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Posted: 4/7/2015 12:04:39 AM EDT
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My experience with air rifles started at 8 years old with my Red Ryder, moved to my 760, and moved back 30 years later to the Red Ryder for my family (I bought all of us one last year for Christmas). Jump forward to Easter Sunday. Trying to be a good Dad, I assisted the Easter Bunny with the distribution of about 50 plastic eggs containing various goodies (candy, money, both). Sunday Morning 0600: sounds can be heard...the children are out and about looking for the "goods". My Wife: "No TOUCHING - No EATING...you can look only until 0800 then you can wake us up" 0700: a tug at my toe. My son asks "Dad, can we go out and do the Easter Egg Hunt?" Me: How do you even know he left you some eggs to look for? Son: Because there are squirrels out there opening the eggs right now. SOB! Not believing it, I got up and looked out and I'll be damned if the tree rats were not in fact trying to get into the eggs I had so carefully tossed in the dark willy nilly. I released the hound who promptly ran out, chased off about 6 squirrels and then just as promptly began eating candy left over by the squirrels. I threw a fit. My wife has commented time and again how I have an almost unholy hatred of squirrels. Growing up, my grandmother paid me a quarter a squirrel to rid her attic of them. My mom would through them in a pressure cooker and then into stew to try to make them consumable. I do not like tree rats Sam I Am! Up until yesterday, I didn't care one way or the other. Said vermin had not entered my attic, I have nothing they wanted and having squirrels and bunnies around make the kids think the yard is a park. Heck, we even have Red Tails and Periguins in our neighborhood due to the abundance of game. I shall not, however suffer the insult of having my eggs opened by the little F'ers. So, in that vein... I have about $150 I can afford to invest in a infestation remover device. 3 out of 5 of my neighbors wont care; the other two may. I cant afford the uber top of the line air rifles right now. Looking for something to "getter done". Killing range is <25 yrds. Backyard, century oak trees and utility lines. Quieter the better, but I understand my cost range limits performance. Said tree rats will be dumped/buried so as to not smell. What say you? |
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stoeger break barrel
I grew up with a Feinwerkbau 124, and would recommend you buy something a little nicer (closer to $400), but something like this Stoeger should serve adequately. |
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I lived in NC until last year.
My property there was overrun by squirrels. They got under my house and chewed through the plumbing, causing flooding problems. They chewed through the aluminum water manifold of my Ford truck. They nested under the leaf guards for the house rain gutters, clogging the gutters. ... I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought a cheap springer .177 air rifle with a scope. I think I paid $49. I was amazed at how good the cheap rifle was at eliminating vermin. If I told you how many hundreds of squirrels, you would not believe me. (actually, I stopped counting after 300). Eventually, I got the population under control. The local foxes would fight for the squirrel carcasses. Then, the foxes started taking live squirrels, and a balance was established. After about 3 years, the cheap rifle wore out somehow, and lost accuracy. I think the break barrel hinge wore and lost tolerance. That was the best $49 I have ever spent. |
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I'll second the vote for the Stoeger rifle. I have the ATAC version and have been pretty happy with it. It's a bit on the heavy side, but it is by far the quietest springer I own. The X20S should be just as quiet and fit your budget.
I'd also recommend any of the springers from Flying Dragon. They are Chinese copies of some of the RWS guns, any they can be had pre-tuned from Flying Dragon for within your budget. The tuning means that the gun has already been torn down and the problems that typically occur (broken seals, lubrication problems, etc.) have been pre-emtively fixed. Good luck in your war on the tree rats... it's an ongoing war for me too. Got to keep a balance though... it gets boring once you put yourself out of business! 
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Going to give the Stoeger rifle a try as a budget replacement for the current broken dispatching machine.
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I would recommend any of the airrifles sold by flyingdragonairrifles.org. The xs28m is the most powerful springer he offers right now. Also any airgun you buy from him has the option to be tuned by him for an additional cost. But it is so worth it as Mike is one of the best in the business and he loves what he does.
If you want a cheap PCP air rifle, look at the xs60c pcp and handpump combo at flying dragon. Just do the research on it before you buy it to see if it is for you. Gatewaytoairguns.com is a good place to look. Also mike has several direct links to threads from various airgun websites on his website dealing with the Xs60c pcp. |
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