Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns Hunting air rifle/handgun under $200???

I would like to get either a .22 or .177 air rifle/handgun for small game hunting again. The last one I had and used extensively was a Daisy 880 air rifle and I've had it over 30 years now!! Unfortunately, it has developed a leak and is now unreliable. So I'd like to get something with some punch, either equivalent or better than my old 880. I could just buy another 880 for about $40, but I wouldn't mind stepping up to something better if it's worth the money!!

Thanks for any/all input!

Benjamin 392 pump up.
.22 caliber.
A classic.

1+ on that Pete. I'm wearing these tree-rats out back here. They just keep comin', though.

I have a RWS M34 in .22 cal that I'd sell you. It is one serious hunting air rifle. Here's a pic of it and some dead critters from last summer.

Benjamin 392 and RWS 34 are solid choices.
I am having a hard time not pulling the trigger on RWS 350 Magnum in .177 as Air Guns of Arizona has that caliper only on sale for $249.95 vs. $378- in .22.
You would definitely want pellets in the heavier for caliper spectrum for the RWS 350M.

FVA what would you use that rifle for? If hunting, then the larger diameter of the .22 has worked better for me. With the .177 I had lots of pass throughs where the energy was basically wasted by exiting the critter with lots of extra speed to burn. I still get pass throughs with the .22, but it leaves a much bigger hole behind. These are at moderate ranges of 50 yards and under, if your over that then the .177 starts to pick up some advantage in trajectory.

Well, mostly just that it is a very nice rifle at a great price.
Never been a fan of hyper velocity 177's but there are some heavier pellets that have come out now, mostly due to PCP's, that would shine at velocities this rifle would shoot them at.
I am all for the bigger is better.
But a 350 Mag. is a beautiful adult rifle and in .177 would be flat shooting with heavier for caliber pellets that would hold into their velocity/energy well, likely be more accurate than the lighter pellets, and be a good killer.

The suggestion on the 392 is a good one, reason being is that it's a variable powered gun. Good power, accurate,(with the right pellet)and light weight.

A bump for this thread because my new 392 arrived today. This is my first .22cal airgun, and I didn't realize how much more "thump" they have than the .177. Intellectually I always knew, but there's nothing like pounding the crap out of some soup cans to really drive home the point. Loads of fun too.

I ran a couple patches down the bore, lubed the pivot points, then got zero'd at 30yds. I settled on 7 pumps with 15.9gr JSB Exacts, which chrono'd a consistent 585fps at the muzzle. I can't remember if 8 or 10 pumps is the max, but 7 is plenty for now. I also bought a Williams peep but haven't installed it yet.

Once my son woke from his car seat nap I moved a can up to 15yds and backed off to four pumps so he could watch the can tumble at the shot. The slower impact velocity still provided complete pass-throughs, but caused the can to bounce around more, which he thought was great. He's only 20 months old, but I'm getting him interested early.

So I guess this is a long-winded way of saying "+1".

Considering how many Chinese airguns exceed the $200 mark, I think the little made in the USA Benji 392 is a superb value for $160 delivered.

I wasn't happy withe the 350 in 177 I owned. It's just too much power for 177. Many pellets actually broke the sound barrier. 22 is where the 350 really shows it's suff as far as a hunting rifle.

Regarding the Benjamin pumpers, are the sights and trigger of decent quality?

What kind of low magnification scope would work well on this type of air rifle?

The sights on a Benjamin 392 are ok, not the best but they work fine for shots 30 yards or closer. As far as the trigger, not good. About a 3-4# pull.

I use a 4-12X40 Hawke Eclipse on my Benjamin Steroid 392.(model not made any more)

I also installed a Benjamin Super Sear in replacement of the stock trigger sear. This brings down the trigger pull to 1-2#. The best investment for a Benjamin.

This is my SHTF survival rifle. Light, very good power, and accurate out to 80 yards.

