For plinking, garden pests, and possibly some occasional small game hunting?
Would probably prefer to use iron sights, and don't want to send it off to have it "doctored"...

Which rifle is the best bang for my buck, considering trigger quality, ease of use, overall quality, and effectiveness?

What is the best source for air rifles, and accessories?

Kind of a broad request, but I'll take a stab at it...If you are talking about a springer, (single shot break barrel), then I'd go with the Beeman R9 in .20 caliber. Around $400.00 I believe.. I bought one from Pyramyd Air a few years back and slapped a cheap 3x9 MilDot scope on her. Like most Spring guns, its hold-sensative, but once you master the "Artillery Hold" (Google it, it will restore your faith in spring guns)..That rifle will shoot a 10 shot group I can cover with a quarter, easy, at 30 yards. Powerful enough for squirrels , pigeons & crows, but thats where I'd stop.
If you want to take it to the next level, try a PCP (pre-charged pneumatic) gun. You will need a high psi air source like a pump or SCBA/SCUBA bottles, but once you cross that bridge, you won't come back....Not recoil sensitive, much more powerful & as accurate...I have a PCP rifle that shoots heavy .22 cal pellets (18+ grainers) at over 900 fps and can cover 5 shots with a dime at 50 yds.. Its my "chicken coop rat rifle" and its a hammer for sure..
All depends what you wanna do (and how much $$$ you're willing to spend..). The Beeman being $400 and the PCP rifle being $1500. Although you can get a great lower priced PCP in the form of the Benjamin Marauder. They run under $500. but for all around casual fun, I'd go Beeman R9. State of the art Rekord trigger, beautifully finished and reasonably priced. 20 cal. pellets are all over the place and they are a good compromise between the 177 & 22. (my R9 does about 825 fps with standard 20 cal pellets ..high 700's with Crosman Premier heavies (14.3 grs.) Rifle is factory stock.

For plinking and garden pests/iron sights that's a Benjamin 392.
Link here
You may be able to find one local to you as well.
I have a Benjamin 347 that has worked well for 40 years and is the first rifle in mind when a buddy needs a loaner for a week or two. They just work and no special hold required to shoot well.
I have others but for a first rifle with your parameters, get a Benjamin pump and pass it on to your grand kids.

recommends then for the beeman r9 .20 and the benji .22...

I would prefer a .22 as the pellets are available off the shelf at farm n fleet...

Is the beeman r9 available in .22?

Is the quality of the benji still the same as my uncles old air rifle from the 60s?

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=35fQcuFnjR8[/video]

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MoaT4Xs_ig0[/video]

There are a bunch of good reviews on youtube (lots of awful ones too) so do some shopping and make note of the models that you want to check out at youtube.
Take a look at Airguns of Arizona, Pyramid Air, Straight Shooter and Gateway to Airguns to see which models and features are important for your needs.
It's like Lays potato chips,Betcha can't stop with just one!

Well,

I actually have a benji 397 that i picked up from a gunshow for $15 in 2008. Great shooter, but there are times when I would like a little more punch.

There's also times when I would prefer not to pump 8 times, which makes the beeman look attractive.
I googled the beeman, and one article from Arizona said that the company was out of business?

Actually, Beeman was the importer, but a German company called Weihrauch (pronounced "viro") makes the rifles.. They are still being made and have a great warranty...click here and scroll down to the 5th rifle....The Weihrauch version of the R9 is the HW95 and is identical. Its made in .22 and will shoot hard at 755 fps. Airguns of Arizona is great to deal with...
I also have a Benji pumper and I grew up with that rifle..if there was ever a fire in my house (God forbid..) and I had time to grab one air gun, it would be the Benji...Its an old friend...I will never sell it. I will confess though that the R9 easily outperforms it. Sounds like you already have a Benji, so.......


http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/Weihrauch.htm

Is either the pumper or the spring piston rifle much affected by temperature changes, or cold weather?

As a rule the Pumpers are not too affected by the cold temps, although you can count on getting lower velocities due to the denser air. Spring guns will need two or three shots to get acclimated to the outside temps. (internal grease on piston , spring, etc..) Not a deal breaker for me, just one of those things....The regulated PCP rifle like a Cricket is relatively unchanged by weather temps...

Really only the CO2 guns are affected by the weather. It won't be much of an issue with a multi pump or springer.

