Veteran shooter but total NEWB to modern airgunning delightfully baffled!

Hi! As I stated in my intro for all my hard-earned knowledge of modern centerfire firearms I am often a bit baffled by the huge leaps in the airgunning world (of which I have only recently become aware). So as to avoid deluging everyone here with an avalanche of questions I will try my best to space them out one at a time. So, question number one: As I said, I am a total newb to the world of modern airgunning and so I've been attempting to get myself up to speed so to speak. To that aim I have begun to first familiarize myself with the various types and charging mechanisms, etc. One distinction that I have not been able to determine the correct nomenclature for (assuming it exists) is whatever "category" (for lack of a better word) air rifles that chamber an actual bullet - versus a pellet - fall into. The various airgun outlets online do not seem to filter these rifles - e.g., the Benjamin Rogue - into their own group, and even searching online for "airguns(rifles) that chamber a bullet of slug vs pellets" produces pitiable results. This would seem to be a significant enough distinction to warrant it's own "category" so to speak, so what is this newb missing? In fact, I found that other attributes that I would have thought significant also seem to be elusive; muzzle energies, velocities, (actually, Pyramyd Air does classify air guns by average maximum velocities, but it doesn't seem common) etc. As my primary interest at the moment is rifles chambering a bullet I find this to be a hindrance. Any chance of enlightening this newbie? Thanx!
 
I own several Beaumont's a .223 cal and a .308 cal plus a .458 cal Bullet airgun - all of which are capable of taking down most American mammals - a few lizards as well😬
made in the Netherlands- lots of power 
this particular rifle called a Chimera - .457cal shoots a 415gran bullet at a MV of about 890 to 900fps
giving it around 730ftlbs of energy give er take......


but I'm not sure they've made it to the US -
another comany making high energy rifles is Drummin Sinner 
'should be able to find em on Google 
cheers
CK
 
snax tks for starting this, I am also a newb who is very impressed with the new age air guns. CK those are beautiful ! These big bores have very similar ballistics to my primitive black powder weapons but without all the mess and noise. I am very interested in something in the .223 - .308 to use for feral hogs and coyotes.
 
Wow, thanx so much people. I feel like I now have a toe-hold from which to progress. CK, those Beaumonts are beautiful! After your first post/pic my roomie and I sat and drooled over You Tube videos of Beaumonts for an hour! Unfortunately I am unable to find any Beaumont distributors in the states but I plow forward undaunted. I have to say, I am continually amazed at just how far pneumatic propulsion has come; these are not my Papa's pellet guns. Again, thank you CK, CF, everyone so much and be prepared for a whole bunch more air-newb questions in the near future. ~Snax
 
"snax"Hi! As I stated in my intro for all my hard-earned knowledge of modern centerfire firearms I am often a bit baffled by the huge leaps in the airgunning world (of which I have only recently become aware). So as to avoid deluging everyone here with an avalanche of questions I will try my best to space them out one at a time. So, question number one: As I said, I am a total newb to the world of modern airgunning and so I've been attempting to get myself up to speed so to speak. To that aim I have begun to first familiarize myself with the various types and charging mechanisms, etc. One distinction that I have not been able to determine the correct nomenclature for (assuming it exists) is whatever "category" (for lack of a better word) air rifles that chamber an actual bullet - versus a pellet - fall into. The various airgun outlets online do not seem to filter these rifles - e.g., the Benjamin Rogue - into their own group, and even searching online for "airguns(rifles) that chamber a bullet of slug vs pellets" produces pitiable results. This would seem to be a significant enough distinction to warrant it's own "category" so to speak, so what is this newb missing? In fact, I found that other attributes that I would have thought significant also seem to be elusive; muzzle energies, velocities, (actually, Pyramyd Air does classify air guns by average maximum velocities, but it doesn't seem common) etc. As my primary interest at the moment is rifles chambering a bullet I find this to be a hindrance. Any chance of enlightening this newbie? Thanx!
I was in the same boat a couple years ago, lots of powder burner experience, but my airgun experience was limited to cheap break barrel guns. 
 
