Recommended air rifle & scope for possum / rabbits

Hi all,

Looking at purchasing an air rifle for small game - nothing bigger than a possum. It's not going to be used a lot, only for things that venture onto our small lifestyle block.
All up don't really want to spend more than 1k, and this needs to include a scope as well.

I've seen some mixed feedback on the Cometa Fusion - I see there are two variations at airguns.co.nz - the .22 @ $599 and the .177 MK LL @ $649. I assume the .22 is better for possums?

There's also a Sig Sauer ASP20 .177 on Trademe for $850, second hand, would also need to arrange shipping. This will be pushing the budget when including a scope,but can potentially stretch the budget a bit, if it's far better than the Cometa Fusion.

Keen to hear any thoughts / suggestions.

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....ssories-90626/
Message me if thats of any interest

Thanks, but not looking at a Gamo rifle currently

Head here.
Its the kiwi air gunners forum.
You will find reviews on the sig and other airguns.
There are also scope reviews some which are getting good positive feedback and don't cost the earth.
Air guns are really hard on scopes so I would recommend reading these.
I own a sig asp 20 in 177,though I'm actually not a fan of the caliber, I love this gun.
Anyway if you head over you'll find a lot of info there.
Reviews - Kiwi Airgunners Forum - Page 1

Hmm. From what I read Gamo air rifles aren't great. Is that not the case?

Ppl have prefrance. Gamo is not an air rifle that I would recommend for the price.
They tend to have a lot a of power, but this comes at the cost of more recoil. Unlike a cartridge rifle, spring and gas ram air rifles recoil forward and backwards, with this all happening before the pellet has left the barrel. This makes them incredibly hold sensitive. The more kick more hold sensitive as a rule.
Gamos tend to be very light rifles which is great for carrying around hunting but not for barrel lift/accuracy. The build quality is average.
There are other brands around that will offer better options for the price.
Having said this certain models will preform pretty well and indeed there are ppl out there who swear by them
A lot of critters have died from Gamos.
The sig is by far a better choice than gamo and around the same price as a new gamo. It is more accurate, plenty of power, less hold sensitive (it's heavier) very well built.
The sig is no longer built but seals can still be got.
A under or side lever is going to be more accurate than a break barrel in general. Gamo do make one of these, which I would consider if you went that route. (would need to check the fpe)
The sig has a patented locking system on its break barrel which address this problem.
Other brands have multi shot systems. My gamo (which I gave away in the end, didn't feel right to sell it) was damaging pellets as it feed them. This may have just been my gun. There are advantages to mag feed air rifles, but if its for possums, single shot isn't an issue.
GAMO after market service from Vaughan in Upper hut was excellent. I had a barrel replaced ( tooling groove cutting through the rifling) and they offered to replace the mag, but I just took the mag off went single shot.
I'm relatively new back into air rifles. I brought the gamo as it all looked and sounded great but after a month or two brought a tx200 because I was so annoyed with all the hassel I was having with it. There is no comparison and I wouldn't spend my money on a gamo again prefurring the extra few hundred for top line gun.
This is my view (though shared by many). Will a gamo do the job? Yes. Are there better options around for equiventlent money? Plenty.

I also have dealt with Dave at airgunsnz. He is one of ppl I recommend, and still use. I will be buying my next air rifle off him (would have by now if flooding hadn't stuffed me up) and get my pellets off him.
He knows his stuff and is very knowledgeable. If you haven't, talk to him. He suggested the same rifle to me that you are looking at, for small critter hunting and I have no dought it would have been great. I had the extra cash and decided the tx200 would be worth the extra and got that instead off him.

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Originally Posted by kruza

I also have dealt with Dave at airgunsnz. He is one of ppl I recommend, and still use. I will be buying my next air rifle off him (would have by now if flooding hadn't stuffed me up) and get my pellets off him.
He knows his stuff and is very knowledgeable. If you haven't, talk to him. He suggested the same rifle to me that you are looking at, for small critter hunting and I have no dought it would have been great. I had the extra cash and decided the tx200 would be worth the extra and got that instead off him.

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Thanks, I have submitted a form enquiry on his website.
Can I ask how much the TX200 cost? I can't see the price on the website, maybe it's out of stock.

I have a .22 Fx Cyclone PCP that at the right place might come out of my safe. pm me if interested

Think it was about 1200 for gun and the scope hawk 4-12x42ao was about the price of the gun your looking at.
Tx200 is awsome gun, never regret having brought it. It showed me what an air rifle can be. However it had 2 issues for me which was weight when hunting all day. Second was just how nice the stock was and the bluing, I hated taking it through the rough stuff and scratching it up.
Swapped it for the sig asp20. No regret on that front as sig is a gun that handels the rough without damage. (synthetic stock and has a coating that handels the scratching to barrel. It's not a bluing) still way up there in quality. Scope stayed with me and is on the sig. Would have preferred 22 version but didn't want to miss the opertunity.

