# need advice



## jared185

Ok ive alwqys used air rifles for hunting however I never used them for serious hunting. However I found pellets made fot hunting an it got me thinking. Pellet guns are not toys and are lethal is not like the old ones they hav serious firepower. I love to squirrel and bird hunt also like to hunt ground hogs. The ammo for these guns are cheap and would last a very long time so I talked myself into buying an airrifle and 1000 crossmqn destroyer ex pellets. I ended up getting 2 brand new guns for 300 tuat an individlual had a gamo silent cat and a gamo big cat both in .177. I love the guns and they look amazing. But havnt shot them yet. So here is my question which gun is better for hunting and are they quality guns or cheaper mad guns


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## jared185

I was also wobdering their effective range as in how far I can shoot accuratly


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## spentwings

Shooting a springer/piston airgun accurately and humanely isn't as simple as it sounds.
Everything you need to know can be found here!,,, http://www.pyramydair.com/articles;jses ... 6E8D.app02

In regards to groundhogs,,,I wouldn't even make an attempt with a .177 cal!
Maybe in .22,,, but only if I could stalk within 30 yds for a head shot.


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## dsm16428

spentwings said:


> Shooting a springer/piston airgun accurately and humanely isn't as simple as it sounds.
> Everything you need to know can be found here!,,, http://www.pyramydair.com/articles;jses ... 6E8D.app02
> 
> In regards to groundhogs,,,I wouldn't even make an attempt with a .177 cal!
> Maybe in .22,,, but only if I could stalk within 30 yds for a head shot.


This guy, taken at 28 yards, and at leasta dozen of his buddies...all one shot kills at ranges bw 15-38 yards would have to disaggree with you on that one spentwings! 10 grain Premier Ultra Mag domed pellets, all in the ear hole. A couple of them were HUGE too.

When your springer can do this, (the flyer was my fault) at 40 yards, with a pellet that can do the job, head shots on even some pretty good sized critters is very doable.


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## spentwings

But alas dsm,,,not all of us have,,, or will ever have your skill.
I don't doubt you've done well on chucks using the.177 with a 10 grain Premier Ultra Mag. :thumb:


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## dsm16428

spentwings said:


> But alas dsm,,,not all of us have,,, or will ever have your skill.
> I don't doubt you've done well on chucks using the.177 with a 10 grain Premier Ultra Mag. :thumb:


LOL! Skill? Meh...maybe but I can tell you that CDT Big Cat has had about 4,000 rounds through it since I bough it just 4 years ago. That thing just plain SHOOTS! While I do admit, there ARE better choices out there as far as caliber for taking vermin the size of woodchucks, the .177 can still do it if you use it right and dn't take risky shots. That is the best way imo to get really good with any springer btw...shoot it and shoot it and shoot it some more. My next purchase will most def. be a middle of the road PCP for sure though...likely at least .25 cal. and more likely 9mm or bigger. Can't decide on which brand/model though. The only ones I have ever really shot were the older models...like ineficient tanks compared to the new stuff. Heavy...HEAVY and cumbersome to deal with all the way around. I have access to a 6,000 psi Nitro fill station for paintball markers, so filling a scuba tank for day long excursions won't be a problem.


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## Hunterdude

spentwings said:


> In regards to groundhogs,,,I wouldn't even make an attempt with a .177 cal!
> Maybe in .22,,, but only if I could stalk within 30 yds for a head shot.


I have a crossman nito venom .22 cal and i am sure that you can kill a groundhog ad 50 yds. i know this because i shot a pidgin at 50 yds in the chest and the pellet shattered the hard chest plate and through the hart right out the back


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## spentwings

:iroll: 
Comparing a woodchuck to a pigeon is like comparing a Sherman tank to Volkswagen beetle.
Killing and killing humanely ain't the same thing in my book dude.


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## Hunterdude

spentwings said:


> :iroll:
> Comparing a woodchuck to a pigeon is like comparing a Sherman tank to Volkswagen beetle.
> Killing and killing humanely ain't the same thing in my book dude.


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## darkgael

The "hunting with a .177 vs. hunting with a .22" debate is an old one. Yes, one can take game with both. Have good shot placement and you will have a humane kill. 
Personally. I like to use the heaviest pellets that I can shoot accurately. I have had more success with .22s than with .177s. Perhaps with a sitting target....and a supported gun....the .177 will do the job cleanly. For woods walking, stalking, shooting from field positions, I want a bigger pellet and a heavier one. Ymmv.
Pete
PS - not in PA....Airguns are illegal for hunting.


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## NCAG1

You can more than hunt with those rifles and do so humanely but it is about shot placement obviously. Springers have a substancial learning curve of course. If your into serious hunting however I would suggest a PCP as the learning curve is almost null and if you can shoot a .22 LR then a PCP is very close in dynamics other than learning the shot string and drop off.

Quality of these guns you ask................I can only be blunt and honest, only way I know to be. They are okay if that is all you can afford but if you want quality springers look to the following:

-Weihrauch
-AirArms
-Diana
-Theoben (however most Theobens are gas RAM rathe than spring)

German and English made and while a bit more pricey, you get what you pay for.

Okay, tutorial over and hope these suggestions helped. Gamo airguns have suffered over the years in QC and are hit and miss. They can be tuned and tinkered with to be decent shooters but time you spend all that money you could have had a quality German or English airgun.