I'll go along with the other guys in recommending the R9 and 392/397 Benjamin rifles. The R9 is a great little rifle and fairly quick for followup shots, but the Benjamin pumps are easy on scope and can be kept loaded for years with no affect on the rifle (unlike spring guns). I have examples of both but currently shoot the Benjamins more than my R9.

One thing that wasn't addressed is noise. The pumpers are about twice as loud as the springers. I have a Sheridan Blue Streak in .20 cal and with 8 pumps it's loud. Not 22 Long Rifle loud, but loud just the same. I could see it being an issue in urban areas. The spring gun is more of a dull "thunk" sound... Its not an issue for me where I live, but I just wanted to mention it should you have neighbors that aren't gun-friendly...cause thats a game-changer..
I know you said you weren't in favor of sending a gun out to be pro-tuned, and I get that. But one of my R9's has been tuned by Russ Best and that gun shoots Crosman Premier 177's at well over 900 fps. and is so quiet, it sounds like a muffled finger snap when it goes off. ..(for lack of better analogy...lol).. It is also deadly accurate and is pure poison on garden-raiding Starlings & Chipmunks...Think I paid $365 shipped for it, used.. They are out there..

John...I don't know if I'd limit myself to the "off the shelf" pellets you can buy at the big box stores unless they're accurate enough. My new Benjamin pistol/carbine won't keep any of the Crosman premiers within a two inch circle at just ten yards. Predator polymags do one ragged hole at 25.
If you're lucky, the cheap pellets will work, but once you find the pellet/pellets your gun likes, you'll likely stockpile a few tins...

Well...

The issue is settled, for now at least... I was in town this morning and found an older Sheridan blue streak for $50...

A local shopkeeper had taken it in trade from an older guy who couldn't pump it anymore... The old guy took home a gamo .177...

The Sheridan is obviously well used and has some considerable wear on it. But I made a 1" circle on some cardboard and put 2 of 5 shots in the top of it from 50'. all shots grouped within 1", fired from my lawn chair offhand...

Congrats on the Blue Streak...a little advice...think about using the JSB pellet....I tried them in my Blue Streak and the groups shrank to half the size... They are a bit lighter than the Benji cylinder pellets, so you'll gain some velocity as well. here's a link...


http://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/JSB_Diabolo_Exact_20_Cal_13_73_Grains_Domed_500ct/477

Sounds like a good deal to me. Those old blue streaks are great air guns...

I have an HW97K .177 cal which I've owned for something like 6 to 8 years. It is nothing less than a great under lever spring gun. I also have a Benjamin Marauder 25 cal PCP That will surprise you with the power and accuracy. I've owned quite a few different air guns in my life.

$50 is a super deal.

My Benjy's never peen pumped 8 times. What?. Too too tiresome. 4 or 5 got the tree rats, the roof rats, the cottonmouth and I forget the rest.

The little sheridan came with a full tin of benjamin 14.3 gr pellets...

I note the above recommendation for the polymag. Any other recommends???

JSBs are also very good...I've not tried the H&Ns but have only heard good things about them. Reading the reviews at Pyramid Air might help you decide on which to try.

I've had good luck with the old style yellow box Sheridan cylindrical pellets in my Silver Streak. They weigh about 15 grains and seemed to penetrate better than the lighter ones. $50 is a great deal on your Blue Streak!

Pick up a pellet sampler and go from there.

After a couple of days off, and a few hours spent at the picnic table with this one, I wonder why I never owned one before.

And I also wonder how Americans got away from this kind of manufacturing quality and value.

This may be the ultimate solution for garden pests... Amazingly accurate and plenty hard hitting.

The forearm was a bit noisy while being pumped. I looked at the point of contact for the pump arm and it was obvious that there had been a rubber ring there to act as a pad, or bumper upon closing the forearm.

I pulled it out with needlenose pliers and it crumbled, but the remains looked like a hardened and cracked piece of automotive rubber hose. A short length of Dayco 5/32 i.d. looked just like it may have been original equipment, and effectively silenced my pumping efforts.

I ordered some more pellets online.

The so-called shortage of rimfire ammo seems less important, today...

If you ever get a chance, give one of the moderated PCPs a whirl...quieter than a Red Ryder & spittin pellets out in excess of 900 fps. If you have time, there's probably a club not too far from your area that holds field target matches...you'll probably walk away with a new appreciation of air guns...

Been shooting the sheridans since my first one in 1968, it was a 1960 version with the hold down safety. I've since bought up a few as I see them for sale.

