Is there a "Goldilocks" PCP for me?

Piloto Look at the banner ( Georgia Air Guns ) owner Charlie Frear. Look at the (cricket mini carbine) Charlie works on the barrels, tunes, and sends a target card with different pellets he tested. He has been in the business for years. Forgot to add : weight 6.6lbsl- 57 shots per fill- 28ft.pd. good luck with your choice and let us know what you decided on.

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I love my little SPA P35. Well under your budget at about $500. Under 30 inches long with a 450mm barrel. 265cc air capacity. 5.2 lbs without scope. P15 is even lighter if you don't mind rear cocking, 4.4 lbs. I get over 50 shots over 30 ft. lbs with the 20 grain FTTs my 25 caliber prefers. With heavy pellets I get about 40 ft lbs and I turned the regulator down (not up) to keep the FTTs under 900 fps. Plenty of power for small game as far away as you are comfortable taking it. The P15 and P35 are regulated. Regulator is inside the air chamber so changing it is not super easy but not really that hard either. Trigger is simple but good. Mine also likes 34 grain H&N slugs in .250 - if I wanted more power I'd use them.

The Taipan Veteran is fairly similar but heavier and reportedly significantly better made. I find the P35 to be pretty well made but I have only entry level airguns.

If I was to buy a $1500 airgun right now it would be a RTI Prophet. But I shoot from my left shoulder and that is a significant part of why. Switch barrel like the FXs, magazine can be inserted from either side, cocking lever can be on either side. Won a 75 hard benchrest competition.
 
@piloto, if you can drive to AOA then... Go fondle that Atomic. It's already on your radar. I know this is America, the land of bigger, better, more power... But a .22, 14 grain pellet at 725 fps, which many think is low power, out of that Atomic is plenty. The Atomic is capable for pest birds out to 50+ yards. On woodchuck size critters, I'm limiting myself to 35 yards. But in more capable hands? The icing on the cake, the sweet size and weight, just don't put a huge scope on it. For me its a great little, lethal, walkabout rig. I'm simply amazed by the accuracy of mine out to 60 yards. In the short time I've had mine I've killed several dozen pests including a woodchuck bigger than the gun itself.
 
Y'all are awesome. Thank you. I'm going to do a lot of homework.I have a lot more options now. I just wish AoA would let you shoot something before buying it. My powder burner range will let you rent something to see if you like it... A rental and one box of ammo usually does the trick. Know right away if you like it or not. Oh well...

Anyway, thanks for the ideas. I might drive to AoA a couple of times as they are only a couple hours away and finger-fondle some of these. I'm not in a hurry and want to do this one right. I'm not going to lie, I am really warming up to that Edgun and that little FX has my eye now also. I still like the Brocock XR too. Maybe I'll swing something by Christmas. Who knows, maybe you guys will point me to something else...

THANKS AGAIN! Feel free to keep the ideas coming.

You already have the wish list the best thing you can do is drive to a store and shoot them and if they don't let you try it out, see which one fits best with which one you feel most comfortable, all the listings here are good. 

Good luck 
 
If you are after a goldilocks gun, then get what you really want, and dont consider price. You will just buy more guns until you get to the one you wanted in the first place. All suggested guns will do, but for me there is only one that ticks all boxes: evol std .22. Short, light, accurate, easy to work on, indestructable, good trigger. Ask Tom to set it up for 16 grains, get moderator adapter, and I dont think you will look at other guns again.

Best luck with choosing, Mike
 


My powder burner range will let you rent something to see if you like it... A rental and one box of ammo usually does the trick. Know right away if you like it or not.



No kidding. Isn't it amazing how a short range session conclusively leads to either "nope" or "where have you been all my life"?

Following along, as I like the criteria set out to describe Goldilocks.


 
are there any semi-autos that are as quiet as a bolt gun (can be)?

i wanted my one gun for anything from steel arcade type shooting, to forest gun, to target practice, and i decided i wouldn't be satisfied with a manually operated action.

ended up being a leshiy 2 long, because i felt i might want/need the added potential for velocity/efficiency at some point, and the overall length was still short.

ed designed the leshiy 2 as a compact carry gun, but as a "goldilocks" for me, i did have to make some modifications like adding a hand guard and a moderator to take the edge off the bark from the muzzle. unfortunately there is still significant sound from the action for the shooter, so that is a compromise.

i cut down the cf hand guard so i could keep the short folded length the same as stock but still have a place to mount a bipod or other accessories further forward.

it can be a compact forest or truck gun that is still quieter than stock, or significantly quieter backyard shooter or field gun (although not as compact)

in this configuration, the mod40 can also be removed and the rifle packed down to a very short package.






 
Look at AEA HP series. I have a HP TD 25 cal semiauto and frankly after shooting this rifle some I'm spoiled. I hunted with rimfire semiauto's all my life and didn't realize how much I missed that in air rifles. You can get this rifle in 13, or 10 or 8 inch barrels. You can get a Donny FL adaptor to screw onto the end of the shroud then attach a moderator to that. I would recommend a Sumo.



Jim
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I'll second the Evol but the Evol Mini 22 if you want something short. They are extremely well built airguns. If you want a semi-auto, then get the Leshiy 2. Lots of fun, very versatile, but you'll end up going through a lot of air and ammo lol.

I also support the EVOL. And Leshiy 2. Bullpup I'm loving the Prophet Compact.
 
Already own a Maverick sniper and just got the new Wildcat BT compact in .22 and it is absolutely perfect for that type of shooting. I could not believe the difference even though they are identical on the chassis. With Hades at 900 fps it is setup for a really light tune that hammers starlings out to 75 yards. The balance of it is what really does it for me...nothing more than bags or rested and squeeze. Being able to swap to different calibers or barrel lengths and such is just nice for down the road as a just in case....