Does anyone here use/train with an air rifle ... for survival purposes? Air rifles have the advantage of providing small game, which is more plentiful. Interested in which type of air rifle is a good compromise for accuracy, reliability and cost.

Thoughts?

Pete

I like the idea of an airgun for taking small game, but I opted for a .22LR bolt action instead. I'm not sure a .22 Short (which can be fired from a .22LR bolt action rifle) is significantly louder than an airgun. A side-by-side comparison would be nice, but I already made my choice -- CZ makes a very nice .22LR rifle. No affiliation other than as an owner. But that doesn't answer your question.

Check Pyramid Air.

as with Russ, not answering your question, but I think a .22lr long gun would be a better all around survival choice... I used to shoot a Daisy 717 air pistol in my garage (inside city limits)when I first started shooting USPSA...there are a lot of options from both sides of the big water...

I shoot a lot of .22lr for practice... a CMMG barrel and adapter unit dedicated upper (with Boonie Packer better mag adapter to use SW 15-22 magazines) for my AR, and an Advantage Arms upper for my G34... I reload 9mm and compete in PCC, so that is slowly edging into my use of .22lr

I have both air rifles and firearms. My opinion is that firearms would be vastly superior for hunting. Sure, you can take small game with an air rifle. But you can take it easier with a firearm. Hunting range for an air rifle is very short. You've got to be really close to your target. That alone makes things more difficult.

To get an air rifle powerful enough for humane hunting, you're going to want a heavy-duty springer or a PCP. But for "survival", are you going to have the air compressor and SCUBA tanks to support your PCP rifle? Probably not. So most likely you'd rely on a springer. Springer air rifles are more difficult to shoot well than firearms. They can be very hold sensitive. They have a harsh two-way recoil that can easily trash your expensive rifle scope. They're single shot. And they aren't all that quiet either. You shoot a hunting-class springer in your urban backyard, and your neighbors are gonna say, "Did someone just shoot a firearm?" Yeah, they're pretty loud.

I see air rifles as great tools for target shooting. Not so great for hunting. I'd put them in the same hunting class as a slingshot. Yeah, you can hunt with those too. And they're smaller and cheaper than air rifles. There's only so many squirrels and rabbits you'll be able to find for airgun hunting. Any game larger than that, and you're not really hunting humanely (despite the over-the-top Gamo advertisements where their .177 air rifle takes down a cape buffalo).

A .22LR rifle good enough for hunting is cheaper than a decent air rifle too.

I managed to harvest a few pigeons with a 7.5 J air rifle at up to 15 m. Bullet placement is crucial. Accuracy sometimes depends on the bullets.
Pressurized air containers make the rifle quieter and can be refilled with an air pump (which is some workout and not too much fun).
There are air rifles powerful enough for deer. They are not legal around here.
I´d probably go for a slingshot. The ammo is more plentyful.

For those interested in an air rifle, this particular model is highly recommendex.

https://www.amazon.com/RWS-Pellet-Model-Combo-Rifle/dp/B000UPFH4E?tag=airriflehun03-20

But i have only done research, and i dont own one. Please note that the price is slightly over $300. So there is no price advantage. You could buy a basic rifle from Savage Arms, under $400, and get excellent accuracy - all for the same general price range.

The reviewers who used this air rifle did get excellent accuracy, spreads of pellets within a 1 inch-circle, over a range distance of 25 meters. But yes, this is a very small range, in the grand scheme of things.

I think that the points made above about the 22LR are an excellent argument. When I said "small game" i was really thinking about squirrels and smaller ground birds. but a 22LR would allow shots at rabbits at longer distances.

I am curious about the sound levels. I live in a very quiet place, part urban and part farmland. The sound of gunshots would not be particularly welcome here. but really, the 22 caliber in an air rifle might not have much advantage ... as far as not disturbing the neighbors.

Pete

If you want your .22LR rifle to be quieter than an airgun, you can use this ammo:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/250629...ead-solid-point

What you are doing here, with this "primer-only" ammo, is taking the .22LR down to air rifle power levels. So it adds versatility to your .22LR rifle. And this ammo is quieter than an equivalent air rifle (at least it is when using the .22LR rifles I own and the air rifles I own).

