Guys, I need to get a good, accurate air rifle for the garden. I'm not looking for the best, or the fastest, just good accuracy, good sights, and enough power to take care of rabbits and squirrels at close range.

Not looking to spend a lot of money, just "enough."

Thanks in advance.

I shoot an rws Dianna model 34 it does a pretty decent job. If you need more then the rws Dianna 54 in 22 Cal. Will do it with authority.

Used Sheridan !

Another vote for the RWS Diana 34. No pump, pump, pump. Cock it and shoot.

How far is "close range" ? I've killed a lot of rabbits and squirrels around the yard with an old Daisy 880 and Crosman 760. They are both quite effective out to 15- 20 yards. I also have a Mac-1 steroid Benjamin 392, a .22 caliber BSA Meteor and a Sheridan 2260 MB. Out of all of them my favorite for back yard plinking and pest control is the CO2 powered Sheridan 2260. No pumping, easily scoped, 5 shot groups under an inch at 30 yards, enough power for rabbits and squirrels out to that range and only 149.00 from Pyramydair.

Recommendations for the RWS 34 are solid. They are a nice rifle, big and heavy but for the price hard to beat. Something you may find is that quality air rifles are a ton of fun. Cheap ones sit in the closet. It may be worth a few more bucks to get a quality rig that you will enjoy shooting.

Rabbits are pretty tough, I suggest a .22 cal if that is your main quarry.

+1 I have a decent selection of spring and PCP powered airguns, but for a grab and go garden gun the old Sheridan Streaks are hard to top.

In my youth I patrolled the woodlots with a Silver Steak and it accounted for untold numbers of starlings, squirrels, rabbits and an unlucky 'coon. FWIW, my buddy's .22 cal Crossman pump action CO2 would barely penetrate a fox squirrels skin (granted the pellets were of the flat nose style) while the old .20 cal Sheridan Cylindrical pellets would completely penetrate said squirrel. I still have my old SS and it still works just as well 50-some years latter and I keep a peep sighted Blue Streak at the cabin to keep the pine squirrels in check.

Cottontail rabbits are the most fragile small game animal on the planet. Squirrels are waaay tougher and harder to kill.

Your buddies pump CO2 rifle was undoubtedly a Crosman model 622 that was only rated at 450 fps. There are several .22 caliber CO2 rifles on the market today that are rated at 600-650 fps and will absolutely get the job done on squirrels.

No question his rifle coulda used a couple hundred more fps. And better pellets. CO2 being temperature sensitive, those cool fall days didn't help it none either.

Jack Rabbits are some of the toughest - OP did not mention what type of rabbit he was after.

Jack rabbits are hares.

Big tough suckers that can take several 22lr rounds at times to kill - whatever they are. And yes, I have killed jack rabbits with a RWS M34 in .22 cal. - as well as cottontails and a variety of other small game.

I have pictures here of an 8.5 lb. rabbit I killed with one shot from a Daisy 880. Don't know what the hell kind of rabbit it was but it had been living under our shed for months. It looks just like a giant cottontail but I suspect it's some sort of domestic that escaped from somewhere and took up residence under our shed. Anyway, I killed a 15 lb. coon once with that same Daisy 880. One shot, dead coon, same as that giant rabbit. It's all about shot placement {head shot in both cases} and so long as that is good it takes surprisingly little power to kill.

Daisy 880. ....With Wichester 9.8 grain round nose pellets from Tractor Supply for about $5 for 500.

You can leave a pumper pumped. But it's not advisable to leave a springer sprung.

I have an old Sheridan Blue Streak.... if you can find one that works at a good price. Or for the price of a few Daisy 880's, a Benjamin 397 or 392.
FWIW, I don't like a peep sight on these. Just the standard barrel mount sight is faster and more accurate for me.

I really prefer a 20 or 22 for their ease of handling, and their impact on cans. But don't think it's necessary for your application.

Daisy 880. All else is vanity.

Regular 'ol Benjamin .22 is hard to beat. Inexpensive, not cheap.

I'm an RWS guy too. The 34 in .177 caliber is probably most useful if you have folks living around you. The 48 or the 54 are more powerful, more expensive and I think louder. I've got the 48 in .22 caliber and an old model 45 in .177 that was made for Crosman back in the 90's.

Dan

I've had some experience with large varmints myself. A hundred or two of these for the last 10+ years has helped me formulate my opinions. Rifle pictured is a Beeman R-9 with Nikon EFR 3-9x40. Been using it for 5-6 years now.

I probably shoot 20 squirrels a year off our bird feeders. The main feeder is exactly 14 yards from the living room window that I shoot them from. At that range both my Daisy 880 and Crosman 2260 have proven very effective. Of course my Mac-1 steroid Benjamin kills them too but the OP asked for something effective at low cost.

Mostly within 20 yards, sometimes longer, maybe out to 40. But I don't have to be able to kill stuff much beyond 20. The 40 yard or longer shot would be a local dog sh*tting in my yard. I just have to hit those on the ass.


Thanks for all the recommendations.