I have Gamo Gen 2 (0.22) but have stopped using it.
Maybe others have different experiences but from my experience,
I need at least a couple (sometimes more) of headshot to really kill the possum,
not a nice view when you see an animal suffer (not dead) after 1st headshot.

I opted for the .25 cal air rifle for possums, felt it was abit more humane over the .22

I've had an Airarms TX200 , Prosport and an HW90 . All were excellent and all are capable of around 16ft/lb of energy . Obviously , over here , we're limited to sub 12ft/lb muzzle energy unless they are on our FAC .
Of the 3 my favourite was the Prosport , shot beautifully smooth , accurate and well balanced .

I also had an Airarms S410 , light and accurate . If I've got this right , any pcp has to go on an FAC in NZ .
It's been some time since I've owned an airrifle of any sort , but have just ordered a Kral Pro 500 , very budget friendly.

Any pcp rifle has to be on a fal.
Pcp pistols don't.

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Originally Posted by kruza

Think it was about 1200 for gun and the scope hawk 4-12x42ao was about the price of the gun your looking at.
Tx200 is awsome gun, never regret having brought it. It showed me what an air rifle can be. However it had 2 issues for me which was weight when hunting all day. Second was just how nice the stock was and the bluing, I hated taking it through the rough stuff and scratching it up..........

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Fully agree. The TX200 and Weihrauch 97k are two of the most accurate springers. Walther LGU is another fine underlever airgun. Generally the underlevers are more accurate than the breakbarrels and they also have some more weight up front which helps with hold sensitivity. Some say 177 for feather and 22 for fur, but definite advantage of the 177 is speed giving flat trajectory (less critical with range estimation) and high penetration. On possums shot placement will be critical.\
As a fail safe option for springers i would recommend Hawke scopes. They are very robust, reasonably priced and have a lifetime warranty. I never had one fail on a springer.

If your mainly going to be shooting possums, do look at the .25 and .30cal hatsan brakebarrels. Wicked amounts of energy to knock over possums.

I've taken alot of possums, rabbits and even a rogue wallaby with my .25cal hatsan. I'm a bit of a nutter and spend alot of time shooting to learn the holdover/under of the distance I shoot. Even ballistic calculated one scope for the .25 so I could dial in the range. Yep it make you feel like your long range shooting lol.

I also shoot .177 and .22, .22 is the best overall caliber. Possums with a .177 if you don't get the right shot can take a few pellets right through them before they are down.

Yet just the other month I shot a possum out of tree 177 no issues.
In the past have shot possums up north with 22lr and had it take a swipe at me after it feel to the ground. Watched them circle down the tree after a twig got in way and deflected the shot slightly.
The fpe and accuracy of the shot are the deciding factors at the end of day. Knowing your gun and its limitations is essential for any kill. A 22lr is not a cure for bad shot placement, or ricochet of a twig.
I've also just taken out a possum with a low powered air pistol .22 because it was within a couple of meters very low in tree. The fpe at range was well high enough and the accuracy was to close to miss. Anything more would have required the 177 I'm using as I'm between 22 hunting rifles.
I77 is not a calabar I prefure for hunting, but because I understand the limitations of my air rifles 177 is not a calabar I'm scared to use and to good effect.

I can certainly recommend one of these if a springer is what your after. Perfect in .177 for feathers & deadly accurate to about 50m. As others have suggested, Dave is a wealth of kAttachment 218981nowledge & will help with what you need. The Niko Sterling on this one is all you need & very affordable.Zero has not moved after a full tin of pellets.

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Originally Posted by SL600

I can certainly recommend one of these if a springer is what your after. Perfect in .177 for feathers & deadly accurate to about 50m. As others have suggested, Dave is a wealth of kAttachment 218981nowledge & will help with what you need. The Niko Sterling on this one is all you need & very affordable.Zero has not moved after a full tin of pellets.

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Sorry, but what gun is that?

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Originally Posted by mintjberry

Sorry, but what gun is that?

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Weihrauch HW97K

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Originally Posted by SL600

Weihrauch HW97K

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Nice, but outside my price range

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Originally Posted by OGM

Sticking multiple pellets into an animal because of a preference for a particular calibre or can't be arsed getting a powerful enough rifle is just plain cruel and contrary to hunting ethics.

My call for possums is a 22 but they are hardy animals.

If I had to dispatch a possum right now I would use my 22lr and a 40gr HP round. Instant lights out, no mucking about.

But if an air rifle is all you have I'd go for 22cal and a 18gr+ HP pellet.

