Nitro piston air rifles

[wormbobskey]

Anyone got any opinions on the nitro piston air rifles that supposed to be better than the spring driven air rifles? I just picked up the .22 caliber benjimen nitro piston rifle, but haven't got to shoot it yet, the wife accidentally left the pellets at wal-mart. I have a Gamo BigCat .177 that is excellent for squirells and such out to around 25 or 30 yards, but with the PBR's it is very loud and I  actually had the police called on me during an animal damage control job in town. The nitro pistion claims to be 70% quiter which will really help with those jobs within the city limits.

[Ladobe]

Have no idea about the Benjamin, but I'd have to "hear" the advertised 70% reduction in noise level compared to a springer to believe it.   I have a Theoben Crow Magnum IV with HE gas ram piston power, and it makes plenty of noise when shot.   Enough noise that when I used it for pigeon pest control in my yard at my last house I shot it out a slightly open window, but from yards inside the room to help keep some of the noise in the house.   Even so my next door neighbors could hear it if anywhere outside.  It was not a problem with them, they wanted the pigeons removed as well.   I have no idea if those farther away heard it or not though, or knew it was a shot if they did.   No LEO's ever came.   And that was a ranch house neighborhood on fairly large lots with stone walls and mature landscaping to help hold the noise in.   My CM is a 20 cal that does about 1060fps with 24fpe, about a 1000fps faster than the 22 cal Benjamin if that helps any.

[wormbobskey]

I'm sort of chomping at the bit here. Wife picked me up some standard crosman 22 caliber hollow point pellets for the benjamin, but it was to windy today to take out and sight the scope in. My gamo with PBr ammo sounds just slightly quiter than a 22 rimfire, which was the main reason behind trying the piston air rifle. I'm losing some velocity going to the 22 over the 177, but figured the larger pellet would handle better in the wind and deliver more knock down power. I drive a truck during the week so it will be next weekend before I will get a chance to take it out. Hope the weather will be more cooperative than. Thanks for the information.

[S.S.]

the mechanism is MUCH quieter than a springer.
But the actual report upon firing is not.
especially in .177. Nitro is much easier on scopes
than springers also

[Ladobe]

I think you'll also find that in the same weight class pointed or round point pellets will serve you better than hollow points... in velocity/accuracy, killing power and maybe even bucking the wind a little better.   The preferred pellet in my CM is the Beeman Kodiak for all those reasons, and it loves them.

[doc_kreipke]

Dunno about 70% noise reduction, but my Remington .22 Nitro piston rifle is considerably quieter than my shrouded Air Arms Sport .177 springer. The Air Arms gives out a rather audible "thunk" that actually doesn't sound exactly like a gunshot "crack," but the Remington is quieter and sounds even less like a gunshot (goes "chuff"). I'd say the Nitro would be a lot less likely to generate complaints than a springer.

[goodconcretecolor]

I had a Daisy 1000 springer in 177 and recently bought a Crosman Nitro Venom in 22. Cronoed the 1000 at 900 ft/sec and the Crosman at750. They each do similar damage to a can of soda and the Nitro Venom is much quieter and more accurate. Just put a GRTIII trigger on the venom.

[Dand]

My 14 yr old son just bought a Benjamin Nitro All weather package in 22.  It is a big gun and pretty nice.  Much nicer than I expected as I'm a Beeman and European gun fan. The trigger came really tough and needs more work but I like the safety arrangement. I have read that some people are replacing the trigger with an aftermarket assembly. We got the scope mounted and sighted in and I ran a couple patches thru the barrel with MP 5.  I discovered that the barrel ends about 2 or 2.5 inches inside the barrel shroud. The large shroud serves as a pretty effective moderator. We compared the sound of my BSA Super Sport springer 22 side by side.  The Benjy is definitely more "quiet" for this power of rifle compared to the BSA.  I like that with the nitro "spring" the gun can be kept cocked for a while during hunting.  Something I don't do with my springers.  Accuracy seems ok but its hard to tell until the gun is broken in, we find its favorite pellet, and I get the trigger under control. I was getting about an inch at about 50 feet with Beeman Trophy pellets. I'm sure it could do better.


My son was so hot to hunt the gun we went looking for rabbits. But rabbits are really scarce here. On the way home he spotted a porcupine so we chased it up a tree about 20 -25 feet. My son made quite a few shots but light was falling, he was real excited, and the parallax at that range with the scope high off the barrel, he hit the front legs instead of head. The spruce tree branches didn't help. Finally he got shots into the chest and the porky eventually dropped out of the tree. A couple shots to the head finished the animal.  Not the prettiest scenario. My son got a good lesson in the power difference between a 22LR and his new pellet rifle.  Also learned just how tough even a 12 pound porky is.  The meat was very good but now my son wants to tan the hide!!!!!  I think we need to explore better hunting pellets (heavier) and shot placement. Oh when we skinned the porky we found 3 pellets had penetrated the chest area but stopped against the hide on the far side. I think he was using 14 gr round nose Benjamins or Beemans.  I'm looking at the silver arrows or heavier for next time.