What kinds of air rifles you can get for under $300? Does low price mean low quality?
$300 is the average price of an air rifle, except for PCP air rifles – normally PCP air rifles cost about $500 and above.
However, you can get any kind of air rifle for $300, from CO2 to break barrel rifles.
From $200 to $300, you can have a good air rifle with a nice-looking stock and a high-quality barrel.
(For more on things you should know about air rifle barrels before buying, see this post.)
The velocity of the best air rifles under $300 can be really high – some can even reach 1,400 fps.
N.B. Besides the cost of purchasing an air rifle, there is also the cost of pellets and the cost of recharging compressed air, dry nitrogen, or C02 gas.
If you purchase a springer, you won’t need to worry about the recharging cost.
Top-rated Air Guns Under $300 in 2024
If you are in a hurry, here is an overview of the best air rifles under 300 dollars candidates in our list:
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | DETAILS | LINK |
|---|---|---|---|
Best Classic
 | Diana RWS 34 |
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Top Pick
 | Gamo Urban |
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Top Pick
 | Umarex Octane |
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Top Pick
 | Hatsan 125 |
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Best Semi-auto Under $300
 | SIG Sauer MCX |
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1. Diana RWS 34
Diana Mayer & Grammelspacher is a German airgun manufacturer, headquartered in Rastatt, Germany.
The company was founded in 1890, and named after Diana, the goddess of the hunt.
They produce air rifles, air pistols, and other accessories like scopes, pellets, silencers.
Among them, their air rifles are their most famous products.
Their philosophy is to develop the extraordinary down to the smallest detail.
The RWS is the most famous air rifle line of Diana Mayer & Grammelspacher.
It is trusted for its design, accuracy for hunting, and pest control.
You have nothing to worry about in terms of quality.
In fact, they offer lifetime warranties for all of their guns.
The Diana RWS 34 Breakbarrel Air Rifle is the best spring air rifle for under $300.
Its ambidextrous design and the classic straight hardwood stock make it look like a real gun.
And 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 real feeling when shooting.
If you can handle the recoil and shoot accurately, your shooting skills must be great and you are ready for a full-bore rifle.
The spring rifle also doesn’t require any gas or refills.
It also isn’t affected by the weather.
The whole gun is made by German craftsmen and will last for decades.
The rifle also comes with a very accurate scope.
It has a rubber pad on the butt plate, but no raised cheekpiece.
The barrel is 19.5″ long.
The overall length is 45 inches.
The gun weighs around 9 pounds. A thin rifle, indeed!
The Diana RWS 34 Breakbarrel Air Rifle caliber air rifle is powerful and accurate.
It’s a single-shot break barrel air file.
You can shoot down a pigeon from up to 70 yards away.
It does have recoil as it uses a spring piston as the power source.
However, you won’t need to worry about recharging compressed air or CO2 gas.
On .177 caliber, its velocity is 1000 fps.
On .22 caliber, its velocity is 800 fps.
The rifle is suitable for medium game hunting like hunting rabbits, raccoons and can even handle small deer.
The RWS 34 .22 is the best .22 air rifle under $300. This is also the most popular rifle sold by RWS.
2. Gamo Urban
Another PCP air rifle from Gamo.
This may be not the best PCP air rifle, but it’s definitely a good one at $300.
Gamo is a more than 60-year-old Spanish brand.
They specialize in rifles, bullets, and BB guns.
Airguns and pellets need to be precise in every detail, so they develop and manufacture them in the local facilities in Spain for the best quality control.
Gamo Coyote has innovative products at an affordable price, which is the reason why they are available in over 90 countries.
This is a PCP (Pre-Charged Pneumatic) air rifle, meaning that it uses compressed air as a 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 CO2 and Spring.
Pressurized air is also not affected by temperature changes like CO2 is.
These rifles are powerful, consistent, accurate, quiet, fast, and easy to use.
However, a PCP air rifle tends to be more expensive than a CO2 air rifle and a spring-powered air rifle.
Also, the cost of charging a PCP air rifle is higher than the CO2 air rifle.
The Gamo 600054 Urban PCP .22 has a nice finish in black with a fully synthetic stock that gives you a really nice grip feel.
The cheekpiece raises on each side, for ambidextrous shooters.
The trigger is two-stage adjustable.
The gun has an 11-millimeter dovetail rail but no open sight.
There is a rubber butt pad on the back, however, it’s not like you’ll get a lot of recoil with this rifle.
Its overall length is 42 inches and its weight is 6.7 pounds.
The Gamo 600054 Urban PCP .22 is a comfortable gun that fits into your shoulder nicely.
The Gamo 600054 Urban PCP .22 can shoot 10 rounds per load.
The 10-round repeater magazine has a little white dot on the back so that you can know when you’re out of rounds.
The cylinder size is 105 cc and can be filled up to 232 bars (3,300 psi).
When filled, the gun can shoot 30 good shots.
It is quite accurate up to 25 yards, but not so great at 45 yards.
There is a silencer on the top of the gun so it is relatively quiet while functioning.
It’s fairly consistent and easy to use.
This is a fantastic PCP air rifle at $300 that just gets the job done.
The Urban is lightweight, accurate, and will not disappoint even the experienced Airgunner:
3. 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, and 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.
And the CO2 gas is much less expensive than the compressed air of a PCP air gun.
The Umarex Octane Air Rifle 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.
Read more about it in this detailed review
4. Hatsan 125
Hatsan is the most famous manufacturer of air guns in Turkey.
They were founded in 1967 and now are available in over 90 countries worldwide, and are ISO 9001 certified.
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.
This Hatsan 125 .22 is also a considerable choice.
It is a spring-powered air rifle, with a single-shot break barrel.
You’ll have so much fun with this rifle.
The Hatsan 125 .22 air rifle comes with a large silencer in front, shock absorber system, adjustable cheekpieces with nice rubber padding,
A scope, and a big bipod which is not really for shooting but for display.
It has some rubber inserts on the forearm and on the piston that gives you a nice grip. It also has a dual Weaver and Dovetails scope mount.
The weight is 11.6 pounds, the barrel length is 19.6 pounds, and the overall length is 50 inches – very long due to the large silencer.
This awesome air gun is no less powerful than any other PCP air rifle. Its max velocity is 1,000 fps, max energy 31 ft.lbs.
The big silencer does a great job, the rifle is quiet while shooting.
The recoil makes the gun a hunting rifle, not a target shooter.
The gun costs a really affordable $250.
5. Sig Sauer MCX .177 – Best semi-auto air rifle under $300
The last gun on this list is a really fun air rifle – the Sig Sauer MCX .
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.
This rifle is used for fun plinking, not for hunting as its power is not quite there.
The price of Sig Sauer MCX .177 is $190.
