new to air rifles....need some advice on buying a better entry level (to mid)

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Arch_E

Arch_E

Member
Feb 13, 2019
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Louisiana, United States
I'm older with lower back issues...and just bought my first air rifle in Dec 18. What FUN!



Bought a typical box store .177 (Gamo Maxxim Swarm) and love shooting it (and killing varmints invading my yard, porch, and eaves (yep, squirrels). So far I've done well enough (killed 17 and hit as many more); but, having grown up hunting, I know that I'm a better shot than my results (would you believe the misses!!!). So, after reading forums and watching posted videos for hours, I've decided that my Gamo is just not that accurate, especially over 20 yards (obviously could not be the shooter--though I do have more practicing to do). I've bought better pellets (H&N) and various grains and tested them (from 7.1-10.6) and realize that the Gamo loves the 7.9s. 

However, now that I'm becoming more seriously interested in shooting, I want a better gun (but not a real expensive one). Given my back problems, I don't want a lot of gear to carry nor a really heavy gun. After about 1200 pellets with the Gamo, I'm pleased with a break barrel. 

Do I stay with gas piston tech or buy old school spring coil? Is a Walther Terrus .177 that much better than the Gamo? Would you recommend the newer Terrus (Gas) over the Terrus Spring coil? How much better is the Diana 34 than the Terrus? 

Any advice is appreciated. I do drool over the HWs and the AAs; and, I'm not sure if an intermediary step (Walther Terrus or Diana) is practical. Perhaps I'll just start a collection. Well, not just yet.



Thanks
 
I would look at a used Diana 34 in a heartbeat. Good price, easy to work on and I would think it would be a nice step up from the GAMO Swarm. Nice part about buy used vs new is that you won’t loose much money when you are ready to try something new. 



Not sure what part of the country you are in, but you could hit up one of the Airgun shows this spring and find some very good deal there too.
 
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You are right in my opinion on the accuracy of the less expensive guns. The old saying You get what you pay for is pretty much true.The farther you want to shoot (with consistent accuracy) the better quality gun your going to need. My suggestion is a PCP although there are very accurate Spring rifles you dont see to many shooting over 50-60 yards. Dont get me wrong I own both types of air guns and there is advantages in both but if it was a must hit shot I would chose the PCP.
 
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He said not too expensive. I’d try to find a good used FWB or HW springer. Or a Beeman or Diana . I personally do not care for the high power springers.

I love my HW 30 urban pro that I bought from AOA . It’s a great gun comes with a scope shoots accurately easy to cock. Great trigger. 

Not cheap but I’ll wager the price of the gun if you buy one you will not regret it. 
 
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Thanks for taking time to help me with this....

None of my shots thus far would be over 40 yards. Practically, 130 ft is about the limit. My Gamo Swarm, though fun to shoot, just isn't consistent (or, I'm not). I've spent time almost daily practicing, mostly CPHP 7.9s, which my Gamo likes. 

I'm afraid that a lower fps springer will not be up to the task of taking out the squirrels. Am I wrong in thinking that I need one shooting about 900-1000 fps to provide adequate killing force? 

I've looked over several boards for used Diana, HW, Walther, etc. (German made primarily since that what I read as better typically) but haven't seen many (really only one in the last two weeks while looking).

Yes, I'd love a PCP but that seems a whole other swamp of questions and issues. At this point, I think I'll damage a springer far less than I would a PCP. I only got started after Christmas 2018, so I'm okay going a tad slower.

BTW, if I were to pop for a nicer gun, how about the HW97K or AA200? Those underlevers look great (but heavy).

Arch_E
 
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In the UK they have taken thousands of squirrels shooting 7.9 gr pellets around 800 FPS. It can be done, but I also like it a bit faster. With the HW97K and the TX200 winning Field Target competitions world wide, they are always a safe bet. Yeah, they are heavy, but they are heirloom quality so your great grand-kids with remember you fondly while shooting one. The HW50S is lighter. There are a few new guns around that may be worth looking at. One that caught my eye is the Diana 250 combo from Pyramid Air. Only one has been professionally reviewed that I know of, but I did well there and the price is right if it wasn't a special "review gun". The other is an Umarex under lever that will be mag fed at $160. Nobody has seen one in the real world yet. Maybe in a month or so we will see the first reviews. Under-levers should be more accurate than a Gamo just based on design alone. Most people are twice as accurate with a PCP. I think you already know the challenges of high pressure air. I hand pump with a bad back, but it's not what I would recommend to most older shooters (over 60)
 
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My .22 Swarm is extremely accurate. I did an initial barrel cleaning with JB Non Embedding Bore Paste followed by cleaning Hopper #9, then dry swabbing till dry.

