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 .

.........

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

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.

You're really not familiar at all with modern adult airguns, are you? I've killed scores of rabbits, squirrels and pigeons instantly with single shots out to 60 yards with a spring piston .177 Beeman R9. And that's considered a "medium power" airgun. I do try to take head shots, because these guns can do it easily and it's for sure. But body shots to the heart/lung area are equally effective. "Magnum" springers in .22 and .25 are often used to hunt wild turkey, coyote, raccoon, etc. Large bore pre-charged pneumatics (up to .75 caliber) are used to take elk and boar at 100+ yards. I don't care what propels it, a chunk of lead moving at close to or above the speed of sound will definitely bring home dinner. These aren't your grandpa's BB guns.

Kevin B.

If you wanted a small light rifle for hunting small game - squirells , rabbits . Why would an air rifle be better than a 22 ? Really , I don't get it .

If you wanted a small light rifle for hunting small game - squirells , rabbits . Why would an air rifle be better than a 22 ? Really , I don't get it .