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inexpensive low end break barrel air rifles

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M

Moe M.

Member
Oct 14, 2020
173
132
Massachusetts, United States
Normally I subscribe to the "You get what you pay for" theory when it comes to tools and toys, last spring I was reintroduced to air gun shooting, given the times we are forced to live with it seemed like a good idea considering restricted travel, the shortages and rising costs of guns and ammo, an alternative such as air guns made a lot of sense.

I already have a vintage Sheridan Blue Streak .20 cal. variable pump pneumatic air rifle, but wanted something more modern and purchased a Gamo nitro piston Swarm wood stocked Bone Collector model in .22 Cal., when it arrived I was impressed with it's fit and finish, it's show itself to be a very accurate mid range pellet rifle and it's been 100% reliable, it is a bit pellet fussy and the trigger did need a replacement screw to lighten it up to about two pounds, the screw cost me $10.00 w/shipping and required no dismantling of the gun and it took just a few minutes to complete the switch, it's now eight months and a couple of tins of HNS target & field trophy pellets later and I couldn't be happier with my purchase.

A couple of months ago I happened across a sale at MidwayUSA, they were offering another wood stocked (I hate polymer stocks) air rifle for $99.00 dollars marked down from $179.99, it's a Ruger (Umarex) Impact Max .22 cal. also a Nitro piston powered break barrel, I checked the reviews, they weren't encouraging, but it is a pretty gun and it was under a $100.00 dollars, how much could I loose, well I bought it, again I was impressed with the fit and finish, and the gun is minute of squirrel accurate out to 25 yds. ( I haven't shot it out further yet, it did need ssome trigger work, I was able to do it myself with the greatly appreciated help of a fellow member here and again, I couldn't be happier with my purchase.

One air rifle that I have seen with positive reviews quite a bit over the summer was the Crossman Vantage, another cheap (or should I say inexpensive) air gun that's shown potential, the biggest complaint about the rifle is the trigger and the stock finish, it's actually well finished, it's very smooth and show no sanding marks or other imperfections, it's just a dull sandy brown, but again the fit and finish, bluing, and lack of tool marks all point to it's quality of build, The only reason I hadn't bought one until now is that they've been out of stock most of the time, it was only luck that a shipment of .177 cal. rifles came in at Pyrimyd Air for again under $100.00 bucks, and again it shoots great right out of the box, the factory sights were right on at 20 yds. and it's not pellet fussy, it shoots good groups with the several weights and brands of pellets I've tried in it, all close to point of aim, all I have to do now is choose the one that groups the best and adjust my scope for it.

The reason I decided to post this thread is because I see a lot of threads about RWS, Hatsan, Diana, FW's and other higher priced offerings, but very little being said about the lower end air guns on the market, are people not bothering with them because of their lower prices, are they ashamed to admit that thy onw one or more ?

Personally I can afford the higher priced break barrel air guns, but I'm drawn to the challenge of wringing out the potential of these lower priced air guns and having fun with it, is anyone else on this forum enjoying their cheap Chinese made springers and gas piston air rifles ?
 
I didn't get into higher end air rifles until about 3 years ago. Up until then I purchased budget priced rifles. I prefer spring piston rifles and for about 10 years I've had a Crosman Storm XT break barrel in .177.

Today I prefer the better quality European brands but I will say that old made in china Crosman is a fine shooter. When I first bought it my primary complaint like most people was the heavy trigger. I fixed that problem by installing a GRTIII after market trigger on the rifle. That was a big improvement. Still not as good as the Rekord triggers on my Weihrauch rifles but a heck of a lot better than before.

I've had scopes on and off this rifle for the last 10 years but decided to leave it as a dedicated iron sight rifle since both my HW95s have scopes on them. The plastic fiber optic sights on this rifle actually work very well. The only problem was that the stock was designed for scope use so I had to sand down the comb of the stock a little. This was the excuse I needed to refinnish the stock. I never refinished a stock before but since this is a cheap gun I figured I'd take the chance. I think it came out ok. I like the new finnish much better than the glossy yellow color the rifle came with.
1608236979809-671956390.1608237064.jpg


This rifle has become my "training springer" . What I mean is I've been experimenting on it so I can learn how to work on air guns. I acquired a spring compressor and have taken this rifle apart a couple of times to learn how to do a clean and lube along with some basic tuning. Hopefully soon I'll get up enough courage to try taking apart one of my HW95s.