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## conntaxman

I was up Cables the other week, and went in the Bargin room :[close out /retrun /room ]. I was asking the guy if he had any Ben.Trail, used. He looked on the gun rack and found None, he then said Wait, let me look in the back room. I followed him and in the room were 99 per cent Gamo pellet rifles. So take it from their.Their had to be atleast 15 returns of just Gamo. Their was 2 Ben trail NP .177 cal. I wanted at least a 22 cal. Now i should have gotten the 25 cal. But the new Ben Trail XL1100 i got .22 cal is great. it goes through a piece of 3/4 plywood thats on a 1/32 metal back stop . The metal back stop was from a Micro wave case.
useing crossman 22 hollow p.
John


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## Rick Butcher

You could easily hunt with a variety of rifles, including the Gamos in .177. However, I agree with the consensus here that a .22 pellet is going to be a much better bet for taking down woodchuck and other larger furred game. And if I was looking for a real quality springer I'd certainly put my money down on an RWS any day! One of the best air rifle manufacturers you are going to find anywhere in my book....

RB


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## dsm16428

darkgael said:


> The "hunting with a .177 vs. hunting with a .22" debate is an old one. Yes, one can take game with both. Have good shot placement and you will have a humane kill.
> Personally. I like to use the heaviest pellets that I can shoot accurately. I have had more success with .22s than with .177s. Perhaps with a sitting target....and a supported gun....the .177 will do the job cleanly. For woods walking, stalking, shooting from field positions, I want a bigger pellet and a heavier one. Ymmv.
> Pete
> PS - not in PA....Airguns are illegal for hunting.


I am WELL AWARE of PA game laws. I also never said where I shot this chuck or the prob 25 others with my air rifle now did I? Point of fact I posted in another thread that they were not shot in PA and most of the members reading THIS thread likely knew that already so I didn't feel it was necessary to say where I shot it. Don't take my avatar location as where I do all my hunting. You'd be surprised where I hunt outside of PA. :thumb:


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## darkgael

dsm16428 said:


> darkgael said:
> 
> 
> 
> The "hunting with a .177 vs. hunting with a .22" debate is an old one. Yes, one can take game with both. Have good shot placement and you will have a humane kill.
> Personally. I like to use the heaviest pellets that I can shoot accurately. I have had more success with .22s than with .177s. Perhaps with a sitting target....and a supported gun....the .177 will do the job cleanly. For woods walking, stalking, shooting from field positions, I want a bigger pellet and a heavier one. Ymmv.
> Pete
> PS - not in PA....Airguns are illegal for hunting.
> 
> 
> 
> I am WELL AWARE of PA game laws. I also never said where I shot this chuck or the prob 25 others with my air rifle now did I? Point of fact I posted in another thread that they were not shot in PA and most of the members reading THIS thread likely knew that already so I didn't feel it was necessary to say where I shot it. Don't take my avatar location as where I do all my hunting. You'd be surprised where I hunt outside of PA. :thumb:
Click to expand...

Dam: You seem to have taken offense to my PS about hunting with airguns in PA. Why? The comment was not intended as a criticism of you or anyone else direct or indirect. 
I do not know where you live and, thus, have no grounds to make any comment about you.
The PS was a qualifier about my own use of air guns.....since I live in PA and was commenting about the use of pellets, etc. for hunting, I thought that it was prudent to mention that I am not able to hunt legally. It had nothing to do with you.
Pete


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## dsm16428

darkgael said:


> dsm16428 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> darkgael said:
> 
> 
> 
> The "hunting with a .177 vs. hunting with a .22" debate is an old one. Yes, one can take game with both. Have good shot placement and you will have a humane kill.
> Personally. I like to use the heaviest pellets that I can shoot accurately. I have had more success with .22s than with .177s. Perhaps with a sitting target....and a supported gun....the .177 will do the job cleanly. For woods walking, stalking, shooting from field positions, I want a bigger pellet and a heavier one. Ymmv.
> Pete
> PS - not in PA....Airguns are illegal for hunting.
> 
> 
> 
> I am WELL AWARE of PA game laws. I also never said where I shot this chuck or the prob 25 others with my air rifle now did I? Point of fact I posted in another thread that they were not shot in PA and most of the members reading THIS thread likely knew that already so I didn't feel it was necessary to say where I shot it. Don't take my avatar location as where I do all my hunting. You'd be surprised where I hunt outside of PA. :thumb:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Dam: You seem to have taken offense to my PS about hunting with airguns in PA. Why? The comment was not intended as a criticism of you or anyone else direct or indirect.
> I do not know where you live and, thus, have no grounds to make any comment about you.
> The PS was a qualifier about my own use of air guns.....since I live in PA and was commenting about the use of pellets, etc. for hunting, I thought that it was prudent to mention that I am not able to hunt legally. It had nothing to do with you.
> Pete
Click to expand...

Then Never mind. See how easy it is to lose tone and inflection in written words? No harm no foul. Truth is though. You actually CAN use air rifles to hunt in PA-Certain animals fall into the non-game species and are readilly avalable for us to take. English sparrows, starlings and pigeons or more correctly named-rock doves can be taken with any weapon at any time in PA.


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## darkgael

> ?.......You actually CAN use air rifles to hunt in PA-Certain animals fall into the non-game species and are readilly avalable for us to take. English sparrows, starlings and pigeons or more correctly named-rock doves can be taken with any weapon at any time in PA.


Thank you. I did not know that.
Pete


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## hunterfromindex

Here is your best solution Jefklak


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