# Best Pellet rifles ever UPDATED please respond



## Remington 7400

OK guys 3 guestions here.

#1 What is the best .177 cal pellet rifle ever made for hunting squirrel? How much does it cost and where do I get one?

#2 What is the best .22 cal pellet rifle ever made for hunting squirrel? How much does it cost and where do I get one?

#3 What is the best cheap pellet rifle on the market (under $100.00)? And where do I buy it?


----------



## Stealth

Well it depends a whole lot. Diffrent folks have diffrent opinons on what is best. While one rifle might hold true in one fella's heart another rifle might be the ticket for a diffrent person.
When speaking airguns you need to be a tad more specific. A budget would be helpful so that rifles might limited down to a couple. This is because air rifles can be from your cheap Crosman to $1000 plus Theoben Rapids and what not. PCP air rifles cost the most and require the most equipment. In your case it looks like a budget springer would be on the list. A springer is simply an air rifle that you break the barrel to cock it, much like a single shot scattergun.

To hit the first question of the .177 caliber for squirrels. Be aware that squirrels are very tough critters and require PRECISE shot placement to bring them down. I would choose a gun with higher FPS such as 850 to 1000. However note the fact that gun makers will exeggarate their velocities to make the gun seem more powerful. These manufactures will use the lightest pellets available to boost their speed. But for a hunting application we won't be using these pellets. To give you an example, I recently got the Remington Genesis air rifle. It is advertised to shoot up to 1000 fps but the 8.3 grain pellets I shot over my chronograph shot about 840fps. The pellets the company used were probably under 6 gr so of course they'll shoot fast. Just keep this in mind when buying a new air gun. The .177 is fine for squirrels I just recommend the minium energy to be about 8 ft/lbs. My Remington shoots around 13 ft/lbs. It is accurate and I have no doubts that it could anchor a squirrel with a good head shot.

As for the .22 cal simply put I LOVE my RWS 94 in .22 caliber. It is super accurate, beautiful and powerful. It is simple but elegant in a special way. Another gun you might think about is the RWS 34 which is acutally RWS's best selling air rifle. They're under $200. Face the fact that to get a good springer your minimum price will be around $200 this is with any caliber. Overall I would opt for the .22 caliber for squirrel hunting as it has more whack. Size diffrence is quite diffrent betwwen the .177 and .22 and I would much rather have a .22 cal hunk of lead in a squirrels head than a .177.

On terms with which cheap gun to get. Well unless you want to go with a Chinese springer (lower quality and build. Acutally they are getting to be quite nice with really good trigger and stuff) I would go with the Benjamin Sheridan in .20 caliber. You'll have to spend a bit more than $100 ($140 or so maybe less). The Benji is a nice pump up and is pretty accurate. The power is there and it is a well built airgun. However they are hard to scope if thats your thing.

I'm sorry I wasn't more specific, but give us a price range and I can help you out a bit more. Then once you've got you gun picked out I can help you with proper scope choice and all that jazz.

Best regards
Derek


----------



## Remington 7400

The Benjamin .20 cal sounds pretty good.

How hard is it to get pellets, and how much are they?

I'm not worried about scoping a pellet rifle, my longest shot wouldn't be past 20 yards.


----------



## FoxSquirrel

I hunt with a 1000 fps powerline air rifle.It's pretty powerful for a pellet gun.I got it in the Wal-Mart hunting section.


----------



## Remington 7400

Is it a break barrel or a pneumatic?
.177 or .22 cal?


----------



## Militant_Tiger

Break, and I will bet my boots its a 177 based on the velocity.


----------



## Remington 7400

Well guys looks like a Benjamin .20 cal is what I want. Anyone have any personal experience with these?


----------



## FoxSquirrel

Remington 7400 said:


> Is it a break barrel or a pneumatic?
> .177 or .22 cal?


It's a break barrel ,but I would of liked something faster to reload.When your a good shot it doesn't matter.


----------



## Cleankill47

Remington, go ahead and go with the .22 Benjamin. I looked at the .20 caliber, but if and when I could find pellets, they usually ran about $10 for 250, and that's just not worth it in my opinion. The .22 can be found most anywhere you can get pellets, and for the range you mentioned:


> I'm not worried about scoping a pellet rifle, my longest shot wouldn't be past 20 yards.


 the rifle is just perfect. Plus, since it's a pneumatic, you get the power of the .22 pellets without any recoil. I have a Gamo Shadow 1000 that kicks about as hard as a .30-30 because of the spring-piston mechanism. Just thought I'd put in my :2cents:


----------



## Remington 7400

I appreciate it, anyone else have an opinion?


----------



## mr.trooper

If you have to go with a pellet gun, go with a 22 caliber Benjamin.

