A real surprise

[osco]

I Love to plink with my Beeman R-10, after years of off and on shooting and about 1,000 pellets It has settled down to a pretty good can popper and does a respectable group, as long as the flyers don't bother me too much. I will never sell It.

I'm giving up on my Benjamin Black Lightening NP2 gas piston break barrel as It's an unpredictable monster.
I do a good 25 yard 5 shot group with a flyer, then the next five shot group is horrible, maybe all flyers,
Then the next group is ok, then the next is bad, or worse or maybe super tight like a pcp, I never know what It will do next. yeah I've done everything that everyone said would help.

I figured It was all me.
Then I got a 22wmr bolt with a really nice trigger, consistent 3 hole 5 shot groups I can cover with a dime at 25 yards and now getting the same groups at 40 yards with Iron sights,
I guess It was not me....

But I needed quiet so I could plink In my woods, There are other homes a bit too close for a full blown HV 22 LR and that supersonic crack.

How about 68 decibels, A rifle that sounds just like my benjamin and my R-10 !
How about 710 fps at the muzzle and 45 ft-lbs of energy,
How about 674 fps at 50 yards and 40 ft-lbs,
@75 yards I got 650ish fps and 38 ft-lbs..

I found that today, a Ruger American Rimfire bolt action 22LR with a wonderful trigger.
I tried several sub sonic loads with varying sound pressure levels,
found a few that I like.
The Quiet-22LR by CCI gives the numbers I show above.
Those little CB shorts, 22 shorts group better at 25 yards with more consistency than even my
rather accurate R-10, the Quiet-22LR's are even better than the shorts.
Found two hollow points that do what hollow points do so well,
both well below the 85 decibels where OSHA says we need hearing protection.

This Ruger is like my Marlin 22WMR even new right out of the box with Its groupings.
First group after a barrel cleaning and 10 shots to learn the trigger was Interesting.
I got this funny 'W' pattern, It was five shots, all holes touching.

I'll never part with my R-10 or My Beeman P-3 or my Crosman Vigilante Co2 but these sub sonic super quiet 22 LR's are so easy to shoot.

The 22LR with the sub sonic rounds will cost from 6 to 9 cents per shot
depending on power and bullet spec, The better hollow points are 9-10 cents each.
The 22 WMR HP moving at 1900 fps will cost .22 cents a pop.
I think these good rim fire groups are due to the Airgun shooting I have done, tin after tin after tin,, etc

Aim small, miss small peoples

Just sayin ~~~

[anti-squirrel]

I enjoy shooting airguns.  Much cheaper than my firearms and I can do it in my backyard and even my house without running afoul of any law.  Plus I have a much larger variety of inexpensive yet accurate choices to shoot, as well as far more tunability and customization options at a low price.

Even better yet, the ammunition is inert.

when I want to make very precise and very small holes in things, I can grab my PP700 pistol with a folding stock and $50 optics and proceed to shoot nickel-size groups using 18 different .177 pellets at 25 yards.  It's certainly backyard friendly, and .177 pellets are quite inexpensive for a tin of 500- even the pricey pellets! My P-17 pistol is a short-range laser with a superlative trigger and cost next-to-nothing.  It gives far more than it takes and makes can dance with ease.  Even taken a couple HOSPs with it.  My CZ-634 springer is another low-power beast 10 FPE but more than enough accuracy to kill squirrels, cans, paintballs, or even pine cones.  My Hatsan 95QE is a very forgiving assembly of marvelous Turkish Walnut, blues steel, and plastic.  It makes LARGE holes squirrel heads at ranges to 35 yards (never shot it further).  Got it Amazon for essentially free.  Got a couple PCP rifles for minimal expenditures.  They shoot where I point, are dirt cheap to shoot, and easy to fill with a handpump, plus the arm exercise is fun.  Inert ammo makes storing a stockpile of ammo a no-brainer.  Then there's my slingshots.  Now those are cheap to shoot.  Cheap to buy, cheap to repair, and still very accurate.  Took a squirrel this morning with my Tru-Mark.  A 3/8 bearing does a number on a squirrel skull at 180 FPS.  And yep, they certainly are quiet.

I will never part with my Savage Mark II, but for everyday shooting in my little slice of suburbia, no powderburner can hang with my airguns or slingshots.  My most expensive-to-shoot airgun is my Hatsan 95QE; it loves Polymags and it's a .25, but even then, it is still less costly to shoot than my firearms.

[Roadworthy]

I have found my springer is slightly more accurate than my .22 rimfire, at least at forty yards.  Besides being cheaper to shoot there is no brass to retrieve after shooting.  The quiet is a plus though it makes no difference in my "neighborhood".  Even expensive pellets are far cheaper than any rimfire.

[kerplunk]

  Even expensive pellets are far cheaper than any rimfire.

I see this sentiment a lot around here but it's not accurate. Cheap 22lr ammo is cheaper than quality pellets. Just saying.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/remington-thunderbolt-22lr-lrn-40-grain-500-rounds?a=1805073

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/jsb-match-diabolo-exact-jumbo-heavy-22-cal-18-13-grains-domed-500ct?p=690

[Allen Rice]

Adam,
I must confess that the price of cheap 22LR ammo challenges the cost of high quality 22cal pellets.  This applies even more to most air gunners who can not buy quality pellets over the counter and have to pay shipping from an on-line supplier.  However, the benefits or airgunning for target shooting and small game hunting (Quietness, back yard or indoor friendly, no brass to clean up, infrequent barrel cleaning, legal and safety issues) greatly out weigh the close call on the economic issues, at least in an urban environment.  JMHO

ar

[Bayman]

I have found my springer is slightly more accurate than my .22 rimfire, at least at forty yards.  Besides being cheaper to shoot there is no brass to retrieve after shooting.  The quiet is a plus though it makes no difference in my "neighborhood".  Even expensive pellets are far cheaper than any rimfire.

