Air rifles, which are best CO2 or Break Barrel.

[silverback mike]

Folks,
Going to buy an air rifle, was wondering what is the best and or pro's and cons of each.
Living on a farm, it's rat shooting time as a few of the little devils are mooching around.
Anyone selling or know where to get one, appreciated.
It's only shooting rats so doesn't have to be something out of the terminator, but a scope would be handy as I no longer have sniper eyes

[thismonkeyhere]

The usual choice for a decent rifle is break barrel (or lever) or PCP (pre-charged pneumatic). CO2 is another kettle of fish, about which I know little.

I prefer a break barrel in .22 and have had some excellent results with same. Preference due to being cheaper, simpler and more traditional.

PCPs have the advantage of reduced kick/muzzle flip for better accuracy (in theory - user dependent!!) and the ability to reload easily for a 'repeater' action - 10 shot magazine affairs available. Disadvantage - having to reload the compressed air cylinder from a tank or laboriously with a stirrup pump.

Find a half decent gun shop and discuss your requirements with them, but I would have thought for rats a decent break barrel in either .22 or .177 would do the job well.

ETA - make sure you get one with as full legal-limit (ie no licence required) power of 12lb/ft.

[schmalex]

I have a .22 break barrel. It's absolutely perfect for shooting rats. The most important things are the scope and the ammunition used to be honest.

[Bill]

doogz said:

Up to about 30m, I'm just as accurate with my iron sights on my old BSA Meteor, as I am with my big Hatsan with a Hawke Eclipse scope. I actually prefer it the old fashioned way.

Although, for rats, you cant beat a cat tbh.

That says more about the Hatsan than anything else I suspect

I found a .22 break barrel perfectly fine for rats, if a bit noisy meaning I could only get one at a time (per evening...). I now have a PCP and don't have to go out so often (Or just shoot them from the bedroom window )

[ofcorsa]

I have an AA400 that I use for HFT, which is more accurate that I am

If I was ridding the world of rats I'd probably go for spring power. Reduced running costs and once sighted in properly very capable of the job.

[Bill]

doogz said:

Really? I like it, but do they not have a good rep?

AFAIK quality control is a bit hit and miss.



(Try the veal etc..)

[McSam]

My Air Arms S200 is brilliant for such purposes, that's a pre-charge pneumatic which is certainly the "best" answer. If you're on a tight budget then you're better off getting a breaker, but anything over £300 definitely go PCP because apart from being far easier and more "professional" to shoot, this is where the top-flight target rifles go, PCPs are generally higher quality.

Plus Air Arms do a ten-round drum magazine for quick and stable follow-up shots, and there ain't no break barrel that can keep pace with that

Oh, and I use a pump for mine (a Webley which was about £140 and a sound investment), so running costs are zero and I probably get about 75 .177 shots before noticing a drop-off at 30m or more.

[Shamu]

Im also interested to hear your answers. Have been looking at getting a rifle to have some fun with in the summer, although trying to find somewhere to shoot is another mission entirely!

Im currently looking at either the Umarex AirMagnum, which is a CO2 multishot rifle, or a Benjamin trail Nitro rifle, which a frien dis offering for abit of a bargain price.

The Air Magnum does look good, but will be more than double the cost...

[Bill]

doogz said:

Oh right. I've had no issues with mine at all, but good to know, cheers. It was a mate that sells guns that sorted me out with my rifle/scope/bag/accessories, I don't know much about them, and trusted his advice at the time.

They're the better end of the budget lot (AFAIK - info gleaned from airgunbbs), so good ones aren't too bad at all but bad ones are awful.

[ofcorsa]

McSam said:

My Air Arms S200 is brilliant for such purposes, that's a pre-charge pneumatic which is certainly the "best" answer. If you're on a tight budget then you're better off getting a breaker, but anything over £300 definitely go PCP because apart from being far easier and more "professional" to shoot, this is where the top-flight target rifles go, PCPs are generally higher quality.

Plus Air Arms do a ten-round drum magazine for quick and stable follow-up shots, and there ain't no break barrel that can keep pace with that

Oh, and I use a pump for mine (a Webley which was about £140 and a sound investment), so running costs are zero and I probably get about 75 .177 shots before noticing a drop-off at 30m or more.

I have thought about getting a pump for mine to save refilling costs. I just have heard bad things re:condesation in the reservoir?

[Shambler]

Get a Daystate, unbelievable accuracy and power.

[McSam]

ofcorsa said:

McSam said:

My Air Arms S200 is brilliant for such purposes, that's a pre-charge pneumatic which is certainly the "best" answer. If you're on a tight budget then you're better off getting a breaker, but anything over £300 definitely go PCP because apart from being far easier and more "professional" to shoot, this is where the top-flight target rifles go, PCPs are generally higher quality.

