Who’s the SH Air Gunners???

woogie_man said:

Scuba gear won't work...they only fill to 3000psi, these rifles are filling to 3300-4500 psi.

Click to expand...

There are PCP rifles out there that will run on as low as 2k pressure. If you are looking to dip your toe into the PCP world coming from springers it is a good way to do it. I still use mine quite a bit. The other thing that really matters is what the regulator (if equipped) is set to. Generally they are well under 4k. So you can use them, you just can't "fill er up".

I use my scuba tank teathered all the time, and with that huge volume it is real nice.

WeeHooker said:

Thanks for the perspective. As a backyard shooter, I never really thought about a situation where I'd need more than one refill of the 80-120 shots /fill I get out of my main rifles. I can see the value there for sure. That said, if I do end up breaking down and buying a tank, it will be within the 15 year nark AND DOT certified. As a Mechanical engineer, I have no desire to take chances with old / out of spec/uncertified tanks of any kind when talking 4500 psi. I don't see myself filling them with my $300 Chinese pump either. Near as i can see, my initial investment will need to be north of $400 and maybe closer to $600 .

Click to expand...

I think different places have different "life spans" for the tank. I think the EU retires them a bit later then the US does. Then the question comes up, if the tank is rated for 4.5k what happens if I fill it less then that.

As to the "chinese pump" mine is going on year 5 with no signs of quitting yet, and I am flat shocked. But I do baby it. Never let it get over 60C, and have a large tank of cooling water, distilled.

woogie_man said:

Scuba gear won't work...they only fill to 3000psi, these rifles are filling to 3300-4500 psi.

Click to expand...

I know they fill the PCP's that high, but what is the likely regulated pressure they are shooting? I believe most are at 2K or lower so it seems like it would work. Guessing my HP 100 that is usually filled to about 4K so it is at about 3500 when cool would work just fine and last a long long time.

You take your average Fx M3 they have a 250 bar max fill. If you have the regulator set to 120-160 bar, you will get quite a few shots. But if you cut your fill pressure down to 193bar you are cutting your shots down quite a bit.

You can get guns that have fill pressures of 2000 psi, there are not many out there and support for them is getting harder and harder to find. Look at Tim McMurray and his target rifle he makes, along with the Benjamin Discovery.

woogie_man said:

You take your average Fx M3 they have a 250 bar max fill. If you have the regulator set to 120-160 bar, you will get quite a few shots. But if you cut your fill pressure down to 193bar you are cutting your shots down quite a bit.

You can get guns that have fill pressures of 2000 psi, there are not many out there and support for them is getting harder and harder to find. Look at Tim McMurray and his target rifle he makes, along with the Benjamin Discovery.

Click to expand...

So I'd get fewer shots per fill at 3000 psi, but not much less at 3500 PSI which is 241 Bar. I didn't ask about fill pressure but regulated shooting pressure. The rifle would function just fine at 193 or 240 bar and I'd be able to shoot it at the optimum setting. Since I have a few HP 100's which are 100 Cu Ft bottles that get filled to 3500 PSI/240bar. I'd probably have enough air for a year without needing to fill the scuba tanks.

NewsShooter said:

So I'd get fewer shots per fill at 3000 psi, but not much less at 3500 PSI which is 241 Bar. I didn't ask about fill pressure but regulated shooting pressure. The rifle would function just fine at 193 or 240 bar and I'd be able to shoot it at the optimum setting. Since I have a few HP 100's which are 100 Cu Ft bottles that get filled to 3500 PSI/240bar. I'd probably have enough air for a year without needing to fill the scuba tanks.

Click to expand...

That math is all dependent on how large your filling tank volume is v's the receiving tank!!

My SCBA Tanks are 75cf tanks. My M3 Impact is a 700cc 300Bar tank. I fill it to 260-270 bar. I am regulated at 175 bar on the second reg. I can shoot 36 shots before I reach that pressure. I can top off me gun tank 10-12 times when using the Ed Gun full nozzle. If I bleed the hose every time I get 5-6 fills before I'm filling below 250 bar.

