Air rifle advice

Nomad

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Can't get out of the desert! ARGH!
Hey folks, I picked up an air rifle at wally world, it's a Beeman 1073 (it's got barrels for .177 and .22 calibers). I've never owned a decent air rifle before and have no idea how to care for it. Also, I heard this is supposed to have an (unadvertised) adjustable trigger. I'd love to adjust it to a lighter pull. I plan on mostly target shooting, however we have a BAD rodent and rabbit problem (happens when all the coyotes are chased away dangit) and that's leading to a rattlesnake problem. It's open season on yard pests at my house right now as far as I'm concerned (not songbirds, not lizards, just PESTS). Any constructive advice would be wonderful! Also I'd like to know if anyone is familiar with these things? Especially these Beeman models. It's very hefty with a solid wood stock, and still has more kick than I'd have expected from an air rifle.
 

BIGIRON

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Air guns are great fun. Can be almost as addicting as flashlights. For your close range, probably low light shooting, you might want to consider a red dot sight. You can hold a light alongside the forearm and do pretty well. That works for me with 10/22 and G2 or similar.

You'll be plesantly surprised at the accuracy of modern air guns. Most of them are ammo sensitive, so you'll probably want to try several different brands and types of pellets. Generally, the 22 will be more effective for small game but the 177 may be more accurate.

Hope you enjoy the rabbit stew. Remember, "Don't kill anything unless you're going to eat it or it's trying to eat you". We'll give you a pass on the rats.
 

Nomad

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Can't get out of the desert! ARGH!
Apparently I got lucky and this is the "adjustable trigger" version that normally isn't found in the Wal-Marts, from what I've found it's luck of the draw and I got lucky. :) I'm going to lighten up the trigger pull and enjoy it, the one I returned yesterday had such a stiff pull and I had no idea I could adjust it! I hope I didn't screw myself though, apparently there is a bit of variability on the quality of these, just like most Chinese made goods seem to. I think the moral of THAT story is to not be afraid of returning the craptastic ones. :)
 

hank

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And if you don't have toddlers, dogs, or inlaws, and are a patient and observant sort -- leave the rattlesnakes alone and you'll attract a population of kingsnakes or something comparable that eats them. Maybe hawks and owls.

I've found I can live comfortably with rattlesnakes around my usual summer longterm campsite in the mountains, once I have learned where each of them hangs out; they're very predictable and territorial. I think they're kind of like having spiders, one per room, here at home -- there will only be as many, and no fewer, than the local area can comfortably support. If one gets killed that opens up a spot and another moves in for the easy pickins.

Once you move whatever food source attracts your pests out a few hundred yards the rattlesnakes will follow them over time. If you don't have something around that preys on the rodents the fleas or the viruses will eventually take over controlling them.

Then again I get along with hornet-type wasps too (grin). Maybe it's professional courtesy, I used to keep bees long ago and have gotten quite comfortable noticing, and not stepping on or squashing, anybody large or small by mistake, and they seem to recognize me too.
 

Dr Jekell

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Spring (break barrel) air rifles will have a noticeable kick to them due to the spring being released to create the compressed air to fire the pellet out of the barrel.

If you want one with almost no recoil then you could go with a Pre Charged Rifle but they tend to be very expensive & require more maintenance.

As for its care mainly when storing it give it's metal parts a wipe over with an approved oil & don't store the rifle cocked or half cocked (the barrel open half way between closed & cocked).

There is other maintenance that need to be done but if you are not comfortable doing so I would suggest you take it into your nearest REPUTABLE air gun specialist/repair shop. DO NOT take it to a regular gunsmith.

I also suggest you have a look around in your phone book & on the internet for a local air gun club as they can help you with your entry into the sport.
 

hank

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Yay! I can get lead-free pellets for air rifles. It's been close to 20 years since I used my Benjamin .22 air gun outdoors, and I've gotten a lot more careful about scattering lead around the landscape since.
 

Buster Bodine

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Once you move whatever food source attracts your pests out a few hundred yards the rattlesnakes will follow them over time. If you don't have something around that preys on the rodents the fleas or the viruses will eventually take over controlling them.

