It's hard to find the perfect air rifle. Luckily for you, these affordable options come highly recommended by reviewers who really know their stuff. Here are hands-on reviews.
FYI, Prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
1. Gamo Wildcat Whisper .177 Caliber
Highlight: Whisper technology makes this nearly silent.
Helpful review: I really enjoy the way GAMO makes the stocks on their air rifles. I wish I could get some that fit some of the old 22 LR rifles I have rebuilt. The composite they use is somehow sticky in my hands, or it feels like it is sticky anyway. The molding is lovely and fits my shoulder and cheek weld like a champ. I can't say enough about them. GAMO has a molded Monte Carlo stock that feels right to me and makes shooting the air rifle a treat and easy to see from the scope.
The trigger is friendly and will never let me down. It is not adjustable or two-strange like other manufacturers, but it will do the job and break clean. The barrel is made from standard GAMO materials and has a significant muffle on the last 2/3rds of the barrel. The barrel is the cocking handle to charge the pressure chamber. It is a workout to get it ready to shoot, but not a huge deal, and it gives me something to count as exercise, so I am counting that as two birds with one stone.
The Wildcat does not come with open sights, so the scope or any scope must be mounted to shoot the air gun. I could try to shoot it without the scope and see how my point-shooting game is, but from the last time I tried, if it's not a shotgun, it won't work. The scope rings are in the box along with the GAMO scope. Like everyone that has ever reviewed a GAMO rifle, they are OK, but not great. This one is not different, and it has the same scope. The mounts are easy to put on, and then you can place the scope there and go to sight it. Happy news, it shot right on the money. I must have been good this week, or next week is really going to suck.
If I had a grandkid turning 12, this air rifle would be back in the box and wrapped up for Christmas. Since my oldest grandkid is just over seven, I may hand this one off to a neighbor or just put it away. I would keep the O-rings and parts lubricated with a few drops of Prolix, and this thing would wait forever to be unwrapped. — Glen Cooper
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2. Ruger Blackhawk .177 Caliber
Highlight: Steel barrel and action.
Helpful review: As much as I appreciate advancements in materials and design, there is something to be said about the good old steel barrel and action. This probably comes from the fact that all my guns, or any guns I had when I was a kid, had metal barrels and action with wooden stocks.
Using metal in the build, Umarex has made an air gun as heavy as a deer rifle. I have zero issues with the weight, as this will be a can shooter and target puncher. Still, if I were to carry this very far, I would either turn around and go home or fit it with a sling to wear down the shoulder cartilage left in my right joint. The other thing about high-powered air rifles that I did not know was the amount of noise they could make. I thought air guns were supposed to be quiet, but I was wrong. Umarex did not put any muffler on the end of this air rifle, and it sounds like a firearm when it shoots, even more so when the pellet hits the boards about 20 feet away.
The Ruger Blackhawk branded kit has a simple air rifle quality 4x32 scope that works well. The mounts are easy to use and fit like the other dovetail-style mounts or rings worldwide. The one thing about mounting a scope on this air rifle is that it will shake loose after a few rounds; the recoil or reverse recoil comes from the spring and pressure chamber release. The recoil thing is unique to air rifles, and the more potent they are, the more pronounced the loosening becomes. I tried the blue loctite method to cure this, which has held up to the recoil.
The barrel is used to cock and charge the pressure. It is somewhat tricky, which puts a ton of pressure on the chamber. After seeing the damage this air rifle will do to a 2x6, I can attest it does pack in some pressure. The trigger is suitable for air gun quality, and after some trigger creep, the break is sharp. — Andy Bernstein
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3. Hatsan 95 Walnut .22 Caliber
Highlight: Walnut stock and metal barrel.
Helpful review: This air rifle has a walnut stock and a metal barrel, making me love it. In addition to the materials, this gun shoots like a high-priced machine.
