.22 long rifle (left) and .22 domed pellet. Which is cheaper? The answer may surprise you.
This report includes:
- Whadda ya mean by cheaper?
- We don’t care?
- Same for rimfire rifles
- Ammo costs
- Cost of .22 LR
- Cost of .22 pellets
- Long range pellets
- Get real
- Firearm ammo prices are dropping but ammo is not selling
- Summary
This should be a good one. It’s going to bring out the personalities of many of us!
Whadda ya mean by cheaper?
Okay, we need to define cheaper before continuing. There are .22 pellet rifles that retail for $113 on the Pyramyd AIR website at the day this report is published. On eBay you can get a refurbished .22 pellet rifle for $100. Let’s call that the cheapest, even though we all know that used guns can be cheaper.
On the other end Pyramyd sells the FX DRS Pro for $2,900 on the date of publication. On eBay someone is asking $18,500 for a a Daystate Timberwolf, Gold Accented rifle made in 2007. Too silly? How about an FX impact M3 .22 standard with a 600mm Barrel for $4000? The point is, there is no cap at the high end. And we don’t care.
We don’t care?
We don’t care because what if we didn’t buy the airgun? What if it was given to us or was an inheritance? The cost of the gun isn’t a factor.
Same for rimfire rifles
It turns out to be pretty much the same for .22 rimfire rifles. The cheapies are semiauto and go for around $150 these days. If you want a bolt action and not a semiauto you’ll pay twice that and more. That’s for a new one. There are a HECK of a lot more used .22 rimfire rifles available and all it takes to get a bargain is to meet a guy at a gun show who has had bad luck and needs gas money to get home in the next state over. Fifty dollars might do the trick.
And at the other end it’s the same as for air rifles. There is no cap at the high end of firearms.
The deal
So, when we ask whether a .22 rimfire is cheaper to shoot than a .22 pellet rifle, the cost of the rifle isn’t a factor. Well what is?
I’ll cut to the chase here to save us all time. Air compressors are not a factor in my discussion any more than electronic earmuffs, custom stocks or competition-grade triggers. In fact I’ll boil the discussion down to just one thing—the cost of ammo.
You may not agree with me on this, but at least you now know where I’m coming from.
Ammo costs
I am writing this in the USA. A few presidents ago ammo costs had skyrocketed and 100 rounds of .22 long rifle cartridges could approach US$100. In those days people were selling 9X19mm ammo for $1.50 per cartridge and defense ammo (hollowpoints) at $2 to $2.50 each. I am a reloader and I gained a lot of friends during that period. And boy, did we envy our Canadian brothers and sisters who didn’t have those issues!
Today things have changed and a cheap box of 50 9X19mm rounds sells for less than $15 (I saw one place that sold them at $3.60 for 50 rounds)! Something that used to sell for $75 now costs at least five times less. That was and still is political, so it’s not something we can directly control. But given the times we live in what does a brick (500 rounds) of .22 long rifle cost?
Cost of .22 LR
Okay, problem here. The ammo retailers don’t often sell .22 long rifle ammo in bricks. They want you to buy in larger bulk quantities, so this is not as straightforward as it was 10 years ago. For example, how do you figure the cost when the rounds come 333 per box? Or 5000? Obviously the way to do this is by the price per round.
The cheapest price I found for this report on ammoseek.com was 4.7 cents per round. That was for a box of 50.
Buy a box of 50 Aguila Super Extra HV, .22 LR, 38 Grain, HP (which is the smallest quantity they’ll sell) and the price is $2.34. Buy 500 and the price is $25.67.
What? they charge more for 500 than for 10 X 50? Yeah, there’s a LOT of obfuscation happening in firearm ammo sales today! Buy 4000 rounds (that’s 80 50-round boxes) and the price is $208.97. That works out to 19.14 cents per round! See what I mean by obfuscation?
You’re better off buying 80 individual boxes of 50 (80 x 50 = 4000) for $187.20! And for all this I had the shipping cost filter on, so those companies that sell cheap and make it back with inflated shipping charges were filtered out.
Let’s stick with 4.7 cents per round (0.0468 cents each) as our baseline number. Aguila ammo is usually pretty decent so that works. But my favorite .22 long rifle rounds in the rifle I shoot are CCI standard velocity rounds. The cheapest I found them was 0.065 cents per round. I KNOW they are accurate!
