# One of the best survival guns you should own



## Ohio Rusty (Jan 18, 2008)

Nathan104 was discussing guns in an earlier thread, and I thought I would post what I think is one of the best survival guns folks like us should own.
If you are looking to add a gun to your collection for survival, there is one you should own. That is a good .177 caliber or .20 or .22 caliber pellet rifle (not BB gun). Something like a one cock spring piston rifle that shoots 800 to 1000 feet per second. I have an older model Fienwerkbau 124 .177 caliber. My brother has a Beeman R9 in .20 caliber. 
The pros of and praise for these rifles are endless. They are quiet when they shoot so you don't attract attention to yourself. There is no resrictions in buying these in about every state in the country. It's a good pest remover. Pellets are available everywhere. You can carry several thousand rounds in the palm of your hand. There are no gunpowder residue or other forensic issues with a pellet rifle. You don't need a specific ammo ...any pellet configuration in the right caliber will shoot accurately. They are EXCELLENT small game harvesters. ***Remember that EVERY BIRD on the north american continent is edible (turkeys, chickens, grouse, ducks, et all.). In really hard times you can set up several feeders and gather enough birds and other game animals (squirrels, raccoons, etc) to feed your family every single day -- whether you live in the city or the country. a half dozen birds a day will feed you so you don't go hungry. (think smallish rock cornish game hens). If you don't have access to large game like deer or farm animals, this is meat in your stomach !!
Lastly, you can get a rifle like this for under $100.00 at Walmart and other similiar stores. You can practice your marksmanship skills with one of these everyday indoors, even if you live in an apartment. Try THAT with a high powered rifle, shotgun or pistol.
A high power, high velocity pellet rifle should be a priority in your survival arsenal. If you only own 2 guns, one should be a good high quality pellet rifle.
Ohio Rusty ><>
Psalms 27:1-3/Psalms 91:9-11 (AMP)


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

I think the high power .177 air rifle is a must have another advantage over the 22 cb long or short is that the pellet does not ricotche 
any where near as badly which is pretty important if you realy want quiet.


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## Ohio Rusty (Jan 18, 2008)

Good point Damoc. Another advantage that comes to mind is a high velocity pellet rifle has no kick or recoil like a cartridge gun. That means ANY man woman or child can comfortably and accurately harvest game or eliminate pests.
Ohio Rusty ><>
Psalms 27:1-3/Psalms 91:9-11 (AMP)


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

Do pellet rifles have to be registered?

I've been thinking seriously about getting a .22 rifle, probably, per recommendation by several people, a tube-feeding Marlin Model 60. But if a pellet rifle could be purchased without all the paperwork that goes with a store-purchase of a regular firearm, I might consider that instead. 

Kathleen

ETA: could I butcher a goat with a pellet rifle? When I butcher, we use either a .22 or a .223 rifle (my grandmother's), and those work.


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

BlueJuniperFarm said:


> Do pellet rifles have to be registered?
> 
> I've been thinking seriously about getting a .22 rifle, probably, per recommendation by several people, a tube-feeding Marlin Model 60. But if a pellet rifle could be purchased without all the paperwork that goes with a store-purchase of a regular firearm, I might consider that instead.
> 
> ...


i would not try butchering a goat with a air rifle they still have a lot less power than a .22 lr. In california I can just walk in and buy a high powered air rifle without all the paperwork.also I dont know about other states but i can also walk in and buy replica black powder firearms pistols and i believe also muzzle loading rifles.if you dont want lots of paperwork or waiting times.


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## tallpaul (Sep 5, 2004)

I believe any serious survival minded folk need a GOOD air rifle... I like them and have been singing their praises for decade. I had just a couple for 25 years and have added to the herd over the last couple years. I like em for practice,pest contol and outright fun! 

as far as the goat issue- I have a .50 cal airgun that will harvest elk  lewis and clark ttok one on thier expedition for game and protection...


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## 54BelAir (Jan 10, 2008)

I just recently got a .177 pellet gun. My son took one look at the pellets, and hasn't quit laughing at me. I haven't loaded it or tried it out at all. I live in an apartment. Let's assume I have some common sense and would only aim at a decent target with a backing that's designed for this sort of weapon. How quiet is it really? Am I going to have the SWAT team surrounding my building because the neighbors think there's a drug bust going bad? Is this thing powerful enough to shoot through drywall?

