Thread: Air rifle advice

Lets start with the target end of the equation. For a humane kill on a bunny you have to hit them between the eye and the base of the ear. That's a spot about 15mm in diameter. A good springer shooter can hit a 15mm spot reliably up to around 30m. That is with a quality springer, a matching good pellet, a stable scope and some practice. 0.177 or 22? If you hit them in the right spot, the caliber doesn't matter.
Up to 40m i would go for 0.177, because of the flatter trajectory. You have to be less accurate with your distance estimation.
Stick with either JSB/Air Arms or H&N pellets. Gamo, Crosman and the likes usually are rubbish. No one in competition uses them.
Hawke scopes are generally very robust and springer-rated. Not expensive, good quality.
So now the gun. Air Arms (Pro Sport or TX200), Diana, Walther and Weihrauch are the top brands. Especially AA and Weihrauch. They have outstanding triggers and the craftsmanship is a of a very high standard. They are not cheap, but have high resale values. In general 16J/12 fpe is more than enough to place an accurate kill shot on a bunny up to 30-35m if hit between the eye and base of the ear. That equates to around 240-250 m/s muzzle velocity with a 0.5 gram pellet. Remember with springers: the more powerful they are, the more difficult they are to shoot accurately. 16J/12 fpe is good middle ground for a springer.
Other European brands. BSA/Gamo have generally good barrels, bad triggers and overall mechanics are not that great. Cometa have good barrels but like Gamo finishing and triggers are sometimes mediocre.
Most other brands are made in China and generally do not have the quality and accuracy needed. With a lot of these Chinese airrifles i would stay within 20m.