Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns Multi-pump rifle recomendations

Haven't had one since I was a kid...I'm looking to get a pump air rifle for squirrels and such. Any recommendations for a decent small game pump rifle for around $100 or so? Should I spend a little more?

Thanks for any suggestions,

Josh

For 100.00 you better be looking at vintage/used. Nothing much good new for that kinda coin. Some time spent on gunbroker could yield a nice old Crosman 140/1400 for somewhere near that price though.

I just grabbed that figure as a starting point....what pump rifle would you recommend for hunting small game? Is there a best bang for the buck in pump air rifles?
I don't really want to spend a fortune on one, but don't want a paper weight either.

I have been reading reviews on midway, some folks seem happy with the Crosman 2100 for $60, others seem to like the Benjamin 392 at $150...

Thanks,

Josh

In my opinion "best bang for the buck" is to find an old {70's-80's production} Daisy 880,881 or 922. I say this after owning several Sheridan, Benjamin, Crosman and Daisy pneumatics over the past 40 years. I've had two vintage Sheridans's, early 80's production crosman 766 and 2200 magnum's, and curently own a Mac-1 Steroid Benjamin 392. I've also owned a 1970's production Daisy 881 {still have it and it shoots great}and an early 80's production Daisy 922. The Daisy's easily beat the snot out of my Sheridans. Crosman's and Benjamin for accuracy and are plenty powerful enough to kill rabbits and squirrels out to 25 yards. In fact, I've been out shooting my old Daisy 881 between posts tonight and just ventilated a 12 OZ. soup can 10 for 10 at 30 yards off hand. It routinely groups five of the Crosman flat head pellets inside an inch at 30 yards with the open sights and will bury them out of sight in a pine 2x4 with 10 pumps from 10 yards.

Thanks BH...i'll see what I can find locally.

You want a pumper for a 100.00?
You can't beat this deal.

http://www.rlairgunsupply.com/index.php?p=product&id=425

Benjamin pumpers go for well over a 100.00 today.

That does seem like a good deal, thanks for the tip xposo, do you have any experience with that rifle?

Thanks,

Josh

Yes, yes I do. I have owned 5 at one time but now down to 2 of them.
Several tips if you buy a new one.

1. Clean the muzzle and about 2-3 inches into the barrel with paint remover. Becareful not to use to much as to get the remover into the breech area. You don't want to get any of it into the valve.
2. Find the right pellet for the gun, this gun can be pellet fussy, but when you find the right one, it's going to be lazar accurate.
3. Keep all pivot points lubed. And NO oil down the air hole. All of the oil on the pivot points will migrate into the valve.
If done every 300-500 shots, the gun will out live you. I've see 45 year old Benjamin that still holds air and shoots just as hard as it did 45 years before.
4. Never pump more than 8 pumps into the gun. Doing so will put unwanted stress on the lever pin and arm. Plus you don't get anymore power.

My extended Steroid 392 built by Mac1.

A great all around gun with good variable power and decent accuracy.
Everybody should own at least one Benjamin in their arsenal.

I've shot about a dozen different pellets from my steroid Benjamin 392 and still haven't found one that impresses for accuracy. The best so far has been about 1" groups at 30 yds. with Gamo magnum pointed pellets. I did remove the paint from inside the muzzle and also trued up the crown as it was uneven. You'd think as much as Mac-1 charges for a full billet steroid conversion he'd do that routinely before sending one out. I've had my steroid 392 for about 8 years now and I need to send it back to Mac-1 because it leaks and the piston cup is shot so the pump arm won't stay up. It's shot because it got scored on the edges by brass chips left in the pump tube. Again it seems as though cleaning brass chips out of the pump tube should have been done at Mac-1 before sending it out. I also had the straight bolt knob installed and they did a piss poor job of it as it's crooked as hell. Color me unimpressed with the quality of workmanship proffered by Mac-1.

Sorry to hear of your bad luck.
I owned 3, 2 extended, 1 regular Steroids. Besides the paint, zero problems.
Being it's more of a plinker/hunter I'm content with it's accuracy with FTS/FTT. I've shot 1" groups with all of them, but then again, it's not a 3000.00 PCP, and a long as I can hit a soda can at 70 yards, I'm happy.

I have owned 3 of the Benjamins since 2009, one of which was the pistol. The first one, a rifle in .22 was ok, but it would shoot to the left at distance, indicating that the barrel and sights were not parallel. sold it. Then last Summer I tried another one, did the same thing, and the seals went bad after only 7 months of light use. I decided I should get rid of the pistol while I could, it was only good for short range indoor use, a pain to pump up too.

I had a Crosman 2200 multi-pump in .22 back in the 80's, this gun was great for target and pest control. The seals never wore out even after being used hard for 7 years. The rest of the gun was delicate, but for $40.00 new, it did the job. I junked it out for parts.

I decided this year to get the Daisy 901 multi-pump in .177, this gun has been a great performer, good for indoor target and lots of pest birds to date. Bought the Crosman 2100 and put a scope on it a few days ago, seeing it's needed breakin period, but it looks like it will do the job. With the Crosman and the Daisy you need to be delicate with them, lots of plastic and don't look at them as $500.00 Beemans, because they never will be. But these low end pumpers have been the best for pest control I have ever had.

I have a new RWS 34 rifle with the To6 trigger in .177, but it is too much power for my current needs, so I only use it at the rifle range. This gun is so loud I have to use hearing protection when shooting it indoors. Hopefully down the road when I get a much bigger back yard I can shoot pest birds with it.

Yep' the low end pumpers have offered alot of bang for the buck in the past. Some of the newer ones have not impressed me however. The newer versions from Crosman and Daisy with the plastic receivers in particular. They should be ashamed of themselves for putting out such garbage IMO and are certainly doing the youth of America no favors by putting such useless, inaccurate trash in their hands.

I use the Benjanin 392 in .22.on squirrel out back here. No complaints.

I swear by Sheridan. They will cost about $150. but barn well worth it!

..my vote also....

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

Check over on GunBroker...they can be had from $85-150. That said if you really think you need a scope get a break barrel springer instead... I've unscoped all my Sheridan rifles and just shoot peep sights.

Bob