After ten years of shooting this rifle is broken in very well and has a very smooth firing cycle. The blueing is very good and the rifle seems to be put together rather well. I don't see any machining marks. Accuracy is excellent with Crosman Priemer pellets. As long as it keeps working it will always have a place in my battery.
 
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I can tell you most all of us start out with an airgun that most here won't usually post about. It's mainly because ultra fine PCP & tuned springers are what most of us usually gravitate to after we're turned on to a good find from friends or, we get sick of seeing the near hole in hole 50-100 yard groups the PCP crowd shoot regularly.

Don't get me wrong. I'm pretty old fashioned in that I have a big compressor but hold on to some nice springers, and want more. Most active people on this forum are into Daystates, EDgun, FX, RAW & the finer European guns only. 
You must keep in mind that Big Bores like Beaumont's to sub 12ft/lb BSA have been a staple in Europe for a good long while.

I didn't look at where you're from but the Benjamin Sheridan tells me probably the same as I, USA. We tend to hold on to our Crosman's and Benjamin's. Across the pond the bar is a little higher with Whiscombe's and such. 
 
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I came across a less than half price $60.00 ($149-$159 regular) Wal-Mart clearance special Beeman RS2 dual caliber quick change 177-22 break barrel in soft case and the 22 was so-so nothing to brag about like 1.25" at 25 yards but the 177 barrel swap did 1/4" unbelievable! Probably got lucky because historically musta went through 5-6 others that were 1" to 2.5" at 25 yards of course returned them for exchange when Wal-Mart still had a very good return policy on even their airguns but not anymore you stuck with it no airgun related returns now buy what you know for sure you want at your local Wal-Mart. Online may be different but never needed to return Wal-Mart online items before.

Traded it with the 22 barrel with someone who wanted to swap his Barnett crossbow and told me to keep the 177 barrel he will never swap to a 177 anyway. At least if I come across a $5.00 garage sale Beeman RS2 or maybe even one for FREE missing both barrels I got an accurate barrel waiting for it.
 
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Thank you all for your replies, one of the reasons I posted this thread was because I did notice that not many members were mentioning their inexpensive air guns, the majority of posts seem to be about the higher end German and English made air guns, PCP and Spring powered rifles appear to dominate the discussions, and that's fine, we're all individuals, I've only been at this (Air Rifles) for about nine months, I've shot my Sheridan pumper off and on over the years in forum postal matches and such, I also shoot a Webley target pistol and a 1911 clone Air Soft pistol in my basement range during the winter months.

My youngest son (51 yrs. old) got into air guns last fall and talked me into joining him, we put a 25 yd. range together in the back yard and when longer ranges are needed we shoot at my club range up to 100 yds. which is where he tests the potential of his .22 cal. PCP rifle, he's more into precision shooting while I'm happy plinking at spinners and small game targets, which is one reason why I'm really not into PCP or heavy caliber air guns, another reason is because I watch my son pump himself breathless topping off his rifle to the suggested 3200 psi of compressed air with his hand pump, however, his PCP rifle is impressive.

My interests may change over time but for now I'm enjoying the Nitro Piston break barrels that I've purchased, I'm having fun tinkering with them and seeing what they are capable of and learning their limitations, what I'm finding is that these inexpensive Chinese built guns are actually pretty well made and finished for what their price points, I fully expected to receive cheaply made poorly finished inaccurate toy quality pellet guns, while they certainly not up to fine German and English built air gun standards of the more costly offerings on the market, they do function and shoot well above my initial expectations, in my opinion. 

I'm looking forward to more replies, and comments on the subject Pro or Con are welcomed.
 
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All I'd say is to stay away from the "Magnum" springers. Vibrate way too much. I've gone through a couple and couldn't get them to shoot right, maybe me, but felt like they were trying to jump out of my hands. Standard power guns seemed a bit more tame. Much more enjoyable.
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I hear you brother, that's one reason that I'm sticking with the gas piston powered air rifles, I remember a couple of springers that I had in my youth, I never could get them to shoot as accurately as I would have liked, I realize now that the violent recoil and too heavy trigger pull weights on those now vintage guns had more to do with the technology of the day than it did in my ability as a marksman, it's also the reason that I'm sticking with the more standard velocity guns, I've tried a couple of magnum powered rifles and found that one armed cocking for my old arms was painful, I doubt very much that I could enjoy the shooting sessions that I do now if I had to deal with a gun that had a cocking force of 40 ~ 50 pounds or more.
 