Yeah, the trigger is pretty poor. I'm sure mine's in excess of 6 lbs. I hadn't heard of the Super Sear, but I'll check into it. The factory iron sights are OK and adjust easily, but the front sight is a little thick for small targets beyond 30yds. A Williams rear peep will probably help ME shoot more accurately, but wont' resolve the front sight thickness. A six o'clock hold is about the only realistic solution for tiny targets, given the design of the sight.

Xposo, how much faith do you have in that scope mounting system? I realize there aren't many choices (one?), but clamping those sketchy bases directly to the brass barrel makes me very nervous. I'd like to mount a scope, but for simplicity and weight I might stay with the Williams rear sight as a tradeoff for what a telescopic would offer.

Tim still puts a few out every now and then.
I bought one about three months ago.

I have A LOT of faith on the mounting. That's because there are dovetail grooves cut into the breech it's self. And with a BKL Cantilever mount, There is zero slippage or any kind of movement, it's a very solid mount.
This is not a stock gun, Tim McMurry of Mac1 Airguns builds these custom rifles. Besides doing a Steroid tune on Benjamin/Sheridan guns, he also cuts dovetails for mounting scopes on them.
There's also a guy that makes mounts for these guns. I've seen pictures of it and its a very good design, I wouldn't mind getting one but since I have no problems with how the scope is mounted, I'll hold off for now, or if I plan on getting another 392.

Thanks for the clarification. I thought the Benjamin barrel clamp bases were the only option for mounting a scope. I've heard of Mac-1 but haven't seen any of his work up close. I didn't realize he did more than the Steroid treatment.

I paid under $200 for my RWS 34P .22 a couple years ago. Great gun. Gets about 700 fps with 14.3 gr. pellets. Will take a squirrel out @ 50 yds.. A dime will cover 5 shots @ 40 yds.. Other option - You may want to check out Chinese Dragon.
These are tuned Chinese clones of the RWS & Beemens.

I paid under $200 for my RWS 34P .22 a couple years ago. Great gun. Gets about 700 fps with 14.3 gr. pellets. Will take a squirrel out @ 50 yds.. A dime will cover 5 shots @ 40 yds.. Other option - You may want to check out Chinese Dragon.
These are tuned Chinese clones of the RWS & Beemens.

Sorry- It is Flying Dragon Air Rifles.

I have an old benjamin .177 pumper in captivity... it's an ok air rifle for plinking and garden pests...

Seems like i read that the newer benjamins came with plastic sights... hope i was wrong about that...

about how much for a tuned benjamin w/decent trigger?

The Benjamin 392 has a steel rear sight and matte finished alloy front. Mine is new and untuned, but IIRC the Mac-1 Steroid tune is around $150.

I'm satisfied for now with the power level, but plan to dive into thte trigger group when I get some time.

just checked out the Flying dragon site, and some of their reviews.

interesting...

I'm looking real hard at ordering a Benjamin 392. All the research I've done looks very positive.
Get some RWS Super Dome pellets and a little work on the trigger and it should be a great shooter.
Amazon has them for $139.99 shipped to your door right now.
...
What the heck...Talked my self into it. Fathers day gift to me :))

I have a Mac-1 steroid Benjamin 392 I'd like to sell if anybody's interested. It has the full billet/steroid treatment with two pound trigger tune plus dovetails cut into the receiver, straight bolt mod for easy manipulation with a scope and a Williams receiver sight installed. The gun is 12 years old but hasn't been shot much and is in overall excellent {98%-99%} condition. The only problem is that it leaks and would probably need to be resealed. I still have the original receipt around here someplace and it was 293.00. I'd like to get 175.00 out of it.

Dear, At this price I don't think so you would get an excellent one for your purpose. Although Benjamin and RWS are famous one's for this but you have to increase a little bit.

Benjamin 392
Ordered on the 16th. Arrived on the 20th.
Amazon could have packed it better as the bolt handle wore a hole through the rifle box, but not the Amazon shipping box.
They put the rifle box, bolt down, inside the shipping box, then piled lots of paper packing on top to fill the large shipping box.
Packing/rifle/more packing would make a lot more sense but that would involve some thought and slightly more work....sigh...
No damage.

