Survival and Emergency Preparedness

I put this under 'Gear' rather than 'Defense' because an air rifle/pistol is used more for plinking, hunting, critter control, training than for actual SD.

I think an air rifle is a very important prep. Pellets are extremely inexpensive, plentiful, accurate and useful for a variety of purposes. I have two air rifles, a Crossman that was like $20 at Walmart and a Beeman Silver Kodiak X2 Dual Caliber Combo which I bought for around $100. The Kodiak has both .177 and .22 barrels. The .22 barrel has a lot of power and penetration. I set up a back stop behind the target when testing it out. The back stop stopped the .177 pellets but the .22 pellets zipped right through damaging a fence behind. YT videos have smaller hogs being taken with .22 pellet rifles.

https://huntingpicks.com/beeman-silver- ... x2-review/

A little over 4 decades ago, I was at the home of a relative in the hills of Sicily. He was raising chickens for eggs. It was quite a production, having mice and rats running all over the barn - and losing some egg production.

The locally available responses like poison/traps/.22 lr bullets were not suitable. What was needed was air rifles.

In the last 40 years, there have been people who experimented with air rifles - one group going to night vision elimination of the critters; and a different group increasing power so that cape buffalo could be taken.

You don't have to go to either extreme.

Have a cheap Daisy 880 air rifle in .177 cal. ( pellets but also holds 50 BBs ) that costs $30 ( also with small scope I don't use )
It is a pump type which is powerful enough to take down any small game like rabbits, squirrels,etc... no problem at all with smaller critters.

It's accurate enough to 25 yds to kill anything listed above here.

One note is that like real guns , some shoot better with certain pellets, this one likes Crossman destroyer pellets for best accuracy

bdcochran wrote: ↑Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:24 pm A little over 4 decades ago, I was at the home of a relative in the hills of Sicily. He was raising chickens for eggs. It was quite a production, having mice and rats running all over the barn - and losing some egg production.

The locally available responses like poison/traps/.22 lr bullets were not suitable. What was needed was air rifles.

In the last 40 years, there have been people who experimented with air rifles - one group going to night vision elimination of the critters; and a different group increasing power so that cape buffalo could be taken.

You don't have to go to either extreme.

I've enjoyed the videos on YT of a guy (airgun hunter or something like that) that gets hired to go on different farms to kill critters like ground squirrels and rats that get into the silos and bins and what not. He takes them out a pretty long distances. He'll cap many dozens in a day.

tom mac wrote: ↑Wed Aug 12, 2020 8:54 am Have a cheap Daisy 880 air rifle in .177 cal. ( pellets but also holds 50 BBs ) that costs $30 ( also with small scope I don't use )
It is a pump type which is powerful enough to take down any small game like rabbits, squirrels,etc... no problem at all with smaller critters.

It's accurate enough to 25 yds to kill anything listed above here.

One note is that like real guns , some shoot better with certain pellets, this one likes Crossman destroyer pellets for best accuracy

My brother has the same Crossman that I do, very similar to the Daisy. He's dispatched numerous critters with it over the years.

And in regards to the ammo, it's great that it's so inexpensive and readily available so that you can stock up and try all kinds of different brands and shapes to figure what works best.

Interesting stuff Dave.

Going to have to look into air guns.

I do have a Sheridan Co2 5mm single shot pellet pistol that's pretty powerful. I've killed some pheasants, rats and squirrels with it. I just lent it to my son to use on a squirrel that got into his garage.

I have two air rifles and two air pistols. Multiple copies of the manuals. Doubles on the recommended spare parts. Currently, they are boxed and stored. Why? I am urban. The days when you could practice in the backyard are gone forever. Why? I have a complaining, urban mother living next door. When she moved in, she lived in dread of bees from my beehive striking her children. Ok. I gave the hives and the equipment to the guy who lives on the other side of me. He still has it 15 years later.

When shtf, whether you have a new house in the countryside of Florida or the hills, your local game is going to be hunted out in about two weeks. This why you read about crackshots who supported the family in the depression with a .22 rifle hunting squirrels. You will hunt mice, rats, squirrels, whatever it takes if things get bad. The air guns will be sufficient.

This is my main one, the Beeman Silver Kodiak X2 Dual Caliber Air Rifle that I talked about in the OP. It was on sale at WM several years ago for $99. It's not one of those really expensive ones you see in video on YT, but it really doesn't need to be for a prep rifle. It's more than capable of taking small game.

https://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Beeman_S ... Combo/3553








To me it makes a lot of sense as a prep tool. As we've seen from Ghost's videos (Joe here on the board), a LOT of small game can be taken with sling shots. It stands to reason that the same would hold true for pellet rifles. As can be seen in the above videos, even an inexpensive model like the Kodiak Silver or even the ultra cheap Crossman can take small game at range. My brother used the $25 Crossman for years and years to kill critters out on his property.

Particularly in times of ammo shortage. Why shoot 22lr if a .22 or .177 pellet will do as well at the distance/target? And a tin of pellets is dirt cheap. Even the more exotic ultra/hyper brands are inexpensive compared to rim fire/center fire ammunition these days. And they are easy to store and you don't have to worry about a pellet 'going bad' due to the elements really.

I can see the value of a decent spring piston air rifle for prepping. Super cheap and easy to stockpile pellets. Not my first choice for anything, but could be useful.
When I was a kid I killed plenty of rabbits and groundhogs with a 5mm Sheridan Blue Streak. Once I was allowed to use a 22lr, I never looked back. Way more power and range. Even with the increased cost these days, I'll take a rimfire.
I have never played with the high powered compressed air rigs. I don't like all the extra gear. It reminds me of black powder.