Diana Chaser, the alternatives.

[stweet254]

Hi everyone, enjoying the forum.

For our pest-control needs (rats, duck coop, urban area), and for teaching our 10 yr old safe and responsible airgun handling, we've nearly decided upon the Chaser.  We like the weight and compactness, economy,  power and noise levels, and apparent accuracy. My main issue is wasting a CO2 cartridge each dusk during pest control, but the PCP setups we've seen are quite pricy and large (I would like trying a PP750, perhaps next).

We'll be using it in moderated Carbine format, typical pre-usage barrel-clean.  Mounting a cheapie low mag/small objective scope.

Before "we pull the trigger" ( ), I wanted polling you guys, seeing if we missed any obvious alternatives.

[Earl]

For teaching your 10 year old, get a Daisy Buck or a Daisy Red Ryder because they are simple and fun to play with.
The Chaser should be OK for adults to shoot rats.
You can leave a CO2 cartridge in the gun for several days.

[stweet254]

For teaching your 10 year old, get a Daisy Buck or a Daisy Red Ryder because they are simple and fun to play with.
The Chaser should be OK for adults to shoot rats.

Thanks for your reply, Earl.  I really appreciate the suggestion.  Unfortunately, our 10 yr old already has negative experiences w/ actual firearms.  His father forced him to shoot AK's and pistols in Wisconsin sans eyes/ears.  The poor kid likes the hobby, his friends have slingshots/darts/etc, but is scared of the noise and recoil, doesn't understand trigger discipline, etc.   I'd like him learning w/ me on something akin to what he used, but approachable, and teach him kindly as opposed to "You should learn to shoot"

The Chaser already has the LDC (a requirement in our area), a simple bolt action, and no springer recoil, so we're hoping it/another works. 

[Firewalker]

Get the Chaser and a SafePac high pressure air tube. All the lightness you want and a PCP in one gun. Add a 3x9 bug buster scope and your set.

[stweet254]

You can leave a CO2 cartridge in the gun for several days.

I had no idea, thought leaving cartridges in eroded seals.  Another fallacy from whatever CO2 revolver I had 30 years ago, I guess.  Thanks.

[stweet254]

Get the Chaser and a SafePac high pressure air tube. All the lightness you want and a PCP in one gun. Add a 3x9 bug buster scope and your set.

I had to Google the Safepac.  Looks like it adds to under barrel length, but minimal weight?  Looks like a regulator's needed.  For the price, wouldn't something like the Artemis PP750 be a better bet (the other choice we were contemplating)?

Not to be cheap, but with conversion and hand pump, we're looking at circa +$200 over the Chaser.  Need an optic either way.  Do we gain something significant, excepting power levels and cool-factor?

[avator]

Fortitude and a hand pump. Something he won't outgrow. It's a regulated gun so you won't need to pump it up to max to get consistent, accurate shots. It's mag fed for convenience. It's light weight and composite stock to take some of the bumps and bruises.

[Marquette]

Are you looking at the Chaser pistol or the pistol/carbine kit?  If you are planning to use it in the rifle mode the Beeman QB78s is another good co2 choice. In the pistol mode the Crosman 2240 with a shoulder stock is also a proven gun. I have a Benjamin Maximus that weighs about the same as a Fortitude. I’ve used it to teach my daughter in law to shoot and it’s ok off the bench but it’s stock is a little long for her and it’s a bit too front heavy for her.  But she loves to shoot my Daisy 717 pistol because she can easily hold it. 
  You are right in your decision about a airgun to solve the noise and recoil problem.  I tried teaching my daughter in law at the range with a .22 but the noise from shooting around her she never enjoyed herself.  The airguns in the backyard she loves to shoot. Many of us on the forums come from a powder burner background in multiple disciplines over the years and have moved to airguns and wished we had discovered them earlier.  Your child will be lucky enough to learn about airguns early. 

[Mr Fluffy Tail]

id get a stormrider 177 and handpump .. a chaser is fine for rats and birds in a shed but once youre up to squirrels or alittle more distance its not got quite enough bite .. i have both .. chaser- not so serious ... stormrider 177-very serious

[Ribbonstone]

Can see the co2 chaser in carbine configuration as a good choice for a 10 year old’s first “serious” air gun.  I’d have loved one way back when I was 10.

As adults, we’ all prefer more powerful PCP’s, but for a 10 year old that seems kind of excessive. Making it easy to load and shoot “hooks” kids on airguns….turning him loose with a PCP and having him pump fill it isn’t as much of a “hook”.  Having Pop fill a PCP just teaches him dependence.

Energy rating isn’t high...accuracy doesn’t depend on that...pest shooting does.  I’d teach him the fine art of “ambush shooting” were your get close and place the pellet right on the off-switch.

Might find the stock a bit long..depends on the size of your 10 year old (we grow them bigger now).

12gr co2 cartridges are not cheap any more, and I’d expect about 35-40 good shots at typical out the box Chaser. Know the ad claims 50 shots, but they include the ever slower shots where the 12gr. is running out of gas.  Probably 60 shots if you count the ones that dribble out the barrel at bugger-flicking speeds.

I do keep the co2 charged if I don’t shoot all of the shots...co2 doesn’t erode anything, it’s an inert gas.

-----------
 
If you do go co2, I’d have to decide if he was big enough to handle a larger rifle….if he is (or likely to grown into it soon) would go with a QB78 even though it’ a single shot.

Would need an aftermarket LDC to keep it quiet, more powerful, but the total cost wouldn’t be much different.

As an adult, know that QB’s have kept my interest and some of them have been in use for 12 years…some simple repairs over the years, but your 10 year old could still be shooting and enjoying one when he’s 22.

