Recommendations for my next air gun

Both .22, both extremely accurate. Wildcat and Kalibrgun mini carbine. 

Saw an FX Royale in classifieds today. You CAN NOT go wrong with that gun! Dime size groups @ 50 yards all day long. LOW maintenance, just load, shoot & SMILE. Lube & clean barrel once in a while. Mine is EBR accurate with Hades pellets. Had it for 3 years & it NEVER fails me!

Had to edit, won't shoot slugs but with its devastating accuracy you won't need them!

The HATSAN Flash should be capable of 1/2"-5/8" at 50 yards with its favorite preferred pellet with a good shooter behind that trigger. Yo!

Gerry is exactly right. Ditto on considering an FX Royale. I bought one from SPAW a year ago ( FX 400 .22 caliber) and it is fantastic for all of the reasons he mentioned. I also had a DS Regal XL in .22 from AoA, and that is a great choice as well.

PM me if you ever want to talk live, as I have a lot of good history and background with both guns. Happy to share my experiences if you wish.

Tom 

Damon,

Just an observation here on your requirements: Not trying to sway your opinion, just something to think about.

In looking at presumably, your back yard, I'm not sure you want/need slugs. They can travel a long way, and I also don't think you need them for rabbits and/or squirrels with a .22 caliber at relatively short ranges. You indicated most of your pesting is at around 15 yards, but want the option to go to 40-50 yards. I use the Royal .22 for pesting in my backyard and we back up to a woods directly beyond my back yard boundary, which ( the woods) is about 25 yards shooting from our Four Seasons room in the back of the house. I normally shoot between 15-35 yards, only because I want to make sure I can place a good shot and don't have any runoffs or hurt critters. Not saying you can't shoot farther and accurately at 40-50 yards, I just normally do not for the reasons given.

You would be very happy with either the Royale or the Regal. Closest thing to maintenance free guns I have used, but others' mileage may vary. 

There's a TON of great option in that price range. I use 16gr pellets out of my 15" barrel fx crown 22 out to about 70 yards.... So, also not sure you need a slug gun. Would be hard to go wrong with a used wildcat, streamlibe/dreamline, or any number of other great guns! Kalibregun, taipan, rti, there's a ton of great offerings in that price range.

The FX Wildcat is an excellent backyard gun in .22. I recently purchased a Wildcat MKII... then they introduced the MKIII a few months later. My point here is given you're budget, there may be some good buys on used models earlier than the MKIII.

I found no disadvantages to the bullpup design. The trigger is the best I've ever used on any airgun and any firearm. Also, the cocking handle is located in the best position and is smooth.

Getting a 500mm (almost 20") barrel into such a compact design is a wonder. I shoot 18.13g JSBs at 890 fps consistently hitting flys at 25 yards.

The MKII and later models have the ability to change barrel liners. For $110 you can buy one designed to shoot slugs. However, I agree with tommyb that at 50 yards the increased ballistic coefficient of slugs is not needed. Predator Polymag Shorts work well in my Wildcat magazine, are super accurate and from my crude tests (shoot into water) expand better than any other pellet I have used.

• FX Wildcat MKII
• Donny FL Tatsu
• Atlas bipod
• Hawke 3-12x40 Airmax 30 Compact SF Riflescope Ill. AMX, 1/10 MRAD, 30mm (Love this scope!)
  

Taipan Veteran for a pure Bullpup. Can probably be had close to $1K used. The Kalibrgun Cricket Mini listed above is the best of both worlds for me. Semi-Bullpup platform is my favorite. I suppose the Wildcat fits that category, but I have never owned one. 

I owned a Warcat MKII in .25 (just a fancy Wildcat Compact) and a plain Wildcat with the Picatinny rail added (highly recommend over the stock dovetail) in .30. I've owned a good number of airguns going back to 1997. For a gun that shoots great offhand and off a bench, is not too heavy, has a good # of shots in it's magazine, and has a forward cocking lever (highly desirable). Get it in .22 for birds, rabbits and squirrels. If you add skunks, opossums, and raccoons, to the mix, or shoot in some high winds, get it in .25.

If I did not just buy an Impact Compact, I would be buying a Wildcat. After chasing my tail around over the last 3 years, I should have just stayed with the Wildcat. It's a fantastic all around gun.