My son can laugh, that's fine. I'll console myself with the story that Annie Oakley got her start shooting quail.

Sue


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Was Annie Oakley shooting an air rifle, though?

I'd hate to after anything larger than a pigeon with an air rifle. A brick of .22 shells cost less than two packs of cigarettes. 500 rounds. In a shtf scenario, that'd be 500 critters. I'd rather not shoot a wild boar with a .22 rifle, but I'd much rather not face one down with an air rifle.

That .50 cal air rifle is black powder, I assume... a 'pump up' .50 cal would take a heap of strokes...

I'm sure air rifles have a place. Would come in handy after the dozens of bricks of .22 shells were exhausted. Course, I'd be using broad tipped arrows a lot too...


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

yes a air rifle will go through drywall probably 2 layers it can take game as large as a raccoon but not reliably and with only a well placed shot.
often the ricotche or impact is louder than the shot. if you shot somewhere safely you neighbor probably would never even know.

but beware i had a friend over the other day and his first shot from his new air rifle sounded like a rifle because the oil/lube in the chamber ignited read your safety directions about oiling your air rifle.

i have a gammo 1000 fps air rifle a cheap one it will shoot through 3/4 inch
pine board.


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## 54BelAir (Jan 10, 2008)

Thanks for the heads up. I won't try it indoors, I'll wait until I have someplace suitable to shoot it outdoors.

I really wasn't thinking of something as big as a raccoon, but if things ever got bad, I guess I'd be glad to have one. I'm planning more along the lines of birds, squirrels, and rabbits.


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2008)

I like the ideal of owning and using a air rifle. But if times get hard enough that you have to rely on birds to survive on then you need to know there are other methods of catching birds that might be better.

1. Use a dead fall trap. My mother grew up during the depression years here in Oklahoma. She would tell stories of there survival. One was they would set up a big heavy steel plate on a stick. The stick had a string tied to it and ran back to the house and in through the key hole. They would place headgear seeds underneath and when several birds were undernneath they would yank the stick out, killing the birds. She said they would do this a couple of times a day and catch their supper.

2. Use a flashlite and catch them with your bare hands. If you happen to have any cedar trees around the birds roost in them. Also brush piles, but cedar trees are easier. Gently walk up to the cedar tree and shine the light inside the tree. You will see birds roosting inside. All you have to do is make a quick snatch with your hands. We use to do this when we were kids, just for the heck of it. We didn't eat them.


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## 54BelAir (Jan 10, 2008)

Me setting up a dead fall trap: something to tell the grandchildren about. 

Me trying to catch something with my bare hands: future YouTube video and everlasting humiliation.


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

A proper powerful air-rifle is good for game up to the size of rabbits, but you need to practice a lot of skills - stalking and marksmanship - to do that with it. You need head shots at no more than 25 yards, and as much less as possible, on rabbits - you won't knock 'em down with power, you've got to kill them on the spot with precision placement. Other than that, what others have said is literally fair game. You don't need a lot of meat, but some - particularly for growing children - is a good idea. Even a few feral sparrows can be more than target practice. They'll give you a start on a stew or soup, particularly if you're using a pressure cooker so the bones turn to mush. Feral pigeons or squirrels and you're eating well. How about a duck, a goose or a guinea fowl? If you don't want them your dog will be happy to accept. Whatever, just make sure that you either find ALL the pellet, or make head shots and discard the head. The skirts on those pellets are a bit fragile, and you don't want to be eating lead.

One of the major strengths of airguns is that they are quiet. There are top-level ones that break the speed of sound, but then they not only make more noise (duh!), but they lose efficiency. The standard airgun uses a .177" pellet. If you want to pump up the power then it's better to go for a .20 or .22 calibre, rather than pushing close to/above 1100 feet per second.

There are three basic types of airguns.

One is CO2-powered. Forget it, for survival scenarios.

One is the one everyone knows - spring-piston, usually break-action. It's good within its limitations. However, there's a hellacious and rather odd recoil when that big spring lets go. Not bad for the shooter, but it shakes the rifle something terrific. It needs specially-built super-strong air-rifle telescopic sights, and will shake apart standard rifle telescopic sights. If they can stand a .458 Magnum they can't stand a .177 spring-piston air-rifle.

