Topic: The Best Air Rifles of 2023 (Read 38 times)
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Air Venturi Avenger is a budget-friendly rifle available in several calibers and wears an ambidextrous synthetic black stock, with an option for a hardwood stock recently released. There are co*bined 11mm and Weaver-style rails for mounting a scope, and another rail at the fore stock for mounting accessories. It’s a fairly large rifle, but with the synthetic stock only weighs about 6 pounds. The Avenger is cycled with a side-lever cocking action that auto indexes a ten-shot, in .25 caliber, rotary magazine. The trigger is an adjustable two-stage that has a tactile feel, minimal travel, and breaks crisply. The air reservoir fills to 300 BAR, using a quick release fitting and is regulated via an external adjustment, up to 210 BAR, so actual shot count is dependent on how you have this set. All this functionality in a sub-$300 rifle is impressive, and the Avenger is a great platform for new shooters as well as experienced shooters that intend to use it as a platform for building up a custom rifle.
In my full Avenger review this rifle had 19 fps variation over a 30 shot string. That consistency is reflected in the rifle’s accuracy—my Avenger shoots ¼ inch groups at 25 yards. It’s also a fairly quiet airgun, which is nice for introducing new shooters, backyard pest control, and basement ranges.
The last of the most powerful air rifles — the Umarex Hammer .50 — came to market a couple years back, and I had the opportunity to use the first ones while filming a segment of the American Airgunner TV program. This rifle offers some interesting technology: it is the only one of these rifles that is magazine fed, utilizing a linear shuttle mechanism with a two-shot capacity.
This shuttle is cycled with a bolt action that operates with little effort. The Hammers onboard air storage is a 394 cc carbon fiber bottle that fills to 4500 psi but is regulated to 3000 psi to ensure shot-to-shot consistency. The stock is a synthetic material, designed and built for Umarex by PolyOne, and uses an AR Magpul style grip. This rifle is a solid piece of gear at just under 44 inches long, a 29.5-inch barrel, and weighing 8.5 pounds. I’ve only had this rifle out once on a fallow deer hunt, and anchored a nice buck putting a 330-grain slug into him that transited end to end on a quartering shot.
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There are other co*pact carbines and pistol conversions on the market, but the Jet and Jet II are feature rich, solidly constructed, perform well for their intended mission (plinking and close-range small game hunting), and have a very ergonomic and usable design. And, it co*es to market at a co*petitive price point. I think this will be a great gun to slip into my pack, maybe with an extra air tank, for a weekend of backpacking and squirrel hunting. With no sound suppression the gun does have a little bit of a bark, but I’d still describe it as indoor friendly. All around a practical and fun little gun to plink or do some pest control around the barn.
Read our full Hatsan Jet review to learn more.
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At the SHOT Show this is one of the guns that really caught my attention. The NOTOS co*pact Rifle Kit (CRK) is a co*pact little gun that can be adjusted to fit young shooters and adults alike. This gun has a budget price, but is loaded with features; sidelever cocking, an integrated regulator, an effective sound suppression system, and I think a very nice design aesthetic. The only cons, which are really better described as considerations, are that; the guns operating pressure of 3625 psi is better filled from an air-tank or small co*pressor than a hand pump. And secondly, the regulator is set for 13 fpe, which is fine for mid-range small game hunting and ideal for backyard plinking, but it is limited.
Read our full Umarex Notos review to learn more.
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At the time of writing this, my experience with the Western Rattler has been restricted to the shooting range. However, I have shot a selection of slugs from 100 grains to 170 grains, and have found the accuracy to be outstanding, not only for a semi-auto but co*pared to any .357 air rifle I’ve shot. And importantly, the operation has been consistent and reliable, which is something I look at closely in semi-auto airgun designs as this is a difficult criteria to meet. The ergonomics and responsiveness of the rifle make it a pleasure to shoot and allows the inherent accuracy to co*e through. The Rattler is expensive, but if you want a big bore semi-auto this is to be expected. The non-adjustable trigger was a nonissue for me, in that it is set fairly light, breaks cleanly and predictably, and is set up to optimize the reliability of semi-automatic firing. I was worried about a fixed magazine if there was a jam that needed to be cleared. However, besides not experiencing any jams to date, I have also found the break down of the rifle to be quite easy. I’m packing up for a trip down to Texas to hunt predators, javelina, and hogs, and I will be doing a detailed report on the Rattle soon.
The Brocock co*mander has a tactical design that is ergonomic and fits most shooters well. The side lever action is smooth as silk and cycles the 10-shot magazine reliably and quickly. The co*mander employs a regulated air delivery system that works with an adjustable hammer and valve to provide a very consistent shot string. Onboard air storage uses either a carbon fiber bottle or aluminum cylinder, and a dual-gauge assembly monitors regulator pressure settings and air supply fill status.
There is a power adjustment dial located on the right-hand side of the breech that permits external tuning of the rifle. The accuracy is very good, and I feel very co*fortable shooting this rifle off sticks at 75-100 yards. When paired with the right pellet, it hits hard with an impressive terminal performance on small- to medium-sized game. The co*mander XR is designed to use an AR-15-co*patible buttstock and an AK-47 fitted grip. Versions are available with folding or fixed buttstocks in black or tan with a Cerakote or black-action finish. The co*mander’s sound signature is reduced by the shrouded barrel, and you can achieve further noise reduction by mounting a third-party suppressor on the 1/2 UNF threaded muzzle. In my opinion, this is the perfect rifle to carry into the woods when heading out on a fall squirrel hunt.
My top pick for a crossover rifle that performs well for both small-game and predator hunting is the FX Impact air rifle. This bullpup design has a lot going for it, and the frame is rugged and lightweight, with an adjustable buttstock that accepts standard AR-15 pistol grips: a very co*fortable fit. The air storage is a 480cc removable carbon fiber tank that can be charged to 3600 psi, and the design allows extra bottles to be packed and changed in the field.
The sidelever action is one of the quickest, most tactile, and smoothest cycling that I have used, and reliably indexes the magazines every time. What really seals the deal for me though, is that the modular design lets the shooter swap out barrels, magazines, and probes to optimize the gun for different types of hunting. The hunter can use the .22 barrel for a rabbit hunt, then swap to a .25 barrel that has a liner optimized for slugs to do a long-range prairie dog shoot, then swap again for the .30 caliber barrel to hunt predators.
If you are interested in one of the best air rifles for shooting slugs, check out the FX Maverick.
Plinking is an application where CO2 guns rule because it is an inexpensive system to operate, the guns are fairly quiet, the power is low, accuracy can be quite good, and the technology lends itself to being incorporated into traditional firearm replicas.
The CO2 pellet gun that I’ve had the most fun with is the Sig Sauer MCX pellet rifle. The cosmetics of this CO2 replica are based on the Sig MCX short-stroke rifle. It uses a 30 pellet Roto Belt magazine to support semi-auto shooting as fast as you can pull the trigger. Set up some metal spinners in the backyard and don’t look back, this gun is a blast.
Read Next: The Best PCP Air Rifle co*pressors of 2023
There are several other rifles that were barely nudged out of the running of best air rifle or had features that didn’t exactly align with my judging criteria. In no specific order, I will list a few additional rifles that I feel are of note.