Cost of .22 pellets
Now let’s look at the pellet situation. At Pyramyd AIR the cheapest .22-caliber pellet at the time this report is published sells for 0.025 cents per round. That’s a lot cheaper than the Aguilas! That price is for Norma Golden Trophy FT pellets. When I tested them though I didn’t get what I would consider to be good groups, so this is not a pellet I would buy. And if that Aguila ammo does not shoot well in my favorite .22 rimfire rifle I wouldn’t buy it, either!
I would try H&N Excite Hammer pellets. They sell for 0.032 cents each and I know they are good in some airguns so that’s a deal. I also know for a fact that RWS Hobby pellets are good in many airguns and they sell for 0.04 cents a round, so they are the lowest cost .22-caliber pellets I know I can count on. But I don’t buy them to shoot long range.
Long range pellets
Long range pellets mean just one thing—domes. Not wadcutters and no, not even slugs. Slugs are great in specific situations but they are not an all-around projectile. Domes are great—in pellet guns. I’m talking about airguns that shoot 100 yards AND LESS! And less is more common. Sure, there are benchrest matches and they are interesting but we just watched what it takes to shoot them at the Pyramyd Air Cup and most shooters will not be doing that.
Get real
Now I will get real and tell you the pellets I will shoot in rifles and pistols when I want to test the accuracy. Remember we are talking about just .22 caliber today. Depending on the pellet gun I KNOW all of these can be accurate!
…….JSB
$cost..pellet
0.054—RS
0.04—Hades
0.095—Jumbo
0.05—Jumbo Heavy
0.074—Jumbo Monster Redesigned Deep
…….JTS
$cost..pellet
0.042—18.1 grain Dead Center
I haven’t tested other JTS domes in this caliber yet.
…..Air Arms
$cost..pellet
0.050—16-grain dome
…….H&N
$cost..pellet
0.125—Baracuda Green
0.032—Excite Hammer
0.057—Baracuda Match
0.047—Baracuda 18
0.052—Baracuda
0.044—Baracuda 15 Round Nose
Firearm ammo prices are dropping but ammo is not selling
Online I saw a You Tube video that said firearm ammo prices have dropped drastically in 2025 and yet people are still not buying ammo. The presenter gave LOTS of reasons for this, but he missed a big one. Shooters have discovered the pellet rifle! Shooters who just want to plink—pellet rifle! Shooters who want to hunt small game in restricted areas—pellet rifle. Shooters shooting up into trees—pellet rifle. Shooters who just want to shoot paper targets—pellet rifle.
Airgun retailers will tell you the market is dead, and because of the economy it really is. But underneath all that I believe the pellet rifle has taken the lead away from the .22 long rifle. Sure—both will continue to thrive for decades, but the air rifle will never again be viewed as just a toy. It has earned its spurs!
Summary
By the way—all that obfuscation with greater quantities of ammo costing more per round? Pyramyd Air doesn’t do it! Nor do they scam you on the shipping.
I thought this would be a one-and-done report, but there is a LOT more to consider!
B.B.,
In GET REAL a few (2) of the prices look suspect so i looked them up:
Price per Round for JSB JUMBO $0.054
Price per Round for H&N BARACUDA MATCH $0.057
More: not just cost of the ammo.
The cost of push air for PCPs, life cycle cost will need to probably be an estimate given Preventative Maintenance costs, repairs and more.
In the PRS competition world folks are learning about the airgun’s accuracy and arrival in the world of the “real” guns!
shootski
I saw a recent article that in the PRS world, Airguns are now shooting smaller groups than their Rimfire counterparts, at the same ranges and on the same courses.
Not surprisingly, airguns are showing up with more frequency in mainstream outdoor magazines like Field & Stream
shootski,
The prices change on a sometimes daily basis, so no way I can keep up with them.
BB
I think shootski meant that your table shows the price of JSB Jumbo at $0.54 instead of $0.054. Same thing with the H&N Baracuda Match.
SV,
Thanks.
BB
I still buy and shoot both.
Like you, I find CCI Standard Velocity to be accurate in many rifles.
And some of the Agulia as well.
I think I have nailed down an issue with my Ruger Precision Rimfire rifle, though I need to write a blog about it.
