Pellet Rifles.

[Jackalope]

I've been a pump up $35 pellet rifle guy since childhood. I finally decided to move up and buy a big boy pellet rifle. I have what appears to be a constant need to manage the squirrel and raccoon population around the house. I went and Purchased a Gamo Wildcat Whisper yesterday that won't see two sunrises at my house. Complete junk. Like any of them you might as well not take the scope out of the box but I gave it a shot. Adjustments were funky and hopped all over, no consistency, get the elevation right change windage one click and elevation would jump 2-3 inches. Junk. So I put a $250 rimfire scope on it that I had in the safe.

The rifle itself. Also junk. I sent 4 different brands of pellets through it and the best it could achieve wpuld be 6-8 inch MOA. Jumped all over the place. This was the best group it could manage at 30 yards. I can shoot better than that with a compound bow. What good is a pellet rifle that only has a 50/50 chance of actually hitting a squirrel at 30 yards. Junk, back to wence she came.

So what brand rifles have you guys found good accuracy out of?

 

["J"]

Better brake out the Benjamins to get a decent one….

 

[Big_Holla]

I've often thought those would be an excellent idea for that survival rifle for plinking critters to eat but with that accuracy I guess I'll be sticking with my Daisy Red Ryder, I killed everything with that gun back in the day LOL!! Well, maybe it would only piss off a squirrel tho.

 

[GoetsTalon]

RWS Diana is what I have. No problems but I shoot it open sights. You can ruin a regular scope by putting it on a air rifle. Something about reverse recoil from the spring.

 

[Jackalope]

Better brake out the Benjamins to get a decent one….

I dont know man. My daisy powerline 880 will usually cover a quarter at 30 yards. Pump gun vs a piston gun I guess. Doing more reading my experience isn't unique. Crap QC and people saying Gamo produces more lemons than they do good guns.

 

["J"]

I dont know man. My daisy powerline 880 will usually cover a quarter at 30 yards. Pump gun vs a piston gun I guess. Doing more reading my experience isn't unique. Crap QC and people saying Gamo produces more lemons than they do good guns.
View attachment 200257

How old is your daisy?

 

[Jackalope]

How old is your daisy?

Probably 10 or 11 years.

 

[Stressless]

Joe, got the same ish gun, put a good scope on it and had issues until I looked up the issue of parallax at close targets above 1 or 2 power.

To fix it, parallax, your cheek weld and eye position must be damn near exactly the same shot after shot... I have the bags and KNEW I was a better shot than that.

Read the reviews online and guys w/o much ability( their words) were stacking pellets at 20yds with the same exact gear.

A knowledgeable fellow on this forum, mentioned form when I was having issues getting my broadbands to fly right. I took that to heart on the piston pellet gun and it dialed right the .. in. After I tried 2 scopes and a couple pellets.

my latest, 20 yrds. (Distance of my bird feeder)

Sighting in, first group low, second with 5, adjusted to high, divided the clicks and sent 4 into the bull and nicked with one. Those are .177" holes. After I got that settled in, I sent three to the head and three to the heart.

Suggest really seat that cheek, get the eye relief right and the same as much as possible and it should tighten up for you.

Pellet gun short range with med/high power scopes are much more unforgiving than mid range 100-250 yard shooting on MOA I've found.

 

[Jackalope]

RWS Diana is what I have. No problems but I shoot it open sights. You can ruin a regular scope by putting it on a air rifle. Something about reverse recoil from the spring.

Man I get it, but for $300+ I might as well buy a new Savage Mark II 22 bolt gun and shoot shorts. One would think for a couple hundred bucks a fella could get a decently accurate pellet rifle.

 

[GoetsTalon]

Yeah that's true also. Some CB shorts are quieter than my air gun.

 

[Jackalope]

Joe, got the same ish gun, put a good scope on it and had issues until I looked up the issue of parallax at close targets above 1 or 2 power.
View attachment 200259
To fix it, parallax, your cheek weld and eye position must be damn near exactly the same shot after shot... I have the bags and KNEW I was a better shot than that.