Snax, one of the things that you need to keep in mind when shopping for an air gun is the unfortunate fact that there is no universal method of measuring muzzle velocity.
Some companies use lighter pellets to get higher velocities while others measure using standard pellets.
For the most part if you are looking for Airguns that shoot "slugs" you will need to look at .35 or larger, although many manufacturers are starting to chamber rifles in the 308 due to the fact powder burner shooters recognize it as a hunting round.
While there are some exceptions most Airguns with clips are basically bolt action. There are a couple of manufacturers that make a simi-auto that cocks using a battery in the stock.
Benjamin, Hatsan, are two examples of Big Bore rifles that uses a clip and shoots slugs as well as pellets.
What you will sacrifice in big bore shooting is the amount of shots per fill and the cost of the rounds being higher.
Don't let high muzzle velocities be your only buying decision, when you get into big bore air rifles you will want to look for the K.E of the round as it will tell you more about how hard it is going to hit and penetrate the target
 
"anomad"
"snax"Hi! As I stated in my intro for all my hard-earned knowledge of modern centerfire firearms I am often a bit baffled by the huge leaps in the airgunning world (of which I have only recently become aware). So as to avoid deluging everyone here with an avalanche of questions I will try my best to space them out one at a time. So, question number one: As I said, I am a total newb to the world of modern airgunning and so I've been attempting to get myself up to speed so to speak. To that aim I have begun to first familiarize myself with the various types and charging mechanisms, etc. One distinction that I have not been able to determine the correct nomenclature for (assuming it exists) is whatever "category" (for lack of a better word) air rifles that chamber an actual bullet - versus a pellet - fall into. The various airgun outlets online do not seem to filter these rifles - e.g., the Benjamin Rogue - into their own group, and even searching online for "airguns(rifles) that chamber a bullet of slug vs pellets" produces pitiable results. This would seem to be a significant enough distinction to warrant it's own "category" so to speak, so what is this newb missing? In fact, I found that other attributes that I would have thought significant also seem to be elusive; muzzle energies, velocities, (actually, Pyramyd Air does classify air guns by average maximum velocities, but it doesn't seem common) etc. As my primary interest at the moment is rifles chambering a bullet I find this to be a hindrance. Any chance of enlightening this newbie? Thanx!
I was in the same boat a couple years ago, lots of powder burner experience, but my airgun experience was limited to cheap break barrel guns. 
Right? I was/am surprised just how much doesn't translate. Once we've left the chamber and we're moving it's all pretty parallel, but prior to that is a learning curve.
 
"Willie14228"Snax, one of the things that you need to keep in mind when shopping for an air gun is the unfortunate fact that there is no universal method of measuring muzzle velocity.
Some companies use lighter pellets to get higher velocities while others measure using standard pellets.
For the most part if you are looking for Airguns that shoot "slugs" you will need to look at .35 or larger, although many manufacturers are starting to chamber rifles in the 308 due to the fact powder burner shooters recognize it as a hunting round.
While there are some exceptions most Airguns with clips are basically bolt action. There are a couple of manufacturers that make a simi-auto that cocks using a battery in the stock.
Benjamin, Hatsan, are two examples of Big Bore rifles that uses a clip and shoots slugs as well as pellets.
What you will sacrifice in big bore shooting is the amount of shots per fill and the cost of the rounds being higher.
Don't let high muzzle velocities be your only buying decision, when you get into big bore air rifles you will want to look for the K.E of the round as it will tell you more about how hard it is going to hit and penetrate the target
Thanx m'brah, I will definitely keep that in mind.
 
