Who should buy a .177 air rifle? Which is the best .177 air rifle?
.177 vs .22 & .25 air rifle:
177 caliber pellets are lighter and smaller, thus, they can fire at a much higher velocity.
However, .177 caliber pellets are less powerful than .22 and .25 caliber pellets.
Here are some interesting statistics that will blow your mind.
A .177 air rifle has an average velocity of 921 FPS and the average power is 15.64 FPE.
With this capacity, the kill zone is from 11.4 yards to 43.7 yards.
A .22 air rifle has an average velocity of 735 FPS and power of 17.4 FPE.
With this capacity, the kill zone is from 9.4 yards out to 35.7 yards.
(For more on the differences between .177 & .22 and which jobs they do best, see this post.)
To sum up, while .22 and .25 caliber pellets are more powerful, .177 caliber pellets are more accurate, more long-range, and faster.
A .177 air rifle would be suitable for plinking and hunting pigeons and rabbits, which are small and fast.
If you want to hunt something bigger, you’ll need a .22 or .25 air rifle for an ethical kill.
(For more on how to choose the right air gun caliber for your game, see this post.)
If you are looking for the best .177 air rifle, here are the top 5 .177 air guns.
Hatsan 95 with Walnut Stock
Hatsan is the most famous manufacturer of air guns in Turkey.
They were founded in 1967 and are now available in over 90 countries worldwide.
They have a high-standard production process, from the initial processing of materials to final product testing.
The raw materials are very selective, using things such as Turkish walnut and very high-quality steel.
The end product is high-quality and durable.
The Hatsan 95 is a break barrel air rifle that comes in 2 versions: spring powered and vortex gas spring.
The spring pistol makes it shoot like a real gun.
Spring power is the simplest and the most classic of the three power methods available when it comes to airguns.
Although it has many disadvantages, such as recoil and noise, spring will give you the most genuine ‘real gun’ feeling when shooting.
If you can handle the recoil and shoot accurately, your shooting skills must clearly be great and you might be ready for a full-bore rifle .
The spring rifle also doesn’t require any gas or refills and isn’t affected by the weather.
The Vortex gas spring version offers quite the same quality finish.
The Hatsan 95 is the most accurate air rifle under $200.
It’s really accurate, quiet, and doesn’t create as much recoil as normal break-barrel spring-powered air rifles.
The maximum velocity is about 1000 fps.
This rifle is powerful enough that it can be used for hunting, but it’s still backyard-friendly.
Hatsan 95 comes in .177, .22, and also .25 caliber.
It has a beautiful ambidextrous Turkish walnut stock with a rifled steel barrel.
There’s a rubber pad at the butt plate, but no raised cheekpiece.
The Quattro trigger can be adjusted in two stages.
The overall length of the rifle is 44.3″.
The barrel length is 17.7″, and the weight is 7.8 lbs without a scope.
The scope that comes with the rifle is really excellent and accurate too.
This rifle has excellent quality but a budget price. It’s the best .177 air rifle in its price range for hunting small game or for pest control.
Sig Sauer MCX .177 air rifle
Sig Sauer is a serious firearm manufacturer.
They were founded in 1853 in Switzerland.
In 1949, their SIG P49, which was used by the Swiss army, quickly became a legend on the battlefield as well as in competition.
Later, they started product lines of hunting rifles, which were also really successful and well-known worldwide.
In 1980, they reached the US market.
American success played an important role in making SIG an international leader in the small arms industry.
Nowadays, they produce the toughest, most precise rifles, pistols, suppressors, optics, ammunition, and airguns, many of which are used by the world’s best militaries.
Their philosophies are to cherish freedom, not compromise, and to be the very best.
The Sig Sauer MCX .177 is a really fun gun — you can see that just by looking at the rifle.
The stock is made of synthetic, and the barrel is made of rifled steel. The butt plate is made of plastic.
It comes in all black.
You can use either the Weaver or Picatinny scope on this gun. The overall length is 34.7 inches.
The barrel length is 17.7 inches – the short length makes the gun shoot even faster.
The gun uses CO2 gas as the power source.
It’s a semi-auto rifle that can shoot 30 .177 caliber pellets per load.
The max velocity is 700 fps – not so fast.
The rifle shoots loudly but accurately.
The gun is used for fun plinking, not for hunting as its power is not quite there.
The price of Sig Sauer MCX .177 is only $190.
Umarex Octane
Umarex Sportwaffen GmbH & Co. KG is an airgun manufacturer that was founded in Germany in 1972.
