Not sure what to buy.

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Phydough

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Jun 5, 2017
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North Carolina
I am not a hunter, or a competitive target marksman. I typically am outside every free moment with my kids and wife shooting our airgun son the backyard. I am outside city limits and have a 9 acre backyard. I am looking for a gun for myself, but am not sure what to get. I would like something with a bigger caliber, that could possibly be used for hunting. I am not deadset on anything as a form of propulsion.

some of the guns I currently own.
(qty. 2) Remington nitro piston .177
(qty. 1) black ops sniper .177
(qty. 1) gamo silent cat .177

my wife and kids shoot these primarily and I have one of the remingtons I have setup for me. I want a bit more power and plan on scoping the gun as I have all my others. In all honesty, I am not that great of a shot. I have never successfully shot anything with an air rifle over maybe 60 yards.

I have been eying a few guns.
hatsan 135 .30 cal
xisico sentry .22 or .25
Benjamin Trail NP2 .22
Gamo Magnum .22

I occasionally have to shoot pests with the gun and have been having some run ins with coyotes. I have successfully scared them and the bobcats away when I see them, but wouldn't mind the power to drop one. This isn't a requirement though...just a pipe dream.

i will be shooting crows quite regularly...

what do you recommend? I don't mind pre-owned or some minor work to get started. I do not want to have to buy co2 cartridges though.

my price range is about 500 for gun scope and possible hand pump.
 
shooting at 60 yards may require an upgrade to pcp rifle, springers are good for close range, but for mid to long range, you will need a pcp or maybe yo ca try a springer in .25 or .30 cal, but i dont guarantee succes. the bad part of pcp's is tha they are expensive, entry level pcp like benjamin marauder are between 400-500 dollars, you also need a scope, scope rings, and air source. you may try the springer in a bigger caliber or go a step forward and buy a pcp.
 
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I am really leaning towards a PCP, but we really shoot a lot and I am afraid of a hand pump. This weekend we shot over 300 pellets.

i live in the mountains in NC and there are not any Scuba stores that I can find.

if I do a PCP and a hill pump what else would you recommend? I know a scope, but temporarily I may be able to swap a scope over from my springer. It's a leopars but I am not sure the model. It is a light up mil-dot.

am I going to be spending all my time pumping a pump?

If this was cars or engines I wouldn't feel so clueless, but this is a new hobby I am trying to get into with the kids. Ages 16, 13 and 8

I will keep hunting. I have had my shopping cart full and ready to pull the trigger just about every day at work.

as far as calibers go, I know that the local sporting good stores stock a multitude of .22 pellets, so that almost has me swayed that way, but based off of my history, I am very rarely satisfied with the smaller version of something.

i have even looked at the dragon claw.

i just know from cars it is best to get on a forum before jumping head-first.
 
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I think pyramid is revamping their website/purchasing system this week. So everything is showing up out of stock.

I was looking at discovery, but was persuaded by this forum to go with the marauder. While you may not have a sch a shop nearby, sometimes,you can get a local fire dept to fill an scba tank.

From what you say, I would think a 25 marauder would be great for crows.
 
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Regarding pumping; that depends upon how much you want to shoot the rifle. That DISCO looks like a pretty good deal and would likely be good on crows, marginal on Coyotes and Bobcats unless you stuck with head shots and kept it inside fifty yards. It is a 25 FPE rifle so that is good. It operates on 2000 PSI and that means that pumping is going to be easier. I'm 65 and have a Condor .25 cal that I pump to 3000 PSI when I can't get down to the fill station. I shoot my springers most of the time but the Condor just stones grounghogs when I need to put one down. If I were in your shoes, I'd be looking really hard at that DISCO besides you have two teenagers coming along to help with the pumping.
 
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The Marauder .25 in the bundle package would be a good choice to go with even though it's a little more then 500.00 it would be a good all around deal for plinking and hunting up to maybe a 80 pound critter, either way it would be a good way to get started in the world of PCP's.

This would be my 1st choice. I have the Marauder in .22 and .25 and they are both keepers.
 
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A pre-charged rig would be nice if you can.
Just for kick's we picked up a new Maximus Hunter package, AGN coupon & maybe on a Friday, rifle scope & mounts $165 delivered.

Hand pumps are NOT all the same!
In general Benjamin seem the hardest ( and at first the least reliable, maybe that's fixed ???) , my FX Gen2 was very easy pumpin even the one I got with a bad gauge I mpumped all my big-bores to 260bar ( and some fiolks think/say it will NOT pump that high).
I have a prtottype G6 VERY easy pumping and pretty fast fills, also easy rebuild.
Hill seems to change a good bit.

