# Recommend an air rifle **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755 "2011-02-01T05:01:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/21 "2012-01-22T17:37:55Z")
I finally bought an air rifle. It’s a [Beeman Grizzly X2](http://www.amazon.com/Beeman-Grizzly-Air-Rifle-Combo/dp/B003MTGXRA) with both .177 and .22 caliber barrels. (Note: I paid much less than the price in the link.) I chose it because I wanted a BB gun, and also a .22 pellet gun. There’s only one problem though… It’s not a BB gun. Pellets only. I’d been wondering how it held the BB when you put it in. Now I know. Good thing I didn’t get the large bottle of BBs. Oh, well. I wanted a ‘grown up’ air rifle anyway. I can always get a [Crosman 760](http://www.amazon.com/Crosman-Master-Variable-Repeater-Single/dp/B0018LGT5K/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1327253493) like I had decades ago. Since I was in the mood, I ordered a [Crosman 1322](http://www.amazon.com/Crosman-Black-Bolt-Action-Pellet-Pistol/dp/B004V95AYW/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1327253730). I still have dad’s, taken apart in a baggie somewhere, but it doesn’t hold air. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/22 "2012-01-24T07:42:50Z")
Thanks for the update. Funny you should as I was just wondering about this thread about two weeks ago. Anyway, damn fine looking gun. Happy plinking! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/23 "2012-01-24T14:45:43Z")
I went over to my link and read the reviews. I found this amusing: > [@reviewer](#): > > pretty hard to caulk at first… shoot safe peeople! I didn’t know that’s how you fix leaks. And I think unsafe people should be shot before safe people. 😛 > [@another reviewer](#): > > this beast is huge, heavy and looked like it was designed for a Viking named Grimm Barrelcocker. That got a chuckle out of me. > [@third reviewer](#): > > At walmart last week it was $10 bucks less than the Ruger .177 cal available (I have and love several Ruger firearms and am not saying that the Ruger isn`t a good buy)and has the .22 barrel AND when looking at the both of them the Beeman seemed to have nicer workmanship and a better stock. I had seen the Ruger, and it looked good. I have two 10-22s, a Mini-14, a Mk. II, a Single-Six, and a Blackhawk, so I was tempted. But the Beeman comes with two barrels, and I wanted the option. It looks like I made a good choice for my first grown-up air gun. (I keep wanting to call it a ‘pneumo’, after hearing the term on _Battlestar Galactica_ when I was a teen.) I’ve cocked it once, and it _is_ heavier than I expected. Not like pumping the Crosman 760 or 1322, and certainly not like cocking a Daisy lever-action or Colt .45 look-alike. Pretty loud too, when I fired the empty chamber. I still haven’t shot it, as I haven’t had a chance to get pellets yet. The one place that had pellets, a hardware store, closed some time ago after the owner died. I’ll have to go into Bellingham to get some. And it’s still a bit brisk and wet for plinking. I’ll have to survey the back yard to figure out the best direction to shoot, and come up with an appropriate back-stop. I wonder how many squirrels it will take for a nice pair of fur gloves? (Just kidding. The SO would have _my_ hide! And I don’t shoot animals, anyway.) Now I need to find a new magazine and the charger for my HK MP5 airsoft… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/24 "2012-01-24T15:05:40Z")
I wish I had seen this before. I just bought one last week but admittedly went the easy route and simply bought the best one available at my local Gander Mountain, a GAMMO .177 w/ 4X32 scope and 1250 fps. It was around $170. Gotta admit it’s awfully easy and fun to use. The lightweight aluminum pellets it came with shoot loud but the heavier lead ones I added are much quieter. I’d say there’s about a 2" difference between the two at 40 yards. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/25 "2012-01-24T15:07:44Z")
You’ll shoot your eye out! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/26 "2012-01-24T15:30:27Z")
BTW, I think these ship with a light layer of grease in the barrel. I ran some #9 through and then fired a couple of Q-Tips out and the accuracy improved greatly. (I don’t know how accurate the Q-Tips are yet. I’l let you know after I next see **Inigo Montoya**.) ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/27 "2012-01-24T15:33:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > …Pretty loud too, when I fired the empty chamber. I still haven’t shot it, as I haven’t had a chance to get pellets yet… Maybe they’ve changed the design since my Beeman R1 spring-piston, but I thought that it was a [really bad idea to dry-fire](http://www.beeman.com/types.htm) a spring-piston air rifle. (Scroll down to this): > [@](#): > > Spring-Piston airguns are very reliable and long-lived. The worst thing you could do to any Spring-Piston airgun is to “dry fire” it; that is, fire it without a pellet in the breech. What happens when this error occurs? The piston head is smashed into the front of the receiver (compression tube) because the missing pellet cannot offer the needed resistance to the air column. This resistance cushions the piston from the tremendous energy the compressed spring releases to move the air column. But see, [this guy writing about spring