Air Rifle Buyer's Guide (2024) - How to Choose Your First Air Rifle

Unlike the movie "A Christmas Story," there are hundreds (if not thousands) more options to consider for air rifles other than the Red Ryder BB gun. Oddly enough, they still produce the Red Ryder, although I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than the novelty factor. 

While BB guns are what many of us grew up with, they're notoriously inaccurate and are very poor quality. In this article, we'll be talking about pellet guns. Pellet guns come in both pistol and rifle form factors, and while we'll gloss over pellet pistols, the focus of this article will primarily be focused on pellet rifles.

With the nearly unlimited options available, choosing a pellet rifle can be confusing without some type of guide to explain the differences. They come in various calibers from .177, all the way up to .60 caliber, and are powered by CO2 cartridges, break barrel springers and nitro piston, pneumatic pumps, as well as what's known as PCP, which stands for pre-charged pneumatic. 

That being said, there's a lot to unpack here, so we'll go over the pros and cons of each of the different propulsion systems, but first, let's cover the different calibers available. Hopefully we can clear the air by the end of this article and help you choose an air gun that meets your needs without breaking the bank, while also being durable, accurate, and well-suited for your particular use.

Choosing the right caliber for your application can help you quickly narrow down your air rifle selection, as opposed to doing it the other way around. We already went over the wide range of calibers available, so let's classify them a bit further.

The most common calibers for pellet guns are .177 and .22 calibers. I'd venture to guess that something in the neighborhood of 80% or more of all air rifles produced are offered in just these two calibers alone. They offer the widest range of pellets, and are the most inexpensive to shoot. 

.177 and .22 calibers are both well-suited for backyard target shooting, although if you have some varmint hunting or pest control in mind, you would be better served by the .22 caliber. While the .177 may be adequate for rodent-sized critters like mice or squirrels, the .22 caliber will dispatch them more humanely, and a decent quality .22 caliber pellet rifle is adequately sized to handle slightly larger critters such as racoons, possums, and rabbits. 

The next step up will be .25 and .30 caliber pellets. These will be able to dispatch those larger critters a bit more humanely, however the increased cost of the pellets make them not as good of a choice for target shooting, at least not if you plan to shoot much. There's also slightly less pellet selection to choose from. 

Calibers bigger than .30 include .357 (9mm), .44, .50, and even .60 calibers. Going into the realm of these "big bore" air rifles puts you squarely ino PCP rifle territory, and the price goes up exponentially. Not only are some PCP rifles just as costly as traditional firearms, they require supporting equipment, not to mention the cost of the pellets. In fact, they often shoot projectiles that look a lot more like real handgun or rifle bullets. 

While there are people who target shoot with "big bore" PCP rifles, many are using them to hunt game... Big game. It's not uncommon to see a big bore PCP rifle successfully take down coyotes or wild boar. 

Since we've already touched on "big bore" PCP air rifles, let's segue right into those first. PCP air rifles represent what many would consider "the pinnacle" of air rifle technology. The distinguishing feature of PCP pellet rifles is the rather large pressure tank, attached to either the buttstock or mounted under the barrel. 

This is where they get the name PCP or pre-charged pneumatic. That pressure tank is pre-charged to 2-3000psi by way of a manual pump (similar to a bicycle pump) or a purpose built air compressor. Once the tank is fully charged to capacity, it's good for any number of shots, depending on the model of rifle and caliber you're shooting. 

The Pros of PCP rifles include:

• Most are good for 10-20 shots (or more) between charges
• PCP rifles have ALL the calibers available, from .177 to 60 caliber
• The most accurate of all the different types
• If you pony-up for a compressor, they're pretty low-effort to shoot

The Cons of PCP rifles include:

• The most expensive overall
• Requires additional equipment 
• If you plan to hunt away from home you'd need to have a power source for compressor, carry a manual pump, or purchase an additional backup tank to charge it (another thing to carry)
• Manual pumping them is laborous 
• They're heavy rifles
• More complicated to repair (air leaks, etc)

So, as you can see, there's a tradeoff. Not only do you have to pay-to-play big time with the purchase of a PCP pellet gun and the additional equipment, but they're heavy and expensive to shoot if you go with a big bore caliber. On the positive side, the accuracy of a quality PCP air rifle is unmatched, and it's pretty cool to be able to shoot it repeatedly with minimal effort once charged.

Break-barrel pellet rifles definitely represent the majority of air guns. They operate by (literally) breaking open the barrel and compressing it down to either preload a big spring, or a nitro piston chamber that compresses air. While spring operated break-barrel pellet rifles have been around for many decades, the nitro-piston varieties are a bit newer, having been around for 20 or so years. There are also break-barrel pistols available.

