Side or under-lever .22 pellet gun question

[Frito Ray]

I’ve been looking at some videos, and when compared to a break-barrels, it looks like the side or under-lever pellet guns might be tougher to load when one has cold fingers (i.e. in the fall or spring when dexterity is a bit hampered). Agree/disagree?

Also, if one were to drop the pellet in that chamber does it fall out easily?

 

[Jay21]

For me it comes down to one choice: scope or no scope. If you want to scope it, you want a fixed barrel system. If all you want to use is iron sights, there’s nothing wrong with break barrels.

Research “barrel droop” to hear more opinions.

 

[Frito Ray]

For me it comes down to one choice: scope or no scope. If you want to scope it, you want a fixed barrel system. If all you want to use is iron sights, there’s nothing wrong with break barrels.

Research “barrel droop” to hear more opinions.

Pellets are snug and don’t fall out.

I’m interested in fixed barrels for that reason, but not at the cost of having to fumble around while in the bush in chilly weather.

I’m not really into bench shooting, more into pesting and plinking.

I eliminated PCPs because I prefer to be independent from pumps, tanks, and compressors.

 

[DesertIguana]

Biggest Caliber I owned was .177 if I recall, benjerman Pump, worked well for plinking n small pests.

https://pictures.gunauction.com/1304152521/16899332/20191122131419-5954.jpg

 

[ColtRevolver]

I have both a side cocker and a break open model. The side cocker is easy to load. Once you push the pellet in the chamber, it will not fall out.

 

[jkingrph]

I have both a side cocker and a break open model. The side cocker is easy to load. Once you push the pellet in the chamber, it will not fall out.

I also have both, and along with the break barrels, if a pellet is loaded into the chamber, ie the breech end of the barrel it will not fall out. Now as far as the open breech, on most of those side and under cocking models if you drop a pellet in the open breech it will roll around there and you will have to fish it out. One has an open breech and it can fall out onto the ground.

 

[nortac]

What is your price range? Pyramid Air is a great source (and resource) for all things air gun related. I only have break open and PCP, though I would consider either a side cocking or under lever if I felt the need.

 

[Frito Ray]

Now as far as the open breech, on most of those side and under cocking models if you drop a pellet in the open breech it will roll around there and you will have to fish it out. One has an open breech and it can fall out onto the ground.

Thanks, on the videos I saw there never was a viewing angle to show where an accidentally dropped pellet would end up. If it falls straight to the ground, no big deal; but if gymnastics are involved I’m not really interested.

…Pyramid Air is a great source (and resource) for all things air gun related. I only have break open and PCP, though I would consider either a side cocking or under lever if I felt the need.

When I first started thinking about upgrading my old Crosman breakbarrel, that is one of the sites I visited. I had the misconception that I could use my shop compressor to load a PCP, but found out on Pyramyd Air that it can’t do the job. The scuba tank option has zero appeal to me and I would rather put all the money on a better gun than have to split it with a pump or compressor. I don’t want to go crazy price-wise so I’m thinking about $400 US or $500 CAN.

I’m in no rush as I’m aiming to buy next summer.

 

[nortac]

I splurged for a high end PCP rifle and got the scuba tank, it works but is inconvenient at best. I wish I had also splurged for an air gun compressor and I probably will someday.

 

[Frito Ray]

How many fill per scuba tank do you get?

 

[nortac]

How many fill per scuba tank do you get?

I can't really say as I have never fully depleted the tank. I have not shot my PCP in quite a while. My reason for investing in a PCP was for shooting from the bench for 50-100 yd target shooting and I wanted to maintain near max velocity. Of course, your pressure drops in the PCP as you deplete it's air supply and since I didn't want to repeatedly stop and refill during a long shooting session, I had a tendency to leave the tank attached to the gun while shooting from the bench. So there was no way to judge the number of complete refills from a depleted state. Bottom line, you can do a lot of shooting from a full sized tank, I just don't want to have to take it to the local dive shop every time it runs low. A minor hassle, but still a hassle.

 

[nortac]

You also have to have your air tank re-certified very 5 yrs? I believe that mine is due.

 

[Frito Ray]

You also have to have your air tank re-certified very 5 yrs? I believe that mine is due.

Another thing I didn’t know!

I’ll look around locally to see how many shops offer tank refilling. If there is only one or two, then I’d be stuck if they shut down or took a vacation.

 

[nortac]

You may be able to get it refilled at a local fire station, so I've heard, but not attempted.

 

[KW Driver]

You may be able to get it refilled at a local fire station, so I've heard, but not attempted.

I’ll second every bit of that.

 

[jkingrph]

For me it comes down to one choice: scope or no scope. If you want to scope it, you want a fixed barrel system. If all you want to use is iron sights, there’s nothing wrong with break barrels.

Research “barrel droop” to hear more opinions.

I have a couple of break barrel guns scoped with no problems. The others have receiver sights and again no problem. In my opinion a break barrel is the easiest to shoot.

 

[nortac]

My .177 Gamo "Bone Collector" springer is scoped and does fine out to about 35 yds accuracy wise, but accuracy begins to deteriorate after that, though I can make hits further out. If you are looking for accurate hits at 50 yds and beyond, you need a fixed barrel and of course the PCP is the long range accuracy champion, some capable of 1 MOA at 100 yds. But that requires a top shelf gun with careful tuning and pellet selection. There are lots of YouTube videos of shooting pigeons at 200 yds. with PCP guns. My Air Arms 510 S Supersporter pictured above is supposedly capable of 1 MOA, but the best I have done is about .75 at 50 yds., one ragged hole at 35 yds., IIRC.

 

[nortac]

These are both 10 shot groups with the .22 cal AA 510S. The bottom target was either at 30 or 35 yds, I don't recall. I think the top target group size is due to my shooting, not the gun. I do believe the gun is capable of 1 MOA at 100 yds. under the right conditions.

 

[Frito Ray]

View attachment 1784103View attachment 1784104

These are both 10 shot groups with the .22 cal AA 510S. The bottom target was either at 30 or 35 yds, I don't recall. I think the top target group size is due to my shooting, not the gun. I do believe the gun is capable of 1 MOA at 100 yds. under the right conditions.

That is pretty darn good shooting there!

Yep saw a bunch of impressive videos of guys shooting PCPs, even some using computer programs to take into account wind, angle, gun strength, pellet weight, etc. I have to be carful because that is a rabbit hole I could easily fall into.

Here is a video I found pretty good that shows the importance of matching the correct pellet weight to the strength of the airguns for optimal precision:

 

[nortac]

Another thing about using the scuba tank to charge a PCP, if you run your PCP at near max pressures/ velocity, as you use your tank, eventually it won't charge up to those pressures even though it is not completely empty. So you either have to settle for lower pressure/velocity or refill the tank before it is completely empty. So that obviously affects "how many fills per tank" calculations. IIRC, when my tank was fully charged, it would fill to about 300 BAR of pressure, it had dwindled down to about 150 BAR when I stopped using it. While the price of a compressor may seem prohibitive, its probably the only way to maintain top velocity without frequently taking your tank in to get refilled/ topped off.