Airgun Technologies The Future of Springers – Are We Still in the Game?

[mightyox]

Don't ignore .177 pellets for squirrels and rabbits! I can take my RWS Diana 48 or HW98K springers and a couple of clear plastic medicine bottles full of pellets in my pocket; a knife on my belt, a backpack full of necessaries, then disappear for a few days, a week or month in the woods and have a ball. I consider both survival rifles for small game.
Now for a viable option...if you wanted to take a PCP rifle....and a couple of clear plastic medicine bottles of pellets in your pocket, a knife on your belt, load your backpack with a couple dozen spare filled air bottles wrapped in bubble wrap to keep the rattling down, and pull a wagon with all your necessaries and an emergency high pressure hand pump... The two .22 pellet full medicine bottles will be twice as heavy as two pellet full plastic medicine bottles of .177 and volume 25% less in number so you may need 3 medicine bottles of .22's, bulging in the bottom of your pocket. The wagon will be kinda noisy and a pain in the you know what!
If I was to buddy with you on the extended woods walk...I volunteer to take the two plastic bottles of .177 pellets and 48 or 98k, knife and backpack full of necessaries......and you can take the 3 plastic bottles of .22 pellets, PCP rifle, knife and back pack full of backup air bottles and wagon full of your necessaries and emergency air pump. Sure won't be a quiet walk and listening to you complain after a few hours and may be the beginning of a miserable woods walk...maybe I'll walk a mile or two ahead, set up camp, build a fire, put a couple of rabbits and a squirrel on the spit, and wait for your grand entrance after dark.

I love my .177. Many starling and sparrow have fallen to this gamo. Even bagged a fox with it. But on the long shots with crows or even not so long on ground hogs it falls short. That why the next rifle i get will be a better rifle in a bigger caliber.

 

[borne2fly]

I found a diana 52 for 300 bucks. I dont know what to get but I feel like I cant go wrong with a 48, 52, 350, 460 or 54. I just domt know the pros and cons of each. I want a .22 I do know that. I looked at the gauntlet, notos and air arms tx200??? Pcps but I just domt want to pump it or spend the extra on a compressor. Maybe one day but not today.

The 52 is a 48 with the nicer (walnut?) checkered stock. A beautiful rifle. There are tuning kits available which trade some of the power for easier cocking and some accuracy improvement, although I’m quite happy with the stock setup. Point is, plenty of support is still available for these popular rifles.

The only drawback I’ve seen is that these big springers kick hard enough to damage a number of scopes. If you run a scope, you’ll need one specifically rated for springers. I don’t use a scope, but rather a Williams peep sight … plenty accurate for the shooting I do.

 

[Toxylon]

Am I way off with this line of thinking?

No, you are not.

 

[Toxylon]

Springers will be around for a really long time, simply because they are incredibly durable, while PCP's (and gasrams) are not. You can literally put a springer aside for years, come back to it, and continue from where you were left. I've done it many times, with different guns.

Most of my springers are decades old, but they work better than they ever did since leaving the factory. There's no end in sight. I intend to shoot these guns into my twilight years.

Last year I read about an Englishman who hunted rabbits and pigeons that season with his Lincoln Jeffrey BSA, from c. 1910. That's 114 years of use life! Guns with leather seals literally don't even require change of seals for incredible lengths of time. PCP's generally spring a leak if they're left for a year without a shot, or for a ton of different reasons. Been there.

To my mind, PCP's are a infrastructure-dependant hassle, and potentially dangerous to work on, as well. Due to the last issue there's a relative dearth of PCP servicing information around, very unlike the springer scene where almost any issue for almost any springer model ever made has an expert or three ready to share what they know on the airgun forums. So, to either the mechanically-inclined tinkerer or the no-hassle-demanding weekend shooter, springers are the best choice.

Even if the remaining quality springer manufacturers fold one by one, there will be countless thousands of quality springers around, on every continent (maybe not Antarctica), to buy, trade, and use. Parts availability is a more pressing issue, but since my go-to parts dealers still have parts for myriad guns which haven't been in production for 20 to 80 years, I'm not too concerned. Those parts dealers have never relied on the airgun-owning masses for their business; only us enthusiasts buy tiny antique screws for a couple bucks apiece, and that was so already 30 years ago.