Camp tks for the links. I keep doing searches and have had to clean drool off my kybrd more than once. As I have now noticed my addiction/affliction is showing a need for several different new rifles. I just have to try one of those very accurate rifles using a diopter. I also enjoy c02 guns. a QB78 is high on the want list.
I can see getting into PCP is going to take me a bit too get into. I live in the WNC mountains so scuba shops not common and a hand pump would not be a good option for me with a back issue. I am looking at getting my own compressor and other options. Tks for all the great info guys... LIVIT
 
"LIVIT"Camp tks for the links. I keep doing searches and have had to clean drool off my kybrd more than once. As I have now noticed my addiction/affliction is showing a need for several different new rifles. I just have to try one of those very accurate rifles using a diopter. I also enjoy c02 guns. a QB78 is high on the want list.
I can see getting into PCP is going to take me a bit too get into. I live in the WNC mountains so scuba shops not common and a hand pump would not be a good option for me with a back issue. I am looking at getting my own compressor and other options. Tks for all the great info guys... LIVIT
Another option is to ask around your local fire department(s) to see if someone could fill tanks for you.

I grew up in Sylva, but I've been away so long I don't have any recent contacts for you. 
 
"LIVIT"Camp tks for the links. I keep doing searches and have had to clean drool off my kybrd more than once. As I have now noticed my addiction/affliction is showing a need for several different new rifles. I just have to try one of those very accurate rifles using a diopter. I also enjoy c02 guns. a QB78 is high on the want list.
I can see getting into PCP is going to take me a bit too get into. I live in the WNC mountains so scuba shops not common and a hand pump would not be a good option for me with a back issue. I am looking at getting my own compressor and other options. Tks for all the great info guys... LIVIT
Livit
That's cool living in Western NC Mountain area like you do. You live a lot closer than I do to a very well respected air gun tuner by the name of Will Piatt from Ennice NC. I live near the coast so quite a drive for me. Manny ( Nomadic Pirate ) sends a lot of his guns from Hawaii to Will here in NC to have them tuned.

Another link for you https://sites.google.com/site/saddlemountaingunsmith/

Also we have an airgun club here in NC. And most of our matches are held in Mt Pleasant not too far from Charlotte.

http://www.thagc.com/

You should come out to a match sometime. Everyone is super friendly and there are volumes of information to be shared and most anyone would be glad to let you shoulder their rifles and check them out up close. We also have loaner rifles if you want to shoot a match.

Best regards
Jimmy from Burgaw NC

 
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There really isn't any official difference between which guns shoot slugs vs pellets. The only difference is if a particular gun has the cajones to sling that much lead. The Bulldog for example will shoot slugs OK, but JSB .357 pellets are probably the most accurate and heavy enough enough to get most jobs done. If the slug fits in the chamber and the guns has enough power to
push it you can shoot it. I shoot slugs from my .25. Cal Benjamin Marauder and pellets from my .357 Benjamin Bulldog. I have .357 slugs too but I can't hunt anything bigger than a coyote with an airgun in my state so I don't really need anything bigger than the pellets.
 
"ztirffritz"There really isn't any official difference between which guns shoot slugs vs pellets. The only difference is if a particular gun has the cajones to sling that much lead. The Bulldog for example will shoot slugs OK, but JSB .357 pellets are probably the most accurate and heavy enough enough to get most jobs done. If the slug fits in the chamber and the guns has enough power to
push it you can shoot it. I shoot slugs from my .25. Cal Benjamin Marauder and pellets from my .357 Benjamin Bulldog. I have .357 slugs too but I can't hunt anything bigger than a coyote with an airgun in my state so I don't really need anything bigger than the pellets.
Thanks... ztirffritz (That's a helluva handle boss)

This is kinda exactly what I need to know.

~Snax
 
I usually refer to the category (slug shooters) as extreme big bores. I guess it doesn't help that there is also a manufacturer of extreme big bores called Extreme Big Bores. 

The distinction (other than power) is that this category often uses firearm calibers such as .257 instead of the smaller 25 cal pellet guns. 

Some ones to look at are:

- Dennis Quakenbush
- American Air Arms
- Innovairtech 
- Etreme Big Bores
- Bushbuck

They are really a niche area of an already niche market because they can only be used in places you can use a firearm (due to noise and power). 

Then there is also the lower power big bores that use use pellets in .30 and 357. A 357 pellet gun might put out 150fpe. Some of the Extreme Big bore rifles put out 1600 fpe when run on Helium. People hunt bear and buffalo with those things.