Brand new to this but want to get the most for my money

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cheez

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Dec 11, 2022
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USA
So I used an Airbow one and fell in love with almost everything about it (except the noise level). I was talking to someone about air rifles and was told that I should look into getting an air rifle and see about shooting bolts out of an air rifle. Then when I asked where to find out about my questions I was told to come here.

So now I'm here to ask questions and hopefully not annoy anyone with my questions.
So my first question would be, is it better to buy and arrow gun and shoot arrows or would I be happier if I bought an air rifle and figure out how to shoot arrows/bolts out of it?
And then how hard/expensive is it to convert an air rifle to an arrow/bolt rifle? And can they still shoot both arrows and slugs?
And then where do I start when looking for an air rifle that is able to shoot arrows?

Also I am looking to get this for cayotes and maybe deer as to size of animal.
 
Welcome. If you are going to shoot slugs for deer check your state requirements if they allow it and if so what the caliber or other restrictions they have are. Here in Missouri we have a minimum of 40 caliber for deer with an airgun for example.

Some states also have minimum weight slug you use so make sure your gun can shoot that weight and at a decent power level. I have no experience with arrows to provide any useful info.

Hard to go wrong with a Texan 45 or 50 cal for deer hunting for the money, reliability, power and accuracy.
 
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your gonna want a dedicated arrow gun for arrows .. converting one isnt very feasible afaik im not into it ... umarex makes a couple, the javelin and air saber, probably what id look at, and get something else for slugs like the umarex hammer .. your gonna need air to, so, these kindof hard hitting hunting guns will use alot so theyre not really plinkers .. a firemans tank and yong heng would keep you hunting anyway ..
 
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dizzums said:
your gonna want a dedicated arrow gun for arrows .. converting one isnt very feasible afaik im not into it ... umarex makes a couple, the javelin and air saber, probably what id look at, and get something else for slugs like the umarex hammer .. your gonna need air to, so, these kindof hard hitting hunting guns will use alot so theyre not really plinkers .. a firemans tank and yong heng would keep you hunting anyway ..
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There's actually no need to convert anything,....many big bores out there can shoot a slug then right after shoot an AirBolt, then turn around and shoot an other slug,.....Personally I would never want to have a gun that I
m limited to shoot only arrows, again just my opinion.

I have field tested a Claw .50 and was a fantastic arrow shooter but I could also shoo bullets out of it, right now I have two REX .357 that are both arrow and bullet shooters.
 
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AirArcher66 said:
cheez,

I personally would never but a dedicated arrow shooter, I have two .357s that I can shoot bullets and arrows one after the other and I love that option.

find a .357 .45 .50 that you like then get a pack of Airbolts from Pyramyd
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AirArcher66 How do I know what airbolts that I will need and is there anything I would need to do to them to make them shoot out of a say a .50?
 
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cheez said:
AirArcher66 How do I know what airbolts that I will need and is there anything I would need to do to them to make them shoot out of a say a .50?
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Pyramyd sells AirBolts in .50 .45 and .357, find out what gun you like then just buy the caliber Airbolts that fit your gun,

Ther's a few guns like my REX that the barrel is just a tad shot so I just cut down the shaft to make them fit, otherwise they will shoot out of most barrels unless they are overly long.
 
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Here is what I've been doing with my current arrow shooters :

Here we go again !!

I just cannot stop messing around with my band of REX .357s Only a few weeks back I put together this open sights Mini-Carbine : https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/small-light-open-sight-arrow-gun.1267057/ And only a shot time later she was successful on her maiden hunt ...
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com
 
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If your dead set on arrows. I'd buy a regular umarex airsaber. I bought one on clearance for $230.00. You need a $200.00 target to stop the arrows. 465 fps at 3400 psi . It is much cheaper shooting big bore airgun if you cast slugs yourself. My slugs cost me $1.00 a pound. You can quite the big bore with a moderator like Donny fl. I run both my airsaber and my Texan 50 off of my big scba tank with a regulator for constant shot velocity. save money for a compressor and scba 4500psi tank off eBay $65.00 45 minute. You will need slot of air for either option. Much cheaper for me to shoot my Texan 50 also no walking to retrieve arrows😀. Airsaber with UTG OP3 crossbow scope can hit target at 120 yards in calm conditions. Lots of help on this forum
 
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cheez said:
So I used an Airbow one and fell in love with almost everything about it (except the noise level). I was talking to someone about air rifles and was told that I should look into getting an air rifle and see about shooting bolts out of an air rifle. Then when I asked where to find out about my questions I was told to come here.

