BB, Pellet and AirSoft?

[Simone]

Between the vast choices of AirSoft, BB and Pellet guns, I sort of tend to fall victim of my own unknowledgeable self. I've been searching for a pass time gun. A BB gun, AirSoft gun or a Pellet gun, but, I don't quite know the difference between 'em all. Would the only difference be the sort of stuff that expelled from the gun, or something else? Also, do BB and Pellet guns use the same sort of ammunition, or different ones?

Is the Walther NightHawk of any good?

Thanks a lot.

- Simone

[McQ]

Between the vast choices of AirSoft, BB and Pellet guns, I sort of tend to fall victim of my own unknowledgeable self. I've been searching for a pass time gun. A BB gun, AirSoft gun or a Pellet gun, but, I don't quite know the difference between 'em all. Would the only difference be the sort of stuff that expelled from the gun, or something else? Also, do BB and Pellet guns use the same sort of ammunition, or different ones?

Is the Walther NightHawk of any good?

Thanks a lot.

- Simone

Air Soft guns are going to be safer, IMO, than BB or Pellet guns. Depending on the BB or Pellet gun, they can range from stinging if they hit a person to bad news. If they use compressed CO2, they can wallop you pretty good. Hopefully, all you are planning on is target shooting though!

I don't know anything about the particular gun you asked about.

[Simone]

Thanks, well, the thing is that I have around 200 acres of cottage land, so I was thinking of just killing some varmints around there. But I want something that would kill them on the spot because I don't want them to suffer more than they have to. So wouldn't the BB or Pellet guns be more suitable for killing varmints? Also, do the airsoft sorts shoot plastic round balls? That too, only? Because I was leaning towards BB or Pellets because instead of just stinging, I kind of wanted them to be able to "Knock off" little pests around the yard. Also, do you need a permit of some sorts to buy one? Also, which would be better for varmint hunting?

[McQ]

Thanks, well, the thing is that I have around 200 acres of cottage land, so I was thinking of just killing some varmints around there. But I want something that would kill them on the spot because I don't want them to suffer more than they have to. So wouldn't the BB or Pellet guns be more suitable for killing varmints? Also, do the airsoft sorts shoot plastic round balls? That too, only? Because I was leaning towards BB or Pellets because instead of just stinging, I kind of wanted them to be able to "Knock off" little pests around the yard. Also, do you need a permit of some sorts to buy one? Also, which would be better for varmint hunting?

Well, now that you've clarified what you need a gun for, then a .22 caliber rifle or handgun is your best bet, because they will kill varmints (I can't believe I just typed the word varmint with a straight face!), whereas you're likely to just injure varmints with a BB or Pellet gun. Ruger makes a nice .22 caliber handgun.

Good luck. Oh, and in the US at least, you need a permit for it.

[Simone]

Thanks loads.

Uh, a Ruger?

Hmm... but we are clear here that I don't want a "real" gun. Right?

[MommaSquid]

Uh, a Ruger?

Hmm... but we are clear here that I don't want a "real" gun. Right?

A .22 caliber Ruger is a real gun with real bullets.  Ruger is the manufacturer and the caliber indicates the size of the bullets.

If you want to hunt, you should talk to your parents and/or the adult who owns the property.  Gun laws vary, and so do parent's rules.  You should know them both before you begin.

[McQ]

Ditto to MommaSquid. I realize I left out my advice on any type of firearm. That is that you first have permission, both legal and parental. I highly, HIGHLY recommend lessons from qualified instructors (here I can get instruction from my State Police).

And treat every firearm as if it is loaded, every time you touch it.

Now back to our regularly scheduled nonsense.

[Simone]

I've already spoken to my parents, seeing that they are the ones who own the property. Because my father has a real rifle up at the cottage, and he was about to buy me one a while back, but I just wanted to mess around, so I decided not to get "a rifle". So now I figured to get a gun of some other sort. But all in all my parents have no problems, also, the mayor of the town is our friend, so I figured to talk to him about it the next time I'm around there, but it might be in a long while sadly.

[Whitney]

But I want something that would kill them on the spot because I don't want them to suffer more than they have to. So wouldn't the BB or Pellet guns be more suitable for killing varmints?

I don't know much about guns but I don't think those kind are meant for quick kills.  My grandparents use to shoot BBs at squirrels and my grandad was a hunter so he could hit them dead on yet they just jumeped and ran off scared.  I guess it could kill something like a field mouse if you have good aim.

Maybe you should stick to tin cans just to be sure.

[Simone]

I've been doing a lot of intense research, and I've finally come to a conclusion. Well, kind of... The only difference is, the research was not intense, and my conclusion isn't quite as clear as I had hoped. Anyways, I was looking up different sorts of guns, and I realized that in the world of knock off guns there was yet another sort. The AirGun! Yay? Anyhow, seeing that I could make up my mind, I decided to buy a few different guns.

The:

http://www.airgundepot.com/gamo-airguns ... unter.html

http://www.airgundepot.com/walther-nigh ... green.html

http://www.airgundepot.com/beretta-air- ... -m92b.html


and the

http://www.airgundepot.com/airforce-talon-afu1004.html

The talon's a bit pricey for a toy I know, but it's sexy, so huah!

Also, would anyone around here know if there are any laser(laser pointer) attachments for the Walther nighthawk? I want possibly the most powerful laser pointer attachment on the market, price is of no problem.

Thanks

[MommaSquid]

If you have access to a local gun shop, the owner or resident gun smith should be able to recommend something.  

Guns are not toys and should not be handled without proper instruction and safety gear.  Never point the business end of a gun at anything you don't want to kill.  (This public service announcement has been brought to you by...me!)

[SteveS]

Ahhhh - I had a Crosman BB/pellet rifle when I was a kid.  I remember saving up my money to buy that thing - I thought it was so cool.  You could pump it between 2 and 10 times to alter the muzzle velocity.  There was a BB chamber that held a bunch of BBs, or you could fire pellets individually.

After a few years, I bought a cheap Tasco 10x scope for it.  I messed around with adjusting the crosshairs and got it to where it could fire pretty accurately (at least as accurately as I could shoot it - not my forte as it turns out).

Mostly I just shot cans, though (line 'em up, knock 'em down, see how far away you can hit them from).  My friend borrowed it to kill a ground squirrel that was living on their back patio and causing the dog to jump through the screen door a few times.  It worked, I think he used the pellet ammo on 10 pumps - but he also hit it in the head (good shot).  I'm not sure what it could kill, or how you'd have to hit it --- not a hunter of any sort myself.  Plus, I figure the said friend would have had better long term results if he had trained his poorly behaved dog, rather than shoot every rodent that "made" the dog jump through the screen, but hey, to each their own I guess...

[Simone]

SteveS, do you know much about the quality of the Walther brand? Because the people that I have been speaking to seemed to have mixed feelings about it.

[donkeyhoty]

you'll shoot yer eye out




I'm disappointed no one else said that first.

[Squid]

When I was a young pup growing up in small town south Texas we used to just fireworks at each other and utilize the occasional improvised explosive.  Then later we upgraded to actual firearms but it isn't a good idea to shoot each other with those.