It’s not a safety issue, but something that definitely is a detriment to accuracy.
I need to shoot more groups under better wind conditions to be sure.(I will show you what I mean this weekend Tom.)
Yes, air rifles have become more mainstream, but still under the radar.
At this point in time we have the pleasure of no NFA tax on Airgun suppressors, or full auto Airguns.
Because of the lower power of Airguns they are more urban friendly.
I can’t wait until the day (coming Jan. 1, 2026 to a free state near you) where we no longer have to pay the tax on firearm suppressors.
On that day I will be e-filing form 1’s.
Happy Friday everyone!
Ian.
Ian,
If you can find it, try some Red Wolf.
Tom wrote this years ago.
It’s just as relevant today as when he penned it.
Top 10 reasons why I’m an airgunner
10. Cost
Airguns cost less to shoot. A tin of pellets costs less than any firearm ammunition I can buy or reload. Even the premium pellets cost less than the run-of-the-mill .22 rimfire ammo (when you can find any of it for sale) that I don’t buy because it isn’t worth the money. I don’t shoot for the recoil, the smell or for the sound. I shoot to hit what I aim at. With a pellet gun, I can afford to do that as often as I like.
9. Human scale
Dr. Beeman coined this term. It means the gun is scaled to contemporary life and can be used without major disruption. A .50-caliber Browning Machine Gun (BMG) round is accurate and reliable — but try finding a place to shoot one! I can shoot a pellet rifle or pistol in my house. Indeed, 90 percent of my airgun shooting is inside or around my home.
8. Airguns can be gunsmithed by their owners
Not many of us can exchange barrels on a 98 Mauser, or headspace a Sako Vixen. But with the right training, anyone can safely tune a spring rifle in their home. Or reseal a CO2 gun. Or modify a precharged pneumatic! Indeed, many airguns are designed with those goals in mind. You can change barrels and calibers in an AirForce Talon SS in 5 minutes. A few firearms are designed for barrel and cartridge swaps; but compared to airguns, the choices are limited.
7. I can shoot more
Besides cost, the fact that many airguns are quiet and relatively safe allows me to shoot at my home. I get to the rifle range about 4 times a month. On the average trip, I fire between 40 and 200 rounds of ammo. I do that at my house about every two or three days. So, I shoot from 5 to 10 times more often with an airgun than I do a firearm.
6. Safety
Airguns are safer than firearms. They don’t have internal pressures that are nearly as high, their projectiles don’t go as fast and they certainly don’t go as far. When a bullet ricochets, it can go a long way. When a pellet ricochets, its range is very limited. I’m not saying that airguns aren’t dangerous, but they’re far less so than firearms. When there’s an incident, it has fewer and less catastrophic consequences.
5. I can afford to own the best
The best spring rifle available today is the Air Arms TX200, and it costs $600. You can argue about what the best firearm rifle is, but whether you go for a Blaser, a Steyr, a Sako or a Dakota, you’ll be shelling out anywhere from $1,100 to $6,000 for the entry-level model. A TX200 might be a stretch, but the firearms represent such a leap that they impact the budget for a long time. The TX200 is hands-down the best of its kind. One of the rifles I mentioned is still arguably no more accurate or powerful than a more common gun costing a fraction as much.
4. I can collect more
An FWB 124 in pristine condition in the box can still be bought for $600. A pre-’64 Winchester model 70 in the same shape will cost you thousands. My Falke 90 is one of fewer than 200 such guns known to exist. A Winchester One-of-One-Thousand that exists in greater numbers costs six figures every time! Yes, my comparisons are lopsided, but think about what they mean. You probably can’t afford to buy a Colt first generation single-action in 90 percent condition, but you can afford a Sheridan Model A (Supergrade) in the same shape. Airguns that are vintage and rare simply do not command the money that firearms do. Colt Pythons are bringing $1,500 these days, while Hakims that are far rarer will fetch $400.
3. Range requirements
Even a lowly .22 rimfire needs at least enough distance that the lead doesn’t splatter back on the shooter. But in World War II, a German submarine captain had a BB pistol in his cabin. I don’t know if you’ve ever been aboard a World War II submarine, but it doesn’t offer a lot of room to shoot. A Class A motorhome is a mansion by comparison. Airguns can be shot with very limited range conditions.
