best backpacking air gun, discuss.

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Harmless

Harmless

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May 30, 2018
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oregon
Wanted to see what peoples thoughts were on the ideal airgun for a backpacking situation. From a weekend trip into the wilderness, to an extended week+ excursion. Ideally the use would be for small game (quail, grouse, etc.) and recreational target practice.

I personally lean to something like the Benjamin marauder pistol, or the Ataman Ap16 for an overnight or weekend trip. You could get by with a single fill, but would not be getting to do any rec target shooting unless you humped a pump all the way in. A longer run would probably necessitate going with a springer like the Browning 800 express. I would stick with the pcps if there were a light weight handpump on the market, but that's yet to be made and it seems all springer rifles have some heft to them, a necessity to absorb recoil? 
As you can tell I lean heavily to pistols for the compact nature and low weight.

I would grab a single stroke pistol everytime, if they had more power. Most seem to hit only 400 fps and all in .177. I imagine a skilled marksman could still humainly kill small game in close range with proper placement of shot, but emphasis on skilled shot placement.
 
My votes for the EDgun Leshiy as well. Smallest, lightest Airgun i can think of. Folds in half for compact carry.

I've got mine set up to shoot the 18g JSB about 800 fps for 18 shots. If you wanted more shots you could tune it to shoot a lighter pellet at a lower velocity & double the shot count. 

1527944009_4819005305b129349e740c7.96331165_20180330_200940.jpg
 
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"Michael"My votes for the EDgun Leshiy as well. Smallest, lightest Airgun i can think of. Folds in half for compact carry.
I've got mine set up to shoot the 18g JSB about 800 fps for 18 shots. If you wanted more shots you could tune it to shoot a lighter pellet at a lower velocity & double the shot count. 
1527944009_4819005305b129349e740c7.96331165_20180330_200940.jpg
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What if you need 19 shots? To be totally independent, a spring powered or pumper would always work until you ran out of pellets.
 
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"jps2486"
"Michael"My votes for the EDgun Leshiy as well. Smallest, lightest Airgun i can think of. Folds in half for compact carry.
I've got mine set up to shoot the 18g JSB about 800 fps for 18 shots. If you wanted more shots you could tune it to shoot a lighter pellet at a lower velocity & double the shot count. 
1527944009_4819005305b129349e740c7.96331165_20180330_200940.jpg
Click to expand...
What if you need 19 shots? To be totally independent, a spring powered or pumper would always work until you ran out of pellets.
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I think the Leishy along with a 480cc cf bottle would likely still be less weight (and shoot a whole lot better then a springer putting out over 25fpe. And then with the Leishy you will get at least double your 19 shots.
 
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"Michael"My votes for the EDgun Leshiy as well. Smallest, lightest Airgun i can think of. Folds in half for compact carry.
I've got mine set up to shoot the 18g JSB about 800 fps for 18 shots. If you wanted more shots you could tune it to shoot a lighter pellet at a lower velocity & double the shot count. 
1527944009_4819005305b129349e740c7.96331165_20180330_200940.jpg
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Hi Michael, what scope have you got on that leishy?
 
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"Steyr"
"Michael"My votes for the EDgun Leshiy as well. Smallest, lightest Airgun i can think of. Folds in half for compact carry.
I've got mine set up to shoot the 18g JSB about 800 fps for 18 shots. If you wanted more shots you could tune it to shoot a lighter pellet at a lower velocity & double the shot count. 
1527944009_4819005305b129349e740c7.96331165_20180330_200940.jpg
Click to expand...
Hi Michael, what scope have you got on that leishy?
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Its an Ultradot Matchdot 6. Only good for 30y or less. Waiting for the Dedal Stalkers to arrive at EDgun West.
 
Upvote 0
"jps2486"
"Michael"My votes for the EDgun Leshiy as well. Smallest, lightest Airgun i can think of. Folds in half for compact carry.
I've got mine set up to shoot the 18g JSB about 800 fps for 18 shots. If you wanted more shots you could tune it to shoot a lighter pellet at a lower velocity & double the shot count. 
1527944009_4819005305b129349e740c7.96331165_20180330_200940.jpg
Click to expand...
What if you need 19 shots? To be totally independent, a spring powered or pumper would always work until you ran out of pellets.
Click to expand...


I rarely take more than a few shots when stalking/hunting. After 18 shots mine drops off the reg. I feel like I've got it maxed out for power & efficiency. I read that others are shooting the 14.3 or 15.9 grain pellets at a lower velocity for almost double the shot count. But higher shot count is not what I was after.
 
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"BigTinBoat"
"jps2486"
"Michael"My votes for the EDgun Leshiy as well. Smallest, lightest Airgun i can think of. Folds in half for compact carry.
I've got mine set up to shoot the 18g JSB about 800 fps for 18 shots. If you wanted more shots you could tune it to shoot a lighter pellet at a lower velocity & double the shot count. 
1527944009_4819005305b129349e740c7.96331165_20180330_200940.jpg
Click to expand...
What if you need 19 shots? To be totally independent, a spring powered or pumper would always work until you ran out of pellets.
Click to expand...
I think the Leishy along with a 480cc cf bottle would likely still be less weight (and shoot a whole lot better then a springer putting out over 25fpe. And then with the Leishy you will get at least double your 19 shots.
Click to expand...

With a 480cc buddy bottle you'd get a bigtinboatload of shots! 

An independent power plant would be ideal for extended excursions, but the only springer/pumper I'd consider carrying would need to be short & light: like a Benjamin pumper or HW35 springer.

Then again at really low power levels like that you could adjust Leshiy to shoot 12 foot pounds and get gobs of shots.
 
