I have shot airguns on and off since I lived in Germany in the late 1960. Those Germans know their air guns!  Anyway, we had a squirrel population explosion and something had to give. Living next to a subdivision I didn't want to be shooting one of my rifles in my wooded back yard so it was back to using an airgun. I had used my trusty Diana target pistol with some luck but you had to make a very good clean shot to get the job done. I don't like wounding the animals and making them suffer.

I didn't want to drop a ton of money into this rifle but didn't want a cheap BB gun either. Solution: X20 S2 Stoeger in .177.   I know, its not the top of the line high quality purist rifle but I can say its been deadly on the squirrel population around here.   I sighted this thing in and found it would hold a very tight group right out of the box. I am talking about one large ragged hole at 20-25 yards. This is with the factory trigger and the 4X scope that comes with it. Also it appears that "S2" noise reduction thing actually works. The gun is reasonably quiet and doesn't arouse any undo attention in the neighborhood or even scare off other wildlife.

Power: I am using RWS target pellets because I have a lot of them from my pistol. I can attest to the fact that they are very accurate and with this gun at 25 yards they easily penetrate the squirrel for fast kills. It is rare to need more than one well place shot and this rifle will make well placed shots if you know what you are doing.  There are some aftermarket triggers made for this and they sell at a very reasonable price. Considering how well this example shoots I might actually spring for one even though the gun has been pretty accurate with the slightly stiff factory trigger.

I am happy with this rifle. It does exactly the job I wanted it to do and the price was quite affordable from Pyramyd Air.  This rifle while not a top of the line German gun certainly seems a good pick for affordable pest control.

Sounds good, it does what you want and you're having fun too, win win.

In the first week of use it took down a dozen squirrels. As long as I aim true and hold steady its a one shot deal. I didn't want to spend four or five bills for a back yard squirrel gun but I wanted something accurate and with the power to do the job. It fills the bill. At times on this forum I see people asking about a basic air rifle and people start pushing some really high dollar guns. Yes, a $500 rifle is better, but how much gun is enough? Clearly for back yard pest control this gun does the job and does it well.

I'm looking at buying this but in .22. Does anybody have an opinion? My targets would be rabbit, opossum, feral cat, and starlings. Shooting range would be 25 yards and less. Does the .22 pellet really have a quick drop at that range? Noise, how does the noise level of the X20S2 Stoeger compare to Aquila Super Colibri? That is my go to for pest control, but the super colibri has dried up here. My SIL has a couple of different of Gamo's and I'm not real impressed with them. Thanks.

Watch this before you buy anything