Need recommendations for a quiet, powerful .177cal air rifle

[303DD303]

Looking for recommendations for a quiet, affordable (sub $300), powerful .177 air rifle. I realize that anything that shoots above the speed of sound will make a crack sound at the sound barrier, but if I'm shooting lead pellets it will be quieter.

Thanks!

[FreuderLocks]

I think you should check out Crosman NPSS, I think its crosman, might be benjamin.
-FreuderLocks

[Hachiman]

http://www.gamowhisper.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are also vids on you tube.

[jeep45238]

Absolutely love my Gamo Whisper

[KentsOkay]

I have the Crossman Quest: http://www.crosman.com/airguns/rifles/b ... rrel/C1K77" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Cheap ($100), accurate, and fairly loud. The only non loud, worth your time air rifles will be the Gamo Whisper line, unfortunately they are expensive ($300+). Of course a little Daisy or Benjamin pump up is subsonic, but really and truly you need the consistency of a single pump break barrel design if you want to get at all good at shooting.
I love my Crossman, I did some extensive research before buying it, and I have not regretted it.

[Agent]

The Gamo Whisper looks pretty cool. Are there any legal issues with having a suppresser on an air rifle?

[austin93906]

Look up the Gamo "Big Cat 1200" its cheap, not too loud, and accurate. I shoot mine a lot and love her. Its essentially the whisper without the suppressor.

[AZMedic]

Mosin Nagant.

[austin93906]

Mosin Nagant.

Touchè

[AZMedic]

So powerful that followup shots will not be heard due to the enemy being deaf...

[austin93906]

And if you need to be quiet, you can affix the bayo and hit anything within 15 yards

[AZMedic]

And if you need to be quiet, you can affix the bayo and hit anything within 15 yards

Sitting

[austin93906]

In a 5 foot deep foxhole with a 2 foot wall of sandbags

[RatDrall]

Looking for recommendations for a quiet, affordable (sub $300), powerful .177 air rifle. I realize that anything that shoots above the speed of sound will make a crack sound at the sound barrier, but if I'm shooting lead pellets it will be quieter.

Thanks!

You need to keep the pellets below the speed of sound anyway, if you hope to hit anything.

I had an RWS model 36, if I could go back I would have gotten a model 48, with the fixed barrel. Germans make amazing airguns, go with them. If you don't buy an RWS, buy a Beeman. If you buy a scope, buy one from an airgun manufacturer. Do NOT put a rifle scope on a spring piston airgun, they recoil in both directions and it will destroy the optics very quickly. Also, be sure to buy an adjustable mount, it makes a huge deal if you are actually going to use your rifle at any distance. Mine was sighted to hit point of aim at 40 yards via the mount, because the barrel of spring piston airguns often is not aligned with the reciever. Go with .177, they penetrate deeper and shoot flatter. The latter is a big deal with airguns.

Know that any of the 1000fps spring piston rifles will be louder than a .22 shooting CB bullets or shorts. You could buy a Marlin bolt action (the tube magazine fed version!) and fire shorts all day without anyone knowing, so long as they didn't see you. How is your camouflage?

[KentsOkay]

Mosin Nagant.

I am REALLY looking into getting one of those, considering it is about as much as my Crossman pellet gun was.

[Toro Azul]

+1 on Gamo Big Cat. Pair that up with some tomahawk pellets and you have 8 expanding grains at close to 900 ft/second.

[WhoShotJR]

I think you should check out Crosman NPSS, I think its crosman, might be benjamin.
-FreuderLocks

I have the Remington NPSS in 17 and 22. If you shop around you can get them for around $300. If you're not familiar the NP stands for nitro piston. Whereas springer air rifles these compress a tube of nitrogen rather that a spring. I've never owned a springer, but I've shot several, and much prefer the nitros.

[austin93906]

+1 on Gamo Big Cat. Pair that up with some tomahawk pellets and you have 8 expanding grains at close to 900 ft/second.