It all depends on what your intentions are for the rifle you are filling. Im running mine HARD for NRL22 competitions. for 15m indoor pellet shooting I could probably shoot 1 year plus at those pressures. Shooting slugs requires a lot more pressure.

Defender32 said:

That math is all dependent on how large your filling tank volume is v's the receiving tank!!

My SCBA Tanks are 75cf tanks. My M3 Impact is a 700cc 300Bar tank. I fill it to 260-270 bar. I am regulated at 175 bar on the second reg. I can shoot 36 shots before I reach that pressure. I can top off me gun tank 10-12 times when using the Ed Gun full nozzle. If I bleed the hose every time I get 5-6 fills before I'm filling below 250 bar.

It all depends on what your intentions are for the rifle you are filling. Im running mine HARD for NRL22 competitions. for 15m indoor pellet shooting I could probably shoot 1 year plus at those pressures. Shooting slugs requires a lot more pressure.

Click to expand...

I was replying to someone that said scuba tanks won't work for PCP's, but they will work just fine. Especially my 100 HP tanks with a 3500 fill. Hard to justify the cost of an SCBA when I have more than 10 scuba tanks from 40's to HP 100's. I'll be using the PCP for hunting and some target. I have a few .22's I can use for NRL matches.

They will work but you are also robbing yourself of the shots you would get from a full fill. You will burn through air much faster with a lower pressure tank.

But yes if you want to go for it, you will eventually get the higher pressure tank to shoot more between fills.

woogie_man said:

They will work but you are also robbing yourself of the shots you would get from a full fill. You will burn through air much faster with a lower pressure tank.

But yes if you want to go for it, you will eventually get the higher pressure tank to shoot more between fills.

Click to expand...

How many shots do you think I'd lose from a 3500 PSI tank since it's only a 10 bar difference? 7, 10? Seems like it's worth it to save a few hundred dollars.

It depends on how fast you are pushing your projectile. A 35 caliber you will loose quite a few shots, a 177 probably not so much.

You may not loose as many shots from the rifle, but with each fill you won't be able to get back to that 3500psi pressure. So with each refill you are going to loose shots due to the lower fill pressure. With an M3 it may not be as much as an issue with their two regulators on the rifle. But an airgun without a regulator you will have more of an issue

NewsShooter said:

How many shots do you think I'd lose from a 3500 PSI tank since it's only a 10 bar difference? 7, 10? Seems like it's worth it to save a few hundred dollars.

Click to expand...

you can use this to see the differences

it really depends on your max fill pressure and your reg pressure or at what pressure your shots start dropping from your poa.
what people sometimes forget is that even if your tank holds 3500lbs instead of 4500lbs, and you're only filling to 3000lbs, your 3500lb tank will be below 3000lbs pretty quick, and you will be getting short fills. for many, that is no big deal, but for some, they want max shots every time.
personally, i rarely even fill to 3500lbs.
for my rifle, i might get 30 shots with a max fill and only 24 with a short fill and i don't really care (but i have a guppy tank for refills).

woogie_man said:

They will work but you are also robbing yourself of the shots you would get from a full fill. You will burn through air much faster with a lower pressure tank.

But yes if you want to go for it, you will eventually get the higher pressure tank to shoot more between fills.

Click to expand...

You will not "burn through air much faster". Air is going to be used at the same rate, the level of fill is not related to how fast air is used.

Think of it like putting a half a tank of gas in your car vs a full tank, you can still drive just fine, you will not go as far.

woogie_man said:

It depends on how fast you are pushing your projectile. A 35 caliber you will loose quite a few shots, a 177 probably not so much.