I use thread locker on the stock and scope screws...initially Loctite 242, now Vibratite. Front screws tightened to 22 inch pounds, the rear one to 35 or a little more. 

I pitched that POD OE Scope in favor of a Hammers unit sourced from Amazon.

I shoot off of a Caldwell adjustable front rest,stock directly on the bag. My left arm supports and adjusts the butt stock. 

I breathe properly before, during, and after the shoot. I call it "the hunter's breath ", but almost everybody does it that I know of.

I've had two of these rifles and my pal has one in .177. All three are as accurate as my high zoot air rifles.

OP, with respect, I don't believe your Swarm is the problem. Use the setup techniques available on the World Wide Web. ..that's how I discovered them. Springers are tough to shoot well, but there's lots of info out there. 
 
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If u decide to give pcp s a try I would highly suggest the Benjamin Maximus hunter in .22. 

U get a lot of gun for not a lot of money and it comes with a very usable mil dot scope and descent rings 

these guns are very accurate and very lightweight. They are a bit loud in stock form but the hunter model is threaded for an ldc so u can just add that on without any mods to the rifle 

another nice thing about the Maximus is there are upgrades out there for it so u can upgrade it to your liking as u get better at shooting it 

and it's an easy gun to work on very user friendly

Yes it will require a hand pump or tank to fill it but it's an easy gun to fill only holding 2000 psi Very doable with a hand pump 

we use ours for cottontail and squirrel hunting and 40 yd kills are no problem It's a great entry level pcp for the budget minded hunter 

we really dig ours

pcpfan37
 
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I’ve taken hundreds of ground squirrels with my 12fpe hw97k that shoots JSB 8.4s at 810-815fps. Accuracy is far more important than power.

I’d suggest a good springer over a PCP.

Check out the Diana RWS34 or the hw95/85 from Krale. Both are very high quality guns at very reasonable prices. I prefer .177 over .22 in springers.



Good luck choosing 



R
 
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I just went through the dilemma you have. I bought a Gamo Mach 1 a year ago and put 15000 pellets through it. While I have shot a lot of pests and it is fun to shoot I really like the PCP I just bought and if I had to give up one it would be the break barrel. I bought a Benjamin Marauder wood stock for $405 directly from Crosman with coupon AGNATION and Free shipping on Fridays. $235 for a Yong Heng (genuine) on Ebay. $11 for a sling and swivels also on Ebay and a UTG 3X9 with AO from Optics Planet for $59 with 14% coupon discount. This is what I encountered that helped me with my decision. When I shoot off the bench I shoot the gas piston artillery hold and get excellent groups but when I am pesting I am shooting off of a camera tripod and have to use a tighter hold or I can't keep the crosshairs on target. I shoot every day off of the tripod with both the gas piston as well as the PCP and the difference is incredible. 5 shots the size of a nickel at twelve yds with the Gamo and 5 shots the size of a pencil eraser with the PCP. I get thirty shots per fill which is more than enough for a day squirrel hunting. It takes thirty seconds to fill with the Yong Heng. The biggest difference though is the fact that when you shoot with the PCP there is actually no recoil and you can keep the target in the scope. The second is the Marauder is whisper quiet and the Gamo isn't even close.
 
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I’ve taken hundreds of ground squirrels with my 12fpe hw97k that shoots JSB 8.4s at 810-815fps. Accuracy is far more important than power.

I’d suggest a good springer over a PCP.

Check out the Diana RWS34 or the hw95/85 from Krale. Both are very high quality guns at very reasonable prices. I prefer .177 over .22 in springers.



Good luck choosing 



R
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Thanks for the nudge toward the HW97K..... It's a verrry desirable gun. My earlier question was on what I'm dubbing the intermediate between my Gamo and the HW97K (or AA200 or PCP, etc): a really nice shooting break barrel that is accurate, durable, and made well. I'm obviously overwhelmed by all these choices and may be obliged to buy more than one to see for myself just how fun air rifles are. At the moment, I'm steadily making an effort to lower the pest problem (that have eaten into my soffit). When I got started at Christmas, I had heard from my cousins how great the Gamo's are; hence, I bought one. I like it and it's a joy to plink. I've invested hours in forums and videos to learn the artillery hold, along with quality pellets, various grains, and how better set up and sight the scope. The Gamo Centerpoint scope is very clear but not great at magnification. OTOH, I always hunted without a scope, so using one is not second nature to me: I've always preferred open sights.

