Stoeger X50 air riffle?

[Sheldon J]

Thinking about buying a Steoeger X50 .22 air gun for the evil red squirrels, Stoeger Arms X50 Breakbarrel Air Rifle Combo. Air rifles the 870 does the job but I want something a tad quieter, and 1500 fps with .22 alloy pellets (1350 tested) just wow!

I already have a Gamo hunter in .17 but killing the critters in the top of a 50' tree taxes the gun to it's max. What I have been reading on the reviews Gas piston is better but slower, the Gamo with the Gas piston reviews on the Pyramid site. I looked at one (X50) at Jays in MI and it had a good feel, and heft, but I think it will still have the TWANG BUZZ of my Gamo.

Any of you out there have any BTDT with this air gun??

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Cory1022]

I am researching myself, it seems that the Nitro Piston models are quietest, and I'd think keeping the velocity under ~1150 fps (speed of sound) would help. That said, I am looking at the X-20 and X-50 for kicks. Have you considered a .22 with CB shorts? Because they are pretty quiet.

[gasmitty]

"Springer" airguns will almost always have that twang, unless the gun has been expertly tuned. The "PCP" - pre-charged pneumatic - guns will be substantiall quieter. They are also more consistent shot-to-shot, but of course this perfomance comes with the tradeoff of substantially higher price.

I'm a big fan of the .177 in higher-powered (1000 ft/sec) air guns; my "good" gun is a Beeman R-9 and I've reliably nailed pigeons DRT at nearly 50 yards. The key to effective kills at that range is understanding the trajectory of your projectile far better than, say, that of a .22 rimfire. It might be a stretch to say it resembles HP rifle shooting at 400+ yards, but you get the idea.

Just a note - while velocity numbers are impressive, when lightweight projectiles go supersonic their accuracy is adversely affected to a greater extent than heavier ones or vastly faster ones. Do your research - you might find that a heavier pellet (whether .177 or .22) will deliver more accuracy at a subsonic velocity than one which goes supersonic.

Here are a couple of places that will help guide you to an airgun that you'll be happy with:

Straight Shooters Precision Airguns

Airguns of Arizona - Precision Air Rifles, Airgun, Pistols, Pellets

[Cory1022]

Thanks Smitty, my only air rifle is an old Crosman 760.

[Sheldon J]

I am researching myself, it seems that the Nitro Piston models are quietest, and I'd think keeping the velocity under ~1150 fps (speed of sound) would help. That said, I am looking at the X-20 and X-50 for kicks. Have you considered a .22 with CB shorts? Because they are pretty quiet.

CB rounds besides being very difficult to find, I have found to be very range limited, less than that of my GAMO to be exact. N gasmitty thanks for the links.

Some quality air guns can easily exceed a grand, but for the varmints I want to remove (yes I know you get what you pay for) I want to keep it in the $300.00 range or less. But I have drooled over the .45 cal ones too.....