A question about a few .22 air rifles

[hyounker]

I have obviously caught the airgun bug and am looking for a squirrel hunting .22 air rifle.  I've exchanged emails with Mike Melick about the B26s and have looked very much into the RWS 34 Panther in .22.

Now, I have never had either in my hands, so I need some help from you guys.  Again, I want an air rifle to hunt squirrels with.  I don't need anything fancy.  The B26 is $180 total and Mike says they will produce about 650 fps.  I have no idea about the trigger or the weight of a B26 and I'm hoping for help here.

The Panther is being offered by PA at $200 plus shipping with an advertised max fps of 800.  I've heard the RWS triggers are pretty good out of the box, and this rifle's weight is apparently acceptable, according to most reviews, forum posts, and the comparisons I have made with the guns I already own.

I am very happy with my new Whisper, and if it makes sense to spend the extra $50 over the cost of the Panther or the extra $70 over the price of the B26, then I may get the Whisper in .22.

So, any help here?  Which would you buy, or did I miss another obvious choice?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

[daveshoot]

I have both the B26 and the Panther in .22. You could not go wrong with either; the RWS is a little more powerful (although 800 is higher than anything I've seen in mine, more like 700), the B26 is smoother, and they both have great triggers and enough power for squirrels.

I have never owned or shot a Whisper, but don't much care for the Gamos I have fired.

Rear safety on the Panther vs. cross bar on the B26... synth stock on Panthervs. wood on the BAM... my B26 doesn't have iron sights so can't compare those. I might lean to the Panther, but then again I might not. Coin flip? No loser here.

[longislandhunter]

Hey Henry,,,,,


I own both rifles in .22 and can tell you from personal experience that either one will easily do the job on squirrels or any other small game.  I love both of my rifles and both have done an excellent job for me as hunters.  I've said more than a few times that my .22 Panther quickly became my favorite small game springer,, and that statement still holds true, but my B26 .22  is also a sweet shootin rifle.  My Panther does put out more power than the my B26, she's shooting in the mid 700's,  but my B26 is still puttin out more than enough power for effective small game hunting.  

The Panther is longer and heavier but it has a very nice trigger and a really nice synthetic stock, in my opinion one of the nicest synthetic stocks I've run across.  

The B26 is lighter and perhaps easier to navigate with in the woods and it also has a really nice trigger,, remember,,, the B26 is a clone of the R-9 and it's trigger.  The thing that might swing my vote if I could only buy one is the fact that with the B26 you're gettin a rifle that is professionally tuned by a man who really knows his stuff,,, and you're gettin it for less than the cost of the untuned Panther.  One other thing,,,,,, in my opinion the B26 would be much more comfortable for your sons to shoot as opposed to the long and heavier Panther....

I guess maybe I'm not helping you much as I really love both of my rifles and consider both excellent small game guns,,,, I just wanted to point out the positive attributes of both rifles.  

BTW..... if you decide on the Panther you can get it for a much better price from Straightshooters.com or a couple of other online dealers.

I'm sure others will chime in with their advice.  Let us know what rifle you choose.  

One last thing,,,,,  personally I wouldn't go with the .22 Whisper,,, not if I could get either a Panther or one of Mikes B26's....  You KNOW the whisper is gonna need tune work, the trigger is lousy, and it's just basically the same power plant that's in the .177 Whisper.  

Ok,, I"m done now..........................................

Jeff

[hyounker]

Again, I have never held one.  Anything I should know?

[hyounker]

Dave,

Thanks.  I have a b3 and two Gamos, which is why I really don't want another Gamo.  I want to experience some others.  I like the Whisper because it makes short work of the nutters around here.

Thanks again.

[hyounker]

Jeff,

Thanks for the reply.  I understand your indecisiveness.  Ask me which of my 6mm's I like best!!

And I understand your point about the B26 being tuned.  Will the Panther require much work?

I couldn't find this one on straightshooters and thought that PA's price was pretty good.  I searched again via google and couldn't find much better.  Do you know something I don't?

 :emoticon:

[longislandhunter]

Henry,,, my mistake,, I meant to say midsouth shooters supply,,,, here's the link,,

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000622166023

As for the Panther requiring work,,,,,, mine is bone stock since I bought it and it's shooting great.  Smooth cocking, nice firing cycle, plenty of power and absolutely superb accuracy.  If you get a Panther you should be able to just shoot it out of the box just fine. RWS rifles are know to be very dry when it comes to lubrication, mine wasn't, but that's an easy fix.   If you decide to send it for a tune it will of course greatly benefit from the work, any rifle would, but out of the box it should shoot very well.  

Hope this helps ya.....

Jeff

[miked6762]

I have the.22  34 , both in wood and the panther--I love both of them. I've only heard good things about MM's air rifles, but don't own one. It kinda sounds lie a win-win situation with those two. Maybe you should get one of each.