+ 1👍

[anti-squirrel]

Adam,
I must confess that the price of cheap 22LR ammo challenges the cost of high quality 22cal pellets.  This applies even more to most air gunners who can not buy quality pellets over the counter and have to pay shipping from an on-line supplier.  However, the benefits or airgunning for target shooting and small game hunting (Quietness, back yard or indoor friendly, no brass to clean up, infrequent barrel cleaning, legal and safety issues) greatly out weigh the close call on the economic issues, at least in an urban environment.  JMHO

ar

I concur with the benefits of airgunning, big-time, and will add pesting purposes.  I can demolish a pack of squirrels in one go if I choose one of my airguns with an LDC- and none of my airguns are mouse-fart quiet.  An airgun makes a far better pesting tool than any powderburner when dealing with multiple pests, since there's far less risk of property damage or scaring away the rest of the animals. 

BTW, Free shipping is available via Amazon.  I order my RWS Meisterkugeln and H&N pellets this way, and now that JSBs come taped, these as well.  Most folks won't order from Amazon, but I've had great luck.  I also know you don't order large/heavy/bulky items at the same time as pellets, or they get packaged together and tins of pellets become casualties of shipping

Depending on what your airguns like, quality pellets are certainly available close by to everybody: order from Wal-Mart online and pick up locally, or just go to Wal-Mart and buy CP domes.  These are not bad pellets.  All my .22 Crosman barrels happen to like Gamo RedFires, too (which is a mystery to me but hey, I roll with it!)- my 392PA especially.  And lemme tell ya, a .22 RedFire will dispatch a mortally wounded raccoon.  I had to put one down a few weeks ago after it tangled with a neighbor's truck. 

[the fuse]

I spent last weekend out on an island in southern VT. Wet but lots of fun. We did a lot of .22 rim fire shooting out there. Noise is a concern out there so we were shooting sub-sonics and shorts. I was astonished how accurate both were......once I got my Henry sighted in with them.
I love my airguns but I love my PB guns as well. OK I had to spend 15 minutes cleaning it. I will never have to replace it's seals.

[Hoosier Daddy]

The poor availability of .22 ammo a few years ago is what brought me (and others) back to airguns.
N ow that it is plentiful again, I am getting reacquainted with my PB's, and applying what I have learned with my AG's. Really liking the performance of subsonic CCI SV's. Very impressive.
 But nothing compare to a fine shooting airgun to me. I am still glad I made it back around full swing.

[kerplunk]

Adam,
I must confess that the price of cheap 22LR ammo challenges the cost of high quality 22cal pellets.  This applies even more to most air gunners who can not buy quality pellets over the counter and have to pay shipping from an on-line supplier.  However, the benefits or airgunning for target shooting and small game hunting (Quietness, back yard or indoor friendly, no brass to clean up, infrequent barrel cleaning, legal and safety issues) greatly out weigh the close call on the economic issues, at least in an urban environment.  JMHO

ar

I completely agree. I am lucky enough to be able to safely, legally, and politely shoot 22LR to my heart's content, but I still shoot my airguns much more often. Also, many air rifles shoot CPHPs well enough for small game hunting, plinking, and casual target shooting, and there is no competition price-wise there. If I could only have one rifle it would be my Remington 572, but if I could have two the second would probably be my Trail NP2 .177. I got one of the last ones made in America, so all of the issues were fixed but it wasn't put together by a Chinese teenager. It is accurate, high-powered, easy to cock, and not hold sensitive.

[kerplunk]

The poor availability of .22 ammo a few years ago is what brought me (and others) back to airguns.
N ow that it is plentiful again, I am getting reacquainted with my PB's, and applying what I have learned with my AG's. Really liking the performance of subsonic CCI SV's. Very impressive.
 But nothing compare to a fine shooting airgun to me. I am still glad I made it back around full swing.

After the shortage was over many people stocked up, and now you can find some pretty good deals from people looking to sell off their hoard, especially if you live in a gun-friendly state. In Texas I scored a bunch of 22LR for 2-3 cents per round. The guy even threw in a bunch of boxes of Eley Target because he didn't like them. My guns like them just fine.

Have you tried the CCI Quiets? In my experience they are very accurate out to 20 yards and ridiculously quiet, especially from a longer barrel.

[RickHem]

A long time ago, I ended up with a box of CCI .22 CB Long cartridges.  Sat on them for years, then tried shooting a rat with one and was amazed at how little noise they made.  Took some to my bullseye pistol league and tried them from my Smith 41 at 25 yards, they were dead-on with where the CCI SV printed in that pistol, although they would not cycle the action.  Found the same accuracy from a couple bolt actions I have at distances up to 25 yards.  It's a 29 grain bullet in a standard long-rifle case so it won't ring your chamber.  Gotta believe that 29 grain pill would continue to fare better than lighter airgun pellets at longer distances. 
For quiet, Aguila makes a 20 grain bullet at 420 FPS in their Colibri cartridge.  Haven't shot those, but others who claim to have used them say good things.