Air Pellet Pistols

Enjoyed the posts re: pellet rifles; I’m looking for a reasonably priced non-CO2 pellet pistol for target, teaching grandkids gun safety, self defense from chippies, etc. Crosman makes several reliable models. Anybody have recommendations re: other brands or a favorite Crosman model?

Have a friend in Ft. Collins who set up a 25′ “garage league” with his hunting buddies. They shoot small 1′ to 2″ steel animal figures in front of a target trap. Cheap, fun, quiet, easy. Lots of friendly competition, especially when the FW joins in.

Thanks
Pete

I have a couple pump-up pistols and they are fun. Do yourself a favor and buy a soft-side case for your pistols and carry them in your trunk. And if you get stopped for any reason and are asked if you have a weapon, tell them you have a cased air pistol locked in the truck. The cops will appreciate the straight forward honesty. Personally my air pistols never leave the house.

Good ideas.

If you don’t mind my asking, why not CO2?

Many of the pump up models I’m familiar with don’t really do a good job of simulating a “normal” revolver or autoloader. They are big and front heavy and some would require a rifle-like grip where the “off” hand is on the fore-end which, again, doesn’t do a good job of simulating a “normal” pistol grip.

My favorite is the Crossman 357 python replica, but that’s a C02 gun. It gets 40 shots of full power before the co2 starts to run out, which is enough for me for a session at handgun ranges.

Airsoft guns might be worth considering for training purposes. They have the realistic feel and function, but they don’t have the accuracy of a pellet pistol.

I am somewhat on the fence about this recent topic of to disclose or not disclose if being stopped by police while legally transporting firearms. My own thinking is that I will disclose if asked, but I will not volunteer such information. My concern is that adding this information unsolicited by the officer could suddenly touch off a situation.

I’m sure the police have lots of concerns these days, but in the context of a citizen legally transporting a cased firearm, nobody’s touching any guns, nobody has direct access to any guns, the guns are legal, so there is no “gun problem” to address here. So let’s keep the focus on whatever the issue at hand is.

Obviously, concealed or open carry of a loaded weapon is a completely different situation and I’m NOT addressing this with the above comments.

Grouse

My neighbor is a deputy and I talked to him about this very subject last week.
He stated I did not need to notify the officer but to use common sense.
He just said keep your hands on the wheel and if your weapon may be visible when you reach for your wallet to let them know ahead of time while your hands are on the wheel. He said it was common and they were experienced handling this type of situation. In a normal situation with calm, deliberate and intelligent behavior this will never be an issue and you wont be disarmed for a routine traffic stop.
I have been pulled over at least twice while carrying and never said a thing about my weapon because it didnt seem necessary, especially since the law supports that position. I wouldnt even consider it with unloaded cased weapons in the back seat or trunk.

suzuki wrote:

My neighbor is a deputy and I talked to him about this very subject last week.
He stated I did not need to notify the officer but to use common sense.
He just said keep your hands on the wheel and if your weapon may be visible when you reach for your wallet to let them know ahead of time while your hands are on the wheel. He said it was common and they were experienced handling this type of situation. In a normal situation with calm, deliberate and intelligent behavior this will never be an issue and you wont be disarmed for a routine traffic stop.
I have been pulled over at least twice while carrying and never said a thing about my weapon because it didnt seem necessary, especially since the law supports that position. I wouldnt even consider it with unloaded cased weapons in the back seat or trunk.

I don’t think Tom was saying what he said because it’s the law. I believe it was a way to show the officer you are on their side, you respect their position, not trying to BS them, and to put them at ease. If I was an officer and someone I pulled over stated they had an air pistol cased and locked in the trunk I would think they had respect for the weapon and respect for me, and just possibly show a little leniency on the citation.

However the half dozen or so times I’ve been pulled over I’ve never been asked about weapons, even though a few of those times I did have my unloaded shotgun in the back.

I recently bought a Umarex 1911. It doesn’t shoot pellets – only BBs – but boy is it fun. It’s a very good replica of the real thing. https://www.umarexusa.com/Colt-Commander.html

If you don’t mind my asking, why not CO2?

Grouse

I’ve always heard that partially used CO2 cartridges will not maintain pressure. Just don’t want to mess around with C02 …personal preference I guess.

trophy19 wrote:

I’ve always heard that partially used CO2 cartridges will not maintain pressure. Just don’t want to mess around with C02 …personal preference I guess.

That is true in the guns I’ve owned, the seal is not perfect so they do slowly leak down. I’ve just never found it to be an issue because I use mine just for target practice so I shoot until the cylinder is out every time. It’s not hard to run 40+ shots through a CO2 gun in a session. If intending to use it for pest control where the shots come 1-2 at a time, it would be an issue.

Just pointing out that CO2 powered guns tend to be the most realistic in terms of looking and feeling like what most people identify as a handgun.

Grouse

Can you shoot slugs out of a pellet pistol.