the size of deer. They are common now in European countries where firearms are highly regulated, and some of the best ones are made there.
So my Dad, as he is prone to do with his hobbies, ended up buying many of these air guns. Of course I started going to the range with him and shooting them. What a blast!! The ammo cost almost nothing, and air is free! And one of the best parts is that they are so quiet. We can sit there and plink away all day while having casual conversation. A big difference from shooting our firearms.
As for range/accuracy (for those interested and knowledgeable in shooting) I can tell you these guns are amazing. Last time we were at the range I was sighting in mine (I now own an FX Wildcat MKII in .22 caliber) and thought I was doing pretty damn good. I could hold 6 inch groups at 100yds on a rest and just about stick a pellet though the same hole each time at 25 yds. But Dad was shooting a 6" steel target at 200yds and hitting every single shot! He was shooting a .25 caliber FX Maverick. A 6" group at 200yds is impressive with ANY small caliber firearm. Hell, I'm happy to shoot that well with my .270 hunting rifle!! And he was doing it with an air rifle!
For anyone who likes to sport shoot let me just say, these things are FUN! Target shooting is more enjoyable now then it has ever been. There is an investment up front though. The guns are not cheap (at least the good ones). My gun/scope combo cost as much as the next 2 most expensive firearms I own combined. And you need special compressors for the high pressures required to charge these guns. But ammo is so cheap that its almost free to go shoot once you have made the initial investments.
One of my favorite parts is how quiet they are. I control the pigeon population in my neighborhood with mine and no one hears a thing. The old Crossman pump-up air rifle use to do the job but beyond about 20yds I would often miss the birds. Now when I shoot a pigeon off my roof I don't have to decide if I want to shoot it in the eye, but rather which eye I want to shoot it in! Haha! Its almost like cheating. The gun does look "scary" though to anyone passing by so I am careful and stealthy when I have it out. Most of the neighbors know me and are OK, but a passerby may well call the cops if they see me aiming it around the neighborhood!
This is my pigeon killer...
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
|
Asante
Mage


Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 86,795
|
Re: Modern air rifles...not your Granddads pellet gun! [Re: ToTheSummit]
#27911659 - 08/20/22 06:09 PM (1 year, 5 months ago) |
|
|
There are videos on youtube of people doing a super efficient job controlling the rat population. Like you say, super quiet.
-------------------- Omnicyclion.org higher knowledge starts here
|
HappyHigh
Stranger

Registered: 05/05/17
Posts: 892
Last seen: 2 days, 1 hour
|
Re: Modern air rifles...not your Granddads pellet gun! [Re: Asante]
#27911781 - 08/20/22 07:47 PM (1 year, 5 months ago) |
|
|
mmmmm full auto..... 7.62...... mmmmmm 150 yards mmmmmm sry i just nutted.
-------------------- Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
|
Asante
Mage


Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 86,795
|
Re: Modern air rifles...not your Granddads pellet gun! [Re: HappyHigh]
#27912295 - 08/21/22 10:45 AM (1 year, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Everything Hatsan is awesome
-------------------- Omnicyclion.org higher knowledge starts here
|
HappyHigh
Stranger

Registered: 05/05/17
Posts: 892
Last seen: 2 days, 1 hour
|
Re: Modern air rifles...not your Granddads pellet gun! [Re: Asante]
#27913074 - 08/22/22 01:56 AM (1 year, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Yes I'm saving to buy either a mod130 or a 135 in .25 cal just can't decide from the .25 or the .30 cal. I understand the .25 can hit easily to 150 but the m130 .30 cal pellets have 141% more volume. Thus should impact and deliver the blow harder with less penetration due to the surface area being so greater. They are almost the exact same FPE the 30 cal +4 fpe. But the fps is much less and falloff is greater in .30 cal.
-------------------- Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
|
ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
Last seen: 2 hours, 34 minutes
|
Re: Modern air rifles...not your Granddads pellet gun! [Re: HappyHigh]
#27918931 - 08/25/22 09:01 PM (1 year, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I have a fairly nice break barrel rifle also. Winchester, don't remember the exact model. Its .177 cal and I bought it at least a decade or more ago. Its out on loan to a family member right now who also uses it for pigeon control. Even with open sights it is pretty effective and accurate.
EDIT- Guess I've had the break barrel even longer than I thought. I posted about it in this thread 14+ years ago, and it wasn't new then. https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/8226416#8226416
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
Edited by ToTheSummit (08/25/22 09:05 PM)
|
Asante
Mage


Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 86,795
|
Re: Modern air rifles...not your Granddads pellet gun! [Re: ToTheSummit]
#27921545 - 08/27/22 04:33 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Did you guys know there are PCP air rifles with a power over 1000 joules? that rivals the hardest hitting .45 ACP.
You can literally buy an air rifle hitting harder than a 1911.
-------------------- Omnicyclion.org higher knowledge starts here
|
ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
Last seen: 2 hours, 34 minutes
|
Re: Modern air rifles...not your Granddads pellet gun! [Re: Asante]
#27921891 - 08/27/22 10:19 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Yep. Like I said before, they hunt small game up to the size of deer with air rifles now. Hell, you can get an air rifle that shoots 20-gauge slugs if you want. I think the greatest power output in FPE (or joules if you prefer) are some of the .50 caliber models. Its pretty wild. My dad had one that fired .357 cal slugs but it was much louder than he preferred and not as pleasant to shoot as our .22 and .25 caliber models so he got rid of it.
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
|
ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
Last seen: 2 hours, 34 minutes
|
Re: Modern air rifles...not your Granddads pellet gun! [Re: ToTheSummit]
#27921903 - 08/27/22 10:34 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
|
|
On a side note, I had a small air leak in mine recently. It still shot fine but the tank pressure would bleed down overnight. I tore it down 2 weekends ago and just this afternoon I finished getting it all back together. Set up my home shooting range and sighted it in. The pigeons have been getting bold around my place lately so there will be some dead ones in the morning.

My "home shooting range" is kinda comical. Since I live in your average suburb I have to get creative to shoot any real distance. So I set up my target against the back wall in my backyard (I have a steel plate that I lean at a 45 degree angle to deflect the projectiles down to the ground). Then I set up a table in my living room at the front of the house to shoot from. I open the back door and shoot right through my living room, dining room and kitchen before exiting the back door, passing under my covered patio and across the yard to my target. I can get over 25 yards away from the target with this technique. And the funniest part is that it was my wifes idea to do this! LOL
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
|
|