Best American air rifle technology ever. I owned a dozen of the various springers and PCPs over the years. All are gone except the sheridans.

The service complexity and frequency of the springers just got to be too much. Plus I can leave them loaded and ready to shoot without setting the spring and weakening it.

The Sheridan is loud to pump, loud to shoot, and a bit of effort. However my oldest one is 60 years old, has been pumped a gazillion times and fired more times then you can imagine. With the peep sights I have skimmed the top of a blue tip match to light it at 20 yards, shot flys off the fence with my buddies for several summers as a kid. More birds and bullfrogs then could be imagined

These sheridans were built to be handed down for generations, my 12 year old son took one out today to shoot starlings in the orchard. It's 60 years old! The total cost for a valve rebuild is about 20 bucks and then it's as good as the day it was made for another 50 years.

I'm a fan of the Sheridan, it's 1/3 the weight of a springer, 1/4 the cost, effortless no recoil shooting and at least in my hands more accurate then any springer I have owned. Plus it will last many lifetimes. Oh yeah, equal in power to all but the most powerful, but the more wear prone and difficult to shoot springers.

From a bench I could shoot a springer, especially my AA pro elite as well. But from hunting in the woods positions that Sheridan beat the springers hands down

Spot on JJ...my sentiments exactly on the springers. As much as I love the old Sheridans, I've been won over by the new PCPs. Partly because of the availability of factory offerings that have shrouded barrels & attachable LDCs but also because they can be had as repeaters. My next will probably be a Kalibrgun Cricket in .25

I googled the kalibregun.

Thanks, but no...

And I briefly looked to see if there were any airgun leagues or competitions in my area. Came up empty handed on that...

I wish every $50 I spent made me feel as good as the purchase of the Sheridan...

My first pellet gun was a pump Sheridan - still have it.
This thread made me get it out and fondle it for a while.

Lots of great memories from years ago ; no telling how many pests I've disposed of with that thing......

I think you'll enjoy yours...

Juuuust missed one here on Craigslist for $50.....dang

My experience mirrors that of many here. My silver streak is 50 years old. I got it new for my 11th birthday. I had it in the closet awhile durning my 'springer' phase. Now it is back in use and the FWB 124 springer is in the closet. The primary use now is for squirrels that venture onto my house and feral cats in my wooded backyard. They are classics and probably one of the best tools for teaching kids the value of the first shot. Plus it builds young muscles in the process.

Some Sheridan information....

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...hrono_results_from_some_5mms#Post5312328

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=497476

http://sheridanguns.com/

Best pellet rifle for the money ever made...

Bob

Value grade Gamo up to 200 bucks will take care of stuff, and you don't need to worry too much about your investment.

Past that level of spend, it's managing regrets, aka - eliminate things that don't fit, or are better done by a 22. Plenty of marketing Bull out there, don't let it get to you.

I guess everybody has different tastes but there's no way I'd fork over $200 for a Gamo springer when a Benjamin pumper could be had for less.

Technology wise any spring air combo should be OK.... But the higher end Gamo's can be had on sale for ~125 so it's ok, if you pay upper end for one, I tend to agree.

But, I don't like pump jobs anymore, one cock and dead, OR go really high end like a marauder

I'm exact opposite, I haven't liked springers since I was a kid with an old Daisy model 25...first time I shot a pump up, I knew there were better options...

ETA: Even though the Marauder is a good gun, it's actually kind of "Low End" for a pcp...

More than a decade ago, Webley made a side lever spring-piston .25-caliber rifle; I believe it was called "Osprey." My understanding was/is that it was among the most satisfactory air rifles for small game - that is, powerful, accurate, well made, and its rigid barrel made consistent accuracy easy to maintain.

I have tried to obtain this rifle for years, but no one has made one available. . . . I wonder why "large bore" side lever spring-piston air rifles are not ubiquitous?

German airguns are very good Weihrauch/Beeman being no 1 and then Diana/RWS.
Both companies make many different kinds of airrifles and
pistol(s).
Look at their homepages and you will find a lot.

Brittish Air Arms are also very good, but very expensive too.

Saved my penny's and bought my first Blue Streak in January of 1964. Just had it rebuilt for the second time, shoots like new again.

I picked up a first or second year ( 1949 or 50) Silver Streak awhile back at a gun show. It is now rebuilt, broken parts fixed, and shooting good except some one has filed down the front sight, so now in the thought process of how best to fix it.

Sheridan's are hard to beat for all an all around fun or hunting pellet rifle.