On the other hand, going out in the back yard and killing every single one of those little self propelled land mines will provide you with many hours of satisfying fun, a few interesting if very bony meals if you're daring enough, and could also possibly save you or a loved one from a bunch of skin grafts, horribly disfiguring scars, permanent loss of function in the bitten limb, incredible pain, and many thousands of dollars in hospital bills.

Hmmm...

Tough call, let us know what you decide!
:D
 

Burgess

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I had a Sheridan Silver-Streak 5mm air rifle.

Got it in 1968, and it served me well for 15 years !


Don't know if they are still made, however.


They were in Racine, Wisconsin.



Good Luck with your "varmint" problem.

:twothumbs
_
 

Bozzlite

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I had a Sheridan Silver-Streak 5mm air rifle.

Got it in 1968, and it served me well for 15 years !


Don't know if they are still made, however.


They were in Racine, Wisconsin.



Good Luck with your "varmint" problem.

:twothumbs
_

Benjamin bought out Sheridan a few years back. Now Benjamin makes the 5mm Silver Streak. I bought mine in the middle 70's when they were still made by Sheridan. The 20 caliber pellet is right in between the .177 and the .22. Good compromise of pellet weight and speed. Pretty accurate too.
 

Nomad

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Can't get out of the desert! ARGH!
Since I posted that I've found several resources. Many of my questions though just don't seem to make sense to the long time enthusiasts, too n00bish I suppose. :)

Hey if anyone sees good clearance deals on this (I hear some wal-marts are clearing them out) let me know! I really like this gun so far, it's got a very satisfying ricochet sound when I miss too..LOL and it also completely blows through the piece of 1/2" sub floor I have as a back stop when I use anything but the wadcutter pellets. This is NOT your kid's bb gun!

Also, I seem to have an issue with holding the gun very still when aiming. I don't know if it's a problem with me physically or just that I'm not holding it right. I was attempting to use the old stance I vaguely remember my father teaching me 28 years ago when I was 10 and had a little .22LR (that was lighter than this pellet rifle by a fair bit too).
 

Patriot

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Generally, .17 caliber air rifles with good pellets will kill cottontail rabbits. I used them to kill dozens as a child. I usually got "pass through's" on about 2/3ths of the cottontails I'd kill. The .22 will produce roughly 30% energy at the same velocity and will kill large jack rabbits. If you're above 700fps for .17cal, and 550fps for .22cal, quick human kills on these animals are no problem. Obviously shot placement is always important. 17cal in the 425+fps (common velocity for pistols) will dispatch large rat sized game easily also.

Sounds like you're about to have some fun :)
 
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Zero_Enigma

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Since I posted that I've found several resources. Many of my questions though just don't seem to make sense to the long time enthusiasts, too n00bish I suppose. :)

Hey if anyone sees good clearance deals on this (I hear some wal-marts are clearing them out) let me know! I really like this gun so far, it's got a very satisfying ricochet sound when I miss too..LOL and it also completely blows through the piece of 1/2" sub floor I have as a back stop when I use anything but the wadcutter pellets. This is NOT your kid's bb gun!

Also, I seem to have an issue with holding the gun very still when aiming. I don't know if it's a problem with me physically or just that I'm not holding it right. I was attempting to use the old stance I vaguely remember my father teaching me 28 years ago when I was 10 and had a little .22LR (that was lighter than this pellet rifle by a fair bit too).

The more expensive Beeman rifles are quality rifles from all I've heard. I bought a BF-3000 before which was cheap but returned it as it was cheap quality. The rule of thumb I remember being taught online was '.177 for feathers and .22 for fur' although if you have a 1000fps rifle and using heavy ammo (~10.9-12gr) you can still deliver a killer punch on small fur game.

The rifle you have a spring piston rifle. Most spring pistons I've used are HOLD SENSITIVE. What that means is you have to learn how to hold them. Don't hold the grip with a death grip. You have to hold it with with a little room to 'float/breathe' because the gun will snap it's bi-directional recoil. For those with spring piston guns I'm sure they know what I mean with the holding thing. Kinda hard for me to explain but easier if I showed you.