2. Noise
When I go to the rifle range, I have to wear hearing protection all the time. Maybe I’m only shooting a .22 rimfire — that doesn’t stop the guy next to me from shooting his .300 Win. Mag! But any smallbore airgun, even the really loud ones like the Condor or the Evanix Windy City, still aren’t as loud as my .22. So, if I shoot alone with my smallbore airguns, I don’t need hearing protection.
1. Accuracy
I have to pay a lot to get an accurate firearm, but an accurate airgun can be very cheap. The $39 cost of a Beeman P17 is a trifling compared to what it costs to get an accurate M1911A1 pistol. And then I can shoot the air pistol for a lot less money than the firearm, which means a lot more shooting. Sure, airguns don’t shoot accurately at the far distances firearms do, but that gets us back to human scale.
Thank you for everything Tom.
Ian.
Dittos Ian. I am glad you reminded me of my P-17. I resealed my twelve year old well used P-17 about a month ago and forgot I did. Between work , home and handling my Mom’s estate time has been compressed. I try to make it a point to shoot a airgun, any airgun each and every day. At a minimum I duck into the garage and grab any one of a number of price point piston rifles that have been rubbed on and shoot paper offhand using my rubber mulch trap (thanks Tom for that fantastic idea) at ten meters). The P-17 resides on top a book shelf beside the back door. The P-17’s job is to hit a 4’x6′ aluminum swinging silhouette at 60′ off the patio shooting offhand. I’ll get back to that after work today while running the Big Green Egg.
Ian, that is all still applicable today; thank you! 🙂
Another issue is legality. Where I live, buying firearms is a tedious process, requiring getting training certificates, permits, background checks (not instant), waiting periods, registration, etc. On top of which, there is only 1 publicly available rifle range within 100 miles, and it has a lot of restrictions on what you can do. On the other hand, airguns are largely unrestricted. You can go full auto, suppressed, SBR, big bore and there are no laws against it (yet), not to mention being able to buy them online and have them shipped to your door without restrictions. Use of firearms is also severely restricted, so you can’t shoot on your own property with a firearm, even if there’s no one within miles of you, but there’s no such restriction on air guns.
Everything is still true, except for the prices Supergrades have fetched on auction sites lately. Thanks for that reminder!
One other advantage that Airguns have over firearms is that the firearms need to have their barrels cleaned after use to remove the gunpowder residue, etc. Airguns don’t use gunpowder, therefore their cleaning requirements are much less.
Based on my limited experiences, at “airgun distances” my entry level Savage bolt action .22lr rifle is probably less accurate than many of my Airguns.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Since airguns are more accurate than .22 LR, who cares???
-Yogi
Being a lifelong firearms guy and reloader I made the serious step into airguns only 13 years ago thanks to stumbling onto this PA blog. My trips to the rifle range are getting few and far between. But I’m shooting everyday weather permits. The advantage airguns have over firearms are as stated by Ian above. The convenience of being able to shoot without leaving home and no noise problems with neighbors to contend with are enough. But there is a bigger one. Popular priced airguns are more accurate than popular priced firearms under 50 yards.
The upshot is I like to shoot! I get satisfaction hitting what I’m aiming at and never get tired of trying.
Deck
Let’s not forget range fees, my local Range is $40/ month, for those of us who live in the suburbs / city. It is indoors but only 25 yards. I can and do shoot my airguns in my back yard up to a maximum of about 50 yards. But shooting even subsonic silenced 22LR would be impossible due to noise even if I had a sufficient backstop.
Mike
Every one is different. I think a lot depends on where you live. I have 22 rimfires that are very accurate. Even cheap ones can be. Buy a bolt, lever or pump 22 and they hardly ever fail. I have only had one gun break (ejector). And the gun was 40 years old then and had fired 1,000’s of rounds. As for cleaning, I believe most over clean their rimfires. I wipe them down on the outsides, but only run a bore brush down the barrel maybe once a year. I’m not punching paper, I’m plinking (cans and other targets set up at different distances. Now I’m not talking about semi autos. I have those too. Yes they will need cleaned more often if used much. I don’t like the semis near as much. The 22 is very easy for me as I live in a small town and I have family that has lots of land.
