hey guys i am new to the air gun world,, i see a lot has changed since my daisy red ryder bb gun.
looking in to a break barrel stout enough to knock out groundhogs ,, thinking 25 cal,,
but which one? there are quite few choices. my maximum distance will be around 40 to 50 yards hopefully closer.
hatsan has a few in my price range.. i am looking at 300 to 350 for my budget. is this possible ? and cost of decent scope too.
thanks
doc martin
I'm an old guy as well, but still pretty sharp, I got into air guns about seven years ago when ammo prices became unaffordable and unobtainable, then Covid hit and the shooting sports went into the toilet, I found that I really enjoyed air guns, and I could shoot in my back yard, for cheap.
I know I'm going to piss off some folks here but that can't be helped, there are some good folks here with allot of good advice, but there are also a bunch of so called experts that like to hear themselves talk and don't know crap about what they are talking about.
I'm here to tell you that there's nothing wrong with break barrel air rifles, you just need to do your research before buying, also you don't have to break the piggy bank to buy a good one, there are several great shooting air rifles on the market for under $150.00, I have a few that are better than any of the high price offerings.
If you are just starting out stay away from PCP, stick with the basics, caliber wise I have rifles in .177, .20, and .22 caliber, I really don't see any advantage with .25 and .30 caliber air guns for general shooting or small game hunting, there are advantages to each of the three base calibers but all three will get the job done within reasonable ranges (under 50 yds), providing you have enough power.
For an all around rifle either a springer or a gas pistol rifle will work fine, accuracy is marginal in most budget priced rifles, however there are a few that excell, you want to have approx. 12~ 15 FPE. for hunting small to medium sized game, shot placement is critical.
If you want suggestions for a budget friendly or mid priced air rifle that shoots way above it's price point PM me, I don't mind helping out.
Two things you can expect when purchasing budget friendly air rifles is horrible triggers, and junk scopes, the triggers can be smoothed out fairly easily, and junk scopes can be replaced with decent lower priced scopes.
One air rifle that I can suggest that is very accurate, easy to shoot, well balanced, great looking, reliable, and powerful enough for taking ground hogs, and has a great trigger out of the box along with a good scope is the Diana mod. two fifty in either .177 or .22 caliber, and it's selling for about $150.00.
Good luck my friend, the best advice I can give you is to do your research, watch u-tube reviews and read positive posts before making a choice, listen to your head, and don't put allot of stock in the words of the so called experts.
