Pellet Rifle

By far the best implement with which to hunt small game is the pellet rifle. A pellet rifle differs from a fire arm only in the method used to propel the projectile through the barrel and to the target. A fire arm uses an explosive (gun powder) to very rapidly produce high pressure gas to propel the projectile bullet to the target. A pellet rifle produces the same effect very rapidly releasing high pressure gas to propel the projectile pellet to the target. There are roughly three classes of pellet guns, classified by the method they use to provide the rapid release of high pressure gas.

• The first method is to provide a way of pumping air into a reservoir. When the trigger is pulled, the gas in the reservoir is released to propel the pellet. This method is generally the least preferred because of the time and energy required to pump up the reservoir.

• The second method is a variant of the first in that it uses a pre compressed carbon dioxide gas reservoir. When the trigger is pulled, a measured amount of this gas is released which propels the pellet. This method is very good in the modern world and some extremely powerful and accurate pellet guns use this method. In fact, there are a number of Chinese military weapons designed along these lines. For the purpose of a hunting rifle in the Aftertime, this method is inferior to the third method described below because of the problems of obtaining pre-compressed gas for 20 years or longer.

• The third method is called spring air. In this method, a lever (usually the rifle barrel) is cocked which compresses a very heavy spring inside a compression cylinder. When the trigger is pulled, the compression piston is driven by the compressed spring from one end of the compression cylinder to the other producing an explosion of compressed air which, in turn, propels the pellet to the target.

Spring air is the most popular propulsion system in pellet rifles today and there are many incredibly accurate and powerful rifles available today. The pellets come in .177, .20, .22, and .25 inch diameters. And modern pellet guns can shoot a .177 pellet at up to around 1060 feet per second or a .25 pellet at about 850 feet per second with a muzzle energy of over 40 foot-pounds. This is truly on a par with the .22 caliber rimfire rifle. The particular pellet rifle that I am planning to have is the Beeman Kodiak in .25 caliber. There is one other very important thing in favor of the spring air rifle. Both other major mechanisms, the hand pump up and the bottled CO2, produce a loud sound like a firearm. The spring air, on the other hand, makes hardly any noise at all. One can get in lots of practice in the back yard, not to mention not scaring other game in the area or giving one's position away to unwanted humans.

Since there is no powder to keep dry, the only thing one needs is spare parts and pellets. Compared to bullets, they are extremely inexpensive. In addition, one can make a mold and use lead from depleted lead-acid batteries to make all the pellets for a lifetime.

Offered by Ron.