You may not loose as many shots from the rifle, but with each fill you won't be able to get back to that 3500psi pressure. So with each refill you are going to loose shots due to the lower fill pressure. With an M3 it may not be as much as an issue with their two regulators on the rifle. But an airgun without a regulator you will have more of an issue

Click to expand...

Again nope.

It depends on the efficiency of your specific gun. If your gun is an air hog, it will not run as long. Think again of that gas tank I talked about above. You are talking basically MPG. A car that uses more gas to go the same distance will not go as far as a car that has a higher MPG. The airgun is the same thing.

Now it could be said that in general the larger the chunk of lead you are sending the more air you need to send it at X FPS vs something smaller going the same speed.

I want to say one other thing, and it is something that is true in every "hobby". Be it long range, air guns, model rail roads, or tiddlywinks. There is a great deal of cork sniffing in the air gun world. I know something about this first hand. Those "cork sniffers" as I call them are a very vocal group, and quite.....well, I think you get it. And everything that is not top shelf is crap.

Story time:

At a old club....old being the correct word here. They had some guys that started a set of different air gun matches. The club has a indoor hand gun range in town, but the city kept moving farther and farther out and they had to close the outside range. About 10-ish years ago they got a waver from the city to shoot air guns on the old rifle range. You can imagine the red tape that had to be untangled to make this happen. They start to have outside matches, and in the summer when it was nasty they would move indoors to the hand gun range (25 yards) and do some "backup" type matches if they could not go outside. I was already an outsider here as I shot "cheap" crap, but I was still having fun, not as good as some but better then others. They moved inside and decided to do with airguns what was done the week before in the "22 games" Basically just shooting targets, it would always be just paper, but it might have several animals on it, and you shoot out the eyes, or pop bottles and you "shoot off the cap" that kind of thing, playing cards and you shoot out the suit. I had been waiting for this as I had really been enjoying basement practice with basically a Crossman 2100 classic. A multi pump gun that goes back to the 766 of years ago, a gun at the time that cost roughly $80 at walmart. I had a 766 as a kid and just like it for old times sake. It was quite fun to shoot that while there are guns costing many THOUSANDS on my left and right. I shot H&N Field Target Trophy I don't remember the size, but the comments of wasting good pellets on a crap gun came far and wide.

Long story short I won. Actually won over all. People are not happy, the price is like $25 so we are not talking big money here, enough for a tin or two of pellets is all, but these guys had a cow.

The very next match they had a new rule outlawing MSP, multi stroke pneumatic. I guess in the classic case if you can't beat it outlaw it. I packed my stuff and left never to be back, and let my membership to that gun club (they did powder stuff as well) go away. I could not believe just how childish.

You don't need to spend a mint to shoot out an ace of diamonds at 25 yards. You don't need to spend a mint to hit at 100 yards....reliable. Some "airgun channels" on youtube basically ended their career over "cork sniffing". Old people remember it. The reviews are the same as if you read in a gun magazine, the same magazine that the company spent many thousands of $$ buying ad space in. Do you really think they are going to praise something that does not give them a kickback?

Just wanted to toss that out there if people think you need to spend big money to get a "good" air rifle.

theLBC said:

you can use this to see the differences

Airgun Tank Fill Calculator

it really depends on your max fill pressure and your reg pressure or at what pressure your shots start dropping from your poa.
what people sometimes forget is that even if your tank holds 3500lbs instead of 4500lbs, and you're only filling to 3000lbs, your 3500lb tank will be below 3000lbs pretty quick, and you will be getting short fills. for many, that is no big deal, but for some, they want max shots every time.
personally, i rarely even fill to 3500lbs.
for my rifle, i might get 30 shots with a max fill and only 24 with a short fill and i don't really care (but i have a guppy tank for refills).

Click to expand...

