[TNFrank]

As a few of ya' may know a month or so ago I was looking for a decent semi auto or bolt action 22lr. I couldn't find anything in my price range and even if I would have from what I've been reading ammo is as scares as hen's teeth right now. So, I dropped back to punt and got a Benjamin Trail NP Nitro Piston air rifle and I really love it.
The only complaint was the CenterPoint scope that came with the combo, it took a dump in 2 days after only about 75 shots. Of course Crosman has really great customer service and they're going to replace it with a Multi-TAC red dot sight that they have listed on their web sight. I did pick up a SightMark Reflex Sight that was on sale for $30 bucks at the local Dunham's Sporting Goods store and it's working out great on this rifle.
Velocity is very close to the advertised 800fps/14.3gr .22cal pellet. I'm getting 745fps average using an RWS Super Dome 14.5gr pellet which is just shy of 18ft/lbs. This gun is also quiet enough that I can shoot it in my garage using a box filled with news papers as a backstop. I have it dialed in for dead on at 7 yards and I can cut under dime size groups for 5 shots at that range off of a rest. Trajectory has me good to go out to 40 yards which puts me at 3/4" low at that range, plenty good enough for rabbits or other small game hunting and I still have 10ft/lbs at that range.
Ammo costs are way better then any 22lr that I could have found. Pyramyd Air has a buy 3 get one free deal so I ended up with 4/250 pellet tins of the RWS pellets(that's 1000 shots) for $27 bucks, you just can't beat that deal with a stick. There are less expensive pellets and some more expensive ones too but I went with these because I like the RWS brand and a slightly heavier then normal(14.3grs is standard in a 22cal air rifle) seems to work better in this gun.
Anyway, if anyone is looking for a 22lr to hunt small game with or to plink and just do some target shooting with but having a hard time finding something they like in their price range you may do well to give some of the high power air rifles a look. They really fit the bill pretty well, there's no government paper work to fill out so they can be shipped to your door by UPS/Fed-X and ammo costs are very affordable.
Just thought I'd share.

 

[JTJ]

Excellent post. I also use a 22 pellet rifle in my garage and have a steel bullet trap. I usually shoot at 10 yards and have been using the Crossman Premier HP pellets. I have used pellet rifles in the past to get rid of small vermin and pests. A friend bought one after trying mine to shoot rabbits that were getting to his plants. He shoots from 10-20 yards and they will kill a rabbit with a head shot. The pellet rifles will destroy regular scopes. I am using a Barska 2-7x32 air rifle scope. Air rifle scopes are made for the different recoil of the air rifles. You also have to make sure to use the locking tab or screw (depending on the mounts) to keep the scope from sliding. The red dots do seem to work well. There are several air rifles out there that have silencers but keep in mind that they wont work until the oil has been cleared from the rifle and air chamber. Usually takes about 50 shots. They also wont work with the PBA pellets which are supersonic.

 

[TNFrank]

Many of the newer air rifles(like my Trail NP) are coming out with actual Weaver rails to mount your scope rings so they don't have the same problem with sliding like the 11mm dovetails did.
I'm kicking around the idea of getting a Benjamin Discovery once I get back to work. It's a PCP(Pre-Charged Pneumatic) that you pump up to 2000psi using a high pressure hand pump. Then you can get 30-40 shots before you need to recharge the rifle. Velocity seems to be about 850fps with a standard 14.3gr pellet which is about 100fps more then my Nitro Pistol gun.
You can mod them and get quite a bit more power. I just watched some YouTube vids where a guy did a lot of mods to a Disco and made it into a 25cal gun and he was getting 80ft/lbs out of it which is pretty amazing for an air rifle. Of course if you want to spend the big bucks they have em' in 45 and 50cal that get 230-250ft/lbs and can take deer and hog but we're talking $700 dollar range here.
Also, that double recoil that a springer has WILL beat a scope to death in short order. Even many of the so called "shock proof" air rifle scopes won't last long if they're not assembled correctly. There seems to be no such problem with a Reflex or Red Dot sight though, may have something to do with them weighing less(less recoil transfer because of less mass) or maybe it's just the way they're built that makes them more shock proof.
Either way I'm really lovin' my choice to go high power air rifle instead of 22lr.

