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LE_gend06

LE_gend06

Member
Jul 12, 2016
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I live in far west Texas. West of the pecos. Have plenty of firearms but my recent career change has left me little time to get out to my land and enjoy them. I do live on a half acre lot in town with neighbors, schools next block over, and though many use a .22 for pest control a real firearm isn't practical for the backyard fun I'm looking for.

My question is what's a practical all around air gun that can help me get the trigger time on targets and take out the occasional pest? My pest range from skunks, rattlers, crows, gophers, and on occasion javelina. Seen a vid of pig man taking out a small hog with a gamo. It's not necessary since I have plenty firearms that can dispatch one.

I have done some looking around but would prefer some expert advice before I drop any $. Some prices I see I can get me one or two AR's for that much so I decided to stick around the $200 range. Something I can live with and if it's fun then it's fun but my kiddos daisy is getting boring.

Break barrel preferred. Co2 guns, I live an hour and a half from the nearest walley world even Amazon has problems finding my address. Not too practical for me. Pump guns getting boring and had a few gophers laugh at me. Had better results with a sling shot to be honest. 

What I have looked at in .22. I'm a lefty so anything ambi is nice but won't be a deal breaker if it's not. 

hatsan several models. 85 sniper 95, 95 vortex, edge etc etc. anything < $200 

black ops. Bulky plastics good reviews on accuracy but I'm no expert and YouTube only does so much. 

Swiss arms two different models, gamo, crosman, but need real advice. Leaning towards hatsan only from reviews. Any help or advice is appreciated. 

 
"JohnL57"I'd recommend you go German if possible. Walther Terrus,(around $200) RWS 34(around$250), HW95($315 at AOA) are good guns, I'm personally not a fan of the Chinese stuff. Most if not all of the German guns will shoot great right out of the box, you can get frustrated very fast with a cheap gun in my experience.
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Excellent advice here. The RWS 34 is an excellent value. But I'd stretch a bit and buy the hw95. If well cared for, either gun will serve you well for decades.
R
 
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Thanks for the recommendations. I'm not strapped for $ but when I see an air gun over $250 the firearm collector in me says hell you can trick out another 10/22 for that much. 

I don't like cheap firearms so I would definitely rage on a cheap air gun. I read somewhere hatsan is the off name of Walther or something like that. I'll check it out for sure. 

Any knowledge on the stoeger line? 
 
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LE_gend06Thanks for the recommendations. I'm not strapped for $ but when I see an air gun over $250 the firearm collector in me says hell you can trick out another 10/22 for that much. 

I don't like cheap firearms so I would definitely rage on a cheap air gun. I read somewhere hatsan is the off name of Walther or something like that. I'll check it out for sure. 

Any knowledge on the stoeger line?
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I feel you on this subject. But mark my words.......if you are like most you will find yourself shooting the air rifle ALOT more. Dont have to drive to a shooting range. If in the country.....dont disturb neighbors. Can actually buy LOTS of ammo. Lastly.....anything you can do with the .22lr I can do with my pcp. But.....my pcp is as quiet as a mouse pissing on cotton. Consider yourself warned............very addicting hobby.

Oh.....and welcome to the forum.
 
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Stoegers are Chinese as far as I know, Hatsans are made in Turkey and the Walther Talon series were Hatsans that were branded Walther. They are infamous for the plastic stocks breaking. Some folks like Hatsans though I don't think they compare well with the German guns.
Keep in mind that you'll get far more shooting opportunities from your airgun AND ammo is relatively cheap and available! I don't shoot all that much and I can go through 20-60 shots a day, when I have time I can burn through 100 or more pellets pretty easily. Even the best quality pellets are only.03-.05 per shot! 
Most firearms guys have trouble adjusting to the relatively high cost of airguns and the airgun marketing hype is all about power and FPS. That magnum power in a breakbarrel usually means the gun will have a harsh jumpy shot cycle and be very difficult to shoot accurately. The good German guns balance power and smoothness making them more fun to shoot and easier to shoot accurately.

Here's my Beeman R9-same gun as the HW95 with slightly different stock, this has accounted for dozens of bunnies and has cleared the ground squirrels from 200 acres!

 
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The more I look into it the more I find myself raising my salary cap. I do like the idea of a pcp but not really practical for me at the moment. 

I did look up that Walther recommended and looks very nice. Whatever it is I get will definitely get used. Right now my biggest pest are the skunks. Neighbors don't mind they have the same problem and if I don't pop em they will but still the few rounds to clear a litter.... Yeah they run in packs here, still a bit noisey. Subsonic rounds are pretty quiet but even those get hard to resupply
 
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I have owned 1 gamo, a few Chinese clones, and multiple quality springers BSA, RWS/Diana, Air Arms.

My advice would be to avoid the super magnum hype and buy a quality springer from a reputable maker. Crosman, Hatsan, Gamo, or Chinese clones (Roger, Stoeger, Remington, Winchester, etc) you are better to avoid unless you really can't afford a quality English or German made gun.

Just my opinion.
 
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"ajshoots"I have owned 1 gamo, a few Chinese clones, and multiple quality springers BSA, RWS/Diana, Air Arms.

My advice would be to avoid the super magnum hype and buy a quality springer from a reputable maker. Crosman, Hatsan, Gamo, or Chinese clones (Roger, Stoeger, Remington, Winchester, etc) you are better to avoid unless you really can't afford a quality English or German made gun.