Yea, I lived this when I got my first PCP rifle some 20 years ago ( Gen 1 Marauder). All I had was a hand pump at the time and found it exhausting. Being short on cash, I opted for a used steel tank as a solution. After kissing butt at the local dive shop to get it filled to 3000 psi, I found that I was still using the hand pump to top the MROD off to the same 3000 psi within just a couple of fills. Sure I could just fill the rifle to whatever was left in the tank ( 2500-2700 etc) but my usable shot count went down fast. In the end, the rifle and the tank got largely put away until I got a compressor last year. Turns out that tank was a "kissing your sister" solution and waste of money (except for the learning experience.)
If I buy a tank to supplement, it will be for convenience and not necessity. I'm leaning towards a DOT cert 6.8: 4500 psi that can be had for around $500 with fill set-up. I don't shoot PCP's enough to justify more. Otherwise my compressor will do just fine.

fpgt72 said:

Again nope.

It depends on the efficiency of your specific gun. If your gun is an air hog, it will not run as long. Think again of that gas tank I talked about above. You are talking basically MPG. A car that uses more gas to go the same distance will not go as far as a car that has a higher MPG. The airgun is the same thing.

Now it could be said that in general the larger the chunk of lead you are sending the more air you need to send it at X FPS vs something smaller going the same speed.

Click to expand...

What are you talking about? Of course it does. You are not going to use the same amount of air to push a 30 cal 50+ grain projectile as you would with an 18.1 grain 22 projectile. To get the same velocity on the heavier ammo you need more air to push it harder. Every time you fill your tank with the 3000 psi tank you wont get back to that level again until you fill your tank. Each time you will get a lower and lower fill pressure.

Nobody is saying not to do it, get the rifle and shoot. You will be filling your tanks more often than not due to the dropping pressure.

WeeHooker said:

Yea, I lived this when I got my first PCP rifle some 20 years ago ( Gen 1 Marauder). All I had was a hand pump at the time and found it exhausting. Being short on cash, I opted for a used steel tank as a solution. After kissing butt at the local dive shop to get it filled to 3000 psi, I found that I was still using the hand pump to top the MROD off to the same 3000 psi within just a couple of fills. Sure I could just fill the rifle to whatever was left in the tank ( 2500-2700 etc) but my usable shot count went down fast. In the end, the rifle and the tank got largely put away until I got a compressor last year. Turns out that tank was a "kissing your sister" solution and waste of money (except for the learning experience.)
If I buy a tank to supplement, it will be for convenience and not necessity. I'm leaning towards a DOT cert 6.8: 4500 psi that can be had for around $500 with fill set-up. I don't shoot PCP's enough to justify more. Otherwise my compressor will do just fine.

Click to expand...

I was very slow to the PCP world, I saw it a "cheating" and was quite vocal about it. I have now gone to "The dark side" as one forum calls it.

What I did when I was in that spot is just shoot teathered. I actually like it quite a bit, on an unregulated gun like the first Mrod it gave it a big boost.

It was always a non starter with a hand pump for me, my back is just too shot for that, so I made the dive shop run for a few months.....actually the weight of the tank was rough on me. Then I went to that first cheap chinese compressor and it has worked better then I ever thought it would. I actually kept a log book on its use for about 3 years before I quit figuring it had paid for itself already. It is loud, and slow but it works just fine. The temp gage fell apart about 6 months ago and I replaced it, amazed it lasted that long with that kind of shaking going on.

I still shoot my springers a bit, but the nerve damage in my left side is really making it rough. My RWS 48 I am thankful for that "bear trap" as I can use it to get another grip on it and finish cocking the gun. I am shooting everything like that off a rest but some of the real light guns, I think the only PCP I can manage off hand is a chief.

woogie_man said:

What are you talking about? Of course it does. You are not going to use the same amount of air to push a 30 cal 50+ grain projectile as you would with an 18.1 grain 22 projectile. To get the same velocity on the heavier ammo you need more air to push it harder. Every time you fill your tank with the 3000 psi tank you wont get back to that level again until you fill your tank. Each time you will get a lower and lower fill pressure.

Nobody is saying not to do it, get the rifle and shoot. You will be filling your tanks more often than not due to the dropping pressure.