[davee1]

I have a B26 .22 and a Whisper .22, but not a Panther 34 .22. If I had tochoose between the two that I do have, I would go with the Whisper. I say this because the Whisper is just a little more powerful,is quieter, and with the GRT-III trigger installed...its a better trigger if you ask me, and that's not to say that the B26 has a bad trigger...but the GRT-III takes the bar way up there, and the GRT-III wins in my book. Now I don't know firsthand about the Panther... but I figure its not as quiet as the Whisper, but the Panther is made with German quality...and that quality is better than the Whisper IMHO.I think you get more for your money with a Panther. I think a Panther .22 is in my future, but for now its great to have the Whisper for shooting in a time when sound carries far...the leaves are off the trees and there's no air conditioners to create an ambient residential sound. Folks here in California still open their windows, and I like being as quiet as possible. And when hunting squirrels, its good to have a quiet airgun...in the woods or in the backyard.

You might check out Midsouth's prices for the airguns you mentioned...the Panther is $178.25 and the Whisper is $202.83. The Whisper .22 is hidden in the .177 guns though. Pyramyd has a lot of good deals but I always include Midsouth in my price comparisons. Natchez has some pretty good prices and sales too. I picked up a .177 CFX there for 160 bucks (long gone now). Granted, Pyramyd has the 10% off thingy or free shipping...but sometimes its cheaper at Midsouth or Natchez...and they are reputable places...done a lot of business with both.

[USNCop]

Henry,
I lurked for some time on the Chinese Yellow forum for some time and missed the boat on both the B-18/19 and B-20 craze.
Then popped up the B-26 and I continued to track feedback and stumbled on the GTA.
Finally I couldn't stand everyone having such fun and managed to land one myself.

Well, I had already possessed a high end English rifle in .177 but I like my B-26 so much the .177 just sits quietly in it's case.

I've never shot a Gamo or RWS and can only speculate how much power a B-26 would put out at sea level.  Where am I going with this?  Well, I'm chopping down pests at 6100 ft above sea with a stock B-26 .22 like mad!
It has been named The Can Opener because it does horrible things to heavy steel soup cans with Domed pellets.
It even chops it's way through, yes through the shoulder of tree rats when the mood strikes.  Even at about 30yds!
Accuracy?  I'm no GySgt. Hathcock but last summer I took a grackle at a measured 43yds and another thru the base of the neck at a measured 45yds.  Both leaning on the corner of my neighbor's house.

I have to agree with longislandhunter, an RWS is more power but the B-26 is a great package of size, weight, and power for small game and pest control.
I believe you can get a Mike Mellick tuned B-26 from Randy at AdventuresinAirguns.
Or another great value would be a Gene tune w/GRT III trigger.
I intend on tuning mine this year and adding one in .177!  I'm just tickled pink with 'em.

[hyounker]

CAP,

Thanks for the reply.  I've heard the 350 is pretty loud.  Also, for that price, I could get both the B26 and the Panther!!

That extra power would be nice!

I've also read that the Walther Talon is pretty rough.  As a matter of fact, Gene has proclaimed that he will NEVER tune another!  I'm interested to hear what you find on the Walther.

[hyounker]

In time, Mike, in time!

[hyounker]

Dave,

Thanks for the reply.  I really like my .177 Whisper (only had it a couple of weeks) and would lean that way, but I am really looking to expand to another manufacturer.

I've added MidSouth to my favorites.  Unfortunately, Natchez does not ship to Georgia (tennessee or alabama either, something about a non-compete with distributors), so they are not an option.

Right now, I'm leaning a little toward the Panther, but am very much interested in owning a well tuned air rifle.  Probably end up with both eventually!  I want a rifle ready to shoot out of the box, so that I can look into getting my Whisper professionally tuned (but I still want to hunt).

[hyounker]

Troy,

Thanks for the reply.  A stock B26, huh?  How much work did it take to get it shooting good, if anything?  Any problems with mounting a scope?

Have you chronied it?

Thanks again.

[WVscott]

I had both.  I just sold my B26...not because anything was wrong with it, I just needed room in my gunsafe.  Both the panther and B26 are very nice guns.  My B26 had a slightly better trigger, but only slightly.  Both shot about the same speed:  660 with 14.3 grain crosman premiers.  I shot 8 or 9 squirrels with the b26 and 3 or 4 with my peep sighted panther.  A 14.3 gr. pellet at 650 fps is very effective on squirrels, you really don't need any more power than that as most of my shots were complete pass throughs at that speed.  Also both guns have very nice shooting cycles once broken in and are extremely accurate.  If I had to limit myself to just one of these guns, I would get the Mike Melick tuned B26 unless you want to spend the extra and put a JM kit in the panther.  Can't go wrong with either gun.
     regards, Scott