Anyone have a site I can get up to speed on air guns? I don't know the difference between a springer and a ?. I would possibly like to buy something but I like to know all my options and all about what I'm buying first. I was thinking of $200-$300 but I really have no idea and might change my mind when I know more.

Thanks
Randy

I did all of my reading over at the straightshooters site and forum when i was first getting started. learned all i wanted to know about springers, but I am not the one to ask about PCP airguns. Pyramid air is a pretty massive sprawling source of info as well.

I second the Pyramid air site. There is also the "Yellow" forum. I don't care for the format, but it's all airguns.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537/

This has alot of links to different forums.
http://www.airguns.net/links.php#forums

Pyramid does a good job promoting and educating about air guns.
"Yellow forum" Is good if you have a working knowledge and are familiar with a model and need more info.
Try this link Airgunweb link
He does a bunch of reviews on youtube about air rifles from $100 to $1000 so if you see a model that your curious about, search youtube or check his site.
Straight Shooters, Link here

Thanks Guys. That at least gives me a starting point.

This is a good site as well:
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA...8639bcc2ed2fdb0e994e59b&action=forum

Do a lot of studying and thinking about where and how you want to use your air gun. A lot of us put a high value on quietness, ease of cocking and accuracy so keep these things in mind when you're comparing guns. Air guns are like everything else, there's a reason why some are cheaper than others and you can't necessarily tell just by looking. When I see an air gun that looks kind of interesting I like to look it up on Pyramid Air and read the customer reviews or search on the air gun forums, like the Yellow or GTA.

Good luck

Randy: not knowing exactly what you want to do with the airgun, I'm nevertheless going to recommend the HW30/R7 and the HW50s. go ahead and do all of the reading, and experiment as you wish, but I've tried enough now to realize that these two are very solid choices for whatever you're planning to do (absent a high-$$ PCP gun). my $.02.

I'll look into that one. I want something to target shoot and possible hunt squirrels and rabbits. I prefer 177 because they are available locally and cheaper. I would like to be able to shoot close to 1000 fps but would rather shoot 800 or 900 if it made a huge accuracy difference. I want to cock it or pump it by hand. Not concerned about the effort to cock or the noise. Also durability without a lot of maintenance is paramount. I would like all this for under or around $300 since I own and shoot some nice 22's and this is just a secondary toy.

San Rafael R1 .177 950fps with JSB 8.5gr,my rat killer![img:center][/img]

The Beeman R-1 17 Cal spring powered air rifle cost around $650 now. I too have an early 1980s R-1 17 Cal model. For hunting I like an accurate 22 caliber rifles. I have a tuned up Beeman GS 1000 22 Cal. spring powered which is no longer made. Check with your library for books about pellet rifles. Low cost pellets may not be accurate in the air rifle you get. One has to try different brands and weights of pellets to find what is accurate. I don't use open sites on hunting rifles but use AO scopes that can take the double recoil of the spring powered guns. Don't get low cost scopes, they don't hold up.

Crosman makes the Benjamin model 17 and 22 Cal pump up air rifles. Williams makes a peep site for them and there are scope bases also available. I too have an early 1980s Beeman R-1 spring powered rifle but now they cost around $650. Check with your local library for books about air guns, that's how I got some books. There are a lot of different models of rifles, pellets and scopes available. Also Go to the web sites that have ben suggested.

I'd go with a 22 cal if you want a serious hunting air rifle.

The 177's will kill game, but often it's not a quick enough kill to recover them unless you can always get perfect head shots at close range

I hear you on that, I just don't want o have to order all my pellets and pay 22 cal. prices. The hunting would just be a novelty anyway since I own much better hunting rifles.

I found out they are a lot more difficult to shoot accurately than I thought they would be.

This is what led me to the R7 and the Hw50s. anything with more recoil doesn't produce the groups I like.

Getting pellets shipped from amazon.com is quick and most times the good ones are hard to find locally.

That's what led me back to pneumatics. The power I wanted without recoil and unmatched accuracy.

If you want a top quality spring gun that is not hard to shoot well and is very accurate you have to dig deep and get an RWS 460 or 48. They are serious rifles, heavy, excellent triggers and with heavy domed pellets deadly on critters like gophers and skunks to 50 yards.

http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/rws.html

The Wal-mart Crossman Premier pellets kill chit just fine for me. Cheap too....

I've tried to go springer/piston a couple times.... and I just plain can't shoot them in the field. They're ok in a static environment.... but when hunting I can't make hits because improvised rests and up angled shots go to a different POI. The only non-PCP I'd go with is the Benjamin-Sheridan with Williams peep as mentioned above.

If you want real airgun accuracy/shootability.... a PCP is the only way to go. A Benjamin Discovery can be had with pump for $400.... and they boot-stomp every springer I've ever seen in the field accuracy department.

My .22 Disco is sub-1" all day at 50 yards with 15.9 JSBs at 799fps. I get 20 shots for 70 pumps.