Most potent stock springer under $300?

[TCups]

Wahoowad:

Note well, grasshopper!  A powerful air rifle that is very hard to shoot accurately is much less powerful than a medium-power air rifle that you can hit the target with ever time.

My pick?  Mike Melick-tuned  B-26 in .22 cal with a Maccari spring and trigger job.  Add a BSA scope and Leaper's Accushot rings and you will be right at $300.  There is no better combination for an accurate and more than adequately powerful springer.  

But since you have an R9 in 20 cal, why the heck  don't you spend even less, send that R9 off for a tune with a new Maccari spring and seal, and see just how smooth and powerful an R-9 can be!

[wahoowad]

TCups - 4/5/2010  5:29 PM

Wahoowad:

Note well, grasshopper!  A powerful air rifle that is very hard to shoot accurately is much less powerful than a medium-power air rifle that you can hit the target with ever time.

My pick?  Mike Melick-tuned  B-26 in .22 cal with a Maccari spring and trigger job.  Add a BSA scope and Leaper's Accushot rings and you will be right at $300.  There is no better combination for an accurate and more than adequately powerful springer.  

But since you have an R9 in 20 cal, why the heck  don't you spend even less, send that R9 off for a tune with a new Maccari spring and seal, and see just how smooth and powerful an R-9 can be!

How powerful would such a tuned R9 be?

[TCups]

With the right spring, I'd say you could get up to 800 - 850 FPS depending on the spring used and the quality of the tune.  With an 18.3 gr JSB Exact, that would be around 20 FPE.  How much power do you need?  The "sweet spot" for most magnum springers is around 750 FPS for .22 and perhaps 850 FPS for .177, IMO.

I have been up and down the springer power spectrum, from 6-8 FPE up to around 22 FPE in a Diana 48 .20 cal with a custom tune.  The Diana was a beast.  Heavy to carry and hard to shoot accurately, but a real thumper.  Want to head off to the woods and squirrel hunt with springers?  If you go with me, I will likely be carrying a Mike Melick tuned B-26 .22 or an R9 .20 cal with a Maccari spring and seal, and shooting JSB/Polymag Predator pellets.  As for taking small game, either has more than enough power and both are a pleasure to shoot.  Both are shooting around 17FPE, I think.

You should ask Mike Melick or Gene Curtis for particulars about tuning the R9.  Both can give you more first-hand information about what is possible with a good tune.

But you should decide for yourself.  One super-magnum springer was enough for me.

[tjk]

Wait just a dang minute,..Wahoowad, I thought you had the R1. My bad Bro,.....Heck man, why not just save up for the R1 carbine in .20? Tommy made a very good point on the velocity vs. accuracy issue. I kinda lean to the accuracy side myself. But...... nothing beats that little added extra kick in power either,.. If it's still over the plate! LOLs There are some  good BBGuns out there to choose from! tjk

[longislandhunter]

Tommy and Thomas are correct,,, all the power in the world is of no use if you can't shoot it accurately, but that being said I have to say for a magnum break  barrel my  .22 XL is very easy to shoot accurately.  With the gas ram there's no spring torque or vibration at all to deal with or compensate for , just a very solid, rapid pulse once you pull the trigger.  

Jeff

[djmyers]

Bcaleem, outstanding link! Learned something new today. Thats why I lime this place.

As for the best stock gun under 300. I would have to say my best stock one is the RWS 350 mag. Its crazy powerful shooting 10.65 gr H&N barracuda at 960 fps. I had to shoot those because everything else was too fast and not as accurate. Anything 7.33 gr and under went super sonic. My first squirrel was at 20 yards, clean head shot that knocked it off the tree. It didnt get hit then fall off, he flew off the tree.  Its a very nice rifle but a brand new one is a little over 300, 349 at pyramid air. If you can find a used one Id go with it. I have a Gamo Hunter with gas piston, its me go to gun 920's with 8.4 gr pellets and pinpoint accurate and a Big Cat but both required a little TLC to get them where they are. GRT triggers, seals and spring in the big cat. None of which is that hard to do.

Bone stock RWS 350. If you change your mind and feel like tinkering Big cat with metal trigger so you can change it out throw in the maccari tune up kit and you have one heck of a shooter for well under 300. Shoot it was barely over 200.  That would leave you some jingle for scopes.

[ranedouglas]

my lubed .22 cal walther talon magnum shoots 950 fps w/ 14.3 gr crosman premiers and is accurate.   it's the most powerful airgun i've shot - and i have a powertuned .22 disco and and a .22 rws 350 pro-compact that shoots 850 w/ the same pellets.   i'm looking for a magnum .20 cal, myself.  i'm finding that an r-1/HW 80, or a beeman rx, rx-1, rx-2 / HW 90, and a steroid sheridan are the only ones w/ true power.   i see this about a .20 rws model 48, but i've never seen one for sale.   here, look at my ad :   http://www.network54.com/Forum/79574/message/1270495337/-20+cals .   -and

[LongIslandArcher]

I don't know of any RWS 350 Magnum that you could get for a little over $300.  Even the one I bought 10 years ago cost $359 and I believe they're up to somewhere in the $429 range now.  Even if you went with a Gamo CFX and converted it with a Theoben gas ram, it would cost around $300 and you'd have yourself a mighty fine shooter.  I have one so converted and it shoots .22 cal. 14.3 grain pellets at 725 fps (which is darned near the advertised 750 fps with lead pellets).  Plus, being that it's a fixed barrel, you'll never get any barrel droop.  I believe Airgundepot.com has them for $169.99 with a scope, and you can get the Theoben gas ram from Airgunwerks.com for $155.00 ($145 + $10 s/h).

[djmyers]

They actually have brand new pyramid air for 349. Thats why I suggested finding one used. Its my best bone stock shooter, thats why I added it to the list. Especially if he can find a used one for under 300, I would think it to be a steal.

[leftcoast1]

First off I went down that same road some time ago but, I found out that I hit less with that super duper whiz bang whatcha majiger. Your mistakes are amplified at those speeds not to mention the guns start to get heavy. I would send the R-9 back to Beeman get it tuned and spend the rest on a BKL mount and a Hawke AirMax scope. If you really want to get into the power game pick up a pcp. I had a Webley Patriot with a Theoben gasram and it would shoot right under 30fpe. One thing I noticed is the game didn't know the difference between 30fpe and 15fpe. The nice thing is my 15fpe gun weighs 7 lbs scoped and my 30fpe gun weighed in at 10.5lbs. You tuned R-9 in .20 should net you around 750fps with 12gr pellets. More than enough power. Just something to think about.

[pindog2000]

rws 350 at airgundepot is you can find a refurb or onsale,the walther talon mag/falcon hunter very powerful and under $300,the ruger air/black hawk i think stock and depending on pellet you can push 16fpe ,the big bad disco if you find one online cheap under $300,the tech force 89 at compasseco for under $200,or hook up with magic mike melick . :emoticon:

[RedFeather]

Personally, I would opt for a Diana 34 in either .177 or .22, maybe with a Vortek kit. Comes in under the money and has enough power for most anything. As the man said, you've got to hit it to kill it. Raw power comes at a price.

[ranedouglas]

i just traded a .22 webley raider 10 for a beeman rx-1 in .20.   not under the $300, but i've never had an HW.   i haven't heard anything bad about these rx guns in .20.   i would be fondling it right now, but i missed the mailman and there was a tag on my door.  :-(