One caution:
Especially with a well-used model.
Sometimes the threaded collar becomes worn enough that when fully tightened, the barrel-to-receivier fit is such that the barrel/front sight is a little canted (in my case, to the right). This can really affect sight picture/accuracy.
Otherwise, a sturdy little plinker.

okay, I thought a couple hundred for a airgun was the way to go. After looking at all the options I had narrowed choices down to three .22 caliber air rifles.

Stoeger X20S - Super Quiet, decent power, light, accurate...

Benjamin Trail NP - Pretty much just a step up from the X20s for $30. A little more power better scope and a few more feature.

Benjamin Trail NP XL - Way more power. Bigger, heavier, and around $300. This one appears to be the winner except for price.

So I juggled the idea of all three but I decided to watch a video on the Benjamin Marauder. All I can say is it's a stupid nice rifle but it's not cheap compared to the more common air rifles. It's a PCP air rifle like the Air Force rifles but this one is "shrouded" and very quiet. It requires a separate pump ($200) but pushes lead at around 900-1000 fps. After looking at a handful of videos and reading reviews I'm totally sold on this one but admit that price is hard to do even if I had the funds. While .22 air rifles are not touching .22 rimfire I'm thinking the Benjamin Marauer is close enough to a surpressed .22 that I can justify that price tag though.

I'm guessing ~$800 for a decent surpressed .22 rim fire setup. You get paper work, visits to the FFL, and wait time of 3 months (I've heard). You do get to run full house .22LR ammo in that setup though. A Marauder and pump run ~600 and come straight to your door. So, I think I'll take a standard 10/22 with a Marauder on the side for $800.

There is also a Marauder pistol that ships with a butt stock. No FFL or paperwork to send lead down range in a compact rife. There's just times I want to punch holes in paper and cans. I don't need a powerful varmint rifle myself so the pistol version is on the table. But it's actually running the same power as the much cheaper X20S.

Oh and I forgot, The Marauders are repeaters. It doesn't take a lot of time effort to reloed. basically works like a bolt rifle. The pump on the other hand is supposed to provide a decent workout experience. Its suppose to give 30-40 good shots on a fill. Uses about 3-5 pumps in every shot. So 100+ pumps to get back to max. And the pump is $200 and sold separately. Also if noise is not an issue then there's the Benjamin Discovery.It's a single shot and can be shrouded but and the package with pump would be hundred less than the Marauder.

Just figured I share what I learned... Call me a big kid but I'm hoping there's a something like a Red Rider under the Christmas tree for me this year.

Nice lazi. But personally I don't like the extra gear (pump). I've had my .177 RWS rifle now since 1992 and have never had a complaint against it. Do some more checking, I know there are some really nice .22 cal pellet rifles out there for three bills and you don't need another piece of gear to lug around and break on you. And several of the .22 cal rifles are spitting them out at 900+ FPS, which is more than enough to kill possum and coon size game at 20-30 yards with accurate shot placement.

Just thought I would throw my 3 1/2 cents into the mix.

the first three I mentioned are actually plenty of rifle for sure. its just amazing how many features and likable things they put into the Maruader. A rotating 10 round clip, adjustable power, presure gauge, barrel shroud, 1lb "match grade" trigger. And from the vid reviews it was pretty consistent performance across the board. I don't like the extra pump myself but when you consider 30 shots without every having to shift you hold on the rifle then i think that's a good deal fro most practical purposes.

The whole pump thing can get pretty expensive as well since they are specialized. But I really don't see it as being a huge negative on this type of rifle.

Another thing is that I already have an air rifle that gets the job done but it kicks like a jacked up mule. Not the funnest plinker in the world. It's because of the violent action of the huge spring. Thats the main thing keeping me from just grabbing the Stoeger and calling it a day. It doesn't appear to be as bad but if I'm goin to grab an air rifle I might as well upgrade. It's called a Nirtro Piston which is the NP in the Trail series. They are both fine rifle and plenty or rifle. The XL seems to be plenty for all things you would consider for a .22 air rifle. But at $300 the question was what's next. The break barrel loading can be a tedious process when plinking but I could live with it. The Marauder is more like a magazine fed bolt rifle for up to 30-40 full powered shots. It takes forever and a whole lot of movement to put 40 shots through a break barrel air rifle. Quiet is a but of a priority to this as well. Pretty much anything else is going move a lot of air and get pretty loud. I also would like to stay just below subsonic and still hit hard. Trail NP XL does hit that mark. Is this stuff worth $600? I feel it is if it can stop me from wanting a supressed .22 and also be able to show up at my door without any hassle. All I want to do is move lead fast, efficiently, and quietly. The feature of the Marauder seem to cover that better than anything else I've seen. But acquaint funds will be the determining factor. I always choose to buy a quality rifle when I can. I don't have enough requirements to justify spending more but can justify reasons for not spending less than the Marauder. Oh and the Marauder is US made with "some foreign parts".

