Air rifles: Anyone fool with them?

[HideHunter]

goodlord - talk about persnickety bastards.. Been fooling with a "springer" (Gamo Shadow .177) for a month or so.. Tough going, but I'm gaining.. I'd love to find an old Sheridan or Benjamin "pump-up" to play with.

[quercus alba]

I have both the 177 benjamin and a sheridan 20 cal with a peep sight. Unfortunately wearing bifocals and shooting open sights is not equated into accuracy

[Niner]

I hadn't thought about it, Gene.....but would you be interested in an OLD Crossman pump-up single-shot .22????

It needs fixin'. Won't hold air. I forget the model number, but if you have any interest, I'll dig her out of the safe and get the specifics on it.

[HideHunter]

Sure - I'd be interested in seeing what you have anyway. I'm just kind of getting into it. I know Crossman has made them since the 20s and they were super-popular. Find out what it is and we'll at least get you some info on it.

lol.. Oak - When I was a kid all I had had was a bb gun but my buddy had a .20 Sheridan. Man, compared to mine, that thing hit like a cannon. :D I was in lust.. then we moved to the farm when I was about 11 and the .22 rimfire superseded it. ;)

[quercus alba]

I don't know about in Iowa but down here a box of 250 twenty cal pellets cost about 20 bucks.

I've got a buddy with a Gammo but he said he cant's keep a scope zeroed because of the recoil. Last I heard he was going to try a Burris off one of his rifles. That's a lot of scope for a pellet rifle

[Thumper]

Seems to me, a .22 scope would fit the bill.

[Buckrub]

As I have heard............and I don't know for sure, and I admit it's never made sense to me........but I've been told that you cannot mount a 'regular' scope on an air rifle, that somehow it'll mess it up. It takes an 'air rifle scope' for some reason.

I could easily have been told wrong. Just something I heard.

[quercus alba]

The air rifle scope was what wouldn't stay zeroed. Give me my old Benjamin any day

[Buckrub]

http://www.lasc.us/rangingshotrifleairgunscopes.htm

[Big Skyz]

I fooled with them for a few years and finally gave up on them. However if you need a good air rifle scope Hawke Optics are tough to beat. They design quite a few air rifle specific scopes

[HideHunter]

Yep - 'Rub is right.. Rifle scopes are designed to take recoil one way.. Air rifle scopes have to take it two ways. Good article.

Oak - I'm sure they are high. I comparison - you can buy premium .22 pellets @ about 25 for 600.

Sky - you're right on the Hawkes. My SIL lives in a small housing development and needed something quiet to shoot "varmints". Friend of mine sold me a "tuned" .22 RWS Diana with a Hawke scope. Talk about a sweetheart. I killed a couple rabbits and a squirrel with it before he came and got it. I almost forgot to tell him I bought it.;) Got me a little interested so I've been working on this Shadow. I probably won't spring for the "tune" job, but I did drop in an after-market trigger. I was shooting the little spinner at 30 yards last night. It's just a .177 but all I really want is a backyard "starling" gun anyway.

[johnboy]

Mentioning a "starling" gun brought back some fond memories. I grew up mostly in southern Ontario and starlings were a real pest. The used to make big, messy nests under our eaves and crap all over the place so it was my job to keep them gone. I musta been about 9 or 10 or so and took the job seriously. I had an old break action .177 pellet rifle (don't even remember the make) that I got pretty deadly with. No starling or any other feathered varmit was safe! Man, that was a LONG time ago.