Here are some of my thoughts, and experiences:
"Who thinks a high quality airgun is neccessary? I have a crossman 760, 1377 and 2100. These will kill things up to rabbit size or so. But it's pretty iffy. What I am considering is the guns in the 100 dollar range that shoot more powerful. However, I can't decide if it's worth it from a cost perspective. An airgun is a game rifle. I could use the same amount of money for .22 lr ammo, snare wire, homemade snares from home depot, sling shot bands, rat traps, making blowguns, buying cold steel blowguns, etc... .22's I know I can repair because I have spare parts, and they are available. Heck, even the barrel is all I need.
Can the same be said for an airgun?
Dunhams had thunderbolts on sale for 15 a brick. I could get 3000 rounds for the same price as a good game airgun. I would say .22 lr ammo is more versatile because of the different platforms it can be fired from.
Has anyone else thought about this or just went and bought an airgun because they are awesome. I am not knocking down airguns, just looking at it from a certain vantage point. "
1. Keeping it around on a fixed retreat, no problem, glad you own an air rifle. I own some too. Setting out on foot, no way would I take it. A 22 rimfire is much more versatile. In the ballistic spectrum, and also in the noise spectrum. With an air rifle, to move an projectile requires lots of moving air-noise.
2. Carry 22 shorts for game gettin. You can fit 200 in a 100 cci box.
rounds getting wet
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-Rimfie-Water-Immersion-Test?highlight=rimfie
3. Keep spare parts for the airgun?
4. Always remember that a gun isn't always the solution to the problem. That type of airgun is a single shot game gettin gun. Traps work all the time. What's going to kill you and end your survival?
"The one place where a .22 firearm will be inferior to an air rifle is in an urban survival situation. Noise is your enemy.
With an air rifle, pidgeons can be shot on roof tops without anyone down in the street being the wiser of your being there. Same for squirrels in a woodlot.
Out in the country, a .22 has it all over the airgun, sometimes. But sometimes quiet is a good thing, and worth working within the limitations."
1. It really depends on the airgun for the reasons I have given. Thus I disagree.
crosman 760 and 2100: decently quiet.
benjamin .20: loud
22 rimfire with 22 plus inch barrel (the longer cubic barrel volume better to match the gas volume): very quiet with cb shorts, or aguilla super colibri.
Break barrel you have a higher volume of moving air-noise under higher pressure for increased velocity, and you have mechanical noise from the kinetic energy of the spring which is converted into sound energy. the blowgun is very quiet.
A 22 rimfire can go from scary quiet 500 fps to 1700 fps. I also can handload 22 LR off of scrounged ammo to lower subsonic loads.
traps are quiet also.
I think the 760 and th 1377 (2 pounds in factory condition) have ok merit for trekking on foot if you have a youngster you can't carry much but want to have an airgun in your party. Then you have the high ammo count with low weight.
I think the importance of what you would use such an airgun for is minimal compared to how important traps are. Traps energy multiplyers, especially comparing it to talking about trying to go out and shoot small birds and such- energy expended for little gain.
Oppurtunity game can be potted, but really hunting isn't very energy effici8ent just to go out and hunt. Trapping is a much better strategy.
To kill with low powered weapons you have tyo take out "soft life support targets"- the neck, the heart, lungs etc on "larger" game....
Skull shots don't always work wtih low powered weapons.
shot a possum in the head with a benjamin 20 at point blank in the skull, ran off perfectly fine except for the cut on his head- didn't penetrate. Have used the same gun on a head shot on a squirrel, squirrel went up a tree 10 minutes later fell to it's death- didn't penetrate, fractured skull. Same thing on trying head shots with crosman 2100 on reds, fractured skull but no penetration.
SHoot coons or possums in the chest with the same gun, they die.
The blowgun is nice because it's my walking stick anyway- efficient.
Primitive technology is easy to support, darts made in the field, rocks picked up for ammo for a slinging projectile type weapon etc etc. Just as one can use the natural resources to make traps.
Compared to lugging around a 5 plus pound airgun, I'm going to take a more versatile 22 rimfire, or other long gun with tricks for more versatile ballistics going down to what the 5 pound airgun would achieve and exceeding it for application- more versatile. The 22 rimfire can be very light weight because it doesn't need that extra weight for the device that powers the airgun.
Does one think that you will for sure need the higher round count of the .177 airgun to take 1000 small game expending inefficient energy in sporting hunting fashion?
I wonder how much steel wire you can pack in that space that the airgun ammo would take, and how many number 8 hooks you can also fit in that space? I didn't call them "fish hooks" for a reason- Just like Ron Hood points out in Volume 3. And then how much 550 cord or other food procurement energy multipliers you could carry for the same weight as the small game gettin airgun?
In conclusion for general woodsbummin I like airguns. For survival, I want the item that gives me the most options for the weight.
but the Benjamin Trail NP is powerful, accurate nitro-piston break barrel for about 200 beans and will shoot hard in cold weather, unlike the Co2 guns. In .22, it's good for small game. These pennies were taped to an empty cardboard box--as you can see, they hit pretty good. Probably better for camp than hiking though....
