DO NOT, under any circumstances, buy a German engineered and manufactured Beeman R7 spring/piston airgun!! It only drives a .177 cal pellet at about 700 fps (up to about 600 fps for .20 cal), will only shoot nickel-sized groups or less at 20-25 yards, requires very little cocking force, weighs almost nothing, is short (as in compact), uses old-fashioned real machined steel parts, has real cut checkering on the stock instead of the really nice smooth stylish pressed checkering, comes with just a boring precision finger-adjustable (for windage and elevation) click rear sight, has one of those complex German timepiece Rekord adjustable target triggers that doesn't have any creep and breaks at a pound or so like glass crystal, has that expensive firearm-type polished blue finish that you can see yourself in when you rub it up with an oily cloth, and lasts indefinitely so you don't have any excuse to buy one of those cool realistic pot-metal Beretta or Sigg airsoft-type replica pistols.

Instead, go buy one of those nice new $150 Chinese or Spanish-made 1000 fps Beemans that come with a sexy third-world made scope and combination barrel weight/extender.

This will give me more time to save up enough scratch so that I can order a .177 cal R7 to go with my .20 cal model that I can shoot almost silently in my backyard for hours on end without giving myself tendonitis cocking one of those nice new Chinese or Spanish 1000 fps Beemer screamers.

Tongue firmly in cheek.

So, if I decide to go against your advice and buy one of those dreaded R7's, what is it gonna cost me? (I am too sleepy to do a google on one)...

Do not look it up. You will end up spending a little extra money over the newer sexier models and have no excuse to go out and buy an even sexier newer model in a couple years or so after the first model fails. Don't say I didn't give you fair warning. ;-)

OK, I will stick with my Crossman 1377 with shoulder stock. It is bought and paid for...

Oh, and don't go visit Airguns Arizona in Gilbert, AZ either(southeastern Phoenix). All they have there are crappy older guns like the Beeman R7, or even worse, the German made R9 and R11. You'll be the laughing stock of young teens everywhere.;-)

I'd like to report an interesting story regarding survival hunting with an airgun. Several years ago, I had occasion to hear a friend recount the details of a test that he conducted against the day when he felt that he might have to resort to relatively extreme measures to secure a meal. He lived on the west coast near the ocean where there were many seagulls and crows and had frequently wondered about the feasibility of airgun hunting seagulls (and possibly crows) as potential potmeat. Setting aside for the moment the question of the edibility of seagulls and crows, he wondered how effective a modest but quality .20 caliber spring/airgun might be at acquiring these birds under survival conditions. He reported that his test involved taking a seagull at about 25 yards sitting atop a power pole. He said the bird dropped immediately, uttering a cry on the way down. He was astonished, he reported, that seemingly out of nowhere dozens of other seagulls arrived on the scene within a few seconds, swooping and swirling and squawking over their fallen brethern, and even perching atop the power pole that he had just vacated. Even more interesting, many crows also were attracted to the commotion where no crows had been seen a few moments before. Several of the crows occupied the power lines immediately adjacent to the pole. After this one-time test, he felt somewhat reassured that this means of acquiring food might be a practical option under desparate circumstances.

IMO an air rifle would be an EXTREMELY poor choice for hunting anything except maybe very small birds or mice . Wether it was a rabbit or squirrel , it would have to be a close range head shot . If you did hit a rabbit with an air rifle , it might kill it but it would probably be a slow death . The rabbit would more than likely get away and hide only to die a slow death . With the money it would cost to buy a air rifle that was powerful enough to do the job , you could buy a dozen 22 cal. rifles .

Lucky for him a fishcop didn't follow the crows in, last I heard, killing gulls is super illegal, at least in CA...

Yes, with the old Daisy BB gun. But not so with today's (or yesterday's, for that matter) pump-up air rifles. I've shot jackrabbits at out to 40 yards and killed them dead with body shots.... many times. I say again - many times. My relatively cheap little airgun is a Daisy pump - you pump it several times, up to 10, depending on the velocity and distance you want. It's a .22 caliber pellet gun and it does a fine job. I think it cost about $100 or so 3 or 4 years ago.

"...I've shot jackrabbits at out to 40 yards and killed them dead with body shots..."

That is pretty good. I have shot a jillion jacks with a .22lr (solids, not HP) and had them run off with body hits...