Thread: Target grade hunting capable air rifle.

Suggestions please, Will be used for targets 90% but must be a suitable weight and stock design to shoot the odd bunny off of the deck or possum in a tree etc.
Cheap volume shooting I guess rules out PCP? leaving spring and gas piston?

Researching and purchasing for a mate who I have already got a Tikka 308 and CZ 22lr who is left handed if that makes any difference.

The most accurate air rifle I have used was a Daina M52? with side lever cocking but that was many years ago.

Have a .177 BSA supersport if you want to give it a whirl.

Originally Posted by Tommy

Have a .177 BSA supersport if you want to give it a whirl.

If its the one I had 30 years ago it isn't going to cut the mustard

Seriously tho is BSA a contender these days?

He will want new.

edit to add, sorry I think mine was a meteor.

I have both, the supersport is a different thing altogether. The meteor is fine on mynas out to 30 - 40m, the supersport will do a little bit further but on rabbits and possums. Really gotta pick your shots tho at that distance

Jan isssue of NZ Guns & Hunting has a good review of the BSA Lightning GRT, with a gas ram rather than a spring.

Young's Airgun Centre is a good place to visit if you can, Ron is a fountain of knowledge.

Also check out nzairgun.com - Index too.

If you go for a singleshot PCP your $ will go a lot further, I talked with the air rifle guy from Whangarei and he did me a great deal on a demo gun - its powerful, accurate and nice to shoot, the air bottles are a phaff but you do a lot of shooting on a bottle.

Ive headshot a goat from 20m with my .22 cometa fusion with heavy pellets in my mothers roses and ping starlings and black birds whenever I go up there for Sunday lunch.

I used to have a crossman g1 extreme and shot around eighty possums over eighteen months. Most of them one shot to the chest dead but you need to be under or next to the tree they are in and place your shot well. You can buy .22 rimfires for the same money once you look at good quality air rifles though.

Sent from my workbench

Originally Posted by smidey

I used to have a crossman g1 extreme and shot around eighty possums over eighteen months. Most of them one shot to the chest dead but you need to be under or next to the tree they are in and place your shot well. You can buy .22 rimfires for the same money once you look at good quality air rifles though.

Sent from my workbench

+1

One of a raft of slightly different modesl based on a copy of the Gamo Hunter. They work well. I'm tossing up between another springer and a gas piston for my next one. Seriously looking at the gas piston.

Str8Shooters

I am thinking something like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1PaBbTFlOc

Wont be a Gamo or anything with a trigger like that and am thinking fixed barrel for any sort of accuracy?

Airarms TX200MKIII but they're not cheap.
There's one on trademe.
Read the reviews on the net.

I have a underleaver air arms .22 of some sort that I bought from Youngs on dominion rd in Dorkland.
Very impressed with it, put probably 5k rounds "down range" from my living room out the window to some plates in the back yard. And it's knocked off a fair few birds,rats,rabbits,possums and even one stoat. Have tried for a cat in a protected area but never got a shot but if I had im sure it would have been up for it.
Has also been used with a lot of new shooters as the time to reload helps cure there video game rate of fire.

I was tempted by pcp to get rid of spring noise but I like being able to lend it to suitable people who don't have a fal as I know a lot of people with small blocks.

I recommend a call to Youngs air guns to work out what will meet your needs.

Originally Posted by Matt2308

Airarms TX200MKIII but they're not cheap.
There's one on trademe.
Read the reviews on the net.

Owned one and they're superb along with the Air Arms Pro Sport. Another fine air rifle is the Weihrauch 97K. All these models have match triggers and barrels. They're super accurate and have more than enough velocity.

Avoid Gamos and Chinese models, they're basically junk in comparison to the above three.

id go weihrauch

Weihrauch and Diana are very good German air rifles and probably the best money will buy for a springer. I don't see the point with pcp, you may as well just go out and buy a 22lr.
I have a Cometta fusion in .22 cal that has taken hundreds of possums and rabbits out to 50m with a fair bit of holdover, its Spanish made and a very good shooter with a nice two stage trigger. It is a break barrel but don't think you really need to go for an under lever or side lever as a hunting rifle as they are slow and cumbersome to reload if a second shot is required. Cometa also do a Fennix model which is a little cheaper and pretty much the same internals etc.
As people have said chat with Ron and Youngs he knows his stuff or hop over to the nz rimfire site.
Gas rams have been round for about 25 years now with Theoben making them originally but only in the last 5 years or so have other companies been making them and so far there are a lot of issues that need to be sorted before I would look too closely at them. I great idea, but need a bit more time to sort out the faults.