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PCP air rifle recommendation around $1000

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Sgp12345

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Minuteman
Sep 17, 2021
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Looking to pick up a PCP air rifle soon to shoot some rats and squirrels that are stealing my chicken food.

I’d like to spend around $1000 for the rifle and necessary accessories.. not counting the compressor/pump or optics. Plan to use a thermal on it for night time shooting so needs a rail.

If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. Thanks!

PS. Open to caliber suggestions as well. Have 1/2 acre here but back yard is open with no houses. I’m thinking .22 or .25, but I’m sure.177 would be just fine.
 
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I lack much experience with air rifles I like, but am looking in to an fx panthera compact in .22 myself. Rats and backyard fun/target/plink. .22 is good rat caliber. Going to start with compact and hopefully will get long barrel version in 22 as well if I can develop place to shoot nearby. There are a lot of good options that are cheaper/in your price range.
Longer barrel can mean shooting slugs not pellets - higher bc and can be better. I’ve never shot slugs though.
Personal experience: bought 1st gen Benjamin marauder in .22 new - years ago. Shitty scope. Have killed a number of rats with it and it’s wonderful but drives me nuts because it’s an accurate gun but not a good one. I’ve only used it out to about 30 yards for rats. I can’t get to the range enough, some medical issues, and love shooting rats when I can - I don’t have the supply I used to. Panthera also for working on technique and enjoying a quality gun I enjoy handling. Compact so lower power so lower air usage means I don’t need a compressor.
Friend has some nice air guns and based on experience with his I trust fx.
I hope this helps.
 
Take a look at Umarex Gauntlet 2 rifles. Any one of them will be more than capable of handling the task. The .22 has built in sound moderator but you will need to add external one on the .30 cal or expect .22 LR sound levels. DonnyFL makes some nice moderators to handle noise reduction. Also take a look at Pard NV008S LRF. Instead of thermal it will also function during daylight hours and has several other features.
 
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I picked up a benjamin cayden .22 as a starter, threw a athlon ares 2.5-15 on it and I've been happy with it so far. Easily hitting a 3/4 in washer on a fence 50 yards away with multiple shots. Head shots on squirrels and starlings at 50 have been easy with a decent rest. I did put a huma regulator on it as it wasn't quiet. 3K fills so my scuba tanks work well. It is on the long side as well with the regulator. Happy so far and it's proven to be accurate.
 
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I have an RTI prophet 2 performance in 22 with a slow twist barrel set up for heavy pellets running supersonic. Most PCP's need a slug barrel to be accurate at that power level. It is MOA @ 100 in windless conditions @ around 1175 fps. I also have low power settings for ~880 fps and one hole @ 50 yds, which is still enough to blow out the other side of a squirrel. Also took big barn pigeons @ ~90 yards at that power level. Oh, and for air, I have a $50 amazon hand pump that gets me to 300 bar without issue, but I generally shoot from 200 down to 130 or so on low power.
 
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I recently pulled the trigger (ya LoL) on my first PCP rifle.
I got a Benjamin Marauder .22 ~ $500, I just don't care for the space gun looks but to each.....
My first reaction was wow this thing is super accurate, at 25 yards it will stack pellets in the same hole.
Death to tree rats in my yard & quiet too. I refill from a scuba tank.
But Warning - this too is addictive, LoL :)
Good Luck
 
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I ve got around 20 pcp airguns , and best bang for the buck imo is the avenger. 25 or the gauntlet. 25 , plus you'll need a pump , bottle or compressor, if you have a friend that is a fireman a CF bottle is the best route money wise,
 
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I just built a air Venturi Avenger with black arts design reg/gauge covers, and barrel band and the metal pic rail upgrade a mod adapter and FX mod it’s awesome accurate
 
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Hard to go wrong with a Marauder for a budget option, mine is in 25. The Marauders are easy to work on and get parts for replacement. If it was me, I would look for a used Leshiy Classic 350 in 22. It is a very unique airgun that would probably be my last one to sell. It is like a PDW setup in an airgun. It is extremely easy to stick in a pack but still useful at the house because it is so darn quiet with a Silent Thunder Ordnance mod. For what you describe, a .22 is probably the caliber to focus on.
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I like the fx wildcat but it's a little over my price range, I've looked at brocock but haven't herd anything about them and what there like.
 
It is hard to beat the Mrod or Gauntlet. Right now pyramyd has the original gauntlet on sale for $230, IMHO that is a no brainer right there. I bought mine when they first came out and actually like it over the Mrod. It just "feels" better.

IMHO what you gain or loose with going with a "budget" PCP is the trigger. Some of the budget guns have just horrid triggers. But with the two I am talking about there is a wealth of info and aftermarket to correct about anything you don't like but the weight of them. With your use I don't think it will be an issue.

Mine will do minute of tennis ball at 100 easy, but in my book that is not good enough for squirrel, at 75 I get minute of quarter and that is roughly where I work from.

Again IMHO I would go with the larger caliber. Sure a 177 would work, but just like everything else the speed of the pellet, its weight and its BC play a big part in shooting, the wind really does screw with pellets much more then a bullet, so keep that in mind as well.

