Pellet guns / air rifles?

Hey guys,

So.. a friend shows me a video he shot of him shooting a pig with an "air rifle".. then tells me he spent like 2k on that and the night vision scope for it.

Ok.. maybe I am out of touch.. but a pellet gun dropped a pig at about 40 yards???

I need a nice pellet gun to teach my kids gun safety etc and start them "hunting"...or at least target shooting./

I do NOT want to spend 300 bucks on a dang pellet gun.. lol

Recommendations

Russ

You can get good used Daisy 873 target models through the CMP. These are the same guns I teach marksmanship for the NJROTC unit I teach. They are accurate with really good globe sights and they produce just less than 600 fps so they don't require any sort of special range.

You can buy good quality pellet guns all day for less than 300.00. Umarex makes several models, some under their name others under the Ruger name.
Go to Pyramid Air .com and look. They even have shorter youth models. Most of them come with a scope.
Academy carries several of these models also.

http://www.amazon.com/Gamo-Whisper-Silent-Cat-Rifle/dp/B0024XEXQS

Game Whisper Silent Cat air rifle for $129 (almost 50% off).

Thanks guys. I will check all of those out. My dad used to line up empty shotgun shells and we would shoot at those for practice:P

Russ

Today's "air" guns are yesterday's BB or pellet guns. Some the FPS out of the barrel exceed common pistol velocities.

Actually large caliber, high velocity air rifles are manufactured now. You can get them now up to .50 caliber and yes they are expensive. You won't see them at cabela's or on amazon. You'll have to search a little online.

Gamo Whisper here that I got from Cabela's bargain cave for $79.00. Nice pellet gun, but they lied about the quiet part.

It's not.

If noise isn't a concern, they are very accurate and a blast to shoot.

I recently bought a Benjamin 392 pump in .22. I like it much better than the clunky loud one [censored] piston rifles. Plus I had one when I was a kid.

+1 on Umarex. Well made air rifles for squirrels to pest control. Would also be good for teaching a young shooter.

I own a Gamo Russ and it works really well. I think that daisy recommendation might be the best to start them out with. My Gamo I think would be too heavy for a small kid to shoot.

Another vote for the Benjamin 392 had mine since sometime in the 90s shot it so much I had it rebuilt. Very accurate and been around for forever.

Some of the new ones will exceed 1000 fps with special pellets.Ive got the Gamo cat and there's a cracked if you use the gold pellets.

Jim Shockey recently killed a buffalo with one and the Pigman has killed several hogs with them.

Mine is just a Gamo but I would buy another one anytime. It's 1200 FPS and will do any back yard varmint task you ask of it.