Mines great with the Crosman Premier Hollow Points. She hits hard and the shots are accurate, the drop is predictable

[Svothe]

You may be interested in the Webley Raider 10. Its a 10 Shot, Rotary Magazine Precharged Pneumatic Air Rifle. Its spot on £300 although in America you could probably get it cheaper. Its good quality, I own one myself and very quiet with no recoil (Powered by compressed air not spring so no recoil at all) its so quiet literally sometimes you can't tell if you've fired it other than it hitting the target.

Also, I mean just look at it, its a sexy beast of an air rifle.

[Red_Snow]

You may be interested in the Webley Raider 10. Its a 10 Shot, Rotary Magazine Precharged Pneumatic Air Rifle. Its spot on £300 although in America you could probably get it cheaper. Its good quality, I own one myself and very quiet with no recoil (Powered by compressed air not spring so no recoil at all) its so quiet literally sometimes you can't tell if you've fired it other than it hitting the target.

Also, I mean just look at it, its a sexy beast of an air rifle.

OMG DO WANT!!!!!

I will be doing some research into these for sure, look like a great trainer for backyard or even indoor fun...

[Necrodamus]

The Gamo Whisper looks pretty cool. Are there any legal issues with having a suppresser on an air rifle?

On a federal level No as long as the suppressor cant be removed and any attempt to remove it would result in its destruction.

BATFE is not allowed to rule on airguns, but it can on suppressors.
So technically this is a grey area.

You also have to consider state and local restrictions

[KentsOkay]

The Gamo Whisper looks pretty cool. Are there any legal issues with having a suppresser on an air rifle?

On a federal level No as long as the suppressor cant be removed and any attempt to remove it would result in its destruction.

BATFE is not allowed to rule on airguns, but it can on suppressors.
So technically this is a grey area.

You also have to consider state and local restrictions

Looking said restriction up can be a PITA. The easiest way to check these restrictions is walk into Academy (or other major sporting goods store of your choice) and see if they sell it. If they do, it is so legal it has absolutely no edgy coolness to it. Check with your neighborhood association though, they might have something to say about it.

[frogdude]

Dont know if they're still around, but back when i was into airguns, Theoben made some of the best and most powerful.

[lunchy]

OP, what sort of power levels are you looking for?
Standard muzzle energy in England is 12 foot pounds and I've regularly taken rabbits at 45 yards with this amount of power. Some people have taken them at greater distances but then you start wandering in to the realms of "my gun can shoot through a TiN plated wang doodah at 3 million paces." kind of crap. 8)
The Webley is a nice gun but I'm not sure of the max power you'll be able to get it tuned too, and with the size of that cylinder the shot count would be very small. Not only that but Webley have had a turbulent few years and getting spares might be a problem in the future.

For $300 a rimfire would be far superior, so is there a reason why one of these would be impractical?

As far as suppression is concerned, the American law, as I understand it, is that you can have a shrouded barrel on an air rifle, as long as it's a permanent fixture. Removable suppressors are a no-no.
Unfortunately, there's not a manufacturer on the planet that has yet made a barrel shroud as quiet as a dedicated suppressor.

My personal recommendation would be for a BSA s10 for these reason-
1. The largest volume shroud of any air rifle that I know of and easily suppressed further with the addition of fibre baffles.
2. 200cc buddy bottle as standard so a good shot count in high power. This is upgradable to a 400cc bottle.
3. Possible 22ft/lbs muzzle energy in .177. It doesn't sound much but it gives you a simliar trajectory as a .22 rimfire. Very usable.
4. Amazingly accurate. All BSA barrels are hammer forged in house, and in fact many people who have bought other air rifles improve the accuracy of their gun by replacing their barrel with one from BSA.
5. Regulated as standard so consistent velocity, and a higher shot count.
6. Very cheap, second hand. And extrememely easy to tune the power up to the required levels.

Now for the (sort of) minus point- They're not in production any more but parts are readily available, also it's a classic gun so there's always custom parts being made for them too. Finally, only that that BSA have excellent customer service and will always help.

HTH, lunchy