I shot Field Target for years with a fellow who intentionally showed up with just enough air for sight-in then hand pump as he flet it helped raise his heart beat and was good practice for his "other shooting". 
Most of my 20fpe rig's use only 2-3 pump strokes per shot. Much less "pumping" then some of us did a children with Benjamin's & such.

Maximus, Discovery, Marauder - do buy on sale- and many others can fit your budget.

Considered the lowly "Beeman" QB79 ? About $170.00 for rifle & regulated Ninja tank, good trigger light, fine at 60 yards............ .

Really want to stay with springer but bwant POWER and want to still be able to shoot it?
Xisco XS28M !! Tuned - $200.00 fir & finish look Diana or better ( better ) trigger outstanding, recoil smooth, cocking effort some indeed. Smoother than a fully pro tuned Diana 48/52 and crazy good groups at 55 yards and I'm not a springer shooter.

John



 
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I have been doing a ton of research on the discovery. I think that is what I will be going with. I have also seen that there are a lot of mods available for this gun. I like that even more as I leave nothing I own stock.

Plans are at the moment to order the following in stages (small enough stages my wife wont notice...)

Stage 1:
Benjamin Discovery
Hill Hand pump ( I have read reviews of the Benjamin one failing)

Stage 2:
Completely build the crap out of it....haha

I have seen that there are so many things to do to it that I wont be able to help myself. This is great to keep me into this hobby as I love to tinker.
 
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Phydough
You really can't go wrong with Marauder. It's a proven platform and still one of the best entry level PCP rifles out there.

Also, you might want to look into buying used equipment. I have 5 air rifles at present and 4 of those were purchased used and are still mighty fine guns.

You say you live in NC Mountains. Don't know if you have ever heard of the famous Will Piatt of Saddle Mountain Gunsmith fame, but he's your man if you ever need your air rifles worked on.

https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/home

Also you might want to think about visiting our Tarheel Airgun club. I think Will is going to try to schedule a match at his place before the year is over?

http://www.thagc.com/

You're welcome to come to our matches and watch and just about everyone will let you hold and shoot their guns. Also we have a nice Will Piatt tuned Marauder that is the loaner gun for new shooters at the club. I've bought and sold many used guns from our members. You can always find a deal from someone.

Also, don't forget to visit TMac's 4th annual NC Airgun show this October at the Hickory American Legion Fair Grounds.
North Carolina Airgun Show[/QUOTE]https://gunshowtrader.com/gun-shows/north-carolina-airgun-show/embed/

Best of luck with your choice.

Jimmy




 
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Wow. I didn't know there was anything that goes on near me. I am located in Rutherfordton, not that far from this. I have never been to a shooting competition, but my 8 year old daughter (technically doesn't turn 8 until November) competes in 3d archery, and is very VERY good. I very rarely have time to actually go someplace to shoot and that is why the airguns are so fun for us. I work in Asheville and coach two baseball teams when not working...and am back in school full time to finish my masters...

I know the marauder is a better gun, but the disco with mods will keep me more interested I believe.

I will look around for some used deals, but I have been building cars for a long time and been burnt on some forums when it came to pre-owned parts. 

I will wait to order the gun until week after next as we are traveling to the beach for a week long baseball tournament and I don't want any guns delivered while I am gone. I will check out the classifieds before I purchase, but have found that the pricing on crossmans site with the discount code to be very low.

I think my wife will be in favor of me toying with this hobby more than vehicles as I have spent a lot of money on my truck this year...

I am also trying to limit myself a little so I don't jump in too fast. 
 
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Phydough
The only thing with our shooting competition is that your rifle must not produce more than 20 FPE, so that puts most of us shooting .177 caliber for Field Target.

Here's a couple of youtube videos that one of our members made to aquaint you with Field Target.



We used to have most of our matches in Mount Pleasant just easy of Charlotte, but we just recently lost that venue as our good buddy Chris Berry decided to get out of the sport to pursue other hobbies.

Most of our matches will be held at our other course in Pleasant Hill NC, and our club president is in the process of setting up a course in Raleigh.

Our brother club, Central Carolina Gun club in Burlington has also started holding matches as well.
http://centralcarolinagunclub.wildapricot.org/Field-Target

I'm not much for hot weather, so I probably won't be at any matches till this fall when it cools off.

Feel free to PM me for any of you airgun related questions. If I can't answer your questions, I'll hook you up with someone who can. I just sold my tuned .177 Maruader and scope combination to a member last year when he made the leap from springer to the Dark Side. He's really really addicted now ;-)

This forum is the right place to do your studies. Plenty of really super guys here.

Peace and Pellet Grease
Fuss


 
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