I'm looking for an air rifle that I can use on rabbits and possibly coyotes, in a pinch, at close (in the back yard) range. I want something that I could pick up at Walmart or Sportsman's Warehouse. Any ideas?

With shot placement being critical on coyotes a good .22 or .25 caliber Benjamin Marauder would fit the bill. My backyard is 5 acres so I use a Haley .308 which is not available at either location you suggested. My 5 year old can dispatch the cottontails around here with any .177 at 20-30ft. Jackrabbits are a different story, move up to the .25

If you really want to dispatch bigger game at longer distances and not spend a fortune on custom guns but need an airgun, a used RWS 201 in 9mm would be great and should be found for $400ish. Also a Haley QB conversion in .308 would be good for about $500ish I believe.

All my suggestions are PCP airguns and require an outside air source. The Benjamin can be bought as a kit from Sportsmans with a pump and it will work fine. You can also get adapters to fill from scuba tanks and high pressure air tanks.

Matthew

What kind of air pressure is needed? 30 lbs? 90 lbs?

nope. more like 2500 to 3000psi.

Forget Walmart and local buys, if you're going to do it, do it right. Here's how"

http://www.airgundepot.com/big-bore-article.html

No one is going to kill any coyote with a little air gun unless it's on a leash.

r in w.

Where can I find a leash for my air gun?

quarterbore, I wouldn't go any smaller than a .22. If you limit yourself to Wally World and Sportsman's Warehouse, the only one I found was the Crosman Benjamin Trail NP Break Open .22 Caliber Air Rifle at Sportsman's Warehouse. It won't kill the coyotes without excellent shot placement, and even then it's iffy. It will kill any rabbit out there, with power to spare. I'd chose at least a .25 myself, but that might not kill the coyote either, and pellets are not to be found at either store mentioned. I live close to Bass Pro HQ, and they only sell .177 & .22. Anything bigger and you are talking PCP guns. Those get expensive really fast, but shoot big pellets that will kill a coyote. I did see on youtube a guy using a .177 springer with PBA pellets kill a 250 lb wild pig. That's a thought also, but no guarantee on the coyote with that either. Hope this helps.

lewis-clark.org
Go BIG ! .51 cal should be enough !

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
nope. more like 2500 to 3000psi.

Can gas from a oxgen or Co2 bottle be used?
Like something from a welding supply?

oxygen will blow up and kill you and CO2 has the power level of a good fart. nitrogen is the gas of choice but requires large, leased 6000psi tanks( weighing 300plus lbs) and requires special reduction manifolds, connecting hoses, and regulators to take it from the tank to a gun tank working at 3000-3500psi. also all PCP rifles are designed to run on compressed air, not nitrogen, so using nitrogen will usually void any new gun warranty, even though it works just fine. stick with compressed air unless you do a LOT of big bore( .308 cal or larger) shooting. and by a lot. i mean 100 or so rounds/WEEK

Would you mind explaining how oxygen will blow up and kill me??????

quote:

Originally posted by Rae59:
Would you mind explaining how oxygen will blow up and kill me??????

Basically oxygen at any kind of pressure makes other materials supercobustible..... So pressurized oxygen coming in contact with grease or any impurity inside your gun has the potential to make it blow up and supercombust..

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse8.pdf

the link pretty much says it all. PCP air rifles are designed to run on compressed air- PERIOD...

"Basically oxygen at any kind of pressure makes other materials supercobustible..... So pressurized oxygen coming in contact with grease or any impurity inside your gun has the potential to make it blow up and supercombust."
_____________________

That is why the 0xygen pressure gauges warn against having them around any oil/grease. If you doubt such warnings, ignore them, and use oxygen in airgun and/or around any oil/grease, etc. you are risking blowing yourself, and anyone nearby, into tiny pieces scattered all over the neighborhood!

Who the hell shoots with pure oxygen? Compressed air contains appx. 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen plus trace gasses at sea level. Compressed air guns will diesel a bit until they shoot out the oil in the barrel. There is no danger of explosion with compressed air guns from combustion. Yes, in a pure oxygen environment a spark or high enough pressure can initiate auto-combustion. That's what happened in the Apollo 1 fire when a short circuit under a seat ignited the cabin.

Weihrauch HW 80.

My current favorite big bore air rifle is the EVANIX Monster.

It uses 80 grain pellets, very accurate and very powerful.

For any of the air charged rifles, unless one has a compressor, one need get a diving tank and an adaptor to fit the rifle.

Fill the tank at the diving center, and keep it at home to fill your rifle.

In fact, that is how we do it for speed.

As a compressor takes time to fill it up, while a diving tank fills it up in a couple of minutes.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:
Who the hell shoots with pure oxygen? Compressed air contains appx. 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen plus trace gasses at sea level. Compressed air guns will diesel a bit until they shoot out the oil in the barrel. There is no danger of explosion with compressed air guns from combustion. Yes, in a pure oxygen environment a spark or high enough pressure can initiate auto-combustion. That's what happened in the Apollo 1 fire when a short circuit under a seat ignited the cabin.

Not to mention that the inside of the Apollo 1 capsule was practically carpeted with Velcro... it was the combustion of the Velcro that provided the toxic combustion products that killed the crew...

Also in the Apollo 1 plugs out test NASA stupidly were not only testing in pure oxygen,
but were testing pressurized to 2 atmospheres to simulate the differential pressures between the cabin and outside that would be experienced in flight...
Consider the combustion possibilities of pure oxygen at nearly 30psi?

things burn in pure oxygen at atmospheric pressure double the pressure and some things practically explode... and other things that don't burn in pure oxygen, but double that pressure and they burn readily...