I guess that I eventually want to try out or buy three air rifles: a quality break barrel; a fine underlever (they're lookers), and an easy to use and care for PCP (which seem to be where all the high dollar guns are). I'd prefer quality made over label--something that I can pass on to the grandsons (well, in that case, I'll need four :) )



Thanks


 
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I just went through the dilemma you have. I bought a Gamo Mach 1 a year ago and put 15000 pellets through it. While I have shot a lot of pests and it is fun to shoot I really like the PCP I just bought and if I had to give up one it would be the break barrel. I bought a Benjamin Marauder wood stock for $405 directly from Crosman with coupon AGNATION and Free shipping on Fridays. $235 for a Yong Heng (genuine) on Ebay. $11 for a sling and swivels also on Ebay and a UTG 3X9 with AO from Optics Planet for $59 with 14% coupon discount. This is what I encountered that helped me with my decision. When I shoot off the bench I shoot the gas piston artillery hold and get excellent groups but when I am pesting I am shooting off of a camera tripod and have to use a tighter hold or I can't keep the crosshairs on target. I shoot every day off of the tripod with both the gas piston as well as the PCP and the difference is incredible. 5 shots the size of a nickel at twelve yds with the Gamo and 5 shots the size of a pencil eraser with the PCP. I get thirty shots per fill which is more than enough for a day squirrel hunting. It takes thirty seconds to fill with the Yong Heng. The biggest difference though is the fact that when you shoot with the PCP there is actually no recoil and you can keep the target in the scope. The second is the Marauder is whisper quiet and the Gamo isn't even close.
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Wow! A likely path that I someday may follow. BUT 15,000 pellets in a year!!!!! That's a lot of shooting. 



So, buy once but buy right? 

Ugh, decisions when so many good options avail.



Thanks
 
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On AOA used page there are a couple Weihrauch HW97k and HW 30 rifles for sale. One is a HW97k blem. for $479. That's a pretty good price. They have different Weihrauch rifles on their all the time, other rifles too... Diana, RWS and PCP's if you go that route. You might want to go there every couple days and check out the rotating inventory. 

Stoti
 
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On AOA used page there are a couple Weihrauch HW97k and HW 30 rifles for sale. One is a HW97k blem. for $479. That's a pretty good price. They have different Weihrauch rifles on their all the time, other rifles too... Diana, RWS and PCP's if you go that route. You might want to go there every couple days and check out the rotating inventory. 

Stoti
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Good to know. Thanks!
 
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How much do you want to spend? I had some nice beamen break barrels back in the day, before gas rams appeared. The last beamen I had shot stupid smooth, and put pellets threw the same hole.Well made and tuned spring powered break barrels are not cheap! A cheap spring gun is not fun, unless you want a project. Then you have the gas ram. The ram itself will outlast any coiled spring. You don't need to tune out the twang))))))))((((((, but the rest of the riffle May need to be spiffed up a bit. You could leave a gas ram cocked forever if you wanted to. If I had backyard invaders I was trying to catch on the fly, I would leave said gun by backdoor ready to rock. A coiled spring will loose its spring if left forever. I've had great success with my crosman NP, but I havnt had great luck with any gamo gun. PCPs are very accurate, and powerful. I like Benjamin/crosman. Their marauder riffle/pistol and soon to release Gen2 fortitude are able to set up for a lefty if you happen to be in that club. They require charging with a pump of some kind. I use a hand pump just fine, but I am in good shape even having a slipped herniated disc, and spasicity in my lower lumbar region, and tendon and nerve damage in my left hand and arm from when it was almost completly cut off. Crosman also has a custom shop, the pumper and CO2 pistol/carbine are worth a look at. Those two guns have an enormous after market, and I've seen probably close to a million different customs built off that 13xxx/22xx platforms.
 
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Thanks Eddie_E.



Okay, let's say that I'm open to buying a PCP for the accuracy aspect. What recommendations might you suggest?



Thanks,

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I really like my BSA Buccaneer .22. It has been super accurate, even though it doesn't have a regulator. It's also not pellet fussy at all. Even the CPHP pellets shoot close to hole in hole at 30 yards. Actually I should say it's not regulated yet as the mailman just handed me a box with a Huma regulator and stainless fill probe. Based on the shared parts with my gun I'll say the Gamo Urban is also near the top of my list. The Urban might even have an edge when shooting off-hand because the barrel is nearly a pound lighter. The Nova Vista Liberty nearly got my money and I'm still not sure I am not missing out on a great regulated gun with a titanium air tube. Technical support was a little thin on the Liberty when I bought the Buccaneer. Forum members like Banker4 and others in the review threads for it have solved all the mysteries with the Liberty now, so I would recommend one as long as you don't plan to do insane high power mods to it. It's also the cheapest path to an accurate regulated PCP.
 
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