N/A new toy recommendations

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monkeyboy386 said:
I've been looking at the Ghost carbine and the Ghost Plus. I WAS thinking i wanted a .25 but am really considering a .22 now.
What distance could you confidently take, say, a racoon with you 22 carbine ?
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I don’t hunt raccoon, but if taking out a nuisance critter. I would be comfortable to 50 yards, with proper presentation by the coon and good shot placement on my part. I woukd be sending a heavier pellet than the JSB Exact Jumbo 18.13s. I like to plink, a lot. The .22 is a more economical choice for me. My Atomic XRs send the .22s nicely. Yesterday I picked 2K CPHPs at Walmart for $30. USD… I see the .25 strictly as a hunting or pesting round, not for plinking as they are expensive in price compared to .22s, good luck with your decision.
 
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L.Leon said:
I don’t hunt raccoon, but if taking out a nuisance critter. I would be comfortable to 50 yards, with proper presentation by the coon and good shot placement on my part. I woukd be sending a heavier pellet than the JSB Exact Jumbo 18.13s. I like to plink, a lot. The .22 is a more economical choice for me. My Atomic XRs send the .22s nicely. Yesterday I picked 2K CPHPs at Walmart for $30. USD… I see the .25 strictly as a hunting or pesting round, not for plinking as they are expensive in price compared to .22s, good luck with your decision.
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Seems like the price of "good" pellets is slowly creeping upward. Last year I was getting tins of 300 for 15 to 18 bucks each. Just got some Rangemaster Emperor pellets and JSB's (same count) at $26 each.
 
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Rizz01 said:
Seems like the price of "good" pellets is slowly creeping upward. Last year I was getting tins of 300 for 15 to 18 bucks each. Just got some Rangemaster Emperor pellets and JSB's (same count) at $26 each.
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Your "quality pellets" RangeMaster Emperors in .25/34 are "yuck JSBs."

daystate.com

Rangemaster Emperor airgun pellets - hi power .177 .20 .22 .25 .30

Rangemaster Emperor airgun pellets - hard-hitting ammo for hi-power air rifles. 10 tins selected from same production batch
daystate.com daystate.com
 
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Franklink said:
Personal choice really, also nfluenced by what you're going to use the gun for.

I'm a .22 and below guy so will address that caliber. With the JSB .22/25.4 or even the .22/28.55 you can get a Ghost HP (23" barrel) pushing just shy of 60fpe. In my opinion, 58-60fpe is about 40fpe more than is safe and easily stopped in most suburban backyards in a typical cookie cutter neighborhood. But is enough to play the Extreme Field Target game and/or really stretch out your shooting (100 yards is completely reasonable).

I would suspect the Plus or Carbine (17" barrel) in .22 maxes out around 38-44fpe, but I haven't personally played with that exact combination to know. If a guy was to push a 17" barrel hard, it would be loud and waste a lot of air (reduced shot count). I think the 17" barrel on a .22 Carbine or Plus would be best served as a pellet launcher, using pellets as light as 13.43 and up to 20.83gr on the heavy end. So about 18-34fpe using the typical 870-930fps range that most pellets seems to prefer.

Those are the rough numbers for the maxes from those barrel lengths in .22. The Ghost can always be turned down in fps, but won't get much more than what I just cited above.

The other big thing to consider is length. A Ghost HP with a moderator stuck on the end of it gets pretty long. And if your planning on maxing out the fpe, you'll want a moderator in the end of the shroud.

My personal preference is my custom 18" .20 barrel in a full length HP shroud. All the extra room in the shroud makes it quiet enough to use without a moderator, when pushing 30-34fpe.

The closest commercial thing you're going to get to my custom .20 is a .22 Plus. That gets you a longer than Carbine shroud, and a 17inch barrel. With a modest tune, it should be quiet enough without an additional moderator.

The 17" barrel in Carbine form (shortest shroud) will require additional moderator at even 18-19fpe. The Carbines shroud is so short that it does next to nothing for sound reduction. So a Carbine + moderator ends up being Ghost Plus length anyways. In addition, you get a 480cc bottle with a Plus and only a 300cc bottle with a Carbine.

I'd only recommend the Carbine if max length is high on your priority list. Ie keeping it short is at the top of your list of wants, to the point of being willing to give up shot count for it.
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Awesome write up and a lot of useful information that i honestly just wasn't aware of.
I currently have a Daystate Huntsman Classic .22 that's about 10.4 fpe and a Air Wolf .25 that's supposedly 40 fpe.
I didn't even realize they had pellets for a .22 as heavy as they do. All i've ever shot are JSBs that are .22/18.13.

