CO2 Rifles

[poorpeet]

I'm thinking of getting rid of one of my shotguns and getting a non FAC air rifle.

Mentioned this to one of my mates and added that I was thinking of getting a co2 powered one.

He say's that co2 rifles are no good as the power varies too much depending on temperature.

Is this true?

[Guest Callum.]

Yes,the power can differ depending on temperature.

[12guage]

Yep ya mate is spot on they can vary quite a bit

 

think i am right in saying this but if = filled in the warm house and the bottle is expanded then you go outside in the cold the bottle will shrink increasing the pressure in the tank and also visa versa if filled in the cold and then taken in the warm they will drop pressure ................get a springer mate you cant beat them

 

Hope i got the above right

 

Good luck

 

12guage

[UKPoacher]

Having hunted squirrels and pigeons with CO2 rifles all last winter (QB79 & QB78) I can confirm that the power does change slightly. However, before you start hunting, if you take time to put two rested shots in a target at a known distance you can adjust the scope a few clicks and the rifle will be as accurate as you need it to be.

 

Don't let it put you off. You can get one for less than £100 and it will serve you well.

[MM]

Having hunted squirrels and pigeons with CO2 rifles all last winter (QB79 & QB78) I can confirm that the power does change slightly. However, before you start hunting, if you take time to put two rested shots in a target at a known distance you can adjust the scope a few clicks and the rifle will be as accurate as you need it to be.

 

Don't let it put you off. You can get one for less than £100 and it will serve you well.

[chris o]

if i were you i would get a gas ram or pcp rifle as they are better and more consistant. once warmed up that is. i have had all types of air rifle spring break barrels under levers, single stroke pcp and multi pcps and have shot a friends gas ram and i prefer the gas ram personaly but i would also go for a pcp no recoil and quite the advantage to the gas ram is if you get your fac the gas ram is very easily converted to over 20ftlb with a 177. release valve and a pump.

[Dekers]

Lets be realistic, Co2 will deal with squirrels and rabbits, and loads of the marketing for them leads you down that path, but few get close to 12ft lb, power does move a bit in temperature extremes and they eat Co2!!!

 

Please do not be offended if you own a Co2, I'm not having a go, but these are back yard plinkers, some of them are reasonably good at that, but they are not serious hunting tools...as you will VERY quickly find if you move down from a shotgun!!

 

ATB!!

[gottsy boy]

get a good springer mate or go the extra mile and get a pre charge..

 

my mate has a umerex the newest one don't know the model, it's a lovely looking gun and feels great but it has the larger refils on it and they reckon you get 200 full power shots that is bull, i reckon on a cool day you may get 60-80 it seems to have much less knock down power than my lighning xl you have the bonus of the ten shot mag but i wouldn;t swap for the xl...

 

[MM]

Lets be realistic, Co2 will deal with squirrels and rabbits, and loads of the marketing for them leads you down that path, but few get close to 12ft lb, power does move a bit in temperature extremes and they eat Co2!!!

 

Please do not be offended if you own a Co2, I'm not having a go, but these are back yard plinkers, some of them are reasonably good at that, but they are not serious hunting tools...as you will VERY quickly find if you move down from a shotgun!!

 

ATB!!

 

 

Really?

 

 

 

as with a PCP or a springer, a properly zeroed Co2 rifle (this one was chron'd @ 11.5lbs) they are just as effective, regardless what people think. This is from experience, not guess work.

[poorpeet]

I'm not getting rid of all the shotguns just the side by side as I don't use it now I have the semi.

IF I go for a cheap CO2 rifle like a smk 78 or 79 which is better the one with one big bottle or the one with two small ones?

[MM]

big bottle, and either of these if set up correctly will do the job.

[amateur]

big bottle, and either of these if set up correctly will do the job.

 

 

Much cheaper than a pcp and they do the job.

Although the XS78 uses the smaller capsules, it's not too onerous to stick a couple of spares in your pocket.

The power does drop off dramatically as the capsules run out - but you can hear the difference in the shot and change them over very easily

[UKPoacher]

As with many opinions you have to uestion whether some people have any actual experience or are just churning out BS from BB

 

The Yanks tune their QB78's and 79s upto 30 ft/lb and more. Even with a scale and polish a bog standard gun will be almost if not over the legal UK limit. The .22 is easier to tune than the .177 and less gas hungry.