Just my opinion.
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Thanks for the advice. By reviews big name firearm companies ruger Remington etc didn't fare well. Heard so so reviews about gamo. I think I'm leaning torwards Hatsan at this point. Seems like the in between of decent quality and price
 
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"Longbrownbox"LE, don't want to rain on your parade but you can't shoot Javelinas in TX with an airgun. Nueces on Airgun Nation lives near Rocksprings. Shot with him before.
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They are very tough but thought if a store bought gamo could do it maybe there's a chance my new toy could too. I get them about every week or so in the back alley. They don't bother much but when they get a bit sketchy they gotta go. I understand the seasons and limits. Been hunting most of my life. 

Keep in in mind where I live is very small town. The sheriff, county judge, game warden, state troopers, border patrol and just about everybody else here shares some cold ones in the back of the house. Mr Apgar (the game warden) has told me time again. If they get wild and become a danger, even by going inside, and they still have the potential to harm anybody, get em gone. I don't shoot em just because. Usually a warning shot works but I've been charged more than once just throwing the trash during some evening get togethers. I literally gotta peek over the fence and throw some rocks or kick the fence to see if anything is back there. Its bad when you gotta take "the judge" out to throw trash. Not just Javelinas but Rattlers bob cat mountain lions. It happens. 

I bet a dodo bird wouldn't last 5 min out here if it ran at someone. We don't ask questions. We shoot it and shoot it again if it's gonna bite. Don't wanna offend anybody but its the law of the land. If I was going to take one an air gun wouldn't be first choice 
 
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What ever you are considering I would go to youtube and look for a review first. If you want to stay right close to two bills then start by looking at the Hatsan 95, generally considered the best gun for the money at $200. Well built, hits hard and accurate. Check out airgunwebs video on that gun and youll see what I mean. The Euroguns are smooth and quite accurate but dont hit like they mean it. Being from TX Im pretty sure you know what I mean. Good luck.
 
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Just my two cents, being one of the oddballs that like Hatsans- Given the variety of species you are looking to contend with, I would err for the super-magnum class gas ram guns- Model 125/135 for breakbarrel, Model 150/155 for underlever (fixed barrel). It is true that Hatsan can be somewhat hit or miss with quality (although I've always had good luck with their Vortex guns) but one endearing quality (in my eyes) is that their advertised velocities are taken from testing with mid-weight lead pellets, rather than super-light alloys. They also all come with decent open sights. Important to me, but if you plan to use a scope there may be other good options.
I have several varminting guns myself, but the workhorse is a 135 Vortex in .22. Given the velocity it produces is more akin to most .177 magnums, it eliminates some of the parabolic trajectory inherent to .22 springers. Beeman also makes a couple excellent springers, and the German-made guns get a lot of love around here. If you have the money to splurge and iron sights aren't important to you, I say go for a nice HW.
My experiences with Gamos has been... Less than impressive. I think they have a place, as entry-level guns for true newbies or for teaching young-uns to shoot, but for an one experienced with long irons who has to contend with more hardy pests, a little more oomph is called for.
 
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I'm definitely looking at the hatsans. As far as maintenance, cleaning, just overall care is a spring gun the better choice. I've mentioned before I have a large collection of firearms and if you care for them they care for you. I don't miss a thing when I clean them up or open them up for inspection. 

I was leaning to the gas Pistons until I thought about replacement parts maintenance etc. 
 
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I like my Hatsan 95 Vortex .22. I got it as a refurb from airgunproshop.com and I also paid extra for their Hatsan Factory Bulletproof. Well, don't know how much bulletproofing happened because after a few hundred rounds it started shooting violently and slow. They had me send it to Hatsan USA for service and the report was a seal was damaged. They fixed it and shipped back to me. I didn't pay shipping either way and the repair was under warranty so that worked out fine. And they were very fast on the turn around. The gun hits hard and shoots straight. Mine likes the JSB 18.13's best. 
 
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Did you get anything yet Legend?

I have a trio myself. I just give em a try and see what works.

Crosman Nitro Venom Dusk 22 cal, $110 from Amazon....
Crosman NPS TR77 177 cal $94 bux on Amazon!!! Dunno how that happened but the price drpped from $120 and I jumped on it.
Ruger Blackhawk Elite 177 $90 bux from Walley Mart

So far the only one I havent warmed up to yet is the 22, I gotta do some tuning on it still and get it broke in.

The NPS TR77 is slingin em across the chrony at about 1100 FPS with 7.4 Gr and loves Crosman Premier Hollow Points readily available at any box store. The Ruger has been an efficient piece as well and so far has done the most work (it was my first buy, so it has more time on it)

I maybe have $375 in everything, which includes a cleaning kit, and variety of pellets.
 
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"Bobbed06"Did you get anything yet Legend?

I have a trio myself. I just give em a try and see what works.

Crosman Nitro Venom Dusk 22 cal, $110 from Amazon....
Crosman NPS TR77 177 cal $94 bux on Amazon!!! Dunno how that happened but the price drpped from $120 and I jumped on it.
Ruger Blackhawk Elite 177 $90 bux from Walley Mart

So far the only one I havent warmed up to yet is the 22, I gotta do some tuning on it still and get it broke in.

The NPS TR77 is slingin em across the chrony at about 1100 FPS with 7.4 Gr and loves Crosman Premier Hollow Points readily available at any box store. The Ruger has been an efficient piece as well and so far has done the most work (it was my first buy, so it has more time on it)

I maybe have $375 in everything, which includes a cleaning kit, and variety of pellets.
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Seeing some spring versions on sale at air gun depot I'm about to jump on it. The hatsan 125 looks nice because of the rail. None of the worries about it backing off due to recoil I hear is a problem. Another is the 85 sniper or the 95 vortex qe. All in range of 200. 
 
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