Air Rifle Vs Rimfire

[jandcguns 65]

Hi I was wondering what your views and thoughts are about which is better a air rifle(preferably a pcp) or a .22 rimfire I will always vote for an air rifle,this I and on going argument between me and mates (accuracy,range,noise,were you can shoot etc in your opinions what's the best?

[paulus 26]

Hi I was wondering what your views and thoughts are about which is better a air rifle(preferably a pcp) or a .22 rimfire I will always vote for an air rifle,this I and on going argument between me and mates (accuracy,range,noise,were you can shoot etc in your opinions what's the best?

a rimfire is as quiet if not quiter with subsonics has far more stopping power at greater distances, the only advantages i can see with an air rifle are, you can shoot skyward and you dont need a licence

[Danny Fireblade 66]

I have both, each has their place for both the same and different things.

 

Neither is better than the other, just using them correctly in the right situation is important.

 

It's the person behind them that matters more than what they are holding.

 

Get both and I'm sure depending on what your doing will dictate what you pick up, I often take both and swap and change during my sessions.

 

Hope that helps?

[Halfinch 51]

If you already have the permission, then i would say Rimfire just edges it due to the better range, but having said that, i was plotted up with my HW100 last night and took three rabbits one after the other because the gun is so quite they didn't know what was happening.

 

However, if you don't have permission and are trying to get some, then i think the Air rifle is the Winner, as 1) you have more places that could actually be permission where with a rimfire it wouldn't be allowed. And 2) IMHO more people would be willing to give permission to an air rifle than a "real bullet gun".

[BenjaminCadd 109]

They both have their place, i use firearms rifle for fox control on the land etc, but you cant beat an air rifle round the barns and yards without worrying abut putting holes in things!

[PLEDGEY 493]

Everthing has its place. On this one farm there are rabbits that can be shot with the 22lr or the HMR, but there is one place where you can only shoot them with an air rifle due to possible ricochet damage.

[RiverRomper 15]

FOR target practice and use in settled areas would have to go with an air gun. The motor skills developed to shoot air guns are similar to the ones needed to operate firearms.

Where all that you can hear is the wind rushing through leaves, the rimfire wins. Lot more power and quicker to get into action. Just look out for ricochets on the Karst topography that makes up much of the landscape in southern Missouri.

Peace, hope this helps,

RiverRomper

[Acuspell 329]

I PREFER using an air rifle. having been a pro hunter for 35 years, I have given up firearms and I now enjoy my shooting againn - it is amazing how you become bored with shooting when you HAVE to do it. Shooting hundreds of animals a month soon loses its appeal - no sport, just execution jobs. The air rifle puts the challenge back into shooting - if you are fairly new to shooting, then the additional power and therefor range has its attractions - but once you have satiated the need to come home successful, you then start to appreciate QUALITY of shot over quantity shot. A good day with the air rifle is an average day with a rimfire - but if you lose the body count perspective, then the challenge presented by hunting with an air rifle will provide afr more satisfaction and pleasure than the relative ease of filling a game bag with a rimfire. Size of quarry will also dictate the choice somewhat, if you are talking about the SAME quarry, then I would choose the air rifle every time - it wasn't always like that though. As you get older you will lose the blood lust and the need to get more than one diminishes, so the air rifle provides the extra pleasure of getting that one for the pot.

 

For vermin control, again the air rifle is pretty efficient, with its totally silent operation - in close proximity to stock there is a safety consideration too. I am particularly uneasy about people lamping at range with powder - green eyes are not always what you think they are, you MUST SEE THE OUTLINE, not just the eyes.

[The one 8,403]

Aye they both have there uses handy tools for differnt jobs

[fry 209]

ammo price has got to be a factor.

[salop sniper 32]

In my case I had an air rifle but craved a rimfire!

I got permition on an air field and got myself a HMR which I loved and after 12months I had some money so I got a .22lr also. . . . The 22lr was sold on 6 weeks later, ammo was cheap, it was silent BUT it felt like I was lobbing house bricks and it ricocheted so so easy I came to dislike and distrust it very quickly so it was sold !

 

I turned to FAC air and found it to be great, 30ftlb in .22. So what I have now is :

12ftlb Daystate MK4 .177

30ftlb Daystate Huntsman

.17HMR

 

It's the HMR that gets used least now and is also for sale !

 

My advice is if you don't need or want to sort out fox then keep your sub 12ftlb rifle and the first FAC buy I would say should be .22 FAC air and run it at 30ftlb ish ! You will have loads covered from 5 yards to 75 yards a possibly beyond !

 

ATB

 

Matt

[optelic2 48]

Ive had fac air and got rid after a couple of years as i found myself using hmr and 22lr a lot more. I also have sub 12ft air for ratting around barns and rabbit control in areas where the rimmies arn't suitable.

[jandcguns 65]

Thanks for all this info guys I must say the range on a rimefire isn't much greater than and air rifle in 177 and possibly 22 yes you don't need holdover with the rimfire but in the right hands a air rifle will kill just as far as a .22 rimfire not a HMR

Edited April 1, 2013 by jandcguns