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I didn't get into higher end air rifles until about 3 years ago. Up until then I purchased budget priced rifles. I prefer spring piston rifles and for about 10 years I've had a Crosman Storm XT break barrel in .177.

Today I prefer the better quality European brands but I will say that old made in china Crosman is a fine shooter. When I first bought it my primary complaint like most people was the heavy trigger. I fixed that problem by installing a GRTIII after market trigger on the rifle. That was a big improvement. Still not as good as the Rekord triggers on my Weihrauch rifles but a heck of a lot better than before.

I've had scopes on and off this rifle for the last 10 years but decided to leave it as a dedicated iron sight rifle since both my HW95s have scopes on them. The plastic fiber optic sights on this rifle actually work very well. The only problem was that the stock was designed for scope use so I had to sand down the comb of the stock a little. This was the excuse I needed to refinnish the stock. I never refinished a stock before but since this is a cheap gun I figured I'd take the chance. I think it came out ok. I like the new finnish much better than the glossy yellow color the rifle came with.
1608236979809-671956390.1608237064.jpg


This rifle has become my "training springer" . What I mean is I've been experimenting on it so I can learn how to work on air guns. I acquired a spring compressor and have taken this rifle apart a couple of times to learn how to do a clean and lube along with some basic tuning. Hopefully soon I'll get up enough courage to try taking apart one of my HW95s.

After ten years of shooting this rifle is broken in very well and has a very smooth firing cycle. The blueing is very good and the rifle seems to be put together rather well. I don't see any machining marks. Accuracy is excellent with Crosman Priemer pellets. As long as it keeps working it will always have a place in my battery.
Click to expand...

Your rifle came out looking good, I'm tempted to order a Walther Parrus in .22 cal. it's on sale at Airgun Depot for $150.00, but reviews are saying that it's a bear to cock.
 
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The best cheap gun was a cz 634 which budgun had for $94 about 3 yrs ago...no longer are they imported . The gun is a lower powered gun that actually came with a cz barrel and can shoot unreal groups at even 50 yards . After about 10000 plus shots the spring actually broke and i thought it was the end but not so fast....vortex makes a spring and had the seal for it so it's back up and running like new :)
 
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I am fully with you. I have some of the more expensive FX PCPs but the cheap Chinese, Turkish or Spanish products are much more fun to buy and improve.

I just got an Artemis 1250 GS in fact, a nitro piston. The trigger was horrible and you needed 2 fingers to disengage the safety. I knew this when buying it. Have been working on the trigger group today, and it now shoots like a champ. The stock and bluing are nice, and the thing shoots very consistent speeds. I am gonna take it outside for the first 30 meter shooting tomorrow!

🐦
 
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I love both low and high end PCPs but I tend to only buy high end springers. I started out with the NP trails and a couple of hatsan springers but I didn't get good results with any of them. This caused me to completely get away from springers for years and only shoot pcps. A person offered to sale me a Diana 350 for $100 and I bought it with intentions to flip it and make a profit. After I mounted a scope on it to test it I discovered that I could shoot about quarter sized groups at 35 yards I decided to keep it. Since then I have gotten several Diana, Walter and HW springers. 
 
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The XS-25 SFB for $85 from Flying Dragon Air Rifles ( an R-34 clone ) is a gem. The reviews r excellent. I opted for the 22cal and the $100 tune option. Pellet fussy for sure but once I found it,s favorite flavor. Oh boy. On a good day it shot a 25 yd 5 shot group that could be covered with a thumb tack. I posted it somewhere here on AGN. I also have the XS46U, an under-lever with the Browning badge that I had sent to Flying Dragons Air Rifles for Mr Mike Melick to go thru. Not much can be done for the 46 single stage trigger but it is smooth and shoots lights out as well, very pellet fussy as well. These r both considered magnum springers and learning how they like to be held is crucial.
 
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