It has a branch in the US, located in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
They produce air pistols, air rifles, tear-gas, signal pistols, etc. from break-barrel to fully-auto.
They also supply high-powered air rifles made by Browning, Hammerli, Ruger, and other big brands.
They are one of the leading manufacturers in their field with more than 50 years of experience.
The thing that makes Umarex special is their philosophy – “Franz Kafka”, which means the courage to move ahead.
Nowadays, there are millions of active gunners around the World shooting guns that are manufactured or supplied by the company.
Umarex Octane Air Rifle is an excellent gun for target shooting and small game hunting.
It’s the most accurate air rifle under $300.
The Umarex Octane Air Rifle features a ReAxis gas-piston that can give you smoother cocking, smoother shooting, no recoil, no spring torque, and no spring fatigue, even if you leave it cocked for hours.
Besides, the Umarex Octane is a single-shot break-barrel air rifle.
The gun discharges .177 caliber pellets 1450 fps – a really amazing velocity with a $300 air rifle.
There is some sound while shooting, but not too loud thanks to the integrated silencer.
Its length is 48.5 inches, with a barrel length of 19.5 inches. It weighs 9.5 pounds.
The rifle has an adjustable two-stage trigger, a rubber recoil pad on the butt plate, a grooved grip for better grip feeling, but no raised cheekpiece.
You can use a Weaver/Picatinny scope on Umarex Octane Air Rifle and it also comes with a 3-9×40 AO scope.
Hatsan BullMaster Semi-Auto PCP Air Rifle.
This is yet another gun from Hatsan.
The Hatsan BullMaster Semi-Auto PCP Air Rifle uses compressed air as the power source.
PCP is the most powerful air rifle type, as in comparison to other types of power sources, compressed air is held at a much higher pressure than the CO2 and the Spring.
Pressurized air is also not affected by temperature changes like CO2 is.
Hatsan BullMaster Semi-Auto PCP Air Rifle looks cool .
It has a Bullpup design with a synthetic ergonomic stock.
The gun has an 11mm dual Dovetail and Weaver rail.
The cheek comb is adjustable, and the butt plate has a rubber pad for recoil absorption.
There are textures on the grip and forearm for better grip feel and control.
Hatsan BullMaster Semi-Auto PCP Air Rifle is quite short – 30.9″ overall length with 19.7″ barrel length.
The advantage is the short barrel makes the round come out of the barrel faster, and you don’t have to hold the gun s steadily.
The disadvantage is that it will reduce the distance that the round can go.
The weight of the gun is 10.3 lbs.
The air rifle comes with 3 magazines: 14-shot .177, 12-shot .22, and 10-shot .25 calibers, so you can choose the best type of caliber for your shooting needs, from pigeon to deer.
The velocity for .177 pellets is 1,100 fps, for .22 pellets is 1,000 fps, for .25 pellets is 900 fps.
However, it is not consistent — the velocity fluctuates quite a bit.
The cylinder is 500cc and capable of being filled to 250 bar (3,625 psi).
This is a high-pressure capacity in comparison to other models of PCP air rifles.
Hatsan BullMaster Semi-Auto PCP Air Rifle is Semi-Automatic and has 2 magazine carrying slots, so you can shoot very quickly, up to 28 shots — Really impressive.
The gun costs about $900.
This is the best .177 air rifle in terms of enjoyment:
Swiss ARMS TAC1 break barrel air rifle
Swiss ARMS TAC1 break barrel air rifle is the best .177 air rifle for the money at $100.
Swiss Arms AG is, well, a Swiss manufacturer of weapons.
The company was founded in 1853, and up to now, they have more than 150 years of developing weapons with over 1.5 million products.
They’re well versed in innovation, and their philosophy is to focus on the precision of the weapons.
Swiss ARMS TAC1 break barrel air rifle is a spring-powered air rifle.
It has an ambidextrous synthetic black thumbhole stock with a rifled steel barrel.
Like other break barrels, it has a raised cheekpiece on each side and rubber on the butt plate to absorb the recoil.
The length of the rifle is 43.75″.
The barrel length is 18.38″, and it weighs 7.8 lbs.
Swiss ARMS TAC1 cal break barrel air rifle shoots 0.177 caliber pellets at 1200 fps.
It’s a single-shot break barrel that is suitable for small game hunting and plinking.
The gun only costs about $100, but it feels like a much more expensive piece of equipment.
