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I know absolutely nothing about modern air rifles and could use some input from you guys. I live on a 4 acre lot with a small farm pond. I need a rifle that is capable of taking turtles and snakes with head shots from 20 - 30 yards, as well an occasional raccoon from 50 yards at most. Is there an air rifle up to the task in accuracy and power? I’d just get a decent bolt action 22 LR but I’m concerned about richocetts off the surface of the pond, as there is a house 40 yards or so from it through some trees.

Any air rifle that will kill a coon will easily ricochet a pellet 40 yards off the surface of a pond. I personally wouldn't shoot in that direction with a house 40 yards beyond.

Well I wouldn’t be shooting in the direction of the house but I’d rather not risk a richocette as it may go where it wants to. So I need something that won’t richocette off water. I’d use 22 mag rat shot but I doubt it would do the job.

There are plenty of airguns that'll do the job, name your price range. Generally speaking, the less expensive models will disappoint you with accuracy and shoot-ability. For a springer, I'd recomend the HW95. PCPs are great but you're going to invest $500+ for the rifle and needed accessories.
As for ricochets, ANY projectile fired at a low angle will ricochet..........think rock skipping. The only forgiving qualities to an airgun is the light for diameter pellet will limit the distance they will carry.

WHAT!?! You don't already have a decent .22 bolt gun?!?

Wouldn’t want to spend more than $500 or so, including a decent scope. Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out. As far as the angle goes, I’d guess never less than 15 or 20 degrees at the worst.

Nope, don’t have a .22 rifle at the moment. Had 1 of my dad’s Anshultz rifles for years but gave it back to him a few months ago so he could deal some issues of his own. Don’t really have a use for a .22 any more other than something like this. I do have a Ruger single action .22 LR/WMR revolver with a 10” barrel though but usually can’t get close enough for it to be of much use.

Try a Daisy 880 with Winchester 9.8 grain Dome pellets. Under $50 for the rifle and pellets. And then a scope of your choice in the 20 to 50 dollar range.

Or better yet, get the Daisy 901, as it has a better stabilized barrel and a more adult friendly pump handle. $59.99
https://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Daisy_Powerline_901/846


The Winchester Dome 9.8 grain pellets are made by Daisy available at Tractor Supply for $5.


I wouldn't use this on a coon or possum at anything but maybe 10 to 15 yard head shots. But should be up to the task on turtles, snakes, mice, rats, squirrels, and rabbits out to 20 or 30 yards. And much easier to shoot accurately than a high powered spring piston rifle, as there is no recoil on a multi-pump pneumatic air rifle.

And beware these will still skip on water, although maybe not very far. But still be aware of your backstop or lack thereof.

Also you might consider a single shot 410 3" shells would do every thing you mentioned and you woldn't have to worry about ricochet. Just saying . Cheers NC

Admittedly my old Sheridan is pretty dated, but while it works okay for small stuff around the yard, I wouldn't take it after anything much larger than a rabbit. Those high end pellet rifles are costing some serious money and knowing what I do now about the vast selection of .22 rimfire ammo out there, a scoped inexpensive .22 would be my first choice. Nothing says that you need to shoot the peppy .22 long rifle ammo through the thing all the time. There are longs, shorts, CB caps, BB caps and shot loads out there and those CB caps are quieter than a pellet rifle and sure hit harder than my Sheridan .20 caliber pellets.

I'd skip the coon with anything less than a very high-powered PCP, preferably a .25 or larger, and you ain't getting one of those for $500. A .410 is your safest option. Use one of the personal defense loads for the coons, watching your backstop/direction. A decent .22 would be my choice. Forget .22 shot for anything other than small stuff VERY close.

I'm a springer fan myself. Simple (no air tanks, pumps, etc.) just cock it and shoot, accurate and adequate power to do what you are after. With your budget I would get a Beeman R9 .22 Cal. Don't waste your money on cheap Beemans, Rugers, etc with high velocity ratings- they are poor quality, come with junk scopes and even worse mounts. About the cheapest I would go with would be the RWS M34. They are decent guns with ok triggers. A good mount and scope is required. One thing about spending a little more and getting a quality rifle is that you may just find that you shoot this rifle more than any of your others. They really are a lot of fun, cheap to shoot and accurate. Couple that with minimal noise and it is pretty easy to spend an afternoon plinking.

I have given about 6 dozen of these the old dirt nap with my R9 in the last couple weekends.


As for the ricocetts, they happen off of rocks occasionally, but - they are pretty low power projectiles anyway. Approximately 12 ft/lbs at the muzzle - then after the pellet hits something much of that is shed so I consider a pellet a pretty safe projectile. Still want to be careful but much safer than a .22 lr.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I mainly want it for the turtles, they are the main target due to baby mallards. So I'm mostly interested in safest way possible to take them out while their in the water at 20 or 30 yards. I'd said head shots, but shell cracking power would be perferred. I had not even considered CB caps for a 22.

I have caught a TRUCKLOAD...ok a very small truckload, of snapping turtles on treble hooks while fishing for catfish as a youngster. They always swallow the hook, so off with their heads.

Is shooting turtles legal in your state? It isn't in all states.