I think for long term the Marauder takes the win. If I just wanted to pick off a possum I would spend the $150 and get something for that. There's also quality rifles like RWS and Beeman and a while bunch more. But when it comes to shooting just for shootings sake I think there's apt going for the Benjamin Marauder.

Now that I'm wording my thoughts out it's starting to really seem like the way to go.

Benjamin has been in the business for a long while, matter of fact the first two "Air Rifles and Pistols" I ever used were benjamin. They were and I am sure still are good guns. I also like the 30-40 shots on a load of air and the magazines would sure be handy. I was just basing it on the extra weight and expense an POSSIBLY as a long term foraging rifle for small game.

Certainly can't argue with your well thought out reasoning. I say GOPHERIT! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Great thread guys

so I had a old phone and finally chewed a fist sized hole through the center shooting pellets at 30 or so feet. I'm fresh out of phone books so I started looking for other options. turns out old magazines and newspaper ads stacked in a proper sized box make for good pellet traps. I had a old box from a blender that was the perfect size. I stacked the magazines up with the binding toward the rear of the box since I figure by the time I chew threw a few magazines this I should know it but if I don't the added density would prevent pellets from doing to much damage. I also decided it's probably best to allow the magazines to slope upwards towards the rear. The last thing I did was find a metal panel to put behind the trap so to prevent any pellets from punching through the trap and hitting dry wall. I also hope to find metal panels to place on the sides and a larger piece of plywood or particle board to reduce the damaged of any potential flyers.

I haven't shot this trap with any .22lr but I am using a pretty hard hitting .22 caliber air rifle. all signs point to the heft of the magazine pages and the round hitting the page lenth of the page instead of the flat surfice as being more than capable of handing maybe 3-5 full house .22lr rounds in the same hole. probably will do much better since I have noticed that the pages tend to wad up in the back of the hole when shot along the lenth of the page instead of clearing a path. would definitely test it and find a much better backstop I was doing .22lr though.

big plus about his trap is that one you chew out the center you just replace the affected magazines with some more old one and you are good to go. almost anything that's 8x11 seems to be fine in my little box. probably have a few thousand shots shooting 5 target pages.

And I think I will find some kind of heavy canvas bag to dump the shredded mags in. something thatt may make for a nice quiet sling shot trap.

and... my pellet gun seems to hit about as hard as a cb short from my 10/22. haven't shot this the trap yet but im thinking this would be as good for cb shorts as it is for pellet guns.

sure it can handle a lighter pellet gun like a 1377 or 760 for a long, long time.

Marlin Golden 39A ... I'm deadly with it. Once (many years ago) shot the pencil-thin limb that held a big sort of conical-shaped bee (wasp?) hive hanging over the river that we would float fish in the Ozarks. Waited all season for the winter chill to take out the bees (wasps?) that inhabited it so we could take it as a souvenir for the cabin. Finally came the day late in the fall when it seemed there was no activity and it would be safe to claim our prize. It was a little out of reach, though, so I took aim with my .22. One shot, down it dropped. Small problem... they weren't all dead. Weren't too happy, either. We held the nest under water with the big fish net for a little while, then scooped it up and took it home. It hung in a distinguished place on the screen porch for many years.

What's this got to do with shooting squirrels and such? Well, it's what I would use on them if I needed to.

P.S. I just came upon this thread, and haven't read all the posts. Hope this fits O.K.

Did someone say "air gun" ? Check this out !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsY0b_CRWpg

Now THAT'S an air gun <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I got the new Ruger SR pistol and the little sucker ran great. I've never owned any pistol before and going though a box of federal on Friday I put way more rounds out of it than in my whole pistol life plinking here and there with friends and family!

Gotta say the mechanics of pistol shooting feel so different to me...I might as well as never shot a gun ever! Boy, do I stink! Gonna need a lot of time, practice and some lessons. After just shooting my bolt action marlin a lot, having a little semi auto was fun! Blew through the box of 325! Probably doesn't help me shoot well, but it was fun!

this is what I came up with...