| Light Powered Rifles | |||
| Beeman R7 | Weihrauch HW50S | ||
| Medium Powered Rifles | |||
| Beeman HW 97 | Beeman R1 | Beeman R9 - R9 Goldfinger | Beeman R11 |
| Beeman HW 77 | Beeman HW 97 Blue Laminate | RWS Model 34 | RWS Model 36 |
| Air Arms Prosport | Air Arms TX200 | Theoben Evolution | Theoben SLR 98 |
| High Powered Rifles | |||
| Beeman RX2 | RWS Model 350 | RWS Model 48 | RWS Model 54 |
| Theoben Crusader | Theoben Eliminator | RWS Model 52 | RWS Model 460 |
| Pre-Charged Pneumatic (PCP) Rifles |
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| Air Arms S200 | Air Arms S400/410 Classic | Air Arms S400/410 Carbine | Air Arms S400/410 ERB |
| Air Arms TDR | AF Talon SS | AF Talon 24" | FWB P70 FT |
| Eun Jin Sumatra | Logun Sweet 16 | Logun Solo | Logun MkII |
| Rapid 12 MFR | Rapid MFR-XP | Weihrauch HW100 | Webley Raider |
If we were asked what the most common question is about airgunning,
it would have to be "What is the best pellet to use with
my airgun?" Without a doubt that question exceeds any other
by a large margin. Everybody wants their airgun to perform at
it's best in all situations. But we can only give general answers
to those questions. So much depends on what the shooter will be
using for a target, the distance he or she will be shooting and
of course, the type of gun being shot. And to make it even tougher
to answer, there isn't very much published information about how
ANY airgun performs with all the many pellets on the market. So
Straight Shooters decided to attempt making a dent in that information
void.
We decided to take a standard new airgun off the rack in each caliber, take one tin of every type of pellet we sell (all calibers) and see how those guns shoot all the various pellets. Each pellet has a weight advertised by the vendor which we will state in the following test grids. But every tin of pellets varies a bit, so on our tests, we weighed 25 pellets from each new tin and entered that weight into the grid also. If the test pellets were a little heavier than the advertised weight, than the velocity fell a bit and if they were a little lighter then the velocity was a bit higher.
This exercise was not meant to be a "test" of the airgun, but rather an information source that could be used by new purchasers to aid in their buying decision. With this information, a buyer can find the proper pellet for an airgun or even choose an airgun which shoots in the velocity or power range desired. The following data will answer questions about velocity, downrange remaining energy and the ballistic co-efficient of each pellet. The ballistic co-efficient is of use for pest control and hunting. The higher the ballistic co-efficient of a pellet.....the harder it hits the target, bird or animal. You'll be surprised at some of the results.
After determining which pellet you'd like to try with your airgun, remember that you and you alone can check the grouping accuracy of that pellet with your airgun. All the listed pellets are of high quality but your airgun will like some more than others. The idea is to find which pellet in the velocity and power range you require will then group best with your airgun. Combining our information with your grouping tests makes a powerful combination. Remember that Straight Shooters offers Samplers with 25 of each pellet in a particular caliber.
What type of shooting do you
do?
We will start by saying that ANY airgun can be used for ANY purpose. All airguns can be used for plinking, target shooting, pest control and hunting. But with that said, most airguns fit best in one or two categories. And to make that consistent across all our evaluations, Straight Shooters has attempted to assign some attributes to the four categories mentioned above. We believe that these attributes are important to mention before speaking about a specific air rifle. These attributes are simply meant to be guidelines to help our readers decide which airgun best fits their needs. All the airguns discussed on these pages will be rated on a scale of 1 to 5 (low - high) in each category. The ratings are based on our own experiences but your experiences may lead you to rate them a bit higher or lower. Here are the categories and our guideline attributes: Look for the Straight Shooters Use Rating Chart to see our suggestions for a gun.
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Plinking
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Target Shooting
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Pest Control
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Hunting
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2
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3
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5
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4
|
1) General Plinking - airguns in this category should be light, easy to cock, easy to load and must have reasonable accuracy. In short, the gun should be fun for the whole family . This is the type of airgun that fits in at the family picnic or back yard barbeque. An airgun in this category should be manageable for shooters of all ages and sizes. It should be fun to shoot at targets ranging from paper to pop cans High cost, superb fit and finish and pinpoint accuracy are not the major factors for guns in this category.
2) Target Shooting - Consistent, repeatable accuracy is the key to this category. Whether shooting at paper targets or field targets, accuracy is critical. This category can include competition airguns such as 10 meter match guns, powerful field target rifles and non-competition air rifles with repeatable accuracy that ranges from very good to excellent .
3) Pest Control - this is a tough subject to define because pests can be many different kinds of birds and/or animals depending on the region of the country. To keep us all on the same page, let's just say that airguns in this category must be able to humanely dispatch birds up to crow size and animals a large squirrel size at a range of 50 yards or less. Garden variety pests would be an apt description. For those whose garden pests include animals larger than squirrel size, see the Hunting category.
4) Hunting - These airguns are the most powerful and usually of a higher caliber. They must be capable of humanely taking small game out to 50 yards and sometimes beyond. Within 25 yards, they should even be able to take larger animals such as jackrabbits (these are not bunnies). Proper shot placement is still a must even with these more powerful air rifles. It is a good thing to remember that airguns are NOT firearms. Don't overestimate their power when larger furbearers present a target. Raccoons, possums and skunks are large animals and require a head shot from a gun with lots of power.
Common items we have found in our testing
Most of the barrels on the new guns we tested required cleaning. Some of the barrels were noticeably dirty and others were just slightly dirty. The condition varied from gun to gun but we would still suggest you clean your barrel before shooting for the first time. We have been told that most of the dirt in the barrel comes from products used for protection against rust and corrosion on the long trip over the ocean and is nothing to worry about. Straight Shooters always cleans the barrels of guns before we ship them to you. This helps make your first out of the box experience with your new gun as hassle free as possible.
As we inspected each gun for the tightness of the exterior screws, we found some that needed to be tightened. We would suggest that you check the tighteness of the screws on your new gun before your first outing. And then check them again periodically as part of your regular cleaning and maintenance schedule. As an added protection you may want to add a product such as Gun Tight to your screws. This will help ensure that the screws stay as snug as possible.
Enjoy the information and good shooting to all. Kevin and Craig
- Straight Shooters