Airgun Technologies AGT Vixen or BRK Ranger/Atomic XR?

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youthanon

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Mar 20, 2025
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Hello all,

I live in a rural-ish area and would like to hunt the woods not far from my house this coming September (small game, mostly squirrel and rabbit). There are neighbors in the vicinity, so an air rifle is a better option for me than a .22lr. I think I have narrowed my choice down to either the AGT Vixen or the BRK Ranger/Atomic. My priorities are a) the gun has to be well-built, b) the gun has to be relatively easy to work on (changing seals, mostly), and c) accurate out to 50 yards.

By this point, I've watched dozens of hours of reviews on YT, read about the two guns on all the forums, etc. YT reviews for both are overwhelmingly positive, but I've seen some negatives about the Ranger on various forums, mostly relating to BRK's QC.

So, which would y'all pick? I really appreciate the feedback.
 
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PEP3 said:
They are all nice, so it's going to be tough. Have you considered the Pathfinder? It's still small but gives you a bottle for more shots, and the power selector would be very nice for what you are trying to do.
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Thank you. I've seen several posts/reviews claiming the Pathfinder was pellet fussy, so I kind of ruled it out of contention. It's also a bit more expensive. And, since this will be a hunting gun primarily, I'm not too concerned with having a massive shot count (20 shots at game on a given morning would be more than I ever take, anyway).
 
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I have a Vixen 22. Cal I’m shootings 18.1 gn JTS at 865 FPS, I think this rifle is excellent up to 75/80 yards.
Let me share this pictures from 2 weeks ago in the back of my warehouse. Be safe
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I’d say you can’t go wrong either way. I’ve heard great things about both guns. I’ve considered the vixen myself. Only negative I’ve heard is poi changing when resting on the cage/hanguard. It pushes up against the shroud and moves the barrel. There’s some fixes for that issue though. Vixen 2 should be coming out soon. Not sure what changes were made.
Happy shooting,
Rob
 
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Haha, thanks. I’ve wondered about a Vixen 2, as well. Knowing a new iteration is imminent makes pulling the trigger difficult, for sure.

I’ve also heard about the plastic cage thing causing poi shift. It’s the biggest strike I’ve heard against the Vixen.

Anyway, thanks for your reply. Knowing either is fine does give some peace of mind.
 
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After reading this post I've looked back at some of my chrony data for shorter, small hunter guns. Personally for small game (ground squirrels in my case), my preferred .22 round was JSB Hades/FX Atomic, weighing in at 15.89 gr. I also pested 50 yards and in mostly, sometimes maybe to 65 but not often. Once again my preference, for humane kills using the semi-hollow point pellets out to 50 yards, is for a muzzle velocity at least in the low 800's fps.

I had a Vixen standard which I sold some time back. I liked the Vixen Long better for my shooting, and the short was only giving me a muzzle velocity of about 780 fps. The Long gave me 891 out of the box from AoA.

Probably the most powerful compact I ever owned (and a very fine gun) is the AAA Evol Mini. When I had my last one it was shooting Hades at 911 fps very accurately. And it was one of those guns you could take out of the bag after a month or so, and the first shot was dead on. Rather high price but great guns.

A gun which I settled on for my minor pesting was the Uragan Compact. This was the original one, not the U2. I had one and sold it off when I switched to the Evol Mini. Then I sold the Evol Mini and missed the U Compact so much that I bought another one (one of the last available after the U2's had come out). Both of my U Compacts shot Hades right about 820 fps, which I found gave me plenty of power within 50 yards, occasional 65 yards. And both of these guns, like the Evol, could come out of the gun bag after sitting a long while, and give me a full power and accurate first shot.

I had a Pathfinder in .177 but wasn't 'wowed' by its power. It was most accurate with Benjamin Match 10.5's and it could get those up to about 78x fps max. Don't think that a Ranger would be any more powerful. Doesn't it have the same short barrel?

I also recently gave away my RAW Micro Hunter in .177 cal. Really handy gun with wonderful repeatability and an incredibly good trigger. Too bad it shot 20%+ flyers, and RAW couldn't figure out what to do about that. I see that Utah Airguns is selling off their Micro Hunters cheap - maybe they are as tired of dealing with their issues as I got to be. This gun had promise but maybe was launched too soon and never delivered. Definitely don't recommend unless you buy from a trustworthy source who has had it fixed by someone other than RAW (I hear that Martin can make them work right).