Plus Air Arms do a ten-round drum magazine for quick and stable follow-up shots, and there ain't no break barrel that can keep pace with that

Oh, and I use a pump for mine (a Webley which was about £140 and a sound investment), so running costs are zero and I probably get about 75 .177 shots before noticing a drop-off at 30m or more.

I have thought about getting a pump for mine to save refilling costs. I just have heard bad things re:condesation in the reservoir?

Mine gets what you could probably call less-than-ideal use - back in 2007, I used to shoot regularly and it would get 150 pellets through it every week for a couple of years. Since then, it has often sat for months or even years on end, fully charged, before being broken out again for some plinking. It's never bled a single ounce of pressure, and still shoots as powerfully and accurately as it did when new! Beautiful rifle.

I heard such things were possible, but unless you were using a crap pump it seems extremely unlikely, and remember you find all the problems on the Internet, not the 99% of people who've never had an issue

[merc_man]

Just pop along to your nearest gun shop and try a few. For shooting rats it's really going to come down to personal preference and budget. It's not what you read in reviews that count, it's how comfortable it feels to you.

Personally a break barrel works fine for me. I can shoot accurately with the standard sights up to around 20m. I only use the scope for target shooting, not rats. I'm not sure of the exact model, but it's pretty much an entry level Gamo (very much like the new Black Shadow IGT).

Edited by merc_man on Wednesday 6th February 14:24

[Tanguero]

Definitely CO2 for me. I have an extended gas tube that I can bulk fill from a fire extinguisher which gives me around a hundred shots without recharging. Its nice and easy to tune the power with different transfer port seals so that it will run close to (but not above!!) the legal maximum power. Add a silencer and cheap red dot sight and its the perfect ratting gun. No recoil at all so it is more accurate than break barrel and without the internal piston & spring arrangement its a lot quieter too.

[OzzyR1]

Shambler said:

Get a Daystate, unbelievable accuracy and power.

LOL

a) Daystate: Probably a little excessive in terms of price for shooting a few rats.

b) Accuracy: Dependant on user rather than equipment.

c) Power: Unless you hold a FAC, most rifles from £100+ will be between 11 and 12 ft/lb (12 being the legal limit).


Advice to the OP would be to buy a good quality second-hand budget rifle, something like a Weirauch HW97 would fit the bill well.

Look at www.airgun.bbs

Register there and you get access to the for sale forums.

Also have a look at the gunstar website (private sellers on this one rather than trade).

Don't bother buying from a shop unless you absolutely need an immaculate out of the box new item. You can pick up rifles where the only imperfection is a tiny mark on the stock or inn the blueing for half or two-thirds of the shop costs on these sites.

[silverback mike]

Thanks for the answers folks, all good and good reading.
Sadly can't get a cat as I have an enormous German shepherd that would use a cat as a love toy
He's crap at small things so would lose a rat....

[McSam]

Get one of these, you know you want to

[marksbike]

I've had various rifles and pistols for most of my life on and off, my last good rifle was a weihrauch HK35 (break-barrel) which was a very good rifle but sold that some years ago.
After that rifle i moved on to Co2 and found it to be a pain as the gas would leak out and i just wanted a rifle to pick up and shot for no matter how long it had been left. This why last year i went out and brought another break barrel, but this time thought i'd try some thing different and brought a Gamo Shadow (break barrel). Its at the cheaper end of the market but has proved very accurate and reliable. Only the trigger mech lets it down.

As already has been said, you can not go wrong with a second hand weihrauch but if you don't want the hassle of second hand then have a look at the Gamo range. (i think gamo now own BSA)

Mark.

[GBGaffer]

Try here http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/index.php?/...

Usually loads of guns for sale.

I have an old Daystate pre-charged rifle which I use for ratting in preference to a .22 rimfire rifle or a shotgun. Much easier and a lot safer in confined spaces.

Hope you find what you're looking for, or alternatively, borrow a terrier!

Cheers
G

[Dodsy]

Its been a while since I shot rats but I always used a break barrel .177 with the strongest allowed spring. never tried other types so cant really comment on those.

.22 has better stopping power but a .177 will kill a rat without any bother and in theory you get a flatter trajectory. I always found I could hit most things at 20 metres with iron sights but beyond that preferred a scope for small targets. Get a decent scope and it gathers light in making it easier to spot targets at dawn and dusk.

I also had a silencer which was pretty effective - without it you'll likely get one of the buggers then the rest will clear off.