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My Flex is my go to backpack gun. Its not light at all, although its not terribly heavy if I pair it with a red dot or very light, small, scope. The reason it goes with me is that 1) the moderator is collapsable and the stock is foldable so the entire package can be strapped to my backpack at only around 24 inches tall and 2) it has enough power to kill a hog. I can also get up to 80 shots on a fill, so it could last for an extended trip and give me enough air to do some plinking as well as hunting. 

My Condor has become my kayak gun. Its long, skeletal, frame makes it ideal for shoving in an open spot in the kayak. Its aluminum build also makes me not to concerned about getting it wet.

No doubt a little Prod or the Leishy would be ideal in terms of weight. I just like having the extra umph to take game larger than squirrels. 

Edited to add: it also helps that I've got my backpack system down to about 20-25lbs for a comfortable 3 day trip. That gives me extra weight to carry a heavier gun. In Florida we generally don't hike a very long ways. Someone is never more than 2-4 hours from a trail or a road because there are no places that remote left, save maybe in the middle of the Everglades. Even our big national forests are dotted with a grid system of roads. If I was out west and was expected to huff it all day at fast pace to get to my spot, weight would take on a whole different level of importance. 

 
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Best? Best at what? Best at what for how long?
Light weight since we are carrying other things for the trip. Even basic campng kit is more than most of us can comfortably carry at my age. Without a pack, the Trail with scope gets old on your shoulder. The 220 is 6.2 pounds and needs nothing but trigger work.
Reasonable power to take small to medium game. Even a basic springer provides this. If you need the power to take small to medium game, the old Gamo 220 class rifles had everything needed and were not heavy. I have two of the Cannon pumpers here, that if they were more reliable they would be the perfect choice. 900 fps plus with normal .177 pellets, and tack driver accurate with the right pellet, like a tin of Exacts. In many ways, these are the perfect survival rifles, if and only if someone actually builds one of a quality that can be depended on.
The reason I pick the import Cannon copy over the other choices are accuracy, power, weight, and the excellent trigger. If only they stayed sealed.
A simple rugged sight system. If it has a red dot or scope, it must also have open sights as backup that are sighted in. In my youth, I would have picked open sights alone, but I can't see them anymore, so a red dot, scope, or peep sight is required. Technically a peep is a good choice, but I don't like peep sights.
The ability to break it down for transport is a plus. I ride a motorcycle, so it has to fit in the side bag when broken down. A scabbard on the side of the bike would have me talking with the law more than hunting. I would not be in any trouble but getting stopped all the time and drawing attention is just a waste of time and patience.

My perfect backpaker/survival rifle would be something like a 1322 with a removable 15 inch barrel, flat top piston/valve, with a red dot sight and a medium weight pellet that it shot well. A way to index the barrel on assemby. A modified stock so that shooting it was more comfortable.for someone my size. The Benjamin-Sheridan rifles would be first choice as a starting place to build this one, but they have never put a scope capable breech that works on them to this day.
I was hoping the Dragonfly would turn out to be close to the perfect rifle for this use. If someone ever makes a quality copy of the Cannoin rifles at a reasonable cost, that would be my first choice without reservation. The new pump/pcp hybrid looks interesting, but suffers from the same problems as the Cannon does, at 3 times the price.
 
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The Leishy is a nice gun, I first saw it back when Ted did a review of it. Aside from price, my main hang up is it is a pcp that is single shot, when it comes to pcps I really feel a repeater magazine is almost a requirement (I would make the excepetion for the Evanix Rex P in .357 or .40. That power in a compact package seems worth the trade. Wouldn't even consider it in any other caliber though). 
The Leishy has to do all the same motions and loading as you do with a springer, but you don't get the self sufficiency. Granted you don't have the kick and vibration of a springer, and it is compact and lighter than most springers. Additionally, to be really compact it has to be folded in half, this leaves the breech open and dirt and anything else can get in there, I suppose you could keep a pellet loaded, but its still open. Never the less, it is a great gun, not diminishing it and that it works awesome for others, just my own quirks.



To me (personally) the Ataman AP16 would be a better choice over it: repeater, still solid power, less than half the weight of the Leishy, and always compact. .22 cal (Leishy takes the lead here in being available in .25 as well)
From personal experience, what is the bark on the Leishy like? The only guns I have to compare to are the Marauder pistol .22 and Bulldog .357. From what I understand the AP16 is louder, as .22 air guns go.
 
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Skillet, i am of the same mind, when you are out hiking, on the hip is the most useful place, or a sling, but it would have to be one comfy sling set up to hike with. In the pack is to far to go for the unexpected critter dinner encounter.
I'm not familiar with the CR mk-1, what my searches pull up is the Ruger mark-1 break barrel springer. 
A good point on c02 pistols, I have often neglected co2 pistols because I prefer the self sufficiency of a hand pump or break barrel, but in a back packing situation, you may well get far higher shot counts for less weight packed with a few co2 cartridges, not to mention many co2 pistols being very compact and light. But I am very unfamiliar with co2 guns, are there many that go beyond .177 and break the 500-600 fps? Of course when we talk power, pcps still seem to be king, springers are good contenders as well
 
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Happened across the Artemis PP700S-A. comes in .177 and .22, looks like 600fps, I believe it's 14.5 inches long, don't know the weight, good accuracy out to 25 yards are the reports, it is only a single shot but it's under $300. Might be a fair contender for a backpack pcp that's in the affordable range.

The Ataman ap16 is still top in my book, a few inches shorter and above all has a repeater magazine, but it is 3x the cost of the Artemis at $999 Anyone have personal experience between either the AP16 and PP700S, what are peoples thoughts on if they are even comparable?
 
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