Introducing myself - asking for advice on a new airgun while I'm at it.

There is wood:



(Custom Air SL breech, AGR SSG and hybrid tube, Tim Hill valve and some other stuff, .25 caliber, runs around 56 to 60 fpe on a Bell curve)

And then there is nice wood:



Prefer synthetic and stainless wherever possible for weight and durability.

The Zelos is China. The M-Rod is still USA made, simpler to work on, uses off the shelf O-rings, parts easy to get even post Gamo and the two Umarex rifles I have had leaked badly and were very poorly built and quite rough, maybe the Zelos is better. I would not start out with a China gun due to QC being poor. But the Notos and Zelos do look like a nice rifle on my screen anyways. In person, hmmmm.
 
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Welcome to the rabbit hole. I didn’t see any suggestions I would disagree with, lots of very good advice. I’ll add one though, the Gauntlet 2 in .25 caliber. No wood furniture and a bit bigger and heavier but mine is quite good out to about 60 yards though I haven’t done much with it past that. I’m the same age as you and can handle it without a problem. I have others with some nice wood, less weight and so on but from a practical point of view this one will get the job done.

Rick H.
 
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With a gun like the Umarex Zelos out there, I'm not sure why the recommendation for a maruader keeps coming up.

Well... one reason.... The OP said....

I also prefer guns that look traditional, not like an AR15 or some weapon used by the space invaders.

The zelos is regulated and much more relevent

My Marauder is regulated. But, yes... the base model is unregulated.

My firt PCP was a marauder and it was a turd that never shot in the same place twice

Last week... 5-shot groups at 25 yards. Not bad. :)

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I'm Glad you love your wood marouder, but unlass your a buff 65, a marauder is a 81/2 to 9 pound gunwithout a scope. It is not MADE in America, it is ASSEMBLED in America using chinese content. Sometimes us old guys need to roll with changes. If you love driving a 1973 VW Bug, that's on you, but as a modern car, they suck. You might get a good marauder, but talking superior about quality control is BS. The Zelos has much better quality control today than any chinese airgun made more than 5yrs ago. A better choice than any of these is the near new BSA R10 for 480.00 shipped in the member classifieds. Lighter way more beautiful and probably more reliably accurate. I got on for my son for his 16th b-day and it is one of the nicest shooting guns in my collection of 50+ guns including FX, RTI, Kalibre, BRK, AGT, and AirMaks. Sorry not obey the maruader authority, but it was a great choice 20yrs ago, mediocre choice at best now.
 
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The marauder is ASSEMBLED in the USA with foreign content. Crossman/Benjaman is owned by a huge multibillion dollar, multinational holding firm, just like many other famous American made products- like Colman and Daisy. Most are made in china, some are assembled in the states. A BMW 3, is a German car assembled in America, not an American made car. Yes, the Marauder was 70-80% made in USA 20yrs ago, but the .22 barrels were always made in china, the .25 barrels were made by Green Mountain in the USA believe. I think all barrels are made in china now. BSA R10 SE for the win.
 
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It would be difficult to name a handful of airguns made and assembled 100% in America. I ain't talking models, I'm talking brands. Heck, you might even struggle to name one. Mind you, I said 100% right down to the last screw not being imported.
That goes for just about everything we use in our everyday lives.
 
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Hello and welcome to the forum. For your intended uses I would highly suggest a 22Cal, but a decent 177Cal will also work great for starlings.

As you mentioned sound being a first priority you will want to find something with a functional shroud, and the ability to add a moderator if you want even more sound mitigation. Some pcps are super duper loud, louder than a 22lr in some cases. For example the Barra listed above or an FX DRS looks like they have a shroud but they really dont. Not much sound mitigation from such designs since the rifles are effectively a bare muzzle instead of redirecting air into a shroud.

The Taipan Veteran Gen 1 can be had used for about $900 used and they are wicked accurate and mouse far quiet. You can get them in nice wood stocks, but they are bullpups so you might not like the looks, but I bet you get over it quick after shooting one.

