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Jaxom · Senior Member

Finally got around to hitting all the stores near me that have only minor restrictions for purchasing air rifles. While reading over my list, keep in mind I'm looking for something that going to be used as for target practice and hunting. It needs to be fairly quiet, (urban hunters have to remain stealthy) and preferably somewhat accurate out of the box without having to do too much tweaking.

Dick's

Crosman Power master 644SB $69.99

Crosman Classic 2100 $79.99

Remingtion Vantage 1200 $119.99

Remington Summit 1000 $179.99

Benjiman Power Master Elite $249.99

Crosman Quest 1000 $99.99

Gamo Sport $149.99 (on clearance)

Gamo Recon $64.99 (on clearance)

Gamo Viper w/scope $249.99

Gamo Big Cat 1200 $139.99

Gamo Varmit Hunter $219.99

Sports Authority

Winchester 1000SB $149.99

Crosman Quest 1000 $99.99

Ruger Hawk Elite $179.99

Gamo Sport $199.99

Gamo Big Cat $169.99

Gamo Hunter 220 $179.99 (there was only one and it had been "dropped, scope is gone, wooden stock has a scratch on it, and what looks like the elevation dial is broken, manage said he'd sell it for half price if I really wanted this one. He did say before he'd sell, he'd take it in back and test fire in his warehouse just to make sure it fired and was safe.)

Sport Mart

Winchester 1000SB $149.99

Ruger Air Hawk Elite $129.99

Hammelti <sp> Titan $159.99

Gamo Big Cat 1200 $199.99

Crosman Quest 1000 $99.99

The two that stand out for me, and that probably doesn't count for much because I'm the one asking which is best choice for my application. The Gamo Hunter 220, because it's slightly damanged and there's a discount offered might be a good deal. But then again for a few dollars more I can get the Air Hawk Elite, but I've never heard of anyhone talking about rutger air rifles on here or their quality.

So folks that's what I have to work with for now. Or at least until I get caught up on my child support and can re-apply for a firearms card. But for some webstores even having a fire arms card won't matter, they still won't ship certain air guns to my state. And darn it all, it seems many of the ones I want I can't get.

There's only one alternative. Is if any fellow members to these forums lives in either Wisconsin or Indiana, neither is a long travel for me. I'm 2 hours from Milwaukee or an hour from Hammond. I would need to know what your state's laws are and where are some good places to go.

Thanks,

Jax

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Any reason why every gun on that list is a .177? Do you want to hunt with it, or shoot targets?

Amigo · Veteran Member

Jaxom:

That $180 Gamo Hunter 220 with broken sight, no scope and other damage for half price at $90 is no bargain. Gamo does not sell replacement parts. They require the owner to send the rifle to them for repair and parts replacement and you pay for them and insured shipping both ways.

If you are looking at .177 cal. because the cost per pellet is half that of .22, that is understandable. With .177 you get a flatter trajectory but give up impact energy verses .22 caliber. There are trade offs, but there is no free lunch.

From your list I would seriously consider the Crosman Quest 1000 for $99.99.

The Quest 1000 tends to push a 7.9 grain domed Crosman Premier .177 cal. pellet faster (hi 800's - lo 900's fps) than the others on the list. It has a reasonable quality oil finished wood stock similar to the Gamo Hunter series. A big plus for a Crosman is parts availability to the individual with prompt shipping at a very low $4.00 flat rate. The parts pricing is also very reasonable ie. springs are about $5.60 ea., seals about $2.00 etc. My last order included 4 each springs, piston seals and barrel seals all shipped for $4.00 and received within 4 days of my morning order. The Thoeben style trigger (just like Gamo's & Industry QB-88) will also take the improved GRT-III drop-in trigger blade if you want to improve it.

Most WalMarts in the midwest carry the Quest 1000. Just check the map for the nearest towns across the state line. Compare to an on-line list of WalMarts, look up a particular stores phone # & call the store for availability (in stock) before the beer oops gun run.

Hope this helps,

Amigo

Jaxom · Senior Member

Okay, I fully understand that .22's are better for hunting over .177's. Niether Sport Mart or Sports Authority will order anything for their customers. It's more of a "This is what corporate shipped us, this is what we sell." attitude. I did ask over at Dicks, back when my fire arms card was still valid, I had been thinking of getting a Henry Survival rifle. And I knew they could order that for me. But when I asked about ordering a 2250xt in .22 caliber, the clerk went to go ask the head firearms manager. This manger came over and explained to me, that according to my stupid state, that no matter what FPS rating a .22 caliber air gun has, it's lumped in along with rim fire guns and requires a fire arms card. Stupid, eh?