 

Personally I'd go for the 78 for two reasons. In the absence of a bulk fill kit the 78 is far cheaper to run and it is less front heavy. I've only just sold my last Q78 as I'm cutting down my air weapons now I've gone back to SGC, but it is more than capable of general hunting use.

[Alpha Mule]

these are back yard plinkers, some of them are reasonably good at that, but they are not serious hunting tools

 

 

 

 

 

I have more pictures, but I'm sure you get my drift

 

Hit stuff in the right place and,,,,,,

Edited February 24, 2010 by Alpha Mule

[MM]

Hit stuff in the right place and,,,,,,

 

 

tried telling em that, but it falls on deaf ears mate.

[Alpha Mule]

Actually to be fair: It hits hard enough, but the amount of CO2 being expelled by my Airmagnum seems to fluctuate from shot to shot on occasions, which makes for a floating POI (by about 1" - at worst).

I've shot when there was frost on the ground at dawn and it still drilled a hole clean through an adult rabbit's skull.

[Dekers]

Really?

 

 

 

as with a PCP or a springer, a properly zeroed Co2 rifle (this one was chron'd @ 11.5lbs) they are just as effective, regardless what people think. This is from experience, not guess work.

 

 

There you go getting upset, if you read my carefully worded post you will see we are not dissagreeing....and yes from a VAST experience...I am a distributor for Sports Marketing (SMK)!!!

 

ATB!!

[TonySmith]

I brought the QB78 as a 'plinker'. For the money I thought a good buy, I have tuned mine, the tuning you could do with no more tools than an electric drill, and a bit of elbow grease on the polishing,the tuning took it up to 11.5 lbs, and everything is 'silky' in operation, dialed it all in with a £30 scope, get around 30 'lethal' shots on crosman CO2 cartridges. Well pleased with the performance from a cheap CO2er.

 

 

ATB

Tony

[MM]

There you go getting upset, if you read my carefully worded post you will see we are not dissagreeing....and yes from a VAST experience...I am a distributor for Sports Marketing (SMK)!!!

 

ATB!!

 

 

It says 'Typhoo' on buses, but they dont sell tea. Trust me, i dont get upset. Your post reads that you dont think these are serious hunting tools, does it not? just replying to your post.

[Dekers]

It says 'Typhoo' on buses, but they dont sell tea. Trust me, i dont get upset. Your post reads that you dont think these are serious hunting tools, does it not? just replying to your post.

 

 

 

 

Chap, they are NOT serious Hunting tools, certainly opportunist and capable as appropriate, as I suggested, I didn't say you can't hunt with them!!! But I would never recommend one for this purpose! The vast majority don't get anywhere near 12ft lb, my compliments to you if yours does!

 

You have an opinion, you are welcome to yours, so do I, it seems your interpretation is different to mine, that what opinions are about!!

 

 

PS.

I'm not sure what this Typhoo business is all about, SMK is probably responsible for more Co2 in this country than any other company!!...Don't get me wrong...that doesn't make me proud!!

Edited February 25, 2010 by Dekers

[Dekers]

 

 

 

 

I have more pictures, but I'm sure you get my drift

 

Hit stuff in the right place and,,,,,,

 

 

I stand 100% behind my original post, read it again carefully please...I can post plenty of pictures of foxes run over by cars, but I sure as heck don't suggest they are serious hunting tools, read it, and chill, I'm not having a go, just putting an accurate perspective!!

[Frenchieboy]

I'm not getting rid of all the shotguns just the side by side as I don't use it now I have the semi.

IF I go for a cheap CO2 rifle like a smk 78 or 79 which is better the one with one big bottle or the one with two small ones?

 

If you do chose to go for an SMK CO2 Rifle I would go for the QB78 myself. I have owned both the .22 ans the .177 version of these and been delighted with them! The advantage of the QB78 is that it takes 2 small CO2 cartridges but if you are only going to be doing a bit of plinking or zeroind you only need to use 1 new cartridge in it. I was very pleased with mine and still have the .177 rifle that is waiting to be tuned so I can use it for ratting and pigeons inside a building!

When you buy a new QB78 it is only likely to be putting out around 8 to 9 ft/lb of power (Not enough for shooting live quarry with) but this is very easily overcome by fitting a Tuning Kit from T. R. Robbs which costs about £50.00 and is quite easy to do and you then have a Full Hunting Power CO2 Rifle! The only drawback with fitting a tuning kit to any CO2 Rifle is that the power will vary according to the temperature, quite considerably in really for or cold weather extremes. Mine was eventually tuned to put out 11.5 ft/lbs but if I wasn't careful in hot weather it could easily creap up well above the 12 ft/lb legal limit or in cold weather it could drop as low as about 10 ft/lb!