With pellet guns, I think it depends on what type you have. PCP takes equipment to make it work. That equals time and money. They (most) will leak at one point. But I think a good springer is much more forgiving (cheaper) in the long run. I’d like to say the same about a gas ram, but I’m not sold on them yet. I do own one but I haven’t had it but a year and have only put about 300 rounds through it. I like C02 also. But seems as though they will have leaking problems at some point. I say all this to point out the rimfire (overall) seems more reliable.
Don’t think I’m anti air gun, because I own them, love them and shoot them much more than my rimfires.
Doc
Doc
I cleaned my pump and bolt action rim fire 22’s even less than you (maybe that was not best for accuracy). My others are mostly military bolt action rifles and get frequent bore examination. As for CO2’s I have several and never had one leak beyond fixing with ATF thanks to BB’s tip. Agree steel springers are hard to beat over the long run. Air/gas springers are iffy in my opinion except for my Sig ASP20 which is the cat’s meow so far.
Deck
Deck,
I too have brought back some C02 guns to life. Some still didn’t but I always try it.
You are blessed to have the Sig ASP20. Can’t believe how they came in and then left so quickly
Doc
There is still about an hour left for this one:
https://ebay.us/m/6ehZ04
And not the most expensive one I have seen.
Roamin Greco,
SOLD!
US $800.xx is about average for a .177 Wood Stocked SIG ASP20 these days without a WHISKEY3 scope.
I hope whoever’s the new owner knows to shoot it regularly to keep the Gas Spring functioning for a long time.
shootski
Sold for $811.01. Wow, price moved about $400 in the last hour.
Roamin Greco,
The SIG ASP20s were declared the break barrel airgun of the Millennium by none other than the Godfather of Airguns ;^)
Lots of other knowledgeable folks have agreed with him.
Just think of the future and keep exercising the ones that are out there :^)
shootski
shootski,
I just picked up a beautiful HW90 from none other than our own Fawlty Manuel. I do not know yet, but I am laying out the bucks that it will likely make those ASP20s of yours cry.
RidgeRunner,
I will keep trying to make it to Newton for the Airgun Show.
I hope your HW90 brings you great joy.
shootski
shootski,
If I can cock it enough. I think I am going to have to get on the RFK routine for a bit or let some of the air out. 😉
B.B.,
Very interesting report!
Fortunately, I have enough land that I can shoot firearms at home.
And I’ve modified my airgun range so my target trap can stop .22LR high velocity rounds.
However, I do most of my .22LR shooting here with CCI Quiet rounds; they accurate, powerful enough for pesting, and they’re quiet…so I shoot them a bunch just for fun.
Still, the number of pellets I shoot here is far more than the number of rimfire rounds.
But my traditional long bow takes the cake for low ammo cost: I can reshoot arrows many times. 😉
Looking forward to the next installment in this series,
dave
thedavemyster
Ditto on the land and on the CCI Quiet rounds. I like CB rounds too, but they are more expensive now. Funny when I was younger my order of liking was Hyper, High, Standard, Subsonic then CB and so on with velocity. Now that I’m older the order is CB, Subsonic, Standard, High then Hyper Velocity.
With my bow, I seem to rough up arrows pretty good lol. I don’t like to just shoot a target. I like to plink. Doing it with my bow gets the arrows buried in the ground. Some have suggested I use what they call a rabbit tip. It has like three clothes pin looking springs coming out. They said when it hits the ground, it will pop (stand) the arrow up. I haven’t tried them yet.
Doc
“Now that I’m older the order is CB, Subsonic, Standard, High then Hyper Velocity.”
LOL! I’m with you on that, Doc!
Back when I shot muzzleloader matches, there was an archery match, then a hatchet throwing match.
The archery match was traditional bows only, as they would have been back in the 1800s.
I sold my old stick bow (can’t even remember why), so I got a new unfinished blank and finished it.
So far, I have only shot targets, but I’ve got a LONG way to go to get decent again.
I’ll have to check out those rabbit tips; I had not heard of them before; thanks for the info.
Blessings to you,
dave
I’ve seen them called “judo” points/tips, if that helps you find them.
Yes; I searched “judo points archery” and they popped right up; thank you. 🙂
Roamin,
Yes that is them. I need to try some. Would love to have them stand up in the ground vs buried in the ground. Thanks
Doc
You can’t exactly throw out the cost of an air compressor any more than I can throw out the cost of CO2 for my gas guns. Its a part of the cost of each shot that comes with those types of unique power plants.