pistons](http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2006/01/does-dry-firing-damage-airguns.html): > [@](#): > > Guns with modern synthetic piston seals are generally more tolerant just because those synthetics are much tougher than in the past. Guns with PTFE (Teflon) seals are extremely tolerant. The Beeman P1 is one of these, as are many of the 1980- and 1990-vintage Webley rifles. In fact, dry-firing is how the factory fits the piston seal to the compression chamber. Apparently, PTFE flows under pressure just enough to take the form of the compression chamber. I once had a P1 that dieseled a lot, until Don Walker at Beeman had me dry-fire it on full power for several shots. The problem went away, and the seal is still in there seven years later. What does your owner’s manual say about it, Johnny? Sounds like you’ll have a lot of fun with it when you get some pellets. I still like shooting mine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/28 "2012-01-24T15:34:03Z")
The manual may not tell how to swap out the barrels, but it does say not to use oils and cleaners made for firearms on the rifle. It says something about using their own brand (of course) silicone-based lubricants. It says nothing about using Q-Tips as projectiles, though I doubt they’d fit the .177 barrel anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/29 "2012-01-24T15:36:01Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Maybe they’ve changed the design since my Beeman R1 spring-piston, but I thought that it was a [really bad idea to dry-fire](http://www.beeman.com/types.htm) a spring-piston air rifle. (Scroll down to this): > > What does your owner’s manual say about it, Johnny? Sounds like you’ll have a lot of fun with it when you get some pellets. I still like shooting mine. I’ll check again, but I don’t remember reading anything about it. Of course I won’t make a habit of it. I don’t dry-fire guns that say it won’t harm them. But I wanted to see how it cocked. I don’t think once hurt it any. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/30 "2012-01-24T21:07:07Z")
After buying several airguns in the last couple years I switched to shooting .22 CB rimfires from a long barreled .22 rifle. As quiet as most air guns with more power and accuracy. I shoot them in my basement sometimes, using bags of kitty litter for a backstop. It is more expensive than pellets but to me much more satisfying. The CBs are not much quieter than a standard long rifle round in a handgun however. The key to quiet is the long barrel. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/31 "2012-01-24T21:13:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ll check again, but I don’t remember reading anything about it. Of course I won’t make a habit of it. I don’t dry-fire guns that say it won’t harm them. But I wanted to see how it cocked. I don’t think once hurt it any. I bought a RWS 460 about a year ago. After ONE accidental dry fire I noticed a huge decrease in velocity. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/32 "2012-01-24T21:40:52Z")
I found the caveat. It does say that repeated dry-firing is not recommended. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/33 "2012-01-24T21:48:53Z")
Can I poke my head in here are remind all you “plinkers” to please be very careful where you plink? The zoo where I work has a non-releasable great horned owl that was accidentally hit in the wing by ricocheting pellet. You might think your little pellets are too small or slow to do any damage, but birds have hollow bones and it takes very little force to do serious damage to them. Thanks for plinking responsibly. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/34 "2012-01-24T22:26:53Z")
Does anyone remember the recent airgun commercial that lauded the quiet operation and ended with a flash of a house cat in a tree? It seemed to suggest that their air rifle would be the very best for killing your neighbors’ cats. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/35 "2012-01-24T22:32:49Z")
**Johnny** , is this thread related to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=639276)? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/36 "2012-01-24T22:37:27Z")
😛 No. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/37 "2012-01-24T22:55:18Z")
My favorite friend who can fly a helicopter or fixed-wing!!! You have GOT to be shitting me to ask this kind of a question, but okay — “Get A Daisy!” (My friend **John** is a “flyboy”, case y’all didn’t know it.) Just make sure you don’t mount it on your cowl or on your rotor, okay?" “On your rotor”!!! Oh shit!!! Jesus, I can’t stop myself from laffin’, **John**! But yeah, Go ahead and mount that air rifle on your chopper’s rotor.:):):🙂 Sorry, big guy, but it just seems so out of character (knowing you as I do) to ask for an air rifle!!! Why not a Gatling cannon!!! # Okay, young 'un. Go get your air rifle. Just don’t “shoot your eye out, kid”! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755/38 "2012-01-25T18:03:25Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > After buying several airguns in the last couple years I switched to shooting .22 CB rimfires from a long barreled .22 rifle. Without question my .22 is far more accurate but my .177 pellet gun is legal to use at my residence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-air-rifle/569755.md?page=1)