# A Little Rant on Pellet Rifles



## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Recently got the itch for one of those fancy break over barrel, high end pellet rifles for general plinking around the farm. After reading reviews settled in on the Benjamin Trail XL magnum which is a $300 gun. It comes with a cheap scope that is all fancied up to look like some kind of a sniper rig or something.

Got it home and started trying to zero it off a benchrest at 40 yards. At the outset I couldn't even hit the target on a beer box, so played around with a huge target till I figured out is was shooting way high. Cranked all the adjustment out of the scope and still couldn't get it on target, just closer.

Swapped scopes with a decent Simmons .22 scope I had and did a little better but same deal, cranked all the adjustment out of it, eventually shimmed the scope to get it close, but best the gun would still not hold a group. Best it would do is about baseball size at 40 yards, and I even tried a couple different type pellets. Boxed that POS up, shipped it back for a refund.

Purchased a GAMO yesterday which is only a $120 gun. The scope that comes with it isn't any better than iron sights because it would not even focus clearly at 40 yards, so I could not maintain a consistent aim. Took that POS off and put the Simmons .22 scope on this gun and after trying two types of pellets, have it shooting pretty good. I think it's going to be okay.

The Benjamin is heavy, loud, expensive and inaccurate, and the Gamo is a much cheaper, lighter weight gun, but shoots much better. Kind of crazy that of all the types of guns I shoot, a couple pellet rifles have given me more trouble than anything else


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

are you holding it like a rifle or a springer gun 

they eat optics and recoil backwards.

look up artillery hold , it is how they get better accuracy out of them

well when other things aren't wrong first.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Fishindude said:


> after trying two types of pellets


Try 20 more.
I've used some that won't hit an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper at 25 yards while others can hit a squirrel's head 4 out of five times at that range.

Get some sample packs so you can try many different styles and weights.

https://www.pyramydair.com/

https://www.pyramydair.com/article/The_right_pellet_makes_a_difference_October_2009/72

https://www.pyramydair.com/a/Ammo/109/cat_384

https://www.pyramydair.com/search-r...882398:jlcminxfwdw&cof=FORID:11;NB:1&saSearch


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## Rodeo's Bud (Apr 10, 2020)

We picked up a Gamo pellet rifle last year. Don't remember which model. Only shot it a few times. It is so inconsistent I can't have any fun with it.

I may try some different pellets, as it is supposes to be a decent gun.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Try 20 more.
> I've used some that won't hit an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper at 25 yards while others can hit a squirrel's head 4 out of five times at that range.
> 
> Get some sample packs so you can try many different styles and weights.


Will do this, thanks !


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

Very interesting.
Years ago, like more than 50 of them my friends and I all had crossman 760 powemaster air rifles. We had I believe either Crossman or Tesco scopes on them.
We could pump these babies up and had a shooting range in my buddies basement.
A card table, a cardboard box with a blanket draped over the open end and and a Styrofoam block with kitchen matches stuck into it.
About 20 ft. away was another card table and a folding chair.
We spent all winter trying to light those matches.
Believe it or not it actually happened a few times.
By the time spring came around we pretty much depopulated the neighborhood of small birds and squirrels.
It was one hell of a little gun.
my mom left for work early so we'd meet at my house to shoot squirrels out the bedroom windows before school.
It's probably where I got my bat poop crazy accuracy thing.
A .177 cal. Pellet right between the eye and the ear.
Figured the new guns would be super accurate.
Guess not.


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

It sounds like pretty intense, serious target competition, rather than "plinking around the farm".


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

CKelly78z said:


> It sounds like pretty intense, serious target competition, rather than "plinking around the farm".


Not really, but I don't have much use for guns that won't shoot accurately.
A baseball size group at 40 yards is totally unacceptable.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

JJ Grandits said:


> Figured the new guns would be super accurate.
> Guess not.


They can be, once you learn how to shoot them and find a pellet they like.

There are size variations in the guns and the pellets that will make some perform better in individual guns. 

Many people want the highest velocities, which means using lighter weight pellets, buy if you keep the velocities below the speed of sound they will typically be more accurate and quieter also.

Heavier pellets retain more energy downrange too.

This site has lots of articles about how to get the best performance with different types of guns:

https://www.pyramydair.com/articles
https://www.pyramydair.com/


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## blanket (May 28, 2013)

a pellet rifle needs barrel season by shooting several rounds. A cheaper springer is the hardest to shoot as said earlier. Love my 1960s Sheridans though


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

I remembered once awhile back was a small article in Field & Stream about a young girl I believe in 8th grade who was on the schools air rifle team.
Said that at 10 meters she could put ten pellets through the same hole. Always thought that was pretty awesome.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

JJ Grandits said:


> Said that at 10 meters she could put ten pellets through the same hole.


Those top level Olympic target rifles can cost thousands and look like space guns.

