Click to expand...

Sorry when you said scuba gear won't work in post 202 I took it as you can't use it, end of line. Everything you are saying in this post I agree with, and have done. Sorry I read too much into that other post.

I think I would be safe in saying most people shoot these "big" pcp's off a rest, and I think it really is the only to do it when you stick a new scope on it, change pellets.....whatever. In that case running the gun with it teathered to the bottle is IMHO a perfect solution, you can just shoot. The pressure means little if it is above the regulated pressure. I also think if you choose to hunt with an airgun you are likely not shooting 40 rounds on a trip into the woods, even if you are pesting. We have a "cow farm" across the road from us, I have talked about it in a few other posts. They have real issues with starlings. Before owners changed they would allow me to shoot all the starlings I care to. The gun was quiet enough to not freak the cows out. The new people I just have not asked as I was pretty vocal about their plans to increase the size of that place to 3999 head, 4000 is where the next limit and new laws start. When shooting the starlings I also did it teathered out of the back of my truck.

Yes you don't get a "full" fill, but in many cases you really don't need it. Only in some matches I have seen is where you want to stuff as much air in there as you can.

One last thing on these bottles. 4000 PSI is not something to fool with. This goes from balloon to bomb. There are some fun targets you can make out of tire valve stems and pop bottles. Pop bottles by law have a very high burst pressure, water bottles don't. You get a nice "boom" when shooting them with a bit of pressure in them.

Not so much the air tanks. You want to get to roughly 2:30 and see just how close this guy came to a Darwin award.

What I liked a lot about my 20 fpe/ .177 cal/ MAC1 USFT is it only took a 1500 psi fill because it had a large air reservoir and lacked a reg. I'd fill it when it got down to 1250 psi and it'd get 45 good shots on the bell curve. My 4350 psi tank would last half the summer!!!
As well in my mind anyway the most reliable pcp airgun ever made because of its simplicity.
I won 5 state matches with it over a 18 year period and it always did what it was supposed to. Unlike a few air rifles I've also owned, some expensive, and some medium priced.

The one on the top was my wife's carbine version.

They are fun not doubt about it, and they will teach you more about wind then anything else can.....and they can teach it to you in the back yard. You can also play in your basement or garage. I enjoy them quite a bit. I wish I had joined the PCP band wagon sooner.

We all wish we started shooting sooner! These are just so much more fun than most other things.

Anyone ordered the FX Panthera yet? Looks like they're jumping in the deep end for NRL22 matches.

One of these? lol Have a few buddies shooting them and are liking them a bunch. Shooting slugs they are getting the same hits on target as the 22lr guns are.

Bought a PCP 22 air rifle to extend the life of my reload supplies when things got sideways. It was a good decision. Backyard and basement shooting year round. Great Practice.

Just noticed an airgat section got added to the forum:


In case folks are following this thread, here's your heads-up.

LooseGoose said:

Just noticed an airgat section got added to the forum:

Precision Air Rifles

Air Rifles are growing every day, and precision air rifle competitions are becoming more popular.

www.snipershide.com

In case folks are following this thread, here's your heads-up.

Click to expand...

I have been thinking that the amount of interest in this single thread here was warranting such a move. Should be successful (and a whole lot easier to follow!)

WeeHooker said:

Yea, I lived this when I got my first PCP rifle some 20 years ago ( Gen 1 Marauder). All I had was a hand pump at the time and found it exhausting. Being short on cash, I opted for a used steel tank as a solution. After kissing butt at the local dive shop to get it filled to 3000 psi, I found that I was still using the hand pump to top the MROD off to the same 3000 psi within just a couple of fills. Sure I could just fill the rifle to whatever was left in the tank ( 2500-2700 etc) but my usable shot count went down fast. In the end, the rifle and the tank got largely put away until I got a compressor last year. Turns out that tank was a "kissing your sister" solution and waste of money (except for the learning experience.)
If I buy a tank to supplement, it will be for convenience and not necessity. I'm leaning towards a DOT cert 6.8: 4500 psi that can be had for around $500 with fill set-up. I don't shoot PCP's enough to justify more. Otherwise my compressor will do just fine.

