Not Your Mother’s Air Rifle
January 6, 2012, Submitted by: Ken Tweet
Guest post: by ‘TripodXL’
An often, overlooked survival item, is the air rifle, as it is looked upon by many as a toy. Today’s air rifle has the capability to take LARGE game, and we’re not talking BB guns, not pump and pump and pump pellet/BB guns, but real honest to God air RIFLES. There are basically two types, the single stroke, spring piston (SSSP, S3P) and the pre-charged pneumatic (PCP). They both have advantages and disadvantages as it relates to the survivalist’s arms needs.
What do I need an air rifle for? Well, if you are hunting squirrels, rabbits and other small game they offer a very significant decrease in price, even over .22 LR ammunition, on the order of .5 cents per round versus 4-6 cents per round of .22 LR, that’s a 10:1 advantage. Second they offer as much stopping power, with the correct pellets and rifle, as a .22 Short in the small bore versions and in the large bore versions they offer as much stopping power as a hot, .38 special/ 9mm. Third, this allows large and small game to be taken at intermediate yardages without the use of a manufactured substance, other than the projectile. Fourth, they are quieter than regular firearms, which may be a concern or necessity in a survival situation. Fifth, since they will kill animals…well, guess what else they can kill?
Okay, so tell me about them. Okay, first are the S3Ps, they are typically in .177, .22 and .25 calibers. They are suitable for small game, and they are quieter and cheaper to shoot, than a .22 LR rifle. The .22 and the .25 are capable enough to kill a human with the right shot, through an eye socket or the side of the temple. Now, I don’t recommend getting in a firefight with a pellet rifle, as I don’t think you can reload fast enough, unless there is only one and you cap him/her first (equal opportunity) with a fatal shot, not that it can’t be done. Their number one quality is that it only takes ONE stroke to cock them. You aren’t pumping them. The one stroke cocks, a spring-loaded piston, you insert a pellet and close the bolt, and you are ready to shoot. When you pull the trigger, the piston is released (single stroke, spring piston) and almost instantaneously compresses the air in a cylinder to the point that it blows the pellet out the barrel at anywhere form 850 feet per second (FPS) to 1200+ FPS, depending on the caliber and weight of the pellet. This will produce energy sufficient to kill many small game animals, and as stated before under the right circumstances, can produce a fatal shot on humans, given the right aim point. Their downside is their noise. While quieter than a .22 rifle, they still produce a significant noise when fired. These run from anywhere in the $150-500 range.
PCPs are the “nuclear weapon” version of air rifles, in that they are all of the same calibers as mentioned before and much larger calibers as well. A pre-charged pneumatic is a pellet rifle that has a cylinder on it that holds a supply of compressed air, usually supplied form a larger tank, and the user controls how much energy will be expended, with a control valve that they can adjust to a certain level to determine the FPS of the projectile for each shot. PCPs have the advantage of NOT having to be cocked. You just load a pellet and pull the trigger. They are also capable of multiple shots on a single cylinder of air, requiring no effort, at that time, on the user, other than reloading a pellet. They can shoot projectiles that are 9 millimeters in diameter at 700-900 FPS. This is a lethal velocity and is a deadly projectile. Large game and humans are at risk from these weapons. Their biggest advantage is that they are SIGNIFICANTLY quieter than a S3P rifle. As a matter of fact they are significantly quieter than a suppressed (silenced) .22 LR. Their one disadvantage is that they run in the $900-1500 range. Kinda pricey!
I personally own an RWS Model 48, which is a quality, German, S3P, .22 caliber air rifle. I have personally taken small game with it and it works well at that. It would probably kill a human being if the shot were well placed. I have personally shot it through a 3/8” piece of hardwood at 30 yards, nuff said. This rifle cost me about $400 about 5 years ago.
Are these weapons worth their price? Depends on your price point, personally and need. Is a perfectly quiet, one shot, one kill, weapon worth it? You have to answer that yourself, but the stealth factor is very desirable. Survive well. Enjoy.
As always do not assume that everything discussed here is legal in your locale. Discuss your personal tactics with someone in the legal profession that is capable of answering your questions for your area. Nothing here should be construed as advice for the conduct and action associated with a certain set of circumstances, as all circumstances are individual and unique, and should be treated as such. Any such action, as you take, should be considered your own choice and responsibility.
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TripodXL. Another fine article, you should contribute very usable information to MSB. In my area these air rifles arew sold in the open and do not require any type of firearms background checks, one has a 1600 fps velocity. I guess for people with felonies on their record they can buy and possess these air rifles, but I am not sure about this. I was thinking about that poor marine that could have a life time ban on owning firearms, could he still enjoy shooting with air rifles such as these that you mentioned?
I was looking at this gun magazine at the Benjamin Rogue .357 that has a 700-1000 fps velocity and this is pretty impressive. It cost $1299 from Crossman. I imagine you could even hurt medium size game with this. I think you probably would have to have a little more power to down a buck, but to have a .357 going at up to 1000 fps is pretty extreme without the use of gunpowder behind it. I would hope that someone that has had their firearms rights taken away from them can still shoot and if they desire it, hunt. Would do you know about this law in regards to federal? Could to know if someone ever gets framed for something that they didn’t do, or something they did do, to know IF they can still shoot.
Thank you for the article, this is information I was quite curious about.
@BI; As far as hunting, it is illegal in most, if not all states, to hunt GAME animals, i.e. anything regulated by the state or the Feds’. You can hunt varmints, feral animals and vermin and you can hunt…..non-game, game animals on private land that raise them e.g. Axis deer, Red deer, American Bison, Zebra, Kudu etc. Course you have to have enough money to do that, so I don’t do that. Ha ha. Survive well. Enjoy.