(Only $4,639.99)
https://www.airgundepot.com/anschutz-9015.html


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I still have the Crosman .177 cal BB/pellet rifle and Benjamin forearm pump .22 caliber pellet guns I was given as birthday presents decades ago on the rack beside my other long guns and still use them for plinking or rabbit or squirrel hunting sometimes.

I keep them oiled and cleaned while cleaning the others on the rack and the only modifications I have done to them is extending the stocks from youth length to adult length and having the air chamber gaskets replaced in them a couple of times.

The Crosman is fairly accurate with a BB up to 40 to 50 feet and up to 60 feet with a pellet or dart and the Benjamin is accurate up to about 70 feet and every year I use it to pop a few rabbits and squirrels.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

JJ Grandits said:


> I remembered once awhile back was a small article in Field & Stream about a young girl I believe in 8th grade who was on the schools air rifle team.
> Said that at 10 meters she could put ten pellets through the same hole. Always thought that was pretty awesome.



We use these in our youth program Daisy 853 , http://old.thecmp.org/wp-content/uploads/DaisyUsedRifles.pdf?ver=20190115

they have Walther barrels and will make a ragged hole at 10 meters if the shooter is up to it 

new they are about 250 each sing shot single pump

having shot a few squirrel with them , you need the accuracy becasue at 600fps with a .177 pellet you get very little penetration , but if from under 30 feet you can hit them in the corrotid artery they will blead out in about 50 feet

but they sure make nice holes in paper which is the intended purpose.


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## homesteadforty (Dec 4, 2007)

Sorry, but I have to ask...



Fishindude said:


> Got it home and started *trying to zero it* off a benchrest at 40 yards. At the outset I couldn't even hit the target on a *beer box*...


Sure there's no correlation???


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## flewism (Apr 2, 2007)

I've had a Gamo big cat for quite a while now. I haven't shot it in a few years, but it is fun to play with at 20 yards. when I was shooting it regularly I too thought about replacing the scope, but have yet to do it. 

There was somebody here with a thread about hunting rabbits and squirrels with a pellet rifle a few years back. 
Pellet rifles are popular in England for hunting small game as I've watched a few you tube videos on it.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)




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## Esteban29304 (Apr 29, 2003)

I posted a few years ago about hunting rabbits & squirrels with pellet rifles. They are great " survival weapons !" I still shoot several different pellet rifles of different types. I mostly shoot squirrels, now, & an occasional coyote that attacks calves in the pasture. YES, I have a pellet rifle that will blast them ! Pellet rifles are no longer just BB guns, but some will take large game, now, & are legal to hunt deer, hogs, etc., with. Check your state laws, FIRST.
My favorite pellet rifles are the Sheridan Streaks. I have a collection of them. I could fill a pick up truck with the small game I have taken with mine for the last 60 years ! Their quality is SUPERB !
If you have a break barrel type air rifle, don't give up on their accuracy. Most are picky about which pellet you use, & also the way you hold them when shooting. Search about " artillery hold for air rifles , ' to learn the best way to hold some air rifles.n The cheap scopes that come with most air rifles, ae usually junk. Even if you trade it with a scope for a .22 or even larger, a high powered air rifle will ruin it, sooner or later. Spring air rifles have recoil going backwards &&& FORWARD, which hurts the scopes. Solutions is to get an " air gun rated " scope. 
Practice-Practice, Practice.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Update - Returned the Benjamin rifle this thread started about and recently replaced it with a high end Gamo .177 rifle.
Same problems and results; two different scopes, six different types of pellets, hundreds of rounds fired and can't get the darned thing to put two pellets in a row side by side. Best groups I can get with thing at 30 yards is about baseball size, unacceptable. And it's not the shooter, because I can nearly cut the same hole with my .22 rimfire at that distance and shoot squirrels in the head all day.

My experiments with pellet rifles are about over with. Think I'll just get some shorts of CB caps for one of my .22's and use it for plinking around the yard.


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## Gayle in KY (May 13, 2002)

I bought a Ruger Air Hawk Elite off a kid who just wanted rid of it. Paid $75. It doesn't have a scope, but the accuracy is spot on.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

I use the Sheridan blue streak in .20. I do nuisance work, so sometimes use it daily for pretty good stretches. I find I need the .20 for big ****/groundhog dispatch, .177 is not quite enough penetration for consistent 1 shot kills. Mostly for cage dispatch, but I like the power selectabilty of the pump gun. 8 pumps takes a **** out up to about 10 yards, 2 pumps will take out a sparrow or pigeon without going through a roof, if you know how to hold the sights and judge distance. Keep 1 pump in it so your gasket doesn't warp.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

the right oil and always leave a pump on the seals at least for the non spring guns 

I maintain a dozen air rifles for the youth program , a drop of oil and a pump before they go in the safe at the end of the season has reduced the number of new seals I put in significantly.


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