I removed the bolt and gave the barrel a good cleaning.
I've got RWS Super Dome, Crosman HP and JSB Diablo Exact.
Now to get some range time

http://www.amazon.com/Crosman-Benjamin-392-Variable-Hardwood/dp/B002J1OZ8G

For those of you who aren't familiar a Mac1 Steroid Benji 392, it's the best modified Benjamin pump rifle you can get. No one other than Tim McMurry can modify these guns to do what a Steroid can do. Tim goes over a stock rifle from muzzle to butt stock and does his magic to it. A stock 392 with 8 pumps (maximum pumps by the way, but I know everyone does more than that which is really bad for the gun) supposedly does 686 fps. A Steroid does 730-750 depending on pellet weight and can be pumped to a maximum of 14 pumps, but with that many pumps in it you'll need a MUCH HEAVIER PELLET (at least 16 gr) to get accuracy. I dropped a cotton tail with a head shot just under 80 yards with my Steroid with 10 pumps. The guns got more than enough power that far out.

Blackheart, send the gun back to Tim, he stands behind his guns, just a s long as it's a mechanical failure and not from abuse he'll fix it for free. I had a seal leak in one of my Steroids, he took care of it. I just had to pay shipping to and from him.
Heck If I had the extra cash I would buy it from you. (I have the very same gun you want to sell, my other one is the extended billet lever which I like more)

Thanks xposo, I'll probably send it back to Tim for repair. Truthfully, I'm kinda just sick of pumping it and would like to sell it and get a good .22 cal springer. I have a bunch of other pneumatic and Co2 rifles but have never owned a good springer and would like to try one for a change. I want something with decent power while at the same time not being terribly hold sensitive. Am considering the Weihrauch HW-50 and HW-95. Any comments or suggestions ?

Go for the 95 in any caliber hands down, you won't regret it. When I first got started I heard all the talk of the R9/HW95 and how good this rifle is. When I made a trade for my Limited Edition .177 R9 I finally believed what everyone was talking about. After shooting it for a little while I wanted one in .22. I found a very good used Goldfinger for sale and jumped at it since during that time the .22 versions were very hard to come by. Sent it out for a tune to David Slade (former head airgunsmith for Beeman at the time)so he could do his magic on it. After several thousand rounds the spring broke, this time I sent it to Pomona Airguns. Steve only uses Maccari parts and machines his own guides. Talk about a sweet cocking and shooting gun. During break in the gun was doing 710 fps with FTT 14.66 gr pellets. Now after 2000 rounds the gun settled down and is shooting a very smooth 690 with the same pellet for just over 15 ftlbs. I'm not a power freak (although I was going to send it out for a power tune, 16+ftlbs) so where it is now is doing just fine considering I can put 5 shots into the bottom of a soup can at 90 yards, not bad.
A light weight, very accurate rifle that depending how it's tuned can be a very powerful hunter/plinker. Like I said, you won't regret getting one, I've never heard anyone complain about theirs, and it's very rare to see one for sale.

My babies!
The L/E .177

And the Goldfinger .22

Both are keepers!

Just ordered a Benjamin 392 through Amazon for my son. I appreciate the tips and link guys.

Sent Tim an email about some work this afternoon...the guy is really on the ball and got back to me in a few hours. Here's his response for those interested:

The billet steroid tune is $175.00 plus shipping, it includes a billet pump lever, spring steel lever link with oversize rivet, steel front plug with oversize pins, recontoured bolt probe, upgraded o rings, steroid valve conversion (more power per pump and 14 pump max.) , adjustable piston, trigger tune(approx. 2.5 lb pull), hand crown barrel(if required), sight in, etc. Lube is also included.
For peep sight add $40.00, IA removable scope base add $50.00, dovetail breech add $30.00 and/or extended billet lever add $30.00.