Click to expand...

For those with interest, I was able to find a new /old stock 6.8L DOT certified tank with fill set-up for under $400 this week. It's got a DOB of 2020 so I'm losing a few years off it's 15 year life but I'll deal with that when the time comes (if I make it to 77!) I look forward to adding it to my tool kit.

I recently purchased a .457 texan lss and am very unhappy with the burris scope mounts. What is the most solid mount you have used?

sideofabarn said:

I recently purchased a .457 texan lss and am very unhappy with the burris scope mounts. What is the most solid mount you have used?

Click to expand...

I can't speak for the Texan but do know that it has the dovetail rail. I have several AF airguns and use these rings.

It gets the scope up high enough for perfect eye alignment and also the flexibility of adding elevation as you would with a 20, 30, 40 or 60 MOA rail to give your scope extra travel with the elevation turret for long shots.

I even use them with an Anschutz 64 MPR on an MDT chassis.

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/fx-no-limit-scope-mount-30mm-dovetail?a=7561

Best dovetail rings I’ve found, after looking extensively: Tier One dovetail rings
Quality and function are both outstanding! Far better than any of the “air gun” dovetail rings. Quality and finish remind me of APA‘s pic rings.

RTI Prophet Performance here with the slower twist 22 barrel in order to shoot skirted pellets at higher velocity without issue. Amazon $50 hand pump gets me to 300 bar - approx 100 pumps per 100 bar. Regulator set at 110, so generally shoot from 200 down to 120 or so. Very quiet with Sarissa moderator, and same accuracy as my Tikka 22lr w/ CCI SV.

I recently purchased an air venturi avenger in .25. at 50 yards its "no fun" accurate. You"ll hit the same hole every time no problem. Look on craigslist of fb marketplace and you'll find good local used guns for cheap. You get to know the local guys that way and they can put you on to better deals when they come available.

plong said:

Best dovetail rings I’ve found, after looking extensively: Tier One dovetail rings
Quality and function are both outstanding! Far better than any of the “air gun” dovetail rings. Quality and finish remind me of APA‘s pic rings.

Click to expand...

So far these seem like the most promising mount. I need to do my due diligence of course. Thank you for the information.

Just noticed this section, I’ve had my pcp for a year and a half now and absolutely love it. I’m mostly shooting pellets “neighborhood friendly” while doing population control on rabbits, collared doves, and grackles. 26gr slugs are fun too. Furthest kill so far is a dove at 142yds!

Question for the group, looking at a couple rifles, FX dreamline and FX crown, thoughts? It will likely be a .25 used mostly for plinking and pests. I've got a .22 rimfire in a chassis that matches my centerfire for NRL stuff.

Dreamline is a more budget friendly option, and has the ability to be changed to a few different models.

Crown is more of a classic looking rifle. More power and more tunable. Now if you go the continum you can get a short 380mm barrel along with a 700mm barrel. Short barrel is great for plinking and the 700 is great for target shooting.

Am lucky that my local shop has a few of them in stock. Along with some knowledgeable guys when I go in and play with the rifles. One fun gun they have is the leshiy 2 in 25.

Ahh, our own airgun forum, NICE!

Latest airgun thing that happened is I got a 3rd barrel fitted to my Thomas HPX. It's a 23.5" LW 17.7 twist in 22 cal. Windy day yesterday at 15 mph for my first try with this barrel so I just plinked on steel out to 100Y. Even still I put in a few .6-.7" groups at 50Y using Zan 33 gr .218's. I didn't chrono but its around high 800's to low 900's fps if I were to guess.