This is the only pump air gun I have ever tested with a two-stage adjustable trigger. There is a little play on the trigger from side to side. From my testing, this is not a huge deal; it is just a thing to mention. The Hatsun is made in Turkey and not in China, and it is one of the rearrest animals on the market. The Turks have been making guns forever, and the stuff I see coming out of Turkey is awe-inspiring.
The barrel fits tight in the calendar. The scope they send is made by Optima, a Chinese optics manufacturer. This optic is an actual variable-power scope. The numbers are 3-9x32, which is very impressive for a supplied in-the-box scope for an air gun. The air rifle has built-in fiber optic open sights stock from the manufacturer, and they work like a champ.
The walnut stock raises the weight of this rifle quite a bit. Before I move on, I say rifle because this one has a rifled barrel for an air gun! The gun weighs over eight pounds, which becomes an issue when packing it around for a long time. The significant part about the weight and the wood stock is that the gun can absorb some of the recoil known to kill air rifle scope mounts. — Clay Miler
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4. Gamo Whisper Fusion Mach 1 .22 Caliber
Highlight: Integrated noise suppressor.
Helpful review: When I opened the box to inspect this air gun, the quality of GAMO was evident. Coming from a world of cheaply built and cheap-to-buy air rifles from my past, getting into the more quality-built air guns is fascinating.
The build quality of the GAMO air rifle is more like that of a center-fire rifle and not the rattling mess that cheap air guns represent. The stock is made from a high-quality composite stock that rivals the stocks I put on custom hunting rifles from my shop. The air gun even has a recoil pad installed on the stock from the factory. The recoil pad is a good quality rubber and works to absorb any felt recoil, so this air rifle should not even kick the shoulder in any way. The recoil pad is unique. It has removable squares that open the air gaps to absorb even more recoil. I don't know who shot and needed this air gun, but they are there if anyone needs it.
The forward grip of the stock is wider than I thought it would be, and while it feels good to me, it may be a little wider for folks who don't have bear-paw-sized hands. The foregrip has to be broad because the hinge for the barrel break sits inside that area.
The barrel is well made and does not rattle at the hinge or on the breech side; it locks in tight every time. The scope mount sits on the rear of the barrel and uses a Recoil-Reducing Rail, or RRR for short. The air gun is good quality and comes with open iron sights installed.
The open iron sights are accurate right from the box, and that is good to go for me. But then I put on the scope, and now that is the way to go. The rings come attached to the scope, not free in the box. I am sure they put the rings on the scope so they stay put and do not make a mess of everything in the package. The mounting rings are the standard dovetail attachment and are simple to install; anyone can install them with the screwdriver in their toolbox.
The scope is not a world-rated unit; it is an air rifle scope made by GAMO and thrown in to take advantage of this air gun's capabilities. Once installed and zeroed in, the rifle and scope combo is dead-accurate. This air rifle will drill the end of a beer can every shot until I run out of ammo.
This air rifle is kind of hard to cock with the break action. The spring is so powerful to send the pellet down range that it comes to bite the owner charging the gun. The main thing about using this barrel break action is to move my hand closer to the end of the barrel and use the leverage to move the hinge and charge unit. — Laurence J. Rustom
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5. Ruger Targis Hunter Max .22 Caliber
Highlight: Integrated rail to mount scope or other optics.
Helpful review: Umarex designed this built-in rail, or super rail, as it seems to me, to fight the air gun recoil demons. And from what I have seen, they are winning this fight.
This air gun looks flat-out badass. For one thing, it is a Ruger-branded gun, which makes it 53% more affection than the rest. The black high-quality polymer stock is well made and has many advancements for an air gun. The pistol grip portion of the stock is well-defined and coated with soft rubber to make it easier to grip and get more accurate shots.
The barrel is made from metal and has excellent rifling, so the pellets travel straight to the drug every time I pull the trigger. The scope they include is pretty good for an included air gun optic. This is good because someone in R&D went crazy when they defined the iron sights. So, I would not bother with that mess. I just put on the scope and get good at using that. This air rifle comes with a sling in the kit; that was a first for me. The sling is nice and does not have rough or sharp edges like other cheap slings. This one will not rub or cut a groove in my neck when I pack it around to look cool.