It will not cycle a semi-auto rifle, obviously. So you're dealing with single shot. Same as an air rifle would be. If you have an extremely tight or excessively long .22LR barrel, due to the low power of these rounds, there is always the chance that the bullet will not make it out the muzzle and stay lodged in the barrel. Personally, I only shoot this ammo in my single-shot-break-open .22LR rifle. As part of the loading process you swing the action open (like a double barreled shotgun) and you can immediately see that the barrel is clear of any previous rounds that did not exit the muzzle. I have never had one of these rounds fail to exit the muzzle, but I always check for it none-the-less, just to be safe.

They might be quiet, but not useful in anything you'd actually use for hunting.

so for 22LR the solution is a shell loaded to low power, but more than just the primer. the bullet should make it out of the barrel of the rifle ... Hahaha! we need enough power to kill a rabbit cleanly at 75 yards. That's what is needed for small game hunting. Not sure if such an option exists.

Pete

Pete... a lot of states are looking a allowing suppressors for hunting... those in .22lr are the cheapest, then you have the $200 tax stamp and a long wait... a standard velocity .22lr should be able to accomplish your 75m shot with ease... the "bonus" target at the Chevy Truck Sportsman's Team Challenge was a 1" target at 75m...offhand

My point was, they are in the same power class as an air rifle. For the small stuff you could hunt with an air rifle, these would be just as good as the air rifle.

But as I said earlier, I don't like air rifles for hunting. And I wouldn't like these rounds for hunting either. I was just pointing out the equivalency.

What about setting a series of traps as an alternative to shooting game? I have practically no experience in trapping, but it might be well more productive in terms of time/effort/calories expended in a survival situation.... Comments, anyone??

I would definitely go for trapping. Although I've never trapped anything in my life, I think I could do it. I have enough survival books that I could probably pick it up pretty fast. I'm thinking some snares along a tree branch in my back yard, peanut butter as bait, and then just wait for the stupid squirrels to show up. Maybe it's harder than I think. But if I have to fall back to slingshots, air rifles and firearms, I'm all set for that too. It might not hurt to get some of those big rat traps - not the little mouse traps, but their bigger brother. That might work better for squirrels than snares. You could nail those up on tree branches pretty easily.

We have a ton of rabbits in our yard. They're quite stupid. They freeze in place when they see you. You can walk right up to them and it's like their little feet are glued to the ground. Just walk up within 3 feet (very easy to do) and throw a bath towel over them. Captured!

Our neighbors are very inconsiderate morons and their back yard is filled with a herd of yapping Chihuahuas. Their incessant barking ruins the whole neighborhood. In a survival situation, I'm thinking two birds with one stone here. Probably easier than squirrels.

I live on the Gulf of Mexico, and there is a lot of protein out there... I'm thinking cast net and snatch hook for schooled mullet....baited trot line with entrals... a 100 pack of 2/0 hooks might be more valuable than your Krugerrand...

the combo of hunting and trapping would probably be the best option. and that is exactly what woodsmen did in the early days of America.

some critters are dumb, but others are amazingly crafty. its not always as easy to catch them as you might think.

They can't be as bad as Pomeranians, cute balls of fur who do not know how to shut up.

Jeanette Isabelle

Actually, I love dogs. I am annoyed by the ones that won't shut up though. But really, that is because of their inconsiderate self-absorbed owners not training them or controlling them. I am surprised that the many foxes and coyotes in our neighborhood haven't eaten those little Chihuahua's. These predators are right there at our back fence. The foxes, even in our back yard. We once watched a coyote and fox in a standoff about ten feet away. We were standing on our fence rail watching them - they were oblivious to us. You should have heard the noises they were making while they faced off. The coyote was obviously a juvenile that didn't know what to make of the fox. For the life of me, with those Chihuahua's constantly ringing the dinner bell for the wildlife in the area, I don't know why we still have this Chihuahua infestation. A six foot wooden fence is no challenge for a fox, I don't know about a coyote. And the Chihuahua's are protected in their yard by only a 3 foot chain link fence that the predators can see right through.

Things can get complicated where gun laws are concerned but in general terms it's legal to suppress an airgun. It can get more complicated in some areas but in the US (and again in general terms) if the suppressor is permanently affixed to the barrel then Federal law permits it. The usual caveat is to check your local laws no matter what we're discussing.

