Sent to us by the author, Evan Grantham.
It’s no secret that bullets are growing in scarcity and becoming more expensive than ever before. This is where an air rifle comes in handy thanks to the low price and constant availability of pellets on the market. It also helps that pellets are extremely easy to carry around due to the small weight and size
If you don’t know much about air rifles and consider them as some sort of toy you might want to think again. These powerful pellet guns can fire at high velocities of over a 1,000 feet per second with ease making them very dangerous. With all this power you can even manage to hunt animals such as a turkey or rabbit with no problem whatsoever.
Without a pellet gun you will find yourself having to shoot more of your precious bullets which could’ve been used for other reasons. Having an airgun you can instead perform certain tasks such as honing your accuracy, eliminating pests, and hunting small game without even wasting a single bullet. It’s also nice to know that nobody will ever come and try to seize your pellet gun from you.
Great for Honing Your Skill in Shooting
While shooting an air rifle and an actual rifle are two completely different things, it does help your accuracy by at least shooting something. Now you can save your bullets while still being able to go through the motions of looking for a target through a scope, practicing proper breathing techniques, and slowly but effectively pulling the trigger.
If you have older kids you can also prepare them to shoot a real gun by starting with an air rifle. This way if they ever have to shoot an actual gun in an emergency situation they will be much better off then with no practice whatsoever.
Keep Pests out of the Garden
Having a garden is vastly important if you’re looking to survive long-term on your own. A common problem with having a garden is that it will attract hungry pests and rodents that will destroy your crop. The easy way to get rid of this problem is to either set up traps or use an air rifle. By combining both methods you will have no problem keeping the pests away.
The best part is that most airguns are fairly quiet, so even if you miss your target you can easily shoot again. If noise is a big concern for you just look for pellet guns that come with a noise dampener and match it with the right pellet.
Hunt Small Game for Food
Where pellet guns exceed is in their ability to hunt small game for food such as duck, dove, turkey, quail, rabbits and squirrel. Having the ability to hunt small game whenever can be crucial in a world where food is hard to come by. Since pellets are so cheap you could only spend a hundred dollars and have thousands of pellets that will last you forever if used wisely.
In order to make hunting more humane it’s best to stick with .22 caliber pellets as they carry enough energy to effectively kill your target at a decent range. Because air rifles are so powerful it’s important to practice proper safety at all times. Treat an air rifle the same as you would with an actual gun and you will be good to go!
Gammo makes a good air rifle and pistol. With the gold pellets the rifle I have will do 1200 fps, not sure of the pistol but both are powerful. Keep in mind that air guns may have high velocity but the distance they can reach at that speed is nothing compared to a .22 so you’ll have to practice your stealth skills also.
A quality made in the USA Sheridan Blue Streak,circa 1968,me dad bought it when I was 5,still works great!>20 cal./5 m.m. pellet,would be a silent hunter and could hurt someone well with it if only thing available,luckily,there is more available!Thanks dad,miss ya’s,see ya’s on the other side.
The article stresses the point nicely, yet misses the mark on what can be hunted with an air rifle. There are air rifles that can take down some considerable game. Personally, I opted for a Benjamin Marauder .22cal PCP with 10 round magazines and a muzzle velocity of 1200fps using the right pellets. There are bigger, much bigger.
http://www.pyramydair.com/
Be sure to have a look at the Sam Yang and Sumatra rifles in the PCP section. Pricey, but I use mine more than any other rifle I own, including powder actuated. Silent but deadly.
I try and stick with either break barrel or pump.
Canned air will run out unless you have a way to recharge the cartridges.
That said, lol. if you are into big bore then:
http://www.quackenbushairguns.com/
I have a Hammerli Hunter Force 900 and it’s a decent break-barrel.
I’ve been tempted to try and push a round super-sonic, but don’t want to damage it, and don’t have the funds to afford a ‘tester’ rifle.
Hell, I don’t even know it it’ll work, but if it’s a piston break barrel supposedly a drop of oil in the pellet skirt will ignite from the compression and push the round super-sonic. Anyone confirm this?
-flek
You can recharge any of the PCP cartridges with a hand pump. Some of the newer hand pumps go to 4500psi. You get more shots and the Benjamin rifles are 25% the sound of any break barrel.
a drop of oil in the pellet skirt will ignite from the compression and push the round super-sonic.
I have heard of this ,, i have heard it called “dieseling” due to the fact its like the combustion that takes place in a diesel engine
I cannot confirm its use , I have not done it , but it makes sense if you can get that oil to expand quickly it sure would help propel the projectile much faster , not sure how it could affect accuracy , or if over time it would destroy the chamber of the weapon
Excellent.
Thanks for the info!
-flek
http://www.topairgun.com/303-daystate-wolverine-air-rifle
a .303 pellet
as for super sonic…
it takes ruffly the same energy to surpass the “sound barrier” as it did to get to it. Example. if you need 5newtons to get to 1129fps(relative humidity yeah yeah) it would take about 4.7MORE newtons to reach 1131fps. And then (i think without actually mathing it) 1.7newtons to reach 2100+fps
ISH
this is not the actual math but an example of energy ratios based of 20year old unused memories.
Arrows grow on every tree. Some trees have better ones. Never seen a pellet in the wild…
Agreed about the arrows.
I’ve had a barnett commando for many many years.
The original one with the brass draw-back hooks to pull back the string.
Impressive design.
-flek