Thanks for all the feedback in my crossbow thread. The idea of air rifles was brought up, and I figured it may deserve a thread of its own.

What do you think is a good hunting air rifle? Of course a big factor in my decision making is power. I want to be able to kill a rabbit without it just taking a hit and running away. But of no lesser concern is durability. It has to still be functional after prolonged use in rough conditions. I don't want something that's going to stop working when I need it the most.

And another issue I have is that I live in a rural area, dominated by the local Walmart. If I can't get it at Walmart, I have to shop online. Are there any laws that would interfere with me having an air rifle shipped to me? I live in Oklahoma.

I own a sheridan blue streak, it's over twenty years old now and needing a rebuild kit thats less than $20 but still able to kill rabbits and tree rats. I have taken larger game with it in the past up to and including coyotes. The one I have is .20 caliber, but I think Benjermin makes it in .177 and .22 caliber now. I would suggest one of those insead of .20 because I sometimes have trouble finding ammo for it.

You might start here. get the highest power for the buck. the cal. will not matter, but you can carry a lot of 177 pellets in a small space. The spring rifles seem to be the least troublesome and have fewer moving parts.(single cock or break barrel)

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/search/search.asp?r=Page%3A+%2FDefault.asp+KW+Box&s=SEARCH&a=search&k=air+rifle

I might add try to get one that looks like an Air Rifle and not so tactictal.

My questions of air rifles are:

1) Are you really saving that much weight?

2) What kind of survival situation are you looking at the would require gobs and gobs of ammo? Is it a power outage/natural disaster or are is there a concern about Zombies and the end of the world.? I hope we don't go down the Zombie road.

3) Since I do not own an air rifle can someone elaborate on the effects of cold on the spring/piston mechanism?

The 5mm Sheriden Blue or Silver Streak rifles are the best I have ever had. I sorely miss it!!!! Yes, it would take down a coyote or a fox!!!!

I presently have a Crosman .177 cal air rifle. It's alright but nothing like the Sheriden.

I will probably get 1 of the German made spring rifles next. Thet have impressed me!!

How about backpacking deep into the wilderness?

You can hunt turkeys in CA with 20 cal or larger.

I have a crossman too; gets up to about 800fps (advertised). Sportsman's Guide has some Gamo rifles that supposedly get 1000fps, and with the "special" gamo ammo, could potentially get 1200fps, essentially a .22. For that speed, and cost, why not just buy a .22 or .17HMR rifle?

For the most versatility, use a piston model. Its been too many years but IIRC cold wasn't a large factor unless it was cold enough the lubricants get too thick. Lubrication is a couple of drops on a piece of felt that swabs the cylinder as its pumped. The Crosman 2100 looks like a remake of the one I had in the 80's. You can vary the power by the number of times you pump it. BB up to 755 fps Pellet: up to 725.

Because of the way Law Enforcement looks at an air/spring rifle vs. a black powder (primitive) weapon vs. a modern firearm.

The ammo is extremely light weight and one can carry a couple of thousand rounds (BB's or pellets) before the weight becomes noticable.

Air and spring rifles are fairly small and easily concealable and when viewed by another, looks much less threatening than most firearms.

That's My Honest Opinion, take it for what you think it's worth!