So it's not really a matter of wanting to hunt with a .177, as it's more of that's what I'm stuck with, at least for now. Later, as I mentioned I get my past due child support paid off and can re-apply for my foid card, I can once again buy just about any rifle I want. The big IF is who's willing to ship to my state???

Amigo,

I really do appericate the advice. However, as I mentioned in the first post of this thread. I want something I don't have to tinker with. To educate myself, I've been keeping up with the various tweak/mod threads that fellow forum members are doing on their prespective rifles. And while this is all facinating and seems rather simple, I have just too many irons in the fire right now to deal with modifying a rifle to suit my needs. Espeically since as of right now I really don't have a workshop do to work on anything in.

RE: The Gamo Hunter 220. It sorta seemed like a good deal even before I posted concidering the discounted price the manager was offering because it had been dropped. It seemed to me even a better deal after I had time to do some google research on it and found that it orginally went for $249.99 on pyramid.com. And while it's true, a minor scratch in the stock is not a really big deal. Nor is a broken windage adjustment for the iron site, since I'ld just remove that and install a scope anyways. But even before you informed me about Gamo's policy of not selling parts, I would be concerned that even if it still fired and fired safely, how accurate would it be? If it fell hard enough to break the scope, scratch the stock and break the windage adjustment, how true would the barrel be? $90 might sound cheap, but if it has a bent barrel, that'd be $90 just tossed out the window.

Having said all that I would still like to hear any comments about the Ruger Air Hawk Elite. I believe I've stumbled across a pricing error at one store. Sports Mart had theirs priced at $179.99, while Sports Authority had 8 on the shelf, the front 4 were priced at $129.99 and the rear 4 were priced at $179.99. I checked both boxes, they're the same identical modle.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

That Ruger should be priced at $130-ish- not $180.00.

I too would be more inclined to lean towards the Crosman- maybe you could even order a .22 barrel from Crosman someday to get what is more useful for your purposes. This assumes of course Crosman will ship parts to Illinois- it might be worth a call to their Customer Service department to find out. Just tell them you want a .22 barrel for a Quest 800 or a G1 Extreme and I don't think there would be a problem.

Amigo · Veteran Member

Jaxom:

The Crosman Quest 1000 is the same model C1K-77 as the Sierra Pro, the only difference being the lacquered stock on the Sierra Pro. In the past 10 months I've bought (4) of them and they all shot fine right out of the box with no "tinkering" needed.
They all got plenty of use all summer without maintence, just a barrel swabbing. I did check them out prior and there was no sludge, just a film of oil inside and out.

The Quest 1000's I saw at the area WalMarts were priced at $99.99 including a 4x32 Centerpoint scope. Crosman Centerpoint scopes are actually rebadged Leapers.

As you mentioned in a previous thread about being in arrears on child support, I figured you weren't intending to spend $600+ for a TX200 and $150 for a Bushnell scope all of which would/should also be ready to shoot right out of the box.

BTW, what happened to your plans to buy a folding stock "backpack" gun?

Adios,

Amigo

Jaxom · Senior Member

The whole idea here for me is this. Right now I'm using a 1077. Has it work, yes, but I would do much better with somthing a bit more powerful. And yes I am aware that the 1077 can be tweaked. But, should I screw something up, I'd have nothing, that's why I haven't messed around with it yet.

No, I'm not falling for the FPS hype that most folks do. From the excellent advice I have recieved from many folks on these forums, I'm figuring with a bit more "umph" something like the suggested Quest, and the proper pellets, I'll be able to get more game.

This is really only a stop gap measure. At least until I get things sorted out with being able to procure a .22 rifle. And that could be a while. After posting my second reply to this thread, I had to run some errons, since my local gun shop isn't all that far away, I swung over there and asked about rules reguarding my foid. And as I was explaining to the manager of the store my situation and being behind on child support, I also explained that I'm now working and have worked out a payment plan with my state. What I didn't know, was that a customer standing right next to me was a state trooper, and he chimmed in, both he and the manger agreed that I should have no problem getting another card issued.