The other is compressed air. You can use stored air, but these days there are good pump-up guns. They used to be a joke, but now they work well. This makes a self-contained system in the rifle, and you can get several shots off quickly. There are even rotary magazines that hold several pellets. Not as cheap as ye olde standard spring-piston, but recoil is effectively nil.​
An author I respect a lot, Jerry Pournelle, used to write on survival issues back when Mel Tappan was alive. Jerry made the point that for him long-arm skills are more-or-less impossible to lose, but not so for pistols. He needs to practice to maintain pistol skills. He set up an airgun target/pellet trap in his office, set so that visitors couldn't charge across his line of fire. The trap had a thick sheet-iron back, slanted downwards - built like a battleship. He'd practice with an air pistol for a few minutes when he took a break. All the basic skills of aiming and steady no-jerk firing got a workout. It wasn't a substitute for firing a real pistol at the range, but it let him get a lot better with a lot less range-time than he could have afforded to do otherwise.

Watch it on the Olympics coming up. An airgun is every bit as accurate as a conventional firearm, just at shorter ranges. It's scary what they achieve. A minute of angle is about a tenth of an inch at ten metres. That's about HALF the width of the .177" pellets. Still, that's the sort of accuracy they're getting at that range with pistols.

For what it's worth an air pistol isn't a substitute for a rifle, but it's easier to carry. A good powerful air pistol will still take small game if you're accurate enough and close enough. It's a lot quieter than a .22 pistol, too. A walk in the woods, anyone?


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## OkieDavid (Jan 15, 2007)

54 BelAir
Is your pellet rifle a single pump model or do you pump it several times? The ones that you pump up several times can easily be shot inside an apartment. Start with a single pump and NO pellet to get an idea of the sound. Work your way up from there until you are comfortable about how "loud" is too loud. Remember, the point of aim will be different depending on the number of pumps, but it's still decent practice none the less. There are commercially available "traps" sold for use in indoor shooting. In college we used to have shooting tournaments in my apartment all the time. Our backstop was a large cardboard box with an old throw pillow backed with a couple of old carpet remnants. Even at ranges of two feet, that would stop a ten pump shot.


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## 54BelAir (Jan 10, 2008)

It's a single pump. 

It's also the first weapon I've ever owned that wasn't primarily kitchen equipment (i.e., knife, cast iron frying pan).

I'm not going to be shooting this thing tonight. It's a big step for me just to have it here, and to pick it up. I haven't shot anything since I was a kid.


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

54BelAir said:


> I haven't shot anything since I was a kid.


Remember, take your sight picture, breathe in, settle the sights, let out two-thirds of your breath, settle and _squeeze_ the trigger.

When the shot comes it should be a surprise. Then, follow-through is just as important as with golf or snooker. Hold on the target way past when the shot happened - you need to get past any possibility of anticipatory movement before the shot, and then have the shot well away before you start to let up on it and move the weapon.


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## FordJunkie (Nov 23, 2007)

Just a note from a newer member to HT.

Don't throw those old phone books away. If you are not using them for fire starter. I used to stack 2-1" to 1 1/2" thick books together and use them for a stop in my old mobile home BB's and Pellets seldom went more than 3/4 the way through the first book and only into the second one when the front one was getting pretty well used up.

HTH,
Tony


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## Bladesmith (Sep 20, 2003)

While on the surface it sounds like a good idea, and may remain one for people who fo whatever reason can't buy or own a real firearm, some problems that occur to me are:

1) Parts. Firearm parts are fairly common, and even in a SHTF scenario, will remain so for a duration afterwards.

2) There are a plethora of other methods to gather wild game silently, and don't require you to be there in person (Traps, etc.)

3) Small items get lost easily. Small pellets, especially those little .177 cals, even more so.

4) It's one more thing to carry. Figure your air rifle will weigh a minimum of 6-7 lbs. Add that to the weight of the "real" firearms you'll be lugging, and it'll rapidly become deadweight, especially when considering #2 above.

Just my .02 cents.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i would rather have a slingshot with lead ammo...not steal ammo.lead is the most efficent killer around.


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