CO2 rifle with scope for 150 budget

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EPG

EPG

Member
Dec 12, 2020
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CT, United States
Hoping for a good recommendation from experts here. My neighbor has a $150 total budget. Wants a rifle with scope. Backyard pest control and some target fun. He likes CO2. All my scopes cost at least double his budget, so I need help with recommendations. What would be a good choice from an accuracy and reliability standpoint? Thanks.
 
On this very restricted budget and given the desire to be used for pest control, a springer represents a better balance of tradeoffs than CO2. It has power on the cheap but of course requires experimentation and very attentive shooting form, and needs a robust scope.

CO2 just isn't good at making power. Air at the same pressure will produce about 50% higher FPE. What CO2 excels at is volumetric shot count. A little 12 gram cartridge will give something like 50 shots at 6fpe (300fpe total) but achieving 25 shots at 12fpe for the same total is a tall order. Meanwhile a $100 springer will be putting out 16 - 20fpe.

But to answer the question as asked, a perennial favorite budget CO2 gun is the QB78. Metal and wood, fully adjustable trigger that's passable out of the box and becomes excellent with some work, and a good track record for accurate barrels. For years and years they were $90 - $100 but usually more like $125 nowadays. Did find a .177 on Amazon for $110:
https://www.amazon.com/Beeman-Rifle-Caliber-Barrel-Hardwood/dp/B01J8Q4NOA

Another popular option would one of the SPA offerings...something like the CR600W or the CP2 (variants are sold under the Diana name as the Trailscout and Chaser, respectively). These also used to hover around $100 but too have gone up. The Chaser is more like $130:
https://www.pyramydair.com/product/diana-chaser-co2-air-rifle-kit?m=4613
Or a refurbished Trailscout is $125:
https://www.pyramydair.com/product/diana-trailscout-co2-air-rifle?m=4834
If you go this route, my advice is to promptly check the rifling at the muzzle when you get it because the factory has a habit of smearing it with a piloted crowning tool. The trigger as delivered will likely be better than a QB but won't tune up as nicely as the QB.
 
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^ That guy offers some good points. 

I'm a fan of the QB series of rifles. But... You have to spend a little time tuning them up for their best performance. Adjusting the trigger is easy. The 22-cal Beeman I bought a few years back had a burr in the top of the gas port. Once that was taken care of accuracy improved in a big way. Once you know to look for it, it's a five-minute fix. Just about any 4x32 scope will work well for pest control with that rifle. I use a 2-6 power x 28mm and find it acceptable.

Luck,

J~


 
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For the scope, the options are wide open. The one thing I would insist upon is having an adjustable objective...we need parallax correction at airgun distances and trajectory. One of the better values at a ~$50 budget is the ubiquitous Cvlife.
https://www.amazon.com/CVLIFE-Hunting-6-24x50-Illuminated-Mounts/dp/B08JYW7C99
Note that particular SKU includes 11mm dovetail mounts. Most others have Picatinny rings.

I'm not seeing much else on Amazon that fits the bill. If he can wait for slow shipping from China, you may want to look at Aliexpress. Some examples taken at random that fit into the $50 budget:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32676864891.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000015814811.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001062339650.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001692919517.html
 
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Check these guys out. They also have scopes but you'll have to brouse their site.

http://flyingdragonairrifles.org/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=55
Click to expand...

i have one i'm selling locally. it's a fine co2 rifle, along the lines of a QB78, most will love it i'm sure.

me, i didn't care for it much. bought a Diana Chaser rifle kit and find it much more enjoyable to shoot. but i also didn't care much for the QB78 and had three. :)

https://www.northwestfirearms.com/threads/xisico-xs60c-co2-pellet-rifle-flyingdragon-tuned-like-new.395925/








 
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after much thought, oh, 40 seconds... Of all the co2 rifles i've owned, not a bunch, but a few, i'd pick the Diana Chaser over all others.

so much one can do with it. readily available, lots of configs and a few mods. very accurate, pistol or rifle, either barrel. only takes x1 co2 cartridge, which is a plus to me. packs a wallop for a lightweight co2 plinker. single shot or magazine. .177 or .22. trigger isn't bad with some fine tuning. takes all of five minutes to convert to a compact pistol.

and it's a handsome gun in that sci-fi sorta way. :) 
dianachaserjan2022a.1643512689.jpg

 
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