 

[hoovco]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rp-2_dAJ0k[/ame]

This guy makes ridiculous shots with his pellet gun. Worth a look for sure.

 

[JTJ]

I have been looking at the PCP air rifles. They aint cheep but they are powerful. You can get compressors and they can be filled from tanks. You can use regular scopes with them too. Which one are you looking at?

 

[TNFrank]

I'd like to get a Benjamin Discovery someday, they'll push a 22cal pellet at around 850fps which is about 100fps more then my Trail NP does. I remember reading that WalMart had em' with the high pressure hand pump for $299.99 but I don't know how long ago that was or if it was just a special deal.
I got the CenterPoint Multi-TAC red/green dot sight today from Crosman that they sent to replace the broken CenterPoint 3-9x40AO scope that I sent back. I got it mounted to the gun and sighted in and it's working like a charm. Love the flip up scope covers to protect the lens and the tube style which seems like it'll be more weather proof then the open Reflex sight that I had on the gun. Here's a couple pics of it with the new sight.

 

[John_Deer]

I owned the same rifle you have in 22 cal for 2 weeks. That is how long it took for it to fall apart. I disassembled the gun and put loctite on all the bolts. At the time I put loctite on all the bolts the barrel was tight. Just a few days later the barrel came loose. At that point I took it back to walmart and got a refund. At first I thought the scope was going bad. I constantly had to adjust the scope. It didn't take long for the real problem to come to the surface.

 

[cj84]

I have the same one I and its held up very well. I check all the screws b4 I go out and shoot it and they have always been tight. Haha u might have bought the one my friend took back to the store after he stripped the screws out doing a trigger mod.

 

[TNFrank]

I checked all my screws on day one and tightened them up and they've stayed that way. No problems with the gun at all, the scope, on the other hand, started having the cross hairs turn counter clock wise on the second day I had the gun, probably around 70-75 pellets through it. The double recoil of this kind of gun can even make a $500 Leopold scope go bad if it's not rated for air rifles or "shock resistant" because of the not only backward recoil but the forward recoil.
I pulled the gun apart and took the trigger assembly out and polished up everything and that really helped with the trigger pull, also take the little spring out of the trigger that it not really needed, it comes out if you install one of Charlie Da' Tuna's Triggers(golden trigger) and it works just as well to remove it on the stock trigger too. You can also get a longer screw and put in the adjuster, the stock one IIRC is an M3x6mm and you can get an M3x10mm and it'll let you adjust the sears so they're closer to disengagement to reduce trigger travel before the gun fires. Lots of little tricks you can do to help the trigger on this gun out a lot.

 

[SmallCaliberGuy]

Right now I'm keeping all of my powder burning ammo stored away.
I haven't been able to find any .22lr ammo for a couple of months now.

I have 4 airguns (two rifles, two pistols), I can continue shooting without spending a fortune.
Only one of my airguns is .22 caliber, I can see more in .22cal in my future.
I have been buying pellets every time I go to wallyworld, just in case they decide to crack down on those as well.

 

[TNFrank]

I have been buying pellets every time I go to wallyworld, just in case they decide to crack down on those as well.

Now that WOULD be sad. Heck, you can still get em' in the U.K. so I figure if worse comes to worse I can at least hunt with my air rifle, unless they get the same stupid law for air rifles here as in the U.K. Anything over 12ft/lbs of energy has to have a Firearms Approval Certificate to own it. Now is that crazy or what? My Trail NP is getting just shy of 18ft/lbs so it'd not be "legal" in the U.K. without a FAC.