Whether you fancy improving your gun skills, going out hunting or looking to control pests on your land, an air gun is going to be the smartest purchase to make. The issue is however that when you take a look at an air rifle for sale, there is a slew of options which you have before you. Each air rifle type will offer a different range of pros and cons, which is exactly what we are going to be looking at today.
Before you start shopping around, identify which type of air rifle you are going to require.
Variable Pump Rifle
This is the most well-known rifle on the market, mainly because of the fact that the shooter is able to manage how much power the gun produces. Each pump compresses more thus creating more power when the trigger is pulled. These rifles are very lightweight too and they operate well even at long distance. There is a drawback in that reload can be quite slow, plus the fact that there is a much more manual approach, given the need to pump the forearm.
Break Action Rifle
The break action rifle uses a spring piston instead of a pump, which helps with quicker reload and easier gun management. There are some variations of the break action which have the cocking lever to one side of the rifle, but beyond personal preference there is no greater advantage to buying one of these variations. The biggest benefit in using this type of air rifle is the speed at which pellets can be fired, delivering a velocity of up to 1,000 feet per second. The cons which some experience with this rifle type come down to the weight of the rifle and the loudness of firing.
Precharged Pneumatic PCP Rifle
Whilst the costs may be higher, there are a wealth of benefits which a PCP rifle can deliver, especially when it comes to rapid fire. Reloading is incredibly quick because the air is constantly being compressed from the reservoir before and after firing. Additionally these rifles are very powerful and many suggest that they are also more precise than any other option. The only issue that some have is that the reservoir needs to be filled before shooting, most will purchase a special kind of pump which will blast air into the reservoir.
CO2 Rifle
These rifles vaporize CO2 which results in air being released which is then utilized to fire the pellet from the air rifle. In most cases a single CO2 canister can be used for a number of shooting trips before it empties, and they are very lightweight and conveniently small. There are power limitations when using a CO2 rifle, simply because the vaporizing process can only release so much air. For simple hunting trips and target shooting, this is certainly a very good option to consider.
These are the main air rifle types which you will find on the market, weigh up your options, size up your budget and then make the best choice for you.