But does it matter? Probably not. The real takeaway seems to be that we can shoot safely in more places so we have more opportunity to do so.
Pyramyd is consistently one of the best places to buy pellets. Every now and then other retailers will have a Black Friday sale or a closeout or something where their prices are lower, but that’s the exception to the rule. Most of the time, once you factor in the free 4th tin, Pyramyd has the lowest price. Also, Pyramyds pellet packaging is excellent.
I sound like an advertisement for them, but I’m just someone who has purchased tens of thousands of pellets and have always had good experiences with them.
“It’s just so much fun to shoot”
A comment from Tomek, talking about the Ruger MkIV spring pellet pistol. So, what exactly make an airgun fun to shoot? Aren’t they all? Not really in my opinion. Just shoot a Umarex Octane. It’s a Magnum Powered long distance cheek slapping hunter. Not made for fun shooting. Some may disagree. Depends on their meaning of fun!
So, what exactly is meant by ‘fun’?
How about the absence of problems, annoying procedural requirements or worrying about ammo cost, upsetting neighbors with noise or the dangers of using firearms and to be fair high-powered airguns.
If the pistol is used for its intended purpose, there should be no concern about its power or accuracy as well. Especially if it’s priced accordingly, and it is.
The pistol is easy to cock, not excessively heavy, easy to control thanks to the replica Ruger pistol grip, reasonably accurate with an adjustable rear sight and not very noisy.
Because of the design it is easy to load pellets. The breach is raised well above the pistol for unobstructed simple pellet loading and there is no additional cost to operate it all day, aside from ammo of course and informal plinking usually does not require expensive pellets. Some BBs will actually work as well.
Well qualified for being described as “Fun to shoot”.
Bob M,
Interesting: “It’s just so much fun to shoot”
By your definition it needs to be able to provide the shooter: …(an) absence of problems, annoying procedural requirements or worrying about ammo cost, upsetting neighbors with noise or the dangers of using firearms and to be fair high-powered airguns.
I would add to those requirements a few modifiers:
Problems that are easy to overcome, avoid, fix with proper tools, parts, and knowledge.
Annoying procedural requirements are usually ones made up of the steps we haven’t been properly taught or learned on our own and practiced enough to make automatic.
The upset neighbors are typically ones we haven’t informed well enough about our LEGAL shooting activities and the steps we have taken to reduce the noise like the rubber mulch trap, airgun suppressor and more. Of course some neighbors are just opposed to shooting and they need to be informed about the legal rights you have thoroughly researched about your shooting; unlike their uninformed reaction.
[I just went through this with a new sublet renter who i didn’t realize had moved into a Group Rental house behind our yard until he shouted: “Are you really shooting in your backyard! I’m calling the 911.” My first statement was: “Call the police if you must. They will explain that it is legal for me to shoot in my backyard and perhaps give you a break from potential charges for your 911 call. We can also talk about it and i can give you the Code you need to read. If you feel unsafe i can show you the steps i have taken to protect myself as well as my neighbors.”]
The dangers can be made manageable by our arms safety discipline and use of effective primary, secondary and tertiary projectile containment.
I use these small modifications to make my shooting FUN.
shootski
Annoying procedures.
The fact that you have to deal with neighbors is surely annoying. Being able to shoot anything on my property was a big deciding point.
I was more or less talking about shooting the airgun. Like hard to cock barrels that require an extension, using underlevers and side levers and inserting pellets into fixed barrels, loading and replacing CO2 cartridges with oil, and having to move a safety lever in or around the trigger housing before each shot.
They are what they are, and we accept them for various reasons, but they distract from the enjoyment.
FM is blessed to have neighbors that themselves do a little backyard shooting – for generating interest in the hobby we must – ironically – thank our local pests; the four-legged and/or slithering ones, that is.
No complaints so far. FM has even hosted a couple of friends to do a little “pelleting” in his yard, which was fun and maybe will get them interested in airgunnery.
Hopefully FM won’t have to contend with un-neighborly neighbors ever but he would point out to any complaining about engaging in a LEGAL activity within Casa FM’s boundaries that MOVING – for the complainer – is an option. FM, not a diplomat.