People often don’t often recommend even using .223 caliber for hunting LARGE game such as deer etc. I would caution anyone reading this to think large game would include large game such as deer. Letting an animal suffer needlessly is simply cruel.
@BI; By Federal law it is legal for felons to purchase and possess both black powder firearms and airguns as these are not considered by the Feds’ to be firearms. HOWEVER, there are a few states like NfJ that define firearms in such a way as to include air guns and black powder guns in their definition so as to have COMPLETE CONTROL over their sheeple. For the other comment
@Daniel; well, certainly no one wants to inflict undue suffering on an animal but this was posited in the context of a survival situation, and if that means I have to club the last baby seal on earth to death to feed my family and myself, well the baby seal is history. If you will re-read the post carefully I did not recommend any large game with the smaller pellet calibers (.177, .22, .25), though they are more than adequate for squirrels, rabbits, birds and other small game of opportunity. Just to put things in perspective, a .45 cal. flintlock fired a 100 grain ball at about 1400 feet per second (fps) with a muzzle energy (ME) of 435 foot pounds of force (FPf). An air rifle 9mm (.356 inch), 150 gr pellet, @1000fps, has a ME of 333 FPf and a .45ACP (pistol) uses a 230 gr bullet at 830 fps and has 352 FPf. All of which are lethal for deer sized game WITHIN THEIR CAPABILITIES. The 9mm air rifle requires that the shooter stalk to within 50 yards for a clean kill with 75 yards being the outer limit. Our forefathers certainly killed enough white tailed deer with their .45 flintlock/percussion and later .30-30(“thutty, thutty”) rifles to make them almost extinct east of the Mississippi, until game laws came into effect in the 20s and 30s (e.g. it was estimated that in 1929 there existed in the entire state of MS 500 white tailed deer!). As I said before, this is in the context of SURVIVAL. As far as the .223, I didn’t mention it but since YOU did here is the info on it in light of the above info. A 70gr Barnes TSX bullet at 2800 fps has a ME of 1219 FPf. Due to advances in bullet technology, with proper shot placement and range discipline out to 150 yards, the .223 will put them down with one shot. Now this is good for places where the deer tend to be smaller and the shots closer. AS a matter of fact I’ll be using that load week after next in Florida with my brother, deer hunting. Hope this offers some insight. Survive well. Enjoy.
I get your point. It would probably still bear to mention in the article itself that you no way recommend using this unless it’s in survival situation. People may get the wrong idea.
I believe I did that!
Also, if you read the first post response to BI, I clarified the hunting issue with air rifles, quite succinctly.
@All; Additionally, another advantage that an air rifle offers is CHEAP practice. I did not stress that enough in my post. The shooting skills you develop are perishable. With an air rifle and 40 feet of room, you can use 10 meter targets (33 feet). Some homes will have enough space with the hall going out into the garage and you can practice without leaving home, and practice OFTEN. OR, if it isn’t ILLEGAL, you can shoot in your backyard, assuming you have a privacy fence and no “overlook” from neighboring multi-storied homes, so that no one calls in a “man with a gun” to the cops. If a cop was coming through your fence gate and you stood up and turned toward him/her with an air rifle in your hands, guess what? So, use your head with any “gun” usage and be aware of unintended consequences. I would go so far as to put a “Air rifle practice in progress, do not enter” sign on the gate, so that if a cop did show up, they might think it through and do it differently. Also, if you are going to practice use QUALITY pellets, don’t use crappy pellets, you’ll get crappy results. Even if you buy top quality match pellets, you’ll still have that 10:1 price advantage over .22 LR costs. Practice, practice, practice. Survive well. Enjoy.
I have a .177 cal Gamo sporter 500 which has a velocity up to 765 fps. I’m debating on when I add another air rifle to my collection, if I should get a Crosman phantom .177 that can shoot up to 1200 fps or a .22 Benjamin with a nitro piston or maybe even the Gamo viper .22 cal air shotgun… Any tips would would be appreciated..
A spring fitted airsoft sniper rifle is a excellent choice for practicing long range target shooting, improving and maintaining your accuracy.
I think your missing a few things here. You say you wouldn’t recommend getting a gun fight with a pellet gun. Well, two things. One, in some places or countries you can’t own firearms. And two, look at the stats on Evanix Conquest PCP. Can be loaded and kept loaded for a long time without leakage or loss of velocity like C02 have. Very accurate and reliable about the size of a standard rifle. I believe it has a feature that allows no loss of air on the next shot so all shots will be close. Meaning you won’t have 950fps, then 930fps etc, etc. It has a 10 shot capability both in semi automatic and fully automatic. It shoots .25 caliber pellets. Eu Jin has a .25 cal that is 43.2 Grains, and the Conquest will push them at around 910 fps. So at 910fps with a 43.2 grain pellet your looking at around 79.5fpe. Almost 80 fpe and at a range of your house say 25 yards or less that is close to lethal. Leaving a big wound channel. Now I know I can hear you all, what this guy is crazy. My 12 gauge will do over x fpe. Okay I’m not talking about shot guns. Not 12 or 20 or 410 etc. I think they are the most effective. But compared to a .22lr or .25 ACP it’s not that far off. And remember automatic feature. Then throw in that there working on a 9mm of the same style air gun along with possible .45 or .50 caliber automatic 10-12 shots and I would say that would be better than .22lr or a .25ACP or more.