The drop in cold weather isn't too bad but you must be aware that if you tune it to very near the legal limit of 12 ft/lb (This figure is very easy to achieve with a QB78 and a T R Robbs tuning kit) it almost likely will go well over that limit when out in warm weather and if you do not have it on a FAC you will be breaking the law and "ignorance" is no excuse!

[Frenchieboy]

Chap, they are NOT serious Hunting tools, certainly opportunist and capable as appropriate, as I suggested, I didn't say you can't hunt with them!!! But I would never recommend one for this purpose! The vast majority don't get anywhere near 12ft lb, my compliments to you if yours does!

 

You have an opinion, you are welcome to yours, so do I, it seems your interpretation is different to mine, that what opinions are about!!

 

 

PS.

I'm not sure what this Typhoo business is all about, SMK is probably responsible for more Co2 in this country than any other company!!...Don't get me wrong...that doesn't make me proud!!

 

Sorry Dekers but you are a partly incorrect in your statement where you say that they are "Not serious hunting tools"

After I first tuned my QB78 (.22) using a T R Robbs Tuning Kit I had to DE-TUNE it as it was putting out well over 15ft/lb of power! After de-tuning it was putting out 11.5 ft/lb on the chrono so it was capable of being classed as a "Serious Hunting Tool"! You are however correct in your statement if you are refering to a QB78 in it's "Out of The Box" condition, as here it is only likely to be putting out around 8-9 ft/lbs of power which can not and should not be classed as suitable for hunting live quarry with!

I have not replied to your post to fault you, just to point out that if properly tuned a CO2 rifle can be classed as a "Serious Hunting Tool"! The biggest problem with using one as a serious hunting tool is that they are prone to (Sometimes serious)power fluctuations in either hot or cold weather variations.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Frenchieboy

[Dekers]

Chap, they are NOT serious Hunting tools, certainly opportunist and capable as appropriate, as I suggested, I didn't say you can't hunt with them!!! But I would never recommend one for this purpose! The vast majority don't get anywhere near 12ft lb, my compliments to you if yours does!

 

You have an opinion, you are welcome to yours, so do I, it seems your interpretation is different to mine, that what opinions are about!!

 

 

PS.

I'm not sure what this Typhoo business is all about, SMK is probably responsible for more Co2 in this country than any other company!!...Don't get me wrong...that doesn't make me proud!!

 

 

Sorry Dekers but you are a partly incorrect in your statement where you say that they are "Not serious hunting tools"

After I first tuned my QB78 (.22) using a T R Robbs Tuning Kit I had to DE-TUNE it as it was putting out well over 15ft/lb of power! After de-tuning it was putting out 11.5 ft/lb on the chrono so it was capable of being classed as a "Serious Hunting Tool"! You are however correct in your statement if you are refering to a QB78 in it's "Out of The Box" condition, as here it is only likely to be putting out around 8-9 ft/lbs of power which can not and should not be classed as suitable for hunting live quarry with!

I have not replied to your post to fault you, just to point out that if properly tuned a CO2 rifle can be classed as a "Serious Hunting Tool"! The biggest problem with using one as a serious hunting tool is that they are prone to (Sometimes serious)power fluctuations in either hot or cold weather variations.

 

 

 

 

Not an issue, and again I suggest we are basically agreeing, as I have pointed out to others!!!

 

And like I said ..................... You have an opinion, you are welcome to yours, so do I, it seems your interpretation is different to mine, that what opinions are about!!

 

It is true that there is more to the Co2 hunting issue than power, repeatability and reliability are also useful traits, I am not making a comment on any specific gun that may or may not have had any work done on it, I make a statement based on the generalisations of Co2!

 

ATB!!!

[Frenchieboy]

 

Not an issue, and again I suggest we are basically agreeing, as I have pointed out to others!!!

 

And like I said ..................... You have an opinion, you are welcome to yours, so do I, it seems your interpretation is different to mine, that what opinions are about!!

 

It is true that there is more to the Co2 hunting issue than power, repeatability and reliability are also useful traits, I am not making a comment on any specific gun that may or may not have had any work done on it, I make a statement based on the generalisations of Co2!

 

ATB!!!

 

That is a fair comment mate!