Like that solution!
Dittos all on the CCI Quite . My Umarex Origin in .25 once had critter control duties on L’île des canons à air inadaptés de Boudreaux” or “Boudreaux’s island of misfit airguns’ but now using CCI Quite My Remington Target Master model 43 with it’s long barrel is quieter and a little more powerful than the .25 PCP. Price about the same to shot as .25 pellets are ridiculously priced nowadays . My .22 PCP’s are tuned for accuracy and shot count but in a pinch they could do critter control.
A lotta food-for-thought here. Speaking of nourishment, FM is feeding his airgun cravings at the NC Airgun Show. Enjoyed meeting some of the fellow contributors and seeing the faces behind the aliases.
Will FM take away anything away from this show besides the enjoyable socializing? Actually, he’s leaving a couple of “ladies” behind, being adopted into a good home. Speaking of rimfires, wife’s cousin is showing FM an antique .22 she apparently wants to sell – that might be the takeaway. 🙂
I regret being unable to attend Hickory/ Newton show. Is Ridgerunner parting with any or having second thoughts about letting any go?
Deck
Deck,
There is a beautiful .25 HW90 sitting in my bedroom right now that used to belong to FM.
There are a few other goodies that came home with me. I will be busy on the range for some time now.
RR
Congrats on the .25 Weihrauch. You have the room to stretch its legs. Hope you hung on to the BB tuned Diana 34. It deserves a spot at RR’s and grandson will benefit someday.
Would like to have attended and see some folks plus looking over your goodies and FM’s. But my being 5 time zones away made it a no go.
Deck
Deck,
The Diana 34 moved on some time back. It was indeed nice but just did not fit in with the “old gals” that well. You may rest assured that one day my grandson will end up with a pretty nice collection.
I will very likely enjoy the HW90, although now I have to buy a pump and a gauge for it. Ah well.
I do understand those long road trips. The boss was none too happy about me and my grandson doing an overnighter as it was. I cannot say I was that thrilled myself.
FawltyManuel,
Glad you had a good time at the show.
One of these times i might make it down to the show.
Were there any SIG ASP20s for sale at the NC Airgun Show?
shootski
Don’t believe there were any; was keeping eyes out for one. Did spot a .177 Maximus Hunter; the price was right but knew RR was looking for one so pointed it out to him and he “pulled the trigger” on it. Now he has no reason to complain about selling FM the .22 version he had modified. FM’s cold, dead hands will have to be pried off it.
FawltyManuel,
Thank you for the quick update; it is an indicator of either folks just not wanting to part with their SIG or just how few of them were actually built.
I hope RidgeRunner’s acquisition proves to be a great buy!
I almost drove down to NC but instead headed East with my sea kayak to the Shore for some spectacular downwind runs on the well formed 7-8′ swells racing up the coast.
shootski
shootski,
The HW90 is fixing to have a peep sight installed on it. I will also likely adjust the Theoben gas spring down a bit.
You really need to show up at the NC Airgun Show next year. There were several of the folks hanging around.
Don’t know what is going on but I just lost an entire post with nothing but the last letter entered on the screen.
Happens frequently. Suspect a sticky touch pad on my lap top may be causing it?
Anybody experiencing this here. It only happens here.
Interesting discussion. I used to be a rimfire benchrest shooter. So you have to find an accurate rifle and the ammo that works best in it. No cheap 10/22s here. Regardless of what rifle you shoot, these guys test every brand and lot number of rimfire ammo to find the winning combo. Mid grade match ammo like SK Rifle Match, Wolf Match Target, or Eley Team is around 20 cents per round. Better stuff like Eley Match is 31 cents and Tenex is 41 cents. Now, find the right lot number. The best airgun match pellets in .22 caliber lets say is less than 4 cents per round. Win one for airguns. Then there’s the consistency of accuracy. Time after time, I watch Cyclops or Dayattherange on Youtube shoot groups that are 98 percent of the time larger than I shoot with one of my not-so-match air rifles. And I can do it 98 percent of the time. One day a few weeks back, I was shooting my FX Wildcat MK3 Compact in .22 cal at 50 yards making cloverleaf 5 shot holes when a guy showed up with a RimX 22 with a Benchmark barrel and collection of various boxes of match ammo. While the gun shot good and typical of a custom built rifle, his groups were larger than mine. Go figure. CCI Std, Aguila, Remington Golden Bullets, etc are good for shooting soda cans, that’s about it.