Last thing I could say is if you look into guns that like to shoot slugs (bullets). Generally they will do pellets fine or slugs but not both, one will shoot better generally. However if moving to slugs I think you loose a little of the positive in the airgun, cheap ammo.

Lastly try different pellets and do a little research into the "longer" pellets. I know some guns the mags don't like the longer pellets like Polymags.
 
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I liked my Benjamin Armada in 22 cal, it was just a little too much for shooting 20ft in the garage which is mostly what I do with an air rifle. I shoot some prairie dogs and stuff with it, but that made me wish I picked up the 25cal. But then 20 shots and pump it up, I would just grab my 10/22 and speed loader instead. I have been looking at some PCP air guns again. The marauder and armada are on my radar.
 
My first pcp was a marauder. 25 and if I had stopped there I would still be satisfied with it, however I went down the rabbit hole and have way too many now , but hard to go wrong with a marauder.
 
camocorvette said:
I wanna know more about that setup. Where's a good place to order that and those accoutrements?
Thanks for any info. That looks like a badass setup. Is it pretty quiet with the mod you speak of?
Click to expand...

It is called a Leshiy Classic by Edguns. Unfortunately, they are only available on the used market now. They can be found lightly used in great shape if you are patient.

I detail the specifics of the build in this post.

Leshiy Classic 350mm 22 is a Seriously Impressive Tool

I have a few PCP air rifles that are full size in nature. I did not have anything in the carbine or pistol class. I wanted something lightweight and reliable for an upcoming trip hunting ground squirrels at up to 12,000 feet elevation. I also wanted something I could throw in the backpack for...
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com

It is a great airgun. Good luck!
 
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Best is an impossible achievement. Heavy gun, lite gun, long gun, short gun? Wood, synthetic, small bore, big bore? Hand pump friendly? If I was to buy a new gun today in Canada I would by a Kral Bigmax X. being .25 Cal, it is small cal for my requirements but with a heavy pellet or slug it would do. When I am ready to buy at the end of December it may be out of stock or a new gun better for my requirements may be available. 3 Months ago the Hatsan Carnivore was available but I waited too long. 6 Months ago I purchased a Kral in 22 cal instead of 25 cal because there was no local stock of 25 cal pellets, bad decision.

Yesterdays decisions, are tomorrows mistakes. Oh, the endless pursuit of perfection.
 
I started with a lightly modified Avenger in .22 and a carbon fiber scuba tank. Can’t beat that gun at the starting price of 300

I’ll gift this to my son and since I like it so much my next PCP will be an FX for sure
 
I have a gen1 Mrod .22 that I had an airgunsmith do a deep tune (essentially, he blueprinted it — unfortunately, he’s no longer doing those jobs).

Trigger was lightened to less than half a pound and breaks super crisply. With the right pellets, it’ll shoot one hole groups all day at under 30 yards, and if I do my part it’ll hit a 1” swinger consistently at 65 yards. Absolutely lethal on squirrels and rabbits under 30 yards.

The trick with Mrods is that they can be very picky with pellets. Best bet is to get about 15 pellets from each of a bunch of different pellet weights and shapes, and find the one that works best in your particular gun. (A trip to your local field target match is a good way to get a good selection of pellets.) E.g., H&N Field Target Trophy‘s work best in mine, but other hunting or “match grade” pellets that others rave over won’t group well at all.
 
At the $1K range you can look at the dreamline rifles from Fx. They are very customizable and able to change to a few different configurations if you want. Decent power and they use the smooth twist barrels that the more expensive M3 and Panthera use.
 
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justwoody1 said:
I recently acquired a Benjamin Marauder.22 cal. This pcp air gun is fun!
Click to expand...
I dusted mine off this past weekend, it has been a while. It still shoots pretty darn well, I should take photos of the group but I did not.
 
Sgp12345 said:
Thanks for replies. Ended up with an Umarex Gauntlet 2 in .22 and also a FX Impact M3 in .30 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...

I did about the same thing, but years ago with the original gauntlet and an airforce. I learned some things in doing this.

I won't spill the beans to perhaps color your own testing, but find the pellet it likes, then shoot it. Do this for both guns. Then check back with us and let us know your findings. It is really fun to do.
 
I recently had an issue with my PARD NV008S LRF after downloading an update. My laser rangefinder function stopped working. Basically when you pressed the rangefinder button it simply bracketed the center of the reticle and showed [0] YDS as the range next to it. I contacted PARD Support and finally got the issue resolved. Apparently during the update process it set the laser rangefinder mode to "Manual" instead of "Auto". In reading through my documentation there was no mention of this setting or how to get to it. Here are the instructions sent to me from PARD Support:

"Please check whether your device has the automatic ranging function turned on.

1. Start the menu function and then enter the version option.

2. Double the menu button,there is the ranging option both

on and off at the screen.

3. Switch different modes by single press “+”、“-”.

4. You can exit this page by single pressing the menu button."

Once I followed these instructions my laser rangefinder was working again. I hope this helps you if you find yourself with the same problem.
 
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