Now, on to the way this shoots; it is very quiet. The speed is low for this level of air gun, which may be why it does not make as much noise as the others. I am sure this rifle will use all of the air behind the pellet and not have most of it blow past the ammo. This must be the case because it hits as hard as the others with a higher speed and more efficiency, not just overkill and hope; I love that part. — Leo J. Ruiz
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6. Gamo Swarm Whisper .22 Caliber
Highlight: Scope rings are one inch in diameter.
Helpful review: The Swarm comes with rotary magazines I don't use much, but I tried them out to give a good review. And to my surprise, they actually worked. I don't know how long they will work, but they did what they claimed for my testing, which is good. The magazines fit in the rifle and stay in place when cocking the barrel to charge and put the next pellet in the breech; not too shabby, and for all the times I tried it to see that it did not work, all it did was work perfectly every time.
With one-inch rings, I mounted an old Bushnell scope on the Swarm and went to town to get it sighted. I was not having any luck with this sight; it was off even in my shop, which is only ten feet long. It's time to figure out if GAMO finally made a poor-quality gun or what else could be the issue. The issue was the rings on the scope. The rings are OK, but not great, so I had to slow down the torque down series, and everything evened out. The Bushnell scope is withstanding the recoil so far; I hope it lasts a while.
The GAMO stock always feels like it was made especially for me. I still love them, and this one is no different. It's probably the same stock as the rest. The recoil pad is not their open foam concept, so that is different, and that is about it. For an air rifle shooting just under 1000 fps, I can see why some folks may want a recoil pad.
Cocking the Swarm takes some effort, but that is a lot of pressure to form a single cock on the barrel, so be ready and eat the Wheaties before taking this to the range or backyard, like most folks can get away with. The noise from this air gun is about like smacking two 2x4s together, so don't shoot it by a sleeping baby's window, and the neighbors will not bother anyone, unless they are that kind of neighbor. To that I say move to Utah where we don't care about air guns in the backyard. — Mike Foster
Get it from Amazon now: $178.90 & FREE Returns
7. Gamo Raptor Whisper .177 Caliber
Highlight: Patented Whisper Technology to keep air guns near silent.
Helpful review: I saw a review from a guy who was shooting and killing off Ravens with one shot using this air rifle. If it will take out a raven, I need one, so I ordered one. The great thing is that it will kill ravens and not bother the neighbors, winning all around.
Like all GAMO guns, this one is rough to cock to charge the chamber. I have long arms, very orangutang-like, and I can reach the end of the barrel, so I take advantage of the leverage; other folks with shorter arms will not be so lucky.
Since this air rifle can shoot all the pellets into one ragged hole at a twenty-yard range, I ordered a set of scope mounts and a reasonable scope. I used the GAMO rings, so I know they will fit on the gun, and a Vortex Diamondback scope. The Diamondback is overkill for an air gun. I have an AR build coming up and figured I would use it on the GAMO first, then move on to the AR. I used some lock tight on the rings as they mounted to the rifle and left the screws on the scope rings themselves free so I could take the scope out and reuse it. The Vortex scope worked like a champ and held up to the little recoil I could feel from the GAMO. For some reason, how they engineer this air rifle does not send a punishing recoil to the scope.
With a name like Whisper, I thought this would be much quieter. At first, after about thirty pellets, the noise dropped suddenly. So I am sure what happened is the barrel broke in, and more air was captured behind the pellet and not escaping past the ammo.
I cannot find many things I do not like about GAMO air guns. They have rotary magazines, and I have not seen any I like. Still, this gun is literally on the money to load single pellets. The GAMO whisper has a bizarre thing with the recoil pad. For one, an air rifle with a recoil pad is weird, but this one has removable blocks to increase the energy it absorbs. — Greg Reed
Get it from Amazon now: $129.99 & FREE Returns