When I did a lot of shooting with a Ruger 1022, I thought it was an accurate rifle, without a scope. But in hind sight we were plinking at targets we could see at 80 yards or so. probably pop can sized, and I always used the lowest priced .22 ammo I could find. Brands cycled there so almost everything made was shot. I found that Remington always performed the best, especially in cycling the action and avoiding jambs, but it cost the most back then. Never did paper target shooting.
It currently resides in a replica MG-42 stock that has no practical sights now, a real plinker!
Picked up a tan Tapco Intrafuse AR stock with a Bull Barrel conversion about the time I got into airguns and never transferred the rifle to it.
So I have some accuracy test shooting, looking into the future, comparing the two barrels.
Any information along those lines of a bull barrel, or more substantial one, improving a pellet rifle accuracy? I assume heat is not a big factor, but I do recall talk about leaving an air rifle in the sun too long.
A friend and I were recently discussing airguns. He really likes his springers (HW30 & HW35) and a couple of months ago acquired a Marauder. He likes being able to shoot in his back yard.
I told him that if I would have had something like a Discovery when I was in high school (quite a bit of squirrel hunting & plinking), I don’t think that I would have felt much of a desire for a .22 rimfire rifle. We were pretty much in agreement about that.
The ability to shoot in my basement without fearing that I’ll disturb anyone is the icing on the cake for me.
Bill
it seems like as soon as they find an item that is cheap they have to step in and raise it 500%
Happened to find some information on airgun (bull) barrels from Marmot Militia, Via GTA.
“All barrels move when shot and accuracy will suffer to the extent that they move. I do not believe the movement is in the middle or the end of the barrel, it is not flexing, but rather “wagging” from the termination of the breach out. Call it whip, harmonics, whatever; I prefer “wag”. The movement of the barrel affects the accuracy. Period. Thicker barrels are stiffer, sure, but still wag from the breach. More mass means more force is needed to wag”
Barrels will shoot better if they are held solid. (In the airgun I assume)
“There is a long list of items that cause barrel movement. From the release of the sear until the last positive pressure leaves the back of the pellet, it is influenced by the rifle.”
“Great groups come from a well-tuned, solid, dead, rifle made with quality components. Whatever barrel you choose please, get it as rigid as possible. Thin diameter, free-floated barrels on a medium power gun with the firing sequence of a M-Rod is a recipe for spiraling pellets and inconsistent groups.”
In general, he states that the manufacturers of good quality accurate airguns take this into consideration.
You get what you pay for in accuracy and quality better barrels like they make do help.
Just spent this past Friday and Saturday at the 11th Annual North Carolina Airgun Show in Newton, NC. I was also able to rub elbows with some of the folks found on this blog.
As BB has stated in the past, each show will have its own “atmosphere” or theme. This year’s show was about pumpers. They were everywhere. Benjamin 397s and 392s were a dime a dozen. There were Benjamin and Crosman pump pistols everywhere. Benjamin 347s were not uncommon.
What really surprised me was how common were the Sheridans. They also had some real nice price tags on them. If I did not have my Crosman 101 already, a Silverstreak or two would have come home with me.
There were also quite a few Webley pistols around, some of them were quite reasonable. I had brought my Webley Mark II Service air rifle and my FLZ militia along for others to drool over. No, they were not for sale. I was not about to part with these “old gals”. They are now safely back up on the walls where they belong.
RidgeRunner,
RFK has been doing that workout for a long time and is is a youngster compared to me. I would challenge him on any day ;^)
Shipmate, start SMALL but be consistent and that means every day at first.
Squats and Planks are two great elements to start with and can be done virtually anywhere and anytime. Later on you will ned to build in REST DAYS and likely only work out HARD two to three days a week.
I like to do Burpees and especially BOSU BALL® Burpees.
I also recommend taking a bath towel folding it multiple times and then doing single leg balance reps for a few seconds each for starting out then move to two towels and eventually getting a SlackBlock® https://www.slackbow.com/sblock
to replace the towels.
Wishing you the fitness lifestyle; It Is NEVER TOO Late!
shootski