So now I'm here to ask questions and hopefully not annoy anyone with my questions.
So my first question would be, is it better to buy and arrow gun and shoot arrows or would I be happier if I bought an air rifle and figure out how to shoot arrows/bolts out of it?
And then how hard/expensive is it to convert an air rifle to an arrow/bolt rifle? And can they still shoot both arrows and slugs?
And then where do I start when looking for an air rifle that is able to shoot arrows?

Also I am looking to get this for cayotes and maybe deer as to size of animal.
Click to expand...
The carbine Bushbuck 45 shoots bolts as well as 452 slugs. I have the full length version. That is as quality as they come.
 
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AirArcher66 said:
Here is what I've been doing with my current arrow shooters :

Here we go again !!

I just cannot stop messing around with my band of REX .357s Only a few weeks back I put together this open sights Mini-Carbine : https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/small-light-open-sight-arrow-gun.1267057/ And only a shot time later she was successful on her maiden hunt ...
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com
Click to expand...
I like the look of your shortest one. Do you shoot bolts out of all three of those, or just the longer one?
Reedmosser said:
If your dead set on arrows. I'd buy a regular umarex airsaber. I bought one on clearance for $230.00. You need a $200.00 target to stop the arrows. 465 fps at 3400 psi . It is much cheaper shooting big bore airgun if you cast slugs yourself. My slugs cost me $1.00 a pound. You can quite the big bore with a moderator like Donny fl. I run both my airsaber and my Texan 50 off of my big scba tank with a regulator for constant shot velocity. save money for a compressor and scba 4500psi tank off eBay $65.00 45 minute. You will need slot of air for either option. Much cheaper for me to shoot my Texan 50 also no walking to retrieve arrows😀. Airsaber with UTG OP3 crossbow scope can hit target at 120 yards in calm conditions. Lots of help on this forum
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I'm more dead set on wanting to be able to shoot both not just arrows or slugs. I think it would be the most beneficial/cost effective way to go about it.

So I'm looking at I'm pretty sure a .457 and what about barrel length, is there a length I should go for or be close to? I see the Rex is 500mm, the Rex Ibex is 730mm, and the Texan is over 860mm.
 
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cheez said:
I like the look of your shortest one. Do you shoot bolts out of all three of those, or just the longer one?

I'm more dead set on wanting to be able to shoot both not just arrows or slugs. I think it would be the most beneficial/cost effective way to go about it.

So I'm looking at I'm pretty sure a .457 and what about barrel length, is there a length I should go for or be close to? I see the Rex is 500mm, the Rex Ibex is 730mm, and the Texan is over 860mm.
Click to expand...
Well now I turned one of the 14.5" REX back into pistol form, but yes I shoot arrows out of both the 19.5" barrel and the 14.5" ones.


Yes if you want to get the best bang for your buck get a gun that you can shoot both Arrows and Bullets one after the other.

I think Airbolts are made for a barrel of 22" minimal length and work well up to 26"-28" barrels ?
If you go to long then you just lose a lot of power ( the less ammount of space between your transfer port and the back of the arrow the better )
 
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Anything delivering more than 350fpe'ish is to powerfull for arrows.
The problem owerlooked is called spine and are flex in the arrow shaft under acceleration. Way worse in a powerfull airgun that the most powerfull crossbow.
The more power the more flex and at a certain point the shaft will bend enough to touch the barrel.

Look at this to learn about spine:
 
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