Can someone make a recommendation for a nice all around plinker air rifle?

I don't like the twang of the springer but can see how that might be the best way to go.

I like the idea of the PCP but the hassle of filling tank etc is a pain.

Advice?

you can get a nitro piston .. which works like a springer, but uses a strut for power.. about 300 bucks..

or, when i need something to shoot, goto a flea market or order a sidecocker chinese .177 ...

I personally dislike break barrel guns.

For what little you described, I'd go with a Sheridan Streak. Put a peep sight on it and should be good to go.

quote:

Originally posted by Howard:
Can someone make a recommendation for a nice all around plinker air rifle?

I don't like the twang of the springer but can see how that might be the best way to go.

I like the idea of the PCP but the hassle of filling tank etc is a pain.

Advice?

the cheapest PCP rifle will cost you at least $700 by the time you buy the rifle,scope, scuba or scba tank, and fill hose with gauge. then you have to find a place to fill your tank. unless you are a REALLY serious plinker, stick with a nitro piston(gas ram) gun as mentioned above. my personal preference is the Benjamin series($225-300 with scope), especially the Ben. Trail NP XL-lots of power, reasonable accuracy, fairly quiet, and about $300 with a scope.

Wrong... you can do MUCH better than $700 for
a ready to go PCP rig.

Gander Mountain is running a Discovery WITH Pump
for $299 right now. This is a heck of a deal.
The Discovery is a great rifle. PCP is the way to go with air rifles. Accurate and potent.

Link --

http://www.gandermountain.com/...y_High_Pressure_Pump


dxr

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the Benjamin hand pump is essentially a worthless POS. do a quick search on any airgun forum( yellow forum, TAG, AirgunAdvice, etc) and the negative comments will outweigh the positive ones 3:1. a good hand pump( for example a Hill, Axxor, or 4 stage Fx) will cost at least $250-300- and you still have to spend 15 minutes after every 30 shots pumping the rifle back to 2000psi. Discovery is a decent PCP for plinking since you only have to charge it to 2000 psi but if you ever want to hunt small game is underpowered for shots beyond 30 or so yards. the 1000 fps velocity claimed for the .177 is pie in the sky dreaming, even with the lightest pellets( which are inherently inaccurate except in absolute dead calm). a better alternative would be to buy a Discovery and get a used scuba tank, usually costing less than $100. scuba refills are $5-7 and a 3000 psi tank will give you well over 50 refills before the tank need refilling- not to mention the time and effort saved avoiding the hand pump. check out the classified ads here for options
http://www.network54.com/Forum/79574/

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Another outstanding deal. This time on a
Marauder PCP. $299.

http://www.airgunsdaily.com/

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To me one of the beauty features of air rifle is not having to buy powder and primers and work to create ammo.( I do enjoy reloading, but having a gun I don't have to do that with is also nice). So if I had a gun that I had to buy expensive equipment to charge and work at it to charge it, I'd go with a light load in a centerfire.

I have two RWS model 48's. One in .177 and the other in 25. Both are accurate with heavy pellets. They both took some time to develop the right hold to get them to shoot accurately. I use them for informal target and pest control. Both have Burris 4-12 scopes.

J Zola, I have an RWS 52 in .177 which is the same rifle as your 48's, except the 52 has stamped checkering and the stock is slightly longer. (The actions are stamped mod 48/52 so it's same action). BTW I'd not pay the extra $100 for the stamped checkering--I found a heck of a buy on a used one. I have Leupold 3x-9x on mine and I like the rig, my main complain is the weight. They weigh 8 lbs 13 oz without scope and mount. That's why I recommended the Sheridan Streak as a plinker. Couple of things I did to my 52 that I think improved it that you might want to consider. The red dot for the safety is not an indicator---it is merely a locator--lets you know safety is in that area but does not represent fire/safety. The red dot is located in the middle and on left side of safety. The area it is located on is plastic. I erased the factory red dot with steel wool and on right of safety up high at posistion safety is in in FIRE posistion, I jut barely touched the area with a Dremel and a round bit, making small dimple in the plastic. Filled the dimple in with red paint. I also found the safety to be too skimppy and my gunsmith (now deceased) made me a shoe that was knurled that fit over the safety thus enlarging it.

quote:

Originally posted by doctorxring:
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Another outstanding deal. This time on a
Marauder PCP. $299.

http://www.airgunsdaily.com/

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bear in mind that airgunsdaily sell "refurbished", returned guns. they were generally returned for a reason. my 1 experience them was a Browning 800 mag pistol. the gun was so inaccurate that there was not enough adjustment in the sights to hit a 6 inch plate at 5 yards. since it comes with no warranty, i was left with a 3 lb paper weight. it was easy to see why it had been returned and it was obvious that all they did was rebox it and sell it to the next sucker(me!!!!) caveat emptor.