
There are many different types of air rifles available
on the market today. On this page we'll go over each type of air rifle available
and discuss the differences between each type. The aim of this page is to help
you choose the best air rifle available to meet your needs. You should also
read our article ".22 caliber pellet guns vs .177 pellet guns: Which caliber
is best for you?" There are three main types of power sources for air rifles:
CO2, Spring, and Pump. We'll discuss each type below.
PART I- CO2 powered air rifles- This
type of air rifle uses CO2 (compressed gas) cartridges. All semi automatic air
rifles use CO2 as their power source.
- PROS-One big advantage
of using CO2 is that you don't have to stop and pump up your airgun before
each shot. Just pop in a CO2 cartridge and your ready to go. Generally one
12 gram CO2 cartridge will give you about 50 shots before you have to change
it out. However this number can vary from airgun to airgun depending on
the efficiency of the air rifle. One of the most popular co2 powered air
rifles is the Crosman 1077. In the last year or
so Crosman has released it's new line of Airsource air rifles. These rifles
use the new 88 gram CO2 cartridge which will give you up to 400 shots per
cartridge before you have to change it out. A nice thing about the airsource
rifles is that you can also use the 12 gram CO2 cartridges in them as well.
Another big advantage of using CO2 is that it allows for semi automatic
fire (fire as fast as you can pull the trigger) if the air rifle is cabable
of it.
- CONS- CO2 air rifles are great
for ease of use and semi automatic cababilities but there are a couple of
drawbacks. CO2 powered air rifles are usually not as powerfull as spring
or pump powered rifles. The most powerfull CO2 powered air rifle(the RWS
850 AirMagnum) shoots at 754 FPS and most other CO2 air rifles shoot
at around 600 FPS. While this is decent power, pump and spring air rifles
are capable of shooting at 700-1250 FPS. Another drawback is expense. While
CO2 is relatively cheap these days the cost over time can add up.
- RECOMMENDATIONS- Crosman is king
when it comes to CO2 air rifles. As mentioned above the model 1077
is an affordable semi automatic rifle. It comes in an airsource
version as well as the standard version. For a premium co2 air rifle
check out the Walther Lever Action
air rifle. It uses two CO2 cartridges and is the most accurate and powerfull
of all CO2 air rifles. In conclusion, co2 air rifles are great for plinking
around the backyard and target shooting. They are also fun because of their
semi automatic cabablities but they aren't the best choice for hunting.
One CO2 pellet rifle that is good for hunting is the Crosman
2250b. It shoots .22 cal pellets so it has enough knockdown power to
do the job. Note that this rifle is good for close range hunting (25 Yards)
but is not as good for long range because it is not powerfull enough.
CONTINUE
TO PART II- SPRING POWERED AIR RIFLES
CONTINUE
TO PART III- PNEUMATIC (PUMP) AIR RIFLES
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