So the Vixen (in its long configuration) would be my answer to your question. Although I use mine off the bench, and not for pesting/hunting. The gun I use mostly for that is the Uragan Compact. While I haven't shot one, I would think that the U2 compact would be as good or better. Maybe higher price as compared to the others, but also maybe quite worth it. Buy once, cry once?
 
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TMH said:
After reading this post I've looked back at some of my chrony data for shorter, small hunter guns. Personally for small game (ground squirrels in my case), my preferred .22 round was JSB Hades/FX Atomic, weighing in at 15.89 gr. I also pested 50 yards and in mostly, sometimes maybe to 65 but not often. Once again my preference, for humane kills using the semi-hollow point pellets out to 50 yards, is for a muzzle velocity at least in the low 800's fps.

I had a Vixen standard which I sold some time back. I liked the Vixen Long better for my shooting, and the short was only giving me a muzzle velocity of about 780 fps. The Long gave me 891 out of the box from AoA.

Probably the most powerful compact I ever owned (and a very fine gun) is the AAA Evol Mini. When I had my last one it was shooting Hades at 911 fps very accurately. And it was one of those guns you could take out of the bag after a month or so, and the first shot was dead on. Rather high price but great guns.

A gun which I settled on for my minor pesting was the Uragan Compact. This was the original one, not the U2. I had one and sold it off when I switched to the Evol Mini. Then I sold the Evol Mini and missed the U Compact so much that I bought another one (one of the last available after the U2's had come out). Both of my U Compacts shot Hades right about 820 fps, which I found gave me plenty of power within 50 yards, occasional 65 yards. And both of these guns, like the Evol, could come out of the gun bag after sitting a long while, and give me a full power and accurate first shot.

I had a Pathfinder in .177 but wasn't 'wowed' by its power. It was most accurate with Benjamin Match 10.5's and it could get those up to about 78x fps max. Don't think that a Ranger would be any more powerful. Doesn't it have the same short barrel?

I also recently gave away my RAW Micro Hunter in .177 cal. Really handy gun with wonderful repeatability and an incredibly good trigger. Too bad it shot 20%+ flyers, and RAW couldn't figure out what to do about that. I see that Utah Airguns is selling off their Micro Hunters cheap - maybe they are as tired of dealing with their issues as I got to be. This gun had promise but maybe was launched too soon and never delivered. Definitely don't recommend unless you buy from a trustworthy source who has had it fixed by someone other than RAW (I hear that Martin can make them work right).

So the Vixen (in its long configuration) would be my answer to your question. Although I use mine off the bench, and not for pesting/hunting. The gun I use mostly for that is the Uragan Compact. While I haven't shot one, I would think that the U2 compact would be as good or better. Maybe higher price as compared to the others, but also maybe quite worth it. Buy once, cry once?
Click to expand...
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Good stuff to think about.
 
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youthanon said:
Thank you. I've seen several posts/reviews claiming the Pathfinder was pellet fussy, so I kind of ruled it out of contention. It's also a bit more expensive. And, since this will be a hunting gun primarily, I'm not too concerned with having a massive shot count (20 shots at game on a given morning would be more than I ever take, anyway).
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The Pathfinder is not pellet fussy… Search my post on the Atomics and Pathfinder. Both have been stellar in the field PCPs for me… But then again I am a fan of the brand through the performance. Won’t clog up your post, had my Atomic out the other night for a brief ratting session. And the Pathfinder prior to that on starlings. Both have been quite deadly on small pest… I don’t like guns with the HPA bottle as the buttstock. No matter how well they perform, just my preference. I own a Ghost Carbine and the Pathfinder is still my choice for going out.. light and small and very deadly…
 
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youthanon said:
Thank you. I've seen several posts/reviews claiming the Pathfinder was pellet fussy, so I kind of ruled it out of contention. It's also a bit more expensive. And, since this will be a hunting gun primarily, I'm not too concerned with having a massive shot count (20 shots at game on a given morning would be more than I ever take, anyway).
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Definitely not pellet fussy - each pellet just needs the right spee @zx10wall is a superb tuner
 
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