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I do tend to agree OGM - big difference between someone who does really know their air gun limitations and some life style block muppet who thinks his $300 new .177 airgun will kill possums humanly - I know bain of life for many selling airguns because most buying dont know a damn thing about them - I just dont like the idea of a young person having to repeatedly poke slugs into some poor possum simply because he / she is completly underarmed for the job - .22 and suppressor is quiet and will kill possums so much better - I found rabbits with my diana .177 were relatively easy to kill at ranges less than 30 metres - but possums did not even try - well my two cents worth

Having shot possums in the chest with 22LR hollow points and seen them still standing, I would agree that they are hard to kill.

My young fell has a stoeger .22 gas piston was under $400 for package
No issues with it at all shoots great and has got an impressive rabbit kill tally with longest kill on rabbit at 40 yards
For what you plan to use it for I would consider something like this

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Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

... big difference between someone who does really know their air gun limitations and some life style block muppet who thinks his $300 new .177 airgun will kill possums humanly ....

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Not every lifestyle block-er grew up or educated with a firearm or air gun,
We trusted the person behind the counter told us,
That my latest most powerful air gun (at that time) was the right tool for the job (to kill possums) and no, it wasn't $300.

In some way that sales guy was right, only he didn't say how many pellets.
I don't like the idea of the sales guy not knowing or not telling the whole truth.

Hence now I have FAL but I don't shoot possums as often anymore,
I only take 1 or 2 for my wee buddy's dinner.

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Originally Posted by OGM

Not referring to anyone in particular here.....

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All good...

In the past, I used to set a bunch of possum traps,
the one that looks like a bear trap but the mini version.

The trouble was, I forgot how many and which trees I set the trap on until the smell set in,
Unfortunately, one of the traps got a possum and her joey.
I felt so bad about it and stop using traps.

Talk about a trip to GunCity, I feel like a little kid in a candy store as soon as I walked in :)

Know the feeling, when I first got back into air rifles was a whole new world. Totally made the mistake of listen to the sales person. My own fault should have done the research.
Gun wasn't up to it. Accuracy the biggest issue, but by no means the only one. By the time I finished with mucking around with it cost me about the price of a top line gun and still was vastly inferior. You expect sales people to know thier products but I guess those days of people who use the stuff, sell the stuff is dwindling. Stupid thing is I went in with enough money to buy something really good and would have been happy to wait for them to order it in. Turns out they were just interested in selling the brands on shelf.
Still got me back into it and I'm loving it. ( Though I still have my why didn't I grab the 22lr some nights and maybe I should get a pcp others. But I'm enjoying myself and it keeps me on my toes)

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Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

I do tend to agree OGM - big difference between someone who does really know their air gun limitations and some life style block muppet who thinks his $300 new .177 airgun will kill possums humanly - I know bain of life for many selling airguns because most buying dont know a damn thing about them - I just dont like the idea of a young person having to repeatedly poke slugs into some poor possum simply because he / she is completly underarmed for the job - .22 and suppressor is quiet and will kill possums so much better - I found rabbits with my diana .177 were relatively easy to kill at ranges less than 30 metres - but possums did not even try - well my two cents worth

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The thing is that young shooters need to learn is the trajectory is completely different when shooting up at a possum at over 45° versus shooting a rabbit at 0°. We all as young guys with guns never started out perfect and the only way to learn to shoot well is by learning from poor shots and working out what went wrong and how to fix it.

A .177 with a perfect POI on a possum will do just as good a job as a .22cal. If you watch UK shooters shooting sub12 ftlbs air rifles and most are .177cal.

A very good video that explains shooting uphill for new shooters with air rifles is this video below.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zWYcsRr7T6E

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Originally Posted by Snap 4T

Not every lifestyle block-er grew up or educated with a firearm or air gun,
We trusted the person behind the counter told us,
That my latest most powerful air gun (at that time) was the right tool for the job (to kill possums) and no, it wasn't $300.

In some way that sales guy was right, only he didn't say how many pellets.
I don't like the idea of the sales guy not knowing or not telling the whole truth.

Hence now I have FAL but I don't shoot possums as often anymore,
I only take 1 or 2 for my wee buddy's dinner.

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I am sorry mate but I have to say most store types in gunshops could sell ice creams to a frozen eskimo ( sorry Inuit to be politically correct ) most know fuck all - but there are good ones - learn who knows something - one of my best mates was well over 30 years in firearm sales and would have given out great advice ( if listened to ) but someone with 2 months and sound good well I rest my case

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Originally Posted by OGM

What is your price range?

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Around a grand, inc scope

Shot placement is the key when hunting with airrifles. The distance at which you can reliably hit within a 2cm circle is your max distance for shooting at game or pest species. Good wind and range estimation are critical. For rabbits, hare, and probably possum, the best place to hit them is between the eye and the base of the ear. Birds like pigeon, crow, magpie can also be taken with heart-lung shots.

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Originally Posted by mintjberry

Around a grand, inc scope

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There ya go.So a quality springer is in your price range! There is enough info posted so far for you to narrow down caliber & make.Second hand they come up from time to time so take your time & choose wisely.Remember if you buy cheaply you may end up paying dearly. My2c.