Experienced air rifle shooters will all have a preference between "springers" and nitro piston guns. While a springer type is dead reliable, it comes along with a noticeable "twang" upon firing. The nitro piston guns have a more pleasant "thud" instead of a twang, however the tradeoff is the seals inside the piston don't last forever, and they're a bit of a pain to rebuild if you plan to do it yourself. 

Despite the differences between springers and nitro-piston pellet guns, the power output (pellet velocity) between the two types are virtually the same when it comes to the modern offerings. Let's consider the break-barrel pros and cons.

The Pros of break-barrels include:

• Inexpensive compared to PCP. You can get a pretty good one for $200-300
• No additional equipment required (unless you want a high quality scope)
• More lightweight than a PCP
• Decent accuracy - you'll need to experiment with some different pellets to see what it shoots best, however target shooting and small game hunting is very possible
• They're common, even many are available at wal-mart
• They're fairly quiet and backyard friendly

The Cons of break-barrels include:

• Caliber selection is limited compared to PCP - primarily .177, .22 and .25, although there is one available in .30 cal that I'm aware of
• Cocking the action can get old if you shoot a lot. Although there are models that have a magazine, (so you don't have to insert one pellet at a time) you still have to break it open and cock the action every shot.
• Nitro-piston durability can be an issue with inexpensive models or if you shoot it a lot

All things considered, in my opinion break barrels offer the best bang for the buck compared to others whether you're just plinking in the backyard, hunting small game, or using it to take care of small pests around the home. The downside is cocking the barrel over and over... and over... and over gets kinda old if you're shooting a lot. 

C02 powered air guns are, in a way, similar to PCP offerings in so much as they're using pressurized canisters as a means of propulsion. The difference being, they're a consumable, you have a number of shots available to you until you throw the canister away and put a new one in. That means you have to buy more canisters.

There are CO2 rifles produced, however most are pistols, and they're primarily used to shoot BBs, although some can shoot pellets quite well. 

Although some people use them to hunt small game, they're generally not adequate for anything other than backyard plinking, like shooting old soup cans or pinecones. They can be quite accurate if you get a higher quality model, however there is a caveat. 

Co2 is highly temerature sensitive, and thusly, the pressures in the canister change significantly with even a 10-degree temperature difference (F). That means projectile velocities are ever-changing (depending on temp and pressure-levels) and can make it less than ideal for precision.

Their main selling point is that they're offered in models that are look-alikes of real handguns, so often times people get them simply for the novelty factor, and unfortunately sometimes they're used for criminal purposes since they look so real. 

In my opinion, one of the worst characteristics of them, is that you have to immediately use the CO2 cartridge, since the seal between it and the feed to the action isn't a perfect seal, so it's not as if you can put a fresh cartridge, then put it down for several hours... all the pressure will leak out, then you need another one. Bogus all around as far as I'm concerned, and that's not exactly an unpopular opinion.

Yes, they are a fantastic way to entertain your friends in the backyard or around the campfire, and a convenient way to introduce kids to safe shooting practices without all the cocking or pumping in between shots, (or the expense of a compressor for PCP) but overall they're just not consistent enough for me to be interested in, especially considering the need for extra consumables.  

I have somewhat of an affinity for the pump style air guns. They're sort of a classic design that many of us grew up with. I still have my Benjamin 397p that was gifted to me when I was 9 or 10 years old. They don't really represent the best of anything per-se, but they do have some redeeming qualities. They are still produced in both rifle and pistol form factor. 

They operate by building up a pneumatic charge by pumping the action repeatedly and building up pressure in a cylinder. You can pump it (almost) as many times as you want in order to have more or less pellet velocity, although it gets progressively harder to pump each time, and the seals are only designed to hold so much pressure, so it's not worthwhile to pump it more than recommended. They're generally only offered in .177 and .22 caliber, although a family member of mine has an older one that comes in .20 caliber, which is a bit of an oddball.

The Pros of pump air guns include:

• They're generally very accurate
• If you stick to the recommended range of pumps per shot, the seals generally never go bad. (They recommend pumping it one time before storage to prevent the seals from shrinking)
• Fairly lightweight and compact

The Cons of pump air guns include:

• Your arms will get sore from pumping it, even more so than cocking a break-barrel
• They're LOUD (I don't shoot mine in the backyard too often because of it)
• The pellet velocity isn't really that great compared to a good springer or nitro-piston, although it is adequate for small game or pest control

While they may have made some velocity improvements in some of the newer models, pump air guns are a high-effort endeavor compared to break barrels or PCP models, (as long as you have a compressor) and are loud enough to make you think twice about using it in a suburban backyard.