But the main thing is this: contrary to popular views, springers still are capable hunting / target tools, out to surprising distances. Even 50 meters is not the limit (although it's getting up there). The fact that there now are more powerful, easier airguns around haven't magically made the springers any less efficient than they were, for the generations for whom they were the main airgunning weapon, to hunters and target shooters alike.

 

[cjtamu]

If the Diana 52 is in good shape then that’s a good deal. The 48, 52, and 54 all have the same powerplant, the 54 just adds the sled. If you’re going to be walking with it the 54 is much heavier.

 

[3Crows]

Consider the pumper, benjamin, sheridan, crosman pumpups, now diana, dragonfly, etc. Really have no place in modern airgunworld. Lots of effort to shoot. Lower power than most pcp and springers. No hi-tech look. Not particularly accurate. Hard to scope. Yet, have maintained a small segment of the airgun market. By not trying to compete with 1300fps Gamo springers or pcp rifles.

Springers are going the same way, but with a wider variety of quality, cost, etc. Manufacturers have gone overboard in trying to compete with pcp power and accuracy, hence the aformentioned 1300fps Gamo. I'm thinking of the old Diana 22-27 rifles, intuitive, plenty accurate, easy to cock and shoot, plenty of power within reasonable airgun distances, light weight. Nobody makes anything like these anymore. But would be excellent entry level guns, especially for smaller/younger shooters. There will always be the higher end springers, and the false promise of power from others, but the sweet shooters of yesteryear might be the best way to keep springers relevant to more people.

As a pumper guy, the reason they are still relevant is their compact size and low weight for hunting when compared to spring guns or even PCPs. Both of which tend to be very heavy and awfully long. That may be okay on the bench but it is a PITA for woods carry and the length makes them difficult to bring to point especially in confined spaces like a blind or brush. At 37 inches long and 5.5 pounds a pumper is much easier to carry than a 44 inches long and 8 pounds+ spring gun.

I would like to see some evolution, a barrel over the spring tube under lever. It could be 36 inches long, it could even be a bull pup with some clever design on the cocking lever, maybe a side cocker. And unlike break open guns, the fixed, stable barrel would provide consistent accuracy with nom concerns about lockup or wear and tear of that mechanism affecting accuracy.

 

[mobilemail]

Based on guns like Discovery/Maximus, and other similar rifles, it seems that a company can build and sell a reasonably shooting PCP than they can a springer of the same power. So I think springers will segregate into two markets, the higher priced niche guns that a few still enjoy until the purchase numbers don't justify production; and the walmart "looks like an airgun" group.

After shooting airguns for a decade plus, I have reached these conclusions for my own particular shooting:
I'm not much interested in a springer over 12-13fpe, certainly not 20+fpe. If I want that power I will go to a PCP.
I'm getting to where I'm not even much interested in a .177 PCP over 12-15fpe. It's pretty much a paper puncher, if I want more power I usually reach for a .22 PCP.
If I'm going to buy a springer I'm going to buy a good one. I really love my Beeman R7!

 

[mightyox]

If the Diana 52 is in good shape then that’s a good deal. The 48, 52, and 54 all have the same powerplant, the 54 just adds the sled. If you’re going to be walking with it the 54 is much heavier.

Its new. I want the sled, im 6'2" 260 lbs and bench 315 for fun. Im Law enforcement and on the SAR team. I hike and stay in good condition. I might get the 52 just because of how good of a deal it it

 

[borne2fly]

As a pumper guy, the reason they are still relevant is their compact size and low weight for hunting when compared to spring guns or even PCPs. Both of which tend to be very heavy and awfully long. That may be okay on the bench but it is a PITA for woods carry and the length makes them difficult to bring to point especially in confined spaces like a blind or brush. At 37 inches long and 5.5 pounds a pumper is much easier to carry than a 44 inches long and 8 pounds+ spring gun.

I would like to see some evolution, a barrel over the spring tube under lever. It could be 36 inches long, it could even be a bull pup with some clever design on the cocking lever, maybe a side cocker. And unlike break open guns, the fixed, stable barrel would provide consistent accuracy with nom concerns about lockup or wear and tear of that mechanism affecting accuracy.

I’m a springer guy first, there’s an elegance to them that I just enjoy. But pumpers are a very close second. I have a 1322 with a number of mods and I’m always impressed with its accuracy. It’s light, has no recoil, and I do like the fact that I can vary the power by the number of pumps and consequently the ammo I use for any particular situation. Furthermore, it’s cheap and easy to rebuild. Of course, follow-up shots take longer.