SO, after reading your write up (several times) I'm thinking a Ghost Plus .22 may be just what i'm looking for. Both of mine have 17" barrels and if i can put out a little more power, I don't see that i'd be too disappointed (and can keep it a little compact)

Not sure I fully understand using the shroud to help suppress sound but i can go down that road a later day. And i have a compensator i could use if needed.

Again, really appreciate you taking the time to share your information !!
 
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L.Leon said:
I don’t hunt raccoon, but if taking out a nuisance critter. I would be comfortable to 50 yards, with proper presentation by the coon and good shot placement on my part. I woukd be sending a heavier pellet than the JSB Exact Jumbo 18.13s. I like to plink, a lot. The .22 is a more economical choice for me. My Atomic XRs send the .22s nicely. Yesterday I picked 2K CPHPs at Walmart for $30. USD… I see the .25 strictly as a hunting or pesting round, not for plinking as they are expensive in price compared to .22s, good luck with your decision.
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well, I'm JUST realizing the pellet weight options that are available and with more power than i'm used to with my older guns, i'm starting to realize that i'm overthinking this. ...... which is very typical for me.
All i've shot out of my current Daystate Huntsman Classic are the JSB Exact Jumbo 18.13s. And i think it's supposed to be at about 10.4 fpe
 
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manabeknives said:
Nothing by JSB is consistent these days ..so sad
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.20s man!
13.73 and 15.89.
Been buying them since 2019 and have yet to stumble across a bad batch. And that's multiple orders from all the big airgun retailers. Every tin shoots like the prior batch with th .20s. Haven't even found any variants. They all have the same design.

The new .22/20.83 are very good, as well as the new .22/28.55. and I'm talking 100 yard accuracy, not 35 yard groups.

The .22/13.43s and 14.35s have always been good, within their reasonable fpe and distances.

For .177, I've yet to have a bad batch of 7.87 or 8.44s. The 10.34s are mostly good, had a couple sleeves of a batch that was good enough to win field target matches but wasn't as amazing as most of them usually are.

I had a couple really bad tins of .22/18.13s, and a lot of batches of horrific .22/25.4 MRDs.

My biggest gripe with JSB is the .22/25.4 Monster RD.

But I've got lots and lots and lots of red and black labeled tins in my personal stash. Overall, JSB still has higher BCs and better quality than any other pellet manufacturer. Note that I said overall, and reference all of what I listed above.
 
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FWIW I have killed a bunch of Racoon with a Royale 400 22cal that was 30 FPE at 30 yards. The rifle can do it, but it comes down to the guy pulling the trigger and waiting for a good shot and taking a good shot. I would only do it on a still night with no wind to take out that variable. Before I shot those raccoons I took thousands of shots at targets. I am passionate about ethical kills and shoot my pest rifles daily to verify zero. My 22 cal every evening and my 25 cal every evening on the weekend. My 22 cal 15fpe set up for rodents I can get nightly. My 25 cal 38fpe is for larger pests that i only go after on weekends.
 
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Florida_Man said:
FWIW I have killed a bunch of Racoon with a Royale 400 22cal that was 30 FPE at 30 yards. The rifle can do it, but it comes down to the guy pulling the trigger and waiting for a good shot and taking a good shot. I would only do it on a still night with no wind to take out that variable. Before I shot those raccoons I took thousands of shots at targets. I am passionate about ethical kills and shoot my pest rifles daily to verify zero. My 22 cal every evening and my 25 cal every evening on the weekend. My 22 cal 15fpe set up for rodents I can get nightly. My 25 cal 38fpe is for larger pests that i only go after on weekends.
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I'm trying to educate myself before my next purchase and i'm JUST learning what the newer air rifles are capable of. I got a Huntsman Classic 22 YEARS ago and it's about 10.4 fpe. My Air Wolf 25 is closer to 34 fpe. SO, now that i'm realizing i can get much more power and heavier pellets if i desire, I'm starting to think that a 22 would probably be adequate.
I've been pulling triggers and hunting for quite a while so i'm all about ethical kills and am confident in my skills,,,,, i just didn't realize the technology or air rifles was so advanced. I'm more than a little behind the curve on this.
I have "old" 22 and 25 air rifles. I was liking the 25 because of the extra "power" that it came with but i'm seeing that i can get that with either now. Still got to figure out which gun though.
Appreciate your information !
 