I would try buying a sampler ammo package from places like Straight Shooters (no affliation) which I recall they had something like a 20 type ammo sampler package with about 20rds of each type for you to try. If you're shooting close range like 10 meters most ammo would work well but if you're going for more range you'll have to test some pellets out.

A good site to check out is www.airgunforum.ca It was spawned from the MSN Airguns Canada thread a long time ago. There are many airsmiths on the site. Dispite it being Canadian there are many Americans on it and many a Canadians with high powered (we're talking 500+fps - to 1200fps) airguns.

Pyramid Air is one good site to find ammo. Airguns Of Arizona is another. Compasseco in Kentucky is pretty good. I've gotten two guns from Compasseco before and thier tech guy Eric is pretty good on the phone answerign questions when I ordered before.

The Leapers 'Bug Buster' series of scopes as I've read has a good reputation for it's range for 'ratting' and close range pest control with some mid-range as well. They can be be sighted in to 3 meters. :devil::) Not everyone has good enough eyes to go open sights all the time and sometimes a scoped short range rifle is good for precision targeting.

Also check out www.xisicousa.com (no afflication butI like thier designs). I own the B3-1 AK-47 .22 folder and B5-10 SMG looking pnumatic (pumper). Lets just say the B5-10 was probably tested with heavy ammo in Canada because normal ammo hits HARD :sssh: and you can pump to 10 pumps tho it was tested on 4 pumps if I recall right so it can knock out some smaller pests.

The B5-10 also is a 10+1 pellet manual gravity feed. The AK-47 model also has a .177 model as well. I think for the Canadian models they chopped off 2-3 coils to lower the power.

Also Todd Cooper did a full disassemble of the B3-1 with tune and lube how-to.

How much did you pay for your Beeman 1073? I recall Pyramid Air selling it for ~$173 USD. You Americans have the best stocked Wallys. >__<;; We in Canada only have ~2/3 the stock you guys have. BTW can you buy AK-47's and AR-15's in the USA Wallys? Like I know you need a background and licence check and such but curious even if they stock those. :)

Cheers.
 

Blue72

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you might want to pick up a crossman 2240.

These are the maglites of the airgun world. There are so many mods to make an outstanding gun with these things.
 

StarHalo

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The airgun I had as a teen was a Crosman Classic 2104x (http://www.crosman.com/site/listing/1216), a pump rifle with a scope; once you got the scope adjusted, and since there's no recoil whatsoever, you could easily do quarter-sized groupings from 60-70 feet away. The pump system also allows you to set how powerful you want the shot to be, two pumps will bounce off a squirrel's rump to shoo it, five or six to kill. Ten pumps will lodge a BB about a half inch into solid wood. The 200 BB reservoir means you can go target shooting all day and never reload, and the 17 round magazine allows you to manually load pellets when you want while still carrying BBs. These generally sell for about $70.

BTW can you buy AK-47's and AR-15's in the USA Wallys? Like I know you need a background and licence check and such but curious even if they stock those. :)

Nope, Wal-Marts stock basic rifles and shotguns geared towards target shooting and hunting, nothing too exotic. Same with the handguns. And here in the state of California, it's not legal to own an "assault rifle", state law has a specific list of various semi-auto rifles and guns that you can't buy, which also includes any type of shortened shotgun.
 
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tradderran

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I had a Sheridan Silver-Streak 5mm air rifle.

Got it in 1968, and it served me well for 15 years !


Don't know if they are still made, however.


They were in Racine, Wisconsin.



Good Luck with your "varmint" problem.

:twothumbs
_
I still have a pair of them one new in the box. That I got when I found out they sold out to Benjamin. the other one i have had for 25+years and still going strong.
 

BIGIRON

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Trader, I've had one since the late 60's also. Was going to buy one for young nephew couple of years ago. Totally different quality. Bought a Gamo instead.

I still have my Crossman pumper that Santa brought for my 10th Christmas.

BTW, few years ago bought some 5mm pellets from Beeman that were more accurate than the Sheridan pellets but I think the Sheridan pellets provided a little more energy downrange.
 
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