Looking into airguns... Is there anything "Air guns"(spring or pump) Do better than rim fires? Do they have a big advantage or do the numbers(balistics) just present a handicap? Noise? guess there's always "cb" caps. Accuracy? I see air gun folks talk about 1/2 pellet diameter(.9"ctr-ctr) accuracy at 35 yards. Is The biggest advantage purely a statutory( edited "regulatory" , thanks black jack for the right word) one? The pure freedom resulting from the lack of legal restrictions.(I.E. look it up," add to cart" , check out and ups shows up! I'm once again buying a tool or machine, I'm not considered a potential criminal for buying somethingtaser1)?
I think the only advantages would be: Regulatory Noise Level Ammo Cost Ability to make your own ammo/air
I have a few air powered weapons and do not make the mistake of assuming that they are toys; they are in fact, a weapon and quite capable of dropping something into the pot. Some of the higher velocity ones (one rifle clocks at 1150 fps) are as loud as a .22, so quiet isn't really there but they do sell suppressors for these but its kind of a grey area. Ammo is something that will never run out because you can mold them or turn them or probably even make-shift with a hacksaw and a piece of correct diameter metal or even plastic rod. Accuracy is decent in most of them, at least as good as an of-the-shelf . .22 plinker. Some variations as to projectiles could probably be improvised, such as poison darts or hypodermic loads. Strike-anywhere matches are fun to shoot out of them too.
?? PPI (paper piercing incindiary?)hmmmm... REMEMBER stop drop and Roll, Jes' roll seacowboys aroundin tha' dert a little he be okay..
I've dropped squirrels and small birds with a barrel-cocking air rifle - .177 caliber. Only 640FPS, a 1000+FPS would be a bit longer ranged. Noise is a factor, if one doesn't want the neighbors to know - the guns are NOT silent! A few cans of pellets would last awhile, for small game hunting. So, yes, they DO have a place in our preps.
Your particular gun isn't silent because it is a spring-air, very noisy. The pump type models that don't use a big spring and are under 1,150 fps (supersonic speed, bullet creates plenty of noise through air) are very quiet.
Ya gotta do it right. Get all ghillie on them. (homage to the hood) The squirrel next to him will just hear a wet thump. Objective won't even see it coming.
The last squirrel I bagged was sure surprised - got the bugger with a Red Ryder at ten yards. Quietest air rifle I have . . . "It'll put your eye out!"
Can't really say I've ever had a red-ryder. My parents (anti gun) would never let me have even an air-gun. So my first gun my "red-ryder" turned out to be a 30-06 that I convinced a friend to buy for me at 16. Boy was I ever surprised at the recoil the sheer violence of my first ever shot. They let me get an airgun a while later. They didn't find out till I was about 26 that I've always had a 30-06 since 16. I got my (still same) stainless 1911 at 18 in the same way. Back then you had to be 18 for a rifle and 21 for a pistol to buy. But to "gift" it to someone they only had to be 14. So yes I was still legal (as far as I know). No that loophole isn't around anymore has since been patched up.