How does RWS compare to Beeman? Looking at the Diana RWS 350
TIA

But if the pellet gun and .22LR weight about the same, why even consider the pellet gun? All that energy spent pumping and cocking is contained in a tiny .22 round. Am I missing something?

The rifle itself may weigh the same. But the pellet ammo is much more compact, cheaper, and if worst comes to worst you can make it yourself with a mold and some lead (or maybe even zinc or copper).

Like I said, the thing that really makes .22LR so great is the ammo is small, cheap, and easy to find. .117 pellets are smaller, cheaper, just as easy to find, and easy to make. Therefore, in some situations the pellet rifle may be advantageous.

Again, that's only my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

Both are high quality airguns made in Germany. Diana is made by Mayer & Grammelspacher. Beeman sporting rifles are rebranded Weirauch's. Their match and 10-meter rifles are Feinwerkbaus. Most of the better quality production adult airguns are made in Germany or England, though there are some really good high end custom/semicustom guns made in the US.

I've never owned a Diana, but they have a good reputation. I bought my Beeman R9 because it had the reputation of being one of the best bang/buck (excuse the pun) airguns around. But I know a lot a guys who swear by their Dianas.

Kevin B.

I found a Beeman Model 1100 at Walmart for $130.

Unfortunately, Beeman was bought by a Chinese company. Beeman never did manufacture their own guns. They imported and distributed guns from other companies. The newer, lower end Beemans are, yes, made in China. This particular model is really the Chinese made SS1000 with a Chinese made scope. It gets very mixed reviews. The trigger allegedly has a HUGE pull, allegedly in the 10 pound range, which I find unbelievable. Sad, if true. The Weirauch Beemans were known for having some of the finest triggers made.

Here are a few reviews:

Beeman 1100 Reviews

As far as I know the Beeman R-series guns are still made by Weirauch. Caveat Emptor, your mileage may vary. Do your research. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. There's nothing wrong with buying a cheap airgun at WalMart for plinking and punching paper. They can be a lot of fun. But I wouldn't trust one for hunting/survival.

Kevin B.

Another factor is the incredible longevity and easy of care. A rifle is 'shot out' after 1 to 200,000 rounds even give excellent treatment. A decent quality spring gun is only considered 'broken in' at 100K.

Cleaning a firearm is also much more vital and involved. A pellet rifle can get by by firing a couple of solvent soaked wood pellets every few hundred shots. A bit of cloth or the end of a Q-tip will work.

Other than the most primitive lead balls I can't see making my own ammunition for a pellet rifle. But why would I want to? Five bucks gets you 500 pellets so anyone can afford to lay in a lifetime supply.

A decent working average for weight is that a .22 LR round weighs three grams while a .177 pellet comes in at about half a gram. Fifteen hundred rounds of .22 comes in at ten pounds. Fifteen hundred rounds in pellets comes in at a little more than a pound and a half. And you could carry all of them in a single pocket. Cost about $15.

If your goal is long term self-sufficiency and includes some need or desire to bag light game, practice or teach basic marksmanship, or control pests, and do it all inexpensively, a pellet rifle is a very cost effective solution.

That, and they are fun. On a rainy afternoon, or any time you can spare a couple of minutes, you can shoot on an indoor 33' range. With a simple backstop and common sense there is little danger. A favorite activity is firing ten shots and seeing who can produce the smallest group. Discount store aspirin ($8 per 1000), M&Ms and Nico wafers also make good interactive targets. The wafers are a bit too easy at 33'.

I would avoid a Wallyworld special- I've never seen anything in their inventory that was worth beans for ANY kind of air gun. RWS, Gamo, there are a lot of good ones out there. Even Daisy and Beeman have some decent ones, but make sure that is a hunting air gun. Or you can spend a lot on something like a Hammerli. EAA is even bringing in some Russian air guns that are pretty impressive. This is go to the gun shop type stuff most of the time.

I would say, nothing smaller than a .20 caliber, so .20, .22 and .25, but .22 is probably the most common by a lot. Despite what I use, I would put a premium on velocity- I don't know what the recommended threshold is, but I'm going to take a guess at nothing under 700fps or so, just based on what I've exerperinced using subsonic .22LR. But probably the most important factor will be accuracy. If you can get a competition grade air gun that has a high velocity and doesn't use CO2, that might be your best bet. Yes, it will probably be a little more delicate, but the ability to make head shots consistently is worth the expense. They down side is, a good air rifle can start to approach $200 without trying hard- you can spend as much on these as you can a good rimfire rifle or pistol.

And if you have a good air gun, don't feed it junk pellets. The good stuff is a little more expensive, but the weakest part of the system is the part that can make you miss.

EDIT:
As for particular models, looking at what is out there, the Crossman Quest 800 in .22 looks pretty good, at least on paper. Spring powered, light, pretty inexpensive. As does the EAA MP513- one of the Russian imports I was talking about, and they know a lot about air rifle. But I haven't had a chance to get hands on with either.

for the price of a EAA MP513 air rifle you can get alot better. Look at Cabelas there are a number that range from $150 to $300. Most have muzzle velocities of 1000+ in .177 and .22. There are special one that I have seen taking down a wild pig, it was a head shot, but just a demo of what an airrifle can do.
cheers

I saw it on VS out door channel it was a Gammo the show was as much about the ammo as it was about the gun, still watching them take a hog with an air gun was impressive.