Back to air guns after 20 years!

Welcome back Kotter!

Jack, Off hand I'd say we need a little more info to point you in the best direction. How much do you want to spend? Do you want a gun for hunting, target shooting, or what? Do you want a Break barrel or a PCP (precharged pneumatic) ? Answer these and you will get a wealth of info pouring out at you.

You WANT, but what do you really need? 

Buy a Diana or RWS M34 and be done with it.

 Forget about it,8 grains and 1000fps is too much ,should not go above 850fps for what you need.

Too fast ain't good,you want stability and me knowing what problems instability can cause would advise against anything unstable.

A few "personal opinion only" comments................

"Umerex have a great breech but I'm not fond of them, the ruger air hawk is made by them"

Umerex is only an importer, they don't MAKE anything and the Ruger Air Hawke is only a Chinese "clone" of the Diana 34 (the German maker).

"I need a rifle that I can push 8 grain pellet at 1000fps"

Humm......then buy a PCP with all the "life support equipment" and plan on countin' shots. I personally DON'T WANT my .177 springer velocity to exceed 880fps with a 7.9 grain pellet. When I bought my last springer (a .177 HW95) I deliberately detuned it to slow the factory velocity of 880fps to 850ish fps.....





"that is built well and can easily get repair parts and the breech is strong."

I've had good results with break barrels manufactured by HW (Weihrauch) like the HW95, Beeman R10, Beeman R9 & HW77. Easy to get replacement parts for these guns (also aftermarket parts) and due to the "modular construction" they are easy to maintain for someone with moderate mechanical skills. Here is a brand new .177 HW95 broken down into individual parts prior to stripping of factory lubes and relubing with non-dieseling Krytox.......



"I had an old beeman springer in 90s that easy went 5000 rounds before the seals went"

Beeman was only an importer and toward the end they were also importing "Chinese copies". With my Beeman springers, R10 (rebadged HW85) and R9 (rebadged HW95) I've had broken factory springs with less than 5000 shots but had good service from factory seals. A few years ago HW changed their piston seal design from "thin parachute edge" to "thick parachute edge" and the newer design does perform better...........



"2 inch groups is fine at 50 yards for me"

Some 50 yard groups shot by myself using a Beeman R9 and HW95 while sitting on a bucket resting the un on cross sticks. A few are "exceptional for me" groups and some are more normal "bucket and sticks" 5 shot groups........

Some









15 out of 20 CPLs through a 3/4" reduced at 50 yards on my back yard shooting lane.........





Anywhoo......I personally think that the "I need a rifle that I can push 8 grain pellet at 1000fps" is rather optimistic for a piston gun if reliability and accuracy are a requirement.

The SIG S20 break barrel is likely the only one that's high quality enough to be worth pursuing for that power level.

I agree with the others. Went through a power phase of airgunning with 80s vintage springers and everything is SO much better not at highest power. You'll find that few of the "1000 fps" air rifles actually achieve it, even with ridiculously light pellets, much less 8 grain ones. The RWS/Diana 48 or 52 is one that does and are well made and accurate but VERY harsh with lighter pellets and pellets don't generally fly well at 1000 fps anyway. The SIG was designed for that level of power and may not be as harsh , but will still shoot best with the pellet weight it was designed for. 

Bob

nced, I am new to air gunning. Trying to learn all I can. Fantastic write up ! Thank you for taking the time to share all this info. 

Andy

AKS: survivor45 

Just chiming in here. Not all Crosman break-barrel breeches are the same. I also own the Crosman F4 and experienced the same problem you have. After about 500 pellets the breech lockup went to crap. However, I bought a Benjamin Summit NP2 (Crosman) and the breech is beefier, the lockup is much more positive and (so far) very reliable as well. Almost everything on the rifle is beefier compared to the F4. However it is also two to three times the price depending where you buy it from new. I don't know if the velocities you are looking for are a good idea, but a NP2 rifle can get there (although it seems a lot of us are shooting heavier pellets to cut the velocity down a bit and enjoy better accuracy).

PT

Jack, Off hand I'd say we need a little more info to point you in the best direction. How much do you want to spend? Do you want a gun for hunting, target shooting, or what? Do you want a Break barrel or a PCP (precharged pneumatic) ? Answer these and you will get a wealth of info pouring out at you.

Click to expand...

You WANT, but what do you really need? 

Buy a Diana or RWS M34 and be done with it.

I read that first few words and was like, what the hell is this guy talking about, on an air rifle forum.

Click to expand...

Shoot I just got back into it after 10 years

Unearthed a first gen air hawk elite with ruger 3x9 and a black synthetic Hatsan 95 w a 3x9 40 CP scope.
both .177

Both still sighted in at ten yards ...
They join my tuned custom bull barrel Gamo 220 and a tuned Webly Tomahawk

I’ve always liked the hatsan 95 Very accurate Great trigger

A better shot of em