This one's for Ed. But, first a disclaimer. My hunting style is mostly stalk and shoot. I spend very little time sittin' on my duff.Another consideration is the type of woods you'll be in. Mostly, I hunt thick woods and cedar swamps. A Sheridan is much easier to maneuver than a springer.As far as the report of a Dan, it's not a crack. I can't explain it, but its definitely not a problem when it comes to spooking game. Neither is the pumping. Squirrels seem more curious than alarmed. I also own several springers, and I have a classic Diana 48 T01 on the way. I prefer to use the springers when the woods are more open. That seems to be where they really shine. I guess what I'm saying is that the OP should also consider the environment in which he'll be ddoing most of his hunting and buy the gun that best fills the needs of said environment. Just thought I'd kick that out there.
In as few words as possible, Diana 34 in .177 caliber. Grow from there ....or not.
Pellet selection can be everything. A 3" group at 20 yards can turn into a one-holer just by changing from one pellet to another.
Most everyone on here knows how much I love Sheridans, so I am biased toward them. At least, I HAVE owned one, have lots of experience with Sheridans, & my comments are truthful ! Not a guess like one poster. I cannot even imagine how many pellets I have shot though my 1957 . Most game was taken with 5 pumps & even body shots put the animals down, humanely. I have killed 8-10 squirrels in a morning, sitting in the same place. Not exaggerating, but I know I could fill the bed of a pick-up truck with the small game I have taken with it. My 1957 needed it's VERY FIRST repair about 4-5 years ago ! Compare that to any other air rifle at any price !!
Quote from: 19Sheridan57 on July 31, 2016, 09:06:01 AM Most everyone on here knows how much I love Sheridans, so I am biased toward them. At least, I HAVE owned one, have lots of experience with Sheridans, & my comments are truthful ! Not a guess like one poster. I cannot even imagine how many pellets I have shot though my 1957 . Most game was taken with 5 pumps & even body shots put the animals down, humanely. I have killed 8-10 squirrels in a morning, sitting in the same place. Not exaggerating, but I know I could fill the bed of a pick-up truck with the small game I have taken with it. My 1957 needed it's VERY FIRST repair about 4-5 years ago ! Compare that to any other air rifle at any price !!LOL.....my guesses are based on my experience with .20 cal ballistics from a springer! I really don't see how a .20 pellet from an iron sighted pumper at 650fps with 8 pumps (you use 5) would perform better than a 650fps .20 cal CP from a scope sighted R9! Oh well, we both have our prejudices based on personal experiences. After owning a .22 Crosman and .177 Daisy pumpers (I stall have a Daisy pumper that's never used), my "prejudiced preference" is a quality scoped springer! IMHO, shooting "a truckload of critters with a Dan" reveals that you are a very skilled hunter with the ability to get close enough to make killzone hits with iron sights! Myself, as mentioned, I hunted with my .20 cal R9 for a year and the trajectory curve with a 14.3 grain CP (even at 650fps) made it practically useless for shooting past my 30 yard zero distance due to the loopy trajectory and my lack of range estimation skills!LOL.......I also have my prejudices but they're based on EXPERIENCE with pumpers and the .20 cal pellet in general! Hummm.....perhaps you could match this with an iron sighted pumper. but I certainly couldn't........... 15 out of 20 pellets from my R9 (sitting on a bucket and resting the R9 on cross sticks) that went through a 3/4" killzone at 50 yards......Anywhoo....I sincerely believe that you're an exceptionally skilled hunter with an iron sighted "Dan" coupled with skills to "get up close" than the hardware being used! When I hunted with the .20 R9 for a season I learned that a 14.3 grain .20 caliber Crosman Premier at 650fps mv that misses the vitals of a squirrel by just a bit doesn't work as well as a .177 pellet through the vitals is based on hit to retrieve ratios with tree squirrels when I lived in WV. Here are a couple squirrels taken with my scopes .177 R9, both one shot kills at about 30 yards, one head shot the other double lunged.........What happened to the squirrels taken that day........Point being that the issue isn't pumper vs springer when taking game, it's simply a matter of placing the pellet through the vitals and you definitely excell at this!
Was a HARDCORE HW springer guy for 20 years. Until at a LR Airgun Expo near the turn of the century when Ron Robinson convinced me, with his personal enthusiasm for CO2 airguns, to give them a try. Hadn't found anything else I liked, that I could afford, yet and still had some money in my boot, so on the last day, as everybody was packing up to leave, made one last pass through that HUGE exhibition hall and bought a few old Crosmans (112, 150, 600, 180) and my first Benjamin 342. Got some good deals too. Have been confused ever since. Can't figger out which type of airgun I like best.
One consideration I see omitted is worth mentioning ... reputation and customer service.True enough with several mentions the D34 is deemed by many a great starting point. But many who have dealt with issues where Umarex warranty work comes into play regret dealing with Umarex or even purchasing something where they are a party to it.
Let's not forget the questions asked by the original poster.
Let's keep it civil guys. Please try not to let this escalate.