Put your time in here and you will get access to the classifieds and there are some wonderful sellers here offering some amazing pcps at great prices. I would keep an eye out for a nice FX Crown or Dreamline, Taipan Veteran Gen 1, AA 500/510, Daystate Huntsman, etc.

If you decide you want to try a compressor, the GX CS3 is the best for the money in my opinion.
Thanks for advice I’ll look into a Veteran, one thing I don’t want to do is to overlook a great system just for the looks.
 
Thanks for advice I’ll look into a Veteran, one thing I don’t want to do is to overlook a great system just for the looks.
You rarely see Veterans in the classifieds and what you DON'T SEE for sale there speaks volumes about them. If they do come up for sale that are usually snatched up quickly by those of us who appreciate them. Just look at how many brand Xs you see for sale over and over and there are reasons why.
 
I'm 65 and retired, I just did a little research and the PCP guns have me excited. As a kid I pretty much wore out a Crosman 1400 (or was it a 1100?). I used that gun almost daily (when it was not freezing out) for pigeons, starlings, crows and even a large dumpster raccoon. My kids finally killed that old gun, the seals are blown, now it sits in a corner because I'm too attached to it to throw it away.

My son had a break open Benjaman that I never really liked. It was heavy, noisy, and the kick was strange to me, and I just never bonded to that gun. I live in a city and my back yard is hidden so I can safely shoot about 75" towards a 10' tall concrete retaining. Sound is the biggest issue and from what I have read today, many of the new PCPs are pretty quiet. I didn't even know these guns existed when I woke up this AM, now after reading an article about them, I'm excited and really want to get one. As far as a price point, I want a good gun but I don't want to spend large amounts of money on something that makes my groups just a little better. I like guns that are fairly simple, and I also prefer guns that look traditional, not like an AR15 or some weapon used by the space invaders. What I also need is advice on how much to spend, I'm thinking between $500 and $1000. As far as why I'm getting one, I will be killing starlings, maybe an old sick chicken and some rats. I also will enjoy punching holes in paper at about 25 yards. Please let me know your ideas, if all these PCPs look like a black space invader gun, so be it, what's most important to me it that it has a good safety, that it's well made, and that it has reasonably good accuracy. Owe on another point, I live close to the ocean with a dive store not 2 miles from me so I'm pretty sure I can find a used tank and a place to fill it.
A nice marauder in .22 check out Airgun-Revisions.
 
I know you indicated a preference for a traditional rifle but if you get a chance to try a bullpup I would. It might not do anything for you but once I tried one I got 4 more.

For backyard shooting I see real advantages to a 177. I've killed the most squirrels with my P35-177 (20+). I have lost none with a well placed shot (I lost one I shot in the rear end, I couldn't find it). It does not kill quite as quickly with body shots as a 22 or 25 but a shot in the chest only results in a few steps typically and 10-20 feet at most. The big advantage is it does not make as much noise, doesn't need refilled as often, and does not carry nearly as far. For targets, it does get blown around by the wind more adding some challenge. It seems like some think they need a cannon these days but a little 177 can do the job.

I have had small issues with my Chinese built airguns but I had bigger issues with my eastern European built bullpup. Accuracy is about the same but at the moment my Chinese airguns are shooting better. I am not suggesting those who have had negative experiences are making anything up but they come with a warranty and I have heard several good experiences with the way Stoeger honors theirs. Their normal response to even minor issues is to ship out a new gun apparently. Everybody is free to buy what they want but I don't think quality is a reason to be afraid of Chinese airguns. I don't know what the quality was even 5 years ago before I got one but recent quality has been good. I am not suggesting my eastern European airgun is not better machined and doesn't feel better in some ways, just that my Chinese airguns work very well.

If we switch to the scopes most of our guns wear, essentially every scope that costs less than $1000 is at least assembled in China. Most have Chinese lenses. Pretty expensive to try to totally avoid Chinese products.