Personaly, Id rather have this:
http://www.impactguns.com/store/product2296.html


----------



## varmithunter06

the best .177 pellet gun in my opinion is gamo i own about 4 of them and hunt with a hunter 220 and have killed probably 20-30 squirrels with it and you can get them from cabelas,bass pro, and many local gun dealers.

btw most gamos shoot 1000fps and if you buy there new pba pellets they shoot 1200fps and have awesome penetration and take out squirrels at 50yds with one shot and they drop without moving at all


----------



## Joe Blow

I actually have two favorites,The powerline which was mentioned before and a Winchester pellet gun. Its only 800fps but I have a pretty decent scope on it and every day at dusk I pop a few rabbits (sorry not squirrels but I have also gotten some with that gun) Oh hey everybody I have a question.We have these piles of wood outside our house and theres a few families of those ugly little brown squirrels living inside. Well almost everyday I try to get them but the stinkin' animals either hear to go or see me first. I go out in socks so they can't hear me so what am I doing wrong?Any advice?


----------



## Tholzel

All the previous suggestions are based on the best value for your money. If you take out the money part (i.e., price is no object) then there is a different list.

In the spring-piston catagory (You cock once to compress the spring, and when you pull the trigger, it forces a piston forward to compress air that pushes the pellet out), the best air rifles are The Beeman Kodiak in .25-cal for about $750, the Theoban Eliminator for about $1100. Both have 30 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle. (You can read a test of the Kodiak at: http://www.velocitypress.com/pages/BeemanKodiak.php )

Down a bit in cost and power are the offerings from Beeman and RWS. The Beeman RX-2 is very popular. Like the Theoban it has an air spring instead of a metal spring. that is, it has a strut with highly compressed gas inside--that you compress even more--and that drives a piston. The RWS offering at around $350 is their model 350 with about 19 ft-lbs. That is a beautiful rifle and perfect for carrying around.

Why so much money? when you hold one of these rifles in your hand, you'll know why. they are beautifully made with fine-quality stocks and as much ordinance steel as any center-fire rifle--maybe even more! And these rifles last--a real problem with the cheaper versions which fall apart rather quickly due to the stroing mechanical hjarring that occurs with every shot.


----------



## Tholzel

Remington 7400 said:


> OK guys 3 guestions here.
> 
> #1 What is the best .177 cal pellet rifle ever made for hunting squirrel? How much does it cost and where do I get one?
> 
> #2 What is the best .22 cal pellet rifle ever made for hunting squirrel? How much does it cost and where do I get one?
> 
> #3 What is the best cheap pellet rifle on the market (under $100.00)? And where do I buy it?


Answers to both Questions #1 & #2 are the Theoban Eliminator break-barrel air spring-piston for about $1100. See their US website at: http://hometown.aol.com/theobenusa/index.html (I am leaving out the PCP air rifles because I object to all the paraphernalia of scuba tanks, hoses, fittings, buddy bottles, refills etc.)


----------



## Remington 7400

*Tholzel wrote:*


> about $1100.





> *Remington 7400 wrote: *
> OK guys 3 guestions here.
> 
> #1 What is the best .177 cal pellet rifle ever made for hunting squirrel? How much does it cost and where do I get one?
> 
> #2 What is the best .22 cal pellet rifle ever made for hunting squirrel? How much does it cost and where do I get one?
> 
> #3 What is the best cheap pellet rifle on the market (*under $100.00*)? And where do I buy it?


----------



## Brian .22.177

Remington 7400 wrote

#3 What is the best cheap pellet rifle on the market (under $100.00)? And where do I buy it?

The answer to your question would be the tech force 97, It comes in both .177, .22, 900 fps, 750 fps. It has a fixed barrel with under lever cocking, and the acuracy equivelent to most european made rifles. Excellent for hunting squirrel. It sells for about 80 bucks at compasseco and most other airgun retailers, you can get the review from compasseco.


----------



## dogdigger

i had a crosman about ten years ago. it was a .22 cal pump. built like a tank and i killed a bunch of squirrels with it. i got it at walmart for about $50 back then.

mark


----------



## Remington 7400

Ok guys, the main reason I want this is to do a little "covert" squirrel hunting. I have recentely gained access to a little over 100 acres of mature hardwoods, heres the problem, there is a county road on either side of the timber and several houses along these roads. Even though I have permission to hunt, I don't want to annoy the other neighbors shooting a 12 gauge at 0700! Normally I wouldn't go through the trouble of becoming educated in the field of airgunning, to hunt a stand no bigger given its location, but it is only a 5 minute drive from the house, and is RUNNING OVER with squirrels. Lets start this discussion over, and cap the price at $150.00.

:sniper:


----------