I knowledgeable fellow on this forum, mentioned form when I was having issues getting my broadbands to fly right. I took that to heart on the piston pellet gun and it dialed right the .. in. After I tried 2 scopes and a couple pellets.

my latest, 20 yrds. (Distance of my bird feeder)


View attachment 200258
View attachment 200260

Sighting in, first group low, second with 5, adjusted to high, divided the clicks and sent 4 into the bull and nicked with one. Those are .177" holes. After I got that settled in, I sent three to the head and three to the heart.

Suggest really seat that cheek, get the eye relief right and the same as much as possible and it should tighten up for you.

Pellet gun short range with med/high power scopes are much more unforgiving than mid range 100-250 yard shooting on MOA I've found.

Hmm. Parallax could be something. It was on a bog field pod and it was rock solid in the rest, however my cheek weld hold was likely inconsistent.

 

["J"]

Man I get it, but for $300+ I might as well buy a new Savage Mark II 22 bolt gun and shoot shorts. One would think for a couple hundred bucks a fella could get a decently accurate pellet rifle.

They’ve become very popular in the last 10 years. The cheap ones are cheap. The expensive ones, well they’re still cheap, but more accurate.
You want sticker shock, look at the German made ones

 

[Stressless]

This is the scope I set on mine, got my buddy one (squirrels have eaten the wiring in both our trucks so we declared Jihad on the rat bastards) Mounted the in box scope that came with his Gamo and it's a killer. So the scope I bought isn't really necessary, but it's an easier sight in and better glass. If you do get it, throw the rings that 'clamp' away and use whatever hard mount rings you like.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UGIMNQ

 

[CJD3]

I've been a pump up $35 pellet rifle guy since childhood. I finally decided to move up and buy a big boy pellet rifle. I have what appears to be a constant need to manage the squirrel and raccoon population around the house. I went and Purchased a Gamo Wildcat Whisper yesterday that won't see two sunrises at my house. Complete junk. Like any of them you might as well not take the scope out of the box but I gave it a shot. Adjustments were funky and hopped all over, no consistency, get the elevation right change windage one click and elevation would jump 2-3 inches. Junk. So I put a $250 rimfire scope on it that I had in the safe.

The rifle itself. Also junk. I sent 4 different brands of pellets through it and the best it could achieve wpuld be 6-8 inch MOA. Jumped all over the place. This was the best group it could manage at 30 yards. I can shoot better than that with a compound bow. What good is a pellet rifle that only has a 50/50 chance of actually hitting a squirrel at 30 yards. Junk, back to wence she came.

So what brand rifles have you guys found good accuracy out of?

View attachment 200253View attachment 200254

I had the same experience Joe.
And
It was loud. I just went back to 22 shorts and/or subsonic.

 

[triple_duece]

Man I get it, but for $300+ I might as well buy a new Savage Mark II 22 bolt gun and shoot shorts. One would think for a couple hundred bucks a fella could get a decently accurate pellet rifle.

Get the shorts and a can in bolt action. All you hear is the hit. Crazy quite

 

[Hedgelj]

Get the shorts and a can in bolt action. All you hear is the hit. Crazy quite

My bolt with subsonic (not shorts) and a can is stoopid quiet

 

[P8riot]

Edit-Nevermind, you have the piston model. Careful with that $250 scope on it. Spring air rifles recoil in both directions. Rifle scopes "can" be damaged because of the spring air recoil in both directions. Pellet scopes are made to handle that and also have parallax adjustment or a much shorter built in parallax. I thought it was hogwash until I got an AO scope for my CZ457 and my groups got much smaller. Benjamin Nitro piston is around the same price and instead of a spring, it has a piston which is supposed to be more accurate due to less vibration. It can also be bought at big box stores (for return purposes lol).

 

[triple_duece]

My bolt with subsonic (not shorts) and a can is stoopid quiet

Yes that’s what I really meant. Thx for the clarification

 

[P8riot]

Yes that’s what I really meant. Thx for the clarification

Subsonics are supposed to be more accurate since they aren't going sub sonic in flight. A lot of guys swear by them for g hogs. I prefer faster with hollow points.

 

[giles]

BENJAMIN VAPORIZER

Nitro Piston Elite Powered, Break Barrel Air Rifle with SBD Gold

www.benjaminairguns.com

This is the one I had in Anchorage. I think i still have one of the other models around somewhere.