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Florida_Man said:
I thoroughly believe the BRK XR line is the best hunting/plinking platform out there. For the price range. Especially for a set it and forget it rifle.
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I like the XR but i'm trying to get away from the traditional size rifle. I'm looking at Ghosts due to it being a bullpup design and a little more "compact" with same length barrel.
At least that's where my mind is at right now
 
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monkeyboy386 said:
I like the XR but i'm trying to get away from the traditional size rifle. I'm looking at Ghosts due to it being a bullpup design and a little more "compact" with same length barrel.
At least that's where my mind is at right now
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I completely understand, we all have our preferences and needs. I had a Cricket Tac 2 and Maverick compact, both bottle guns. I found I like cylinders a whole lot more and content with the more frequent fills as a sacrifice. I really liked the Concept Lite XR I just sold, but it was just too long for what I needed. I bought an Atomic to fill that want. For my average pest its max 35 yards and squirrel or smaller. I have a 25 cal P35 if its a larger pest.
 
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Florida_Man said:
I completely understand, we all have our preferences and needs. I had a Cricket Tac 2 and Maverick compact, both bottle guns. I found I like cylinders a whole lot more and content with the more frequent fills as a sacrifice. I really liked the Concept Lite XR I just sold, but it was just too long for what I needed. I bought an Atomic to fill that want. For my average pest its max 35 yards and squirrel or smaller. I have a 25 cal P35 if its a larger pest.
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How did you like your Maverick ? I'm a little torn between a Maverick and a Ghost
 
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Not for me. I bought it brand new. It arrived with a stripped screw head in the cocking linkage. A part in the valve bent and damaged the block in the first month requiring RMA. I barely shot it prior to that. Once it returned I got serious and shot it daily doing the 30 yard challenge. I battled shifting POI. If it was used for a hunting rifle 50y and in it would have been fine, but target shooting was unacceptable. The triggers are Hunter not target level imo. The cocking lever bar had a sharp edge and would cut the pad of my thumb if i rested it there while I cocked the rifle.

The POI shift was enough for me to sell it. I sold it to a guy that intended to use it for iguana control on his property. The rifle would be perfectly well suited for that.

This was my second bullpup with a bottle. I discover for my use I don’t like that. Just a personal thing. For my primary use, benchrest shooting and pest control I prefer a rifle with a cylinder.

Some people love theirs and I’m glad they have a rifle that works for them, it just wasn’t for me. It was a summer of frustration. FX has gone away from the double regulator also. I’d honestly buy a 3rd P35 or Bullshark before I’d buy a Maverick.

It’s unfortunate i got the rifle i did. My first pcp was a FX Royale 400 that was a great rifle. It gave me confidence to buy another FX. There are a lot of great options out there.

Just my 2 cents. The BRK Ghost is a good option if you want to ever swap calibers. If you arent worried about that there are other great rifles. If i wanted a bottle bullpup in this price tier its hard not to pick an AGT Uragan or Vulcan.
 
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Florida_Man said:
Not for me. I bought it brand new. It arrived with a stripped screw head in the cocking linkage. A part in the valve bent and damaged the block in the first month requiring RMA. I barely shot it prior to that. Once it returned I got serious and shot it daily doing the 30 yard challenge. I battled shifting POI. If it was used for a hunting rifle 50y and in it would have been fine, but target shooting was unacceptable. The triggers are Hunter not target level imo. The cocking lever bar had a sharp edge and would cut the pad of my thumb if i rested it there while I cocked the rifle.

The POI shift was enough for me to sell it. I sold it to a guy that intended to use it for iguana control on his property. The rifle would be perfectly well suited for that.

This was my second bullpup with a bottle. I discover for my use I don’t like that. Just a personal thing. For my primary use, benchrest shooting and pest control I prefer a rifle with a cylinder.

Some people love theirs and I’m glad they have a rifle that works for them, it just wasn’t for me. It was a summer of frustration. FX has gone away from the double regulator also. I’d honestly buy a 3rd P35 or Bullshark before I’d buy a Maverick.

It’s unfortunate i got the rifle i did. My first pcp was a FX Royale 400 that was a great rifle. It gave me confidence to buy another FX. There are a lot of great options out there.

Just my 2 cents. The BRK Ghost is a good option if you want to ever swap calibers. If you arent worried about that there are other great rifles. If i wanted a bottle bullpup in this price tier its hard not to pick an AGT Uragan or Vulcan.
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appreciate all the info and it makes complete sense. I'll definitely be going down another rabbit hole of bullpups with cylinders.
My Huntsman is a cylinder (XL) and i do not really mind the more frequent filling. When i am "in the field" i don't really shoot too many shots
And i forgot about the iguanas over there... i definitely do NOT want another invasive pest, but hunting iguanas sounds like a good time. lol
 
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