Best $50 air rifle

[madmudder]

Hi,
 I'm new here. I'm looking for the best beginner pellet gun for my son. Is Crosman better than Daisy? Thanks for any replies.

[Toolmaker]

Hello and welcome to the GTA! You didn't say how old your son is, but the Crosman 760 or the Daisy 880 are both great beginner guns, especially for younger shooters. My son has a 760 (he's 10).

[oldpink]

It's ten dollars more on PyramydAir, but this was my first air rifle ever, and it was and is still an excellent one for the money.

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/crosman-2100b-air-rifle?m=226

I used mine to rub out scores of English sparrows and starlings.
I would also say that Crosman definitely makes the better air rifle over Daisy, especially since Daisy has slipped so much over the last few years.

[Onebaddj]

Ive had a 880 and a 760. Still have the 880 working as good as ever. 21 years now and its taken alot of cans bottle and small animals. My 760 is now the barrel for my automatic that I hook to the aircompressor. It was a good gun till the seals blew out. You can get a whole kit with glasses targets and stuff for around 60.

[madmudder]

My son is 11. He's shot a 760 a few times but wasn't impressed with how the BBs loaded, plus it looks really cheap. I have an old powerline 860 but it costs $40 to repair the seals. Are Crosmans more repairable?

[zzyzx]

Having just picked up two in that price range I would vote for the new to us Crosman Raven or the XS-B12. Both very nice. But, the Raven was on sale and the B12 was a Mike Melick tuned job bought used on the classifieds on this site.

I have three other older Daisy and Crosman BB/pellet rifles and none of them compare to either of these two new ones.

For a youngster I would go with the Raven if I were only buying one. The black stock and styling sure is a hit with the neighbor kids who have been shooting it the past few days.

[Tpatner412]

While it's too small for me I have held the raven and it feels really comfortable and purposeful. I have a 760 that I bought last year an one my dad gave me from the 70's. The new ones aren't that great in my opinion. Assuming that your son can cock a breakbarrel I would go with the Raven or a similar youth breakbarrel. That way he can focus on one shot at a time and not have to pump the darn thing a million times.

Tyler

[Yellowstone]

How about pistol 1377 would be a good choice. Personally I would stay away from BB’s. Stick with Pellets they are safer. imo.

[Daysailer]

+1 for Yellowstone's advice about BB's

I have a 30 year old Crosman 766 with all original parts. Crosman now calls it the 2100.

Advantages over the 760  IMHO;
Rifled barrel, more accurate
Longer pump arm makes pumping easier.
2 pumps = 410 fps  Perfect for indoor target use
3 pumps = 500 fps  plenty of power with minimum pumps
...
7 pumps = 620 fps
i never pump more than 7 for my uses, plinking and indoor target.

Pumper advantages over spring,
If you keep it lubricated (2 drops of pelgun oil every 300 shots) it will last forever.   Springs and seals dont.

Just $.02 worth of opinion.......ds

[bart the fart]

http://www.umarexusa.com/catalog/Closeouts-Specials,3.htm

at the bottom of the page its a ruger explorer....42 bucks ,easy to cock great quality....shoot might get one myself!

[RedFeather]

Start them off right.  IMHO, an inexpensive air gun with a terrible trigger can be a false economy.  Instead of learning to shoot, he will be fighting that heavy trigger most of the time.  As much as I hate to say it, you can't hardly find a really good air gun for $50.  Consider that's probably not even three trips to MacDonald's for a family of four.  Besides, if he is really interested, the 760 or 880 will be soon outgrown and you'll be lucky to get half your money back out of them.  While a springer can be a hard gun to shoot for a first timer, if you can get one with a good trigger it will go a long way towards building his skills and, more importantly, interest.  Most springers, even the cheapies, are very accurate.  Maybe something like one of those TF58's?  I think that is the model.  Direct sear trigger but not bad quality, has anti-beartrap button and most folks seem very pleased with them.  I think they are around $60.  Or the X12 from Mike Mellick and have him do the checkup on it, maybe lubing while he's at it.  The plus side of these is, if your son decides it's not for him, YOU can still enjoy it.  Look at how many Diana 24's (their old "youth model") you DON'T see for sale these days.

Again, just my two cents, plain.

[cole5169]

Hi, madmudder,

"  -  I'm looking for the best beginner pellet gun for my son  -  "

I don't have any idea what your budget is, but my favorite two guns for teaching young people to shoot are the Crosman 2260 and the Daisy 953.  They are both easy to use, capable of very good accuracy, and they have recoilless actions - which makes learning that much easier.



Crosman 2260, CO2 rifle, .22 cal, about $85

The Crosman is a single shot, .22 caliber rifle powered by CO2 cartridges.  It's lightweight, and it's a decent scale for young shooters.  Being CO2, there is no "recoil".  The downside to CO2 is that it is another supply - in addition to pellets - that must be bought.  I should probably also mention that .22 caliber pellets are usually more expensive than .177 pellets...

As stock, the Crosman 2260 has open sights, and there is no simple way to mount a scope, as it does not have dovetails cut into the breech,.  That being said, it is better to teach a newcomer to shoot with open sights and then progress to optics (my opinion...)  Crosman sells a steel breech upgrade that fit all of the 22xx/13xx guns and it is dovetailed.



Daisy 953 TargetPro, single-pump pneumatic, .177 cal, about $70

The Daisy is also single shot, but has a .177 caliber rifled barrel, and is a pneumatic single-pump action.  It is lightweight and has a polymer target stock.  It also can be used with an external 5-shot magazine (1 included), which allows it to be used as a repeater (= makes loading easier; the bolt must still be cycled by hand, and the rifle must be pumped before each shot).

Pumping the 953 is not super-easy, it does take a little strength.  But it is no harder than pumping a Crosman 760, and you only need to pump the Daisy once...

The 953 has scope dovetails cut into the breech.  The open sights that come with the gun are pretty basic, and as your young shooter develops, this gun benefits from the addition of an inexpensive diopter sight upgrade:

 
Daisy 5899 Receiver Sight, about $25 at Pyramyd Air, and Daisy Globe Front Sight + Insert, $20

The Daisy 953 is truly youth-scaled, with a short 12" length of pull (dist. from buttplate to trigger).  Spacers can be added to the buttplate to increase this distance -- they are included in some bundles, I think, but if not, they are very inexpensive and can be purchased directly from Daisy.


Both of these rifles (the Crosman and the Daisy) are very well-built, and feel very solid.
They both are single-shot, and they both have a safety that can be reset.
With normal use and care, neither should require service for years and years, but if it is necessary, there is a large network of individuals who can reseal or repair these guns.

I lean toward the Crosman 2260, because it is more of an "all-around" gun, whereas the Daisy 953 is pretty specifically a target trainer or backyard plinker.
Hope I didn't make a tough choice even more confusing, 
-Joel

[pindog2000]

B16 or ruger explorer

[zzyzx]

Add me in as one more vote for the Daisy 953. Forgot about it. The Raven and XS-B12 have more power. But, as a kids shooter with a 5 shot magazine, single cock rifle... it is very accurate and easy to shoot.

Given the choice I would go with the first two I mentioned above but definately have the 053 on the list as an alternative.

Put me in the NO BB camp. They bounce back way too often and that is not a good thing for anyone.

The Raven and XS-12 are both nice with the vote for better feel going to the MIKE MELICK prepared XS-12. Much smoother all the way around, the Raven is close and shoots with power also and the 953 a comfortable third. My experience is limited to these three in kids rifles along with a potload of BB guns of various types. No more BB guns for most things as the pellet rifles are nicer for me to shoot and loan out to neighbor kids.