[nervoustrigger]

I wholeheartedly agree with Robert’s sentiments.  I think the Chaser (SPA CP2) is an excellent choice for a 10yo.  It’s so lightweight and easy to shoot offhand that it should give you about the best opportunity possible to cultivate an interest in shooting in the young man.

For some perspective, I have 5 boys ranging from 7 - 17 and lightweight traditional rifles just didn’t appeal to them until we got down into the realm of Daisy 880.   So my concern with shading toward a more powerful gun is that it may diminish the fun factor.  My thinking is if he really takes to it, it’s easy to justify a larger and more powerful gun as he grows.  Meanwhile the Chaser has sufficient energy for small pests like rats, house sparrows, and chipmunks.  Squirrel is possible too but I wouldn’t recommend it except under the most favorable conditions, like 20 yards or less shooting from a rest for a confident brain shot.

Or if the air source for a PCP is not a deterrent, the PP800 is a good option that preserves many of the same qualities as the Chaser, but with more power.

[avator]

I wholeheartedly agree with Robert’s sentiments.  I think the Chaser (SPA CP2) is an excellent choice for a 10yo.  It’s so lightweight and easy to shoot offhand that it should give you about the best opportunity possible to cultivate an interest in shooting in the young man.

For some perspective, I have 5 boys ranging from 7 - 17 and lightweight traditional rifles just didn’t appeal to them until we got down into the realm of Daisy 880.   So my concern with shading toward a more powerful gun is that it may diminish the fun factor.  My thinking is if he really takes to it, it’s easy to justify a larger and more powerful gun as he grows.  Meanwhile the Chaser has sufficient energy for small pests like rats, house sparrows, and chipmunks.  Squirrel is possible too but I wouldn’t recommend it except under the most favorable conditions, like 20 yards or less shooting from a rest for a confident brain shot.

Or if the air source for a PCP is not a deterrent, the PP800 is a good option that preserves many of the same qualities as the Chaser, but with more power.

What kid wouldn't want to carry this around?   

[nervoustrigger]

I mean, when the scope is almost the same length as the gun, that’s when you know it’s right.

[avator]

LOL.... the scope has been replaced with a compact scope since that picture.
I have a kit made up for it that also includes a red dot for pistol conversion.

[lefteyeshot]

Seems to me a gun for a 10 year old to learn to shoot and a gun for pesting are two different things. I don't pest. But if I did I wouldn't use one of my co2 guns.

Might consider the Ruger 1022. Tractor Supply has'em for $100. The scope rail for it is cheap. 8 or 10 shot, don't remmber. Two co2 carts. Semi-auto double action or you can cock it for a lighter single action trigger.

One might be tempted by a Crosman 1077W for the wood stock and scope grooves but it's only has a heavy double action trigger and the receiver is plastic.

Cheap scope with 2-7 or 3-9x32 with AO. If you're learning to shoot might as well learn to use those features. Lum would have been a cool feature when I was a kid. The problem I have with Bug-Buster type scopes is they are to short for good eye relief.

Co2 carts are cheap. I don't leave them in a gun.

[stweet254]

OP here.  Thanks to you all for the varied, thoughtful replies.  Lots of great info, further informing/reinforcing/altering my leaning.

I think we're going Chaser, replete w/ a small-objective/low-mag optic.  I don't know how to multi quote, so replies to the contributors:

+The kiddo's only punching paper.  Mom and I are pest-controlling.
+Said Mom is 5 ft tall/petite, dislikes firearms (but now enjoys shooting  )  Full-size and/or traditional-looking options are a no-go.
+We're teaching proper firearm discipline precisely because another person isn't, is IMO reckless.  I could care less if the 10yr old takes to the hobby, but since he's forced to shoot when away, sans eyes/ears/trigger discipline as well, I want building his foundation. 
+Silence is paramount.  Despite legality, we're respecting closely-situated neighbors' environments.
+No live targets besides aforementioned rats, and any mice that tag along.  Muscovy Ducks leave food all over the darned place.
+I'm liking that we can keep Co2 in the gun for quick-reaction pest-control. The main reasons I considered the Artemis PP750 were the collapsing stock, and that PCP can be stored charged.  Storable Co2 in gun, at least for a few days, is a huge convenience, and means the better half's more likely to pitch in.

In any case, thanks for all your input.  I like the Chaser's compact size and weight, yet still having a stock (Carbine only).  Like the tuneability, yet that it's solid as-is.  Now, to hunt for an optic; I'm sure you'll all cringe, but I'm looking at a T-Eagle 2x28, aliexpress special   Gents across the pond, including a friend in Milton Keynes, love them.

[stweet254]

Sorry, forum brain fart.  Disregard.

[EdinGa]

Sorry, forum brain fart.  Disregard.

If you get that Chaser, DO NOT go to the Buck-Rail website unless you like tacticool and have a little money to spend. 

[subscriber]

I'm sure you'll all cringe, but I'm looking at a T-Eagle 2x28[/list]

No cringing at all:

I prefer open sights, but can't see them as well as I used to.   So, red dots are an option.  As for scopes; they help sharpen the target and the crosshairs, which solves my primary problem.   More magnification helps off a rest, but hurts me when shooting offhand:

First, you need to find a scope with parallax settable down to 10 yards ( a must for airguns).  I prefer it be variable power, that goes down to a true 1X, but this seems scare for scopes that have variable parallax down to airgun range.   

In my opinion, a novice will find that a fixed 2X will be easier to shoot well than a fixed 10X.  This is because finding short range targets (15 yards) will be faster at lower mag - assuming the 10X scope can even focus at such a short range.  Also, too much magnification causes one's wobble to "feed back on itself", unless very experienced, or shooting off a very steady rest.

[Firewalker]

Agreed! Buck-Rail should be avoided like pizza and beer! 

LOVE my Chaser!