My experience so far

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bubblerboy64

Member
Jul 25, 2018
2,413
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Pa, United States
Like many I’ve been on a quest for a hunting air rifle . I’ve been at this for a year a half. Here’s what I know or what I think I know. If you are staying within 50 yard and small game any quality PCP will do.

It’s when you get beyond 75 then things get challenging. By challenging I mean hitting your target and dropping it with authority.

What has worked for me has been a RAW in 30 cal. I was able to acquire onecfor $1500 used and it’s something I’d like to suggest as a for the money good option.

I haven’t given up the quest for more but from what I am seeing to do better you are at twice the money.

I have other guns that are close but I paid more for them and the RAW is my pick over the 25 cricket and the 22 brocock sniper mag HP IN 22.

My guess is we will see some cross the board advances in the next year but if anyone is looking for today the RAW seems tops to me. Only negative is it’s a big heavy rifle that might not work for you for those reasons. 

Im interested in what’s happening with slugs but I’m am also hesitant to jump into that pond right now. Too much happening too much in development.
 
Please share with us what type of animals you plan on hunting. What area of the country do you llve in? What will the conditions be? Desert or rain forest. All these things would be helpful for us to chime in on the discussion of the perfect hunting weapon for you. Hunting for me is squirrels at 40 yards in my back yard. See what I mean? 
 
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Ok. I live in central PA and I hunt pest birds off the concrete silos at 50 to 75 yards . I’ve used my Red Wolf and at 65 yards I had too many clearly hit birds ( mostly pigeons) fly off. Next gun was a cricket 25 cal and it did much better but I’m not real wild about the bull pup configuration. I could not get the cricket to group to my satisfaction at 100 yards. It would do about 2 inches. I’m figuring if the gun groups at 100 (inch or close) it’s going to be great at my hunting ranges. I’ve got a Brocock bantam Sniper Hp magnum just had it tuned by Ken Hicks and I haven’t had a chance to test it. I’ve got about 2 grand in both of those guns. (I’m not complaining just stating my experience to date) 

Hunting with the RAW today hit 5 pigeons four never moved from their spot on the silo. One was clearly hit and dropped but I could not tell much on that hit. Also dropped about a dozen starlings. Now this wasn’t at great distance but the RAW will consistently hit sparrow sized birds at 50 yards and the wack heard is I’m guessing 20% over the cricket and brocock. Like I said it seems to have the edge from 75 and out.

I’m following the SLUG FEST and I will likely buy one more gun (after selling a few of mine) but I’m thinking I need to watch wait and learn more. The FX continuum is on my short list but I have many questions. (Or the FX boss in 30 cal. )What caliber , want needs doing before you own it. Who to buy from and when would be the time? I see things happening . The impact sniper might be another I’d consider even though I’m not crazy about the bull pup . Just so much can be done with that gun. So I’m cooling my heels watching waiting and interested in others opinions as to how they feel and think while on the same path.

I guess my ideal would be a gun that can do all the impact can in a rifle format. Or maybe an FX barrel and slug liner for the brocock or cricket 🤨

i don’t really need an other gun. It’s the journey to perfection and the learning along they way that is most important to me. 

Ive always been interested in long range accuracy. I have 223 and 22-250 powder burners and rarely shoot closer then 300 yards.

Something for an old fellow to do and feel some passion for.
 
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Thanks for the story. I think I understand your mindset. I can't help you with experience but I may be able to help you with timing. Do you have plans to go to the Pyramyd Air Cup? It's not that far for you. Last year they had big discounts for the participants & guests. Plus this year is Bench Rest so there may be a few guns in configurations close to what you are thinking about. You can go up and talk to their owners and see their experience with those guns. Hope this helps. I'll be there with my TX200 Springer competing in HFT. 
 
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I'm in the same boat you are Bubbler. The newest technology I own is a Mark 1 .25 Wildcat which pushes JSB heavies at 850fps with the aid of a HUMA regulator. It's "sparrow-starling accurate" out to around 125 yards (and I'm loving it) but I'm ready to take the plunge into slugs at some point pretty soon. I want to stretch my range out to 200 or so.

I'm like you...I'm in the research mode right now and building up the piggy bank! I can't advise you on anything other than what I'm seeing and predicting from all of these wonderful folks on the forum and all of our guys on You Tube. Personally I think that the industry went totally ".22 slug crazy" because that's where our You Tube heroes began with the second wave of slug madness (some of their countries restricted to .22) and it's where companies like FX began it's research. Another thing we forget is that the.22 guns were about the only things that would push a heavy slug beyond 950fps "back in the day". 25 and 30 power/velocity just couldn't hack it in the 2 or 3 brands that we considered slug worthy. Now that the Mark 2's are alive,well and able to push heavy lead at higher velocities, I think .25 slugs will be the next logical step for guys who want to go deeper into long range shooting. It also seems like the liners (FX) are becoming more available and they've got the research behind them. Will .30 be the next step after that? Should we wait? I don't know. I think the shot count with slugs might keep them out of the mainstream and make it a caliber popular with deer and pig shooters interested in 12-15 shots per fill. My thoughts are that the .25 might be the way to go for the next few years. I mean... a 25 with slugs is the new 30, right?

For what it's worth, I'm seriously considering an Impact 700mm with a slug liner or maybe a 600mm Crown. 700mm just seems sturdier on an Impact. Nothing against the fine guns from RAW or Daystate, I just don't see anyone currently pouring the research into slugs guns like FX. Barrel suppliers like LW might play a big part in what many of the other gun manufacturers do in the slug market. It could all change tomorrow!! Who knows?

Hope this didn't confuse you buddy. Just a few random thoughts from someone who's waiting in the isles for something more definitive in the air rifle market before I lay down 2.5k on a gun and scope.

Cheers,

Glenn in Texas 


 
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Glenn, in the powder burner game it’s always been barrels and bullets . Air guns the same . I think you are correct. Slugs in. 30 likely too much for my use so it’s going to come down to a 22 or 25 . Either one should work. My cricket and brocock could be made to do the job with the right barrel and bullets. Will that happen? Or is it an FX. Time will tell 
 
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You nailed it with the powder burner analogy. That's what it comes down to...barrels and bullets. Here's something for you to kick around. I think everyone agrees that the FX- STX series barrels are as good as, if not he best, slug/pellet barrels out there. You can easily build these liners up to much larger diameters which will fit many other guns. It's just a matter of using a "step up" process of metal tubing or carbon fiber (and epoxy) to bring them up to the proper size. In it's most simplistic form, I've already taken a .22 "A" liner up to .435" to fit a highly modified Crosman 2240 carbine platform. The results out to 75 yards are surprising to say the least.

Food for thought,

Glenn in Texas
 
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