I go to a competition once a month in Phoenix AZ which is called "XFT/EXtreme Field Target" and which is like regular FT except its typically shot with more powerful airguns or 22rf's up to 100fpe. All steel knockover targets from 20Y to 100Y so its a ton of fun.
Using custom swaged slugs is against the rules so that's why I had this 3rd barrel done for me. I'll hope for the best later this month using this barrel.

Here's the match report from last month so you can get an idea of the course and equipment used.
Come join is if you get a chance.

WeeHooker said:

I have been thinking that the amount of interest in this single thread here was warranting such a move. Should be successful (and a whole lot easier to follow!)

Click to expand...

I just noticed also, I thought I was the only one who loves/shoots them!

hafejd30 said:

I purchased a Benjamin Marauder .22 cal earlier this year. Absolutely fell in love with air gun shooting. Now looking at an FX Impact M3

This air gun stuff overwhelms me compared to rifle shooting. Couple questions below…

1) What is the best all around air gun caliber (.177/22/25) I’m mainly looking for accuracy. Would be used for occasional hunting but only for red squirrels/pigeons type shooting

2) Who’s the best to buy from?

3) Also barrel length? I see 600mm and 700mm are common on fx

Click to expand...

You do know that if you buy something like an FX Impact, that the barrels and probes are interchangeable to all those calibers plus .30 and I believe .357. One gun and a bag of calibers! I have bought most of mine from Pyramyd Air and one from Airgun Depot but like Pyramyd Air for customer service and wider selections of everything as well as a lot of training videos and articles. If you want the new semi autos and full autos: look at Western Airguns and AES.

NewsShooter said:

How many fills would you get from a scuba tank? I'm heavily invested in scuba gear, I have tanks from 100 Cu ft down to 30 Cu Ft.

Click to expand...

Depends on what size airgun tank and psi and caliber. If I fill my .357 texanLLS to 3000psi I get about 6 full power to full enough shots for maximum effect. But; it will still be accurate and break rocks and knock chunks out of 2x4s at 30-100 yrds for about 20 more shots. I've found that the bigger scuba tanks themselves loose psi after only a few fills of gun and the vast amount of air isnt usable, at least not for 3000 psi and up guns. I now teather smaller tanks to the gun. It's faster and easier to get your "fill" of shooting.

Basher said:

So now that we have an airgun thread going (looks like there have been a few recently, actually):

Rings/mounts/bases/optics.

I’m spoiled by places like the Hide and everything I’ve learned here in the past two decades or so. I don’t buy crap optics. I might buy lower-tier optics depending on what I’m using them for, but I tend to avoid the likes of UTG like the cancer they typically are.

But I see a LOT of guys recommending “off-brand” optics for use on their rifles, to include spring piston rifles. I happen to need a few optics, and I’m thinking of moving my SWFA 3-15x42 from my 457MTR over to one of my springers and upgrading on the .22LR, but that only solves one air rifle’s problem. I’d need two more.

I could get a few more SWFA 3-15x and be happy, especially since they parallax down to 6m, or get another USO TS-12X (which USO says is also air rifle rated). Both can be had for decent prices used ($300-400 if I’m patient), so I may do that or maybe try an Athlon. The downside is all three of mine are primarily going to be plinking/hunting rifles for rabbits/squirrels/raccoons, and I’d bet illumination might be handy in the dense woods here in Indiana.

But for bases/mounts/rings, what’s everyone doing? I may be “unique” here in that I’m scoping spring piston rifles that need to stand up to more recoil than a PCP, but I’m all ears. BKL seems halfway decent, but I’m open to suggestions.

Click to expand...

I have not read through the entire thread to see who all replied to you on this topic but at the risk of repeating it I'm going to say this anyway. Please be sure to put a springer rated scope on your springer, it will break your typical scopes (Companies like Hawke and Optisan will list specifically if they are springer rated).

hafejd30 said:

I purchased a Benjamin Marauder .22 cal earlier this year. Absolutely fell in love with air gun shooting. Now looking at an FX Impact M3

This air gun stuff overwhelms me compared to rifle shooting. Couple questions below…

1) What is the best all around air gun caliber (.177/22/25) I’m mainly looking for accuracy. Would be used for occasional hunting but only for red squirrels/pigeons type shooting

2) Who’s the best to buy from?