RE: backpaker. Yes I'm very much still interested in doing that as well. Mind you this would be perhaps the only rifle that I would reallly get into modifying and tuning. Since the only way to make a Crossman 2250xt into a good hunting rifle is to modify it. There's just one slight hitch to this. Because of my states idotic air gun laws. And because they lump .22 caliber air guns in with rim fires no matter what FPS they have, stores don't carry them, some won't even order them. And the only one that will order one for me wants a small arm and leg for it. (the gun shop I mentioned can order the 2250xt for me, for a meer $170 + tax!!!)

The only way for me to get one of these at a better price, is to either drive out of state (but at what cost for gas, might be cheaper just to oder from gun shop), OR and I hadn't even suggested this yet, because depending on whom you talk to this may not even be legal, is to ask a fellow forum member to order it for me and have them ship it to me. This also has it's prolems. It could lead to legal issues for the one shipping it to me, something I wouldn't want to do to someone else. Not withstanding, I'd have to pay not only for the rifle, shipping to another person's house, then shipping to my place, with the distinct possiblity it could be conviscated during the shiping process.

Let's say for one moment that I didn't have any financial issues. I wasn't behind on my child support, and I had a nice healthy budget to build a modest collection of air rifles. Unless I find a better "dealer", I'm pretty much screwed because of the state I live in. The only place I can order air rifles from is one of the few gun shops left in my area. And because they are one of only few left, they feel like it's okay for them to charge an extra 10-20% extra on ALL their weapons.

This really sucks! It is my mother's and my intentions to sell our home here in suburban Chicagoland and "downsize" to a smallish farmette of sorts. Someplace where I could set up and outdoor range for plinking or go take a walk in the woods for dinner, and not have to worry about the many issues of city life. And this is why/how I came to being here. I wanted to cut down on our meger grociery costs down further by taking some small game animals.

So, I have to work with the tools that I have availbe for me now. Looks like the Quest 1000 is the best deal for me then. Luckily my "hunting grounds", my back yard, is only 25' from house to garage and another 25' from northern neighbors fence to southern nieghbors fence. To entice critters, I got one of those compressed corn logs and mount on garage, then a small line from that to a metal bird feeder hanger with two feeders on it. Then another small rope line to house. (birds like landing strips it seems)

jax

cw · Banned

If it were me, I would save up and get a good gun. Those Gamos,
Remingtons, Rugers and Winchesters are just going to end up being
a big disappointment.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

I heard the Gamo something 1250 was, or is, being made by BSA. That's a pretty good thing. Neutral

Roy · Veteran Member

Jax,

Call or visit the Gander Mountain near Kenosha, Wisconsin. The last time I was there they had a pretty good representation of the airguns on your list. The store is just up the road from you and is right next to I94 at the Highway 50 exit.
Roy

lauchlin · Supporting Member

thepaladin · Senior Member

Probably good advice. I have both Quests (1000 and 800) I've got the Winchester budget break barrel. Their what I think of as break-in or ground level adult air rifles. Mine are still in the cainet and I plan to pull them out now and again to shoot them as they're pretty good guns. But if you can save for a little better rifle and maybe find a slightly better selection I'd go for that.

If you can't wait, the Quest is a pretty fair rifle for what it is, though if you can get the 800 (.22) I'd go for that.

Jaxom · Senior Member

After another few setbacks, I actually got some good news today. And while I'm not going to even count eggs let along chickens, things do look to be turing in my favor.

So let's say I take a bit more time and save up for a "mid level" hunting and targeting rifle, what would be suggested then?

1) very quiet, I live in the city

2)doesn't need tweaking, good out of the box

3)comes with a good scope

4).22 caliber, and can be shipped to me

kanyon · Silver Status Member

U an't listed it but I'm a CFX fan.
Do most things well out of the box.
later down the track put a
Maccari E3650 spring & GRT111 trigger
and its a real sweety

thepaladin · Senior Member

Ya, but the guy doesn't want to do gun smithing.

I assume from what you've written before that most places like Pyramyd Air or Air Gun Depot can't ship to you right?

You can answer that, it will help in advice. Is there a friend who can legally get an air rifle shipped to him for you outside of the people republic of Chicago or where ever it is you live? Might be an option.