Air guns can be excellent tools, and some do indeed have enough power to harvest large game. It's hard to say which would be a better 'survival' tool since that depends on a lot of things. An air rifle doesn't need ammunition in the way that a firearm does but they do require pellets, you can't use a rock or something. So you still need to stock ammo of a sort. In general terms a firearm doesn't require much in the way maintenance beyond routine cleaning and occasional replacement of some of the springs [usually over a period of years].

Probably long terms survival will require hunting to be supplemented with trapping and/or fishing. Again, it really depends on the situation. Most experts hold that food is a pretty low priority in the most common situations. Of course we have read about some of the "Black Swan" situations where folks have survived two months before being rescued. The environment where you will be operating will dictate what you should have with you.

To be clear I'm not discussing an EOTWAWKI situation. It's hard to imagine how one could adequately prepare for the total collapse of human civilization, and I'm not sure I would care to survive it to begin with. In any event it's beyond the normal scope of ETS I suppose.

Pete, I hear you. In a survival situation, the seacoast is the place to be. I was just out to Santa Barbara Island yesterday, reminded again that at low tide, twice a day, the table is set. Just pick and cook....

Yep, there's a reason that so many ancient peoples lived in coastal areas.

Hikermor ... agree .... the sea coast is hard to beat.

Phaedrus ... i dont see myself using a suppressor on the air gun (i didn't even know that was possible for airguns). the people where i live are very noise-sensitive. so if i get a 22LR, i will have to do what is right and find a local range for practice. BTW, that airgun i mentioned (with the link) has construction very similar to a normal rifle. it has the look and feel of a normal rifle ... from the POV of a spectator. I could envision a situation where a person was practicing with that airgun, and another person witnssed it and made a phone call to the police that there was an intruder "with a high power rifle". that could get very messy. so ... it seems better to shoot at a firing range, regardless of choice of rifle.

For me, it boils down to range. the airgun has very good accuracy to about 20-30 yards. But at 40-60 yards, the chance of a miss ia much higher. how many "small game prey" can i expect to encounter inside 30 yards? OK, maybe some. but the odds are not on my side. the arguments in favor of the 22LR are quite strong, i think.

Pete

Gamo sells a range of air rifles with the suppressor built in. They sell for under two hundred bucks. And in some places it's legal to use an air gun within city limits while it's usually illegal to shoot a firearm.

That said I agree that for most people a firearm will be a better choice.

It's not just accuracy that you need to be concerned with for air rifles. You also have to look at terminal ballistics. Pellets are lighter weight than .22 bullets, and they go slower. So even if your air rifle were accurate at longer ranges, the pellets might not have enough oomph to get the job done once they get there. And the lighter pellets will be prone to wind problems. Air rifles are short range tools for more than one reason.

You're right, I think I'm just looking for an excuse to get a new pellet gun!

Wise words. I agree.

If you are harvesting game, you have a responsibility to make a clean, quick kill wherever possible.

A pellet gun (excepting, perhaps, the very high velocity variety) does not meet that standard.

One thing to consider is that a semi-auto bleeds off some gases, and ultimately some of the noise. I have used Remington CBee 22 longs in a Ruger 10/22 for pest control purposes, from a blind and at an exact distance (10 yards). Highly effective for smaller birds, but really not enough for a quick kill on squirrel or pigeon. The Ruger didn't even cycle; I had turned it into a single shot. The report was barely noticeable. The moral is, if you can set up a controlled situation, you can use lower power and lower report rounds that are still effective.

Doug.

yes. good reminder. i agree, humane kills are essential. and the ability to kill birds up to pigeon-size is also essential. I am exploring other options, an air rifle is not the solution that I need.

thanks, Pete

Let me suggest using CCI's Quiet 22 ammo. It uses a 40 grain bullet with about 700 fps muzzle velocity IIRC. The action of the rifle is louder than the bullet report, and it will penetrate a,piece of sheet metal. I have no qualms about using it on a rabbit, but would check its aim versus your regular 22 ammo. It does work in a ruger 10/22, but as a single shot, since it won't work the action. I would buy a box and try it out. I keep about six boxes on hand.

Good stuff. I have a few boxes and cycle them through my Henry lever. 25 yds no problem but at 50 yds you will need to resight because of the drop compared to standard velocity.

Roarmeister ... thanks. that is very useful info. I will check it out.

Pete