3) Also barrel length? I see 600mm and 700mm are common on fx

Click to expand...

If you get a fx m3 you can change barrels for all available calibers (I have one in.30 with 700mm barrel) it's a tack driver and will blow through 3/4 Plywood and knock out chunks of 2x4 stand behind. So you would probably want a smaller caliber and shoot pellets. You have choices with the FX m3.
Also, PyramydAir is a good store, good customer service, perks and lots of choices, videos and info.

This is what I have previously owned:

Webley Vulcan 177
FWB 124
Beeman R1*
Beeman R9
RWS 48
Stormrider .22
AA Pro-elite .22
AA Pro sport 177
AA TX200 177
AA S410 E*
Cricket .25
FX Streamline .22*
FX Crown .30 Mark 1*
Daystate Revere Regulated 22*

Just one now:

FX Crown Mark 2 in .22 cal 600mm barrel
Athlon Midas TAC 6-24 x 50 scope

I shot 5 groups of 5 @ 50 yards, a couple of days ago, with an average group size of .395". Not as good as others claim but I was happy! JSB 25.39 at 940 FPS

I've always had a couple of springers around, but their noisy.
A few years ago I ventured into the PCP world with a marauder .22 and then a big bore 9mm rifle with a clague LDC for hunting bigger critters.
I sold the marauder as it was too much rifle for what I needed it for and bought a Umarex Fusion 2 .177 cal co2 rifle that I semi converted into PCP for smaller pest hunting.
After varmint season ended I mounted my backup Adder thermal on it and have been wreaking havoc on the mice and smaller pests.

The Fusion 2 has been more than capable at the short ranges I shoot and it's deadly accurate with JSB diabolo RS pellets.
Maybe when it shit's the bed I'll upgrade to a real PCP rifle, but the prices for new PCP'S these days is freaking crazy.
I don't really need a high powered rifle for the 10-15 yard shots I usually take and I don't want to worry about ricochets either.
With so many options out there, could someone here recommend an affordable lightweight .177 PCP moderated rifle for short range use ?
Thanks,

SJC

shoots100 said:

I've always had a couple of springers around, but their noisy.
A few years ago I ventured into the PCP world with a marauder .22 and then a big bore 9mm rifle with a clague LDC for hunting bigger critters.
I sold the marauder as it was too much rifle for what I needed it for and bought a Umarex Fusion 2 .177 cal co2 rifle that I semi converted into PCP for smaller pest hunting.
After varmint season ended I mounted my backup Adder thermal on it and have been wreaking havoc on the mice and smaller pests.
View attachment 8126842
The Fusion 2 has been more than capable at the short ranges I shoot and it's deadly accurate with JSB diabolo RS pellets.
Maybe when it shit's the bed I'll upgrade to a real PCP rifle, but the prices for new PCP'S these days is freaking crazy.
I don't really need a high powered rifle for the 10-15 yard shots I usually take and I don't want to worry about ricochets either.
With so many options out there, could someone here recommend an affordable lightweight .177 PCP moderated rifle for short range use ?
Thanks,

SJC

Click to expand...

People seem to like these.

I like everything about it, just wish it was available in .177 cal.
.22 cal is just to much power for what I'm hunting and I have a boatload of .177 cal pellets.
Thanks.

SJC

you might get a lot more suggestions at airgunnation.com. there are probably lots of threads already on the topic.

people seem to like the beeman commander for a budget option and off the shelf accuracy.
more expensive rifles may offer adjustable regulator so you can keep the speed down to what you like.

I'm not in the air gun addiction yet, but look who is: