RWS Diana 54 Air king T06 the best for money and for everything .It's a little heavy, but for movers and weight lifters it's a great rifle. 
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Spring piston airgun, maximum power today?
- Thread starter rodrigo571
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The 135 is still made in a spring version. Just not imported into the U.S. The way the Hatsan internals are set up, it is a quite simple conversion from ram to spring, with the acquisition of a spring, spring guide, and the longer receiver cap. These parts can be found on eBay. I will tell you that Hatsan spring guns are the king of twang. If you do not sleeve the spring correctly, remove all loose dental pieces. The ram however is smooth with absolutely no twang straight out of the box.
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How expensive is a replacement gas ram for a Hatsan 135 Vortex in material and labor costs? The 1 year warranty scares me.
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Just out of curiosity, what the hell are you shooting with a break barrel rifle that needs over 20+ FPE, first off speed doesn't mean squat if it's not accurate, run of the mill production budget Springers and Gas piston air guns shoot best at lower velocities, .177 cal. likes 550~700 fps., .22 cal. likes 750~900 fps. or about 18~25 FPE., and very few run of the mill Chinese or Turkish air guns are usually minute of squirrel accurate past 35 yds.
There are exceptions of course, I have a few, but they aren't putting out 25~30+ FPE either, now my son has a .308 cal. air rifle that's putting out near 90 FPE. but it cost him close to two grand, and it's also not a break barrel.
It sounds to me like looking for an old rag wagon plug to enter into the Kentucky Derby.
Of my air rifles my three most powerful are my HW-80K in .20 cal., my Hatsan mod. 95 Springer in .22 cal., and my Crosman Vantage NP in .177 cal., all are shooting in the 15~23 FPE range depending on the pellets used, and if you're a hunter that's about the sweet spot for 35~40 yds.
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I see your point.
I was out of the hobby for about a decade... When I returned I saw that PCPs had changed a LOT. Night and day difference from what I was used to (power levels, calibers, slugs, bullpups, semi autos, brands, etc.). So curiosity got me: Did spring piston guns undergo some important increases in power? That’s what my question is all about.
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In short, no. All the same brands and the same power, I don’t take into account new gas springs based on automobile shock absorbers. Theoben produces a real gas spring as it produced. New Chinese and Turkish rifles also bring happiness to few people.On the stage, all the same: AA,FWB,HW, RWS and Walther(Lothar).The FWB and Walther seem to have stopped producing spring piston rifles, but FWB rifles are still available in stores.
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Good question, my best answer is Springers (coil Spring powered) air guns have not changed much, the newer Gas piston powered air rifles have benefited from the last decade of rapid air gun technology in that they haven't gotten more powerful generally speaking, but they have become smoother, more accurate, and much more reliable, and that is across the board.
In my experience todays budget friendly air guns are at a performance level that higher end air guns used to be at, and todays higher quality air guns like Beeman Precision, Weirauch, FWB, and others have reached new level of accuracy and performance.
Another plus that isn't talked about all that much is the quality and advanced design of most pellets today, all of these small advances over the last decade have been forced on or driven by the new resurgence of popularity and interest in air guns, they aren't just your kids toys anymore.
The biggest noticeable advances have been in PCP air guns, the prices of good quality PCP rifles have come down t0 where the average working man can expect to snag a good functioning, good looking PCP rifle for what many break barrel rifles sell for, some just under $200.00 dollars, however, one still needs to purchase a air source, either a hand pump, scuba tank, and or compressor, and that can add considerably to the expense of a package.
But yes, with the new PCP rifles 100 yd. accuracy are the norm, as well as are tighter groups, and more horsepower (FPE), right now the sky is the limit if you have the money, .30, .40, .50, and .60 caliber PCP's with the power to take apart cinder block walls are for sale for a price.
Air gunning has really come a long way in the last ten or so years, but for me, I'm a traditionalist and a minimalist, and I enjoy the challenge of mastering a simple rifle with learned skills, there's no excitement for me sitting at a bench and going through the motions while an expensive rifle takes all the challenge and fun out of the hobby, I'm happy as I can be shooting tight groups, splitting playing cards, or cutting match sticks in half with my Springers and nitro piston break barrels.
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So in the uk we are limited to 12ftlbs. Myself mostly my springers are taken down to 10.5 ftlbs. ( target shooter ) So in ftlbs please what ftlb's do you guys shoot mostly with a springer?
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I treat my springers like golf clubs. Each one is a little different.
I have HW30's in the 6 to 8 fpe range, HW50 at 12 fpe, TX200 at 12 fpe, HW95 at 14 fpe, HW77 at 16 fpe, HW95 at 18 fpe. From there it is all PCP's from 18 fpe up to 100 fpe.
Pistols start at 2 fpe and go all the way to 12 fpe.
They are all fun to shoot but my PCP's gather dust while the springers get most of my trigger time. Something about hitting a soup can at ranges from 19 yards (pistols) to 80 yards (mainly rifles but on a calm day I have hit soup cans at 80 yards with a pistol) that will put a smile on my face.
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Yep. Anywhere from 5.5 FPE for the HW45 to 30+ FPE with Hatsan 135QE Vortex. And many power levels in between depending on which gun.
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My HW95L .22 with an ARH kit with a Vortek seal averages 17 FPE using H&N FTT 14.66 gr 5.53 mm pellets.
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Anything much over 22 ft lb in a springer will be to radical to shoot accurately. I have always recomended if you need more than 22 ft lbs you need to look at pcp guns. My TX200 shoots at 15 ft lbs and has great accuracy out to 50 yds, on some days excellent groups at 80 yds. My custom R1 in .22 cal will hokd sub one inch at 50 yds but pushing the limit on an everyday shooter with 45 plus lbs cocking effort.
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My TX200 is set at 14fpe to 16fpe depending on the pellet.
A Friend has a Diana 54 that is shooting around 20fpe I think. It seems to shoot really well.
A Friend has a Diana 54 that is shooting around 20fpe I think. It seems to shoot really well.
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Thanks everybody most interesting. Thanks. I do not hunt but listening to the guys that do hunt in the UK, most seem happy at 12ftlbs especially springer shooters. Certainly at 30 to 40 yards.
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I thought the Beeman R1/HW 80 was the top of the heap? Can anyone tell me what FPE Range a .22 cal. R1 should be?
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Has not been in the top 10 in many, many years! Factory .22 R1 is about 18fpe pending pellet used...
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I took these numbers off the Pyramid and AOA websites and did not calculate the energy. The actual velocities may be less, and the changes with weight of the pellet but even so, the velocity differences are significant between the below guns. I know my Xisco B28 (direct clone of RWsS 350 was shooting at about 850 fps.
HW 80 22 cal - 760 fps
RWS 350 22 cal - 870 fps
Hatsan 135 QE 22 cal 1000 fps.
You also have other Dianas, other Hatsans and Gamos and the Webley Patriot in this mix. However as far as a refined mangnum springer, the HW 80 is on the top of the heap and probably the most accurate. The RWS 350 and other Dianas are almost as good.
HW 80 22 cal - 760 fps
RWS 350 22 cal - 870 fps
Hatsan 135 QE 22 cal 1000 fps.
You also have other Dianas, other Hatsans and Gamos and the Webley Patriot in this mix. However as far as a refined mangnum springer, the HW 80 is on the top of the heap and probably the most accurate. The RWS 350 and other Dianas are almost as good.
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Here is your FPE numbers.
HW 80 22 cal - 760 fps 18.80 FPE
RWS 350 22 cal - 870 fps 24.64 FPE
Hatsan 135 QE 22 cal 1000 fps. 32.56 FPE
The above was calculated using 14.66 gr pellet weight for all three.
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