thequietman
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Hello all,
I am pretty new to air guns. I recently got a Daisy M853 (refurb) from the CMP. It shoots great, and the customer service was very good. My plan was to get the M853 as my target/plinking air rifle, and then get another at some point for plinking/hunting (more powerful). I figured that the second would be a break barrel in .22.
After a bit of research, I decided I wanted the second air rifle to also be quiet (integrally suppressed). My hope was to stay below $200. I was hoping now that I could get some comments or suggestions. Point out my flaws in my assessment or point out what I may be missing.
The first thing that caught my eye was the Stoeger X20S. It seemed to get pretty good reviews and was supposed to be pretty quiet but as I researched more I started leaning away from it. Gas-piston seems like a good way to go, and it seemed that I might end up replacing the trigger and scope on the X20S. If I was going to spend more after the sale, there might be others that could be a better deal without upgrades later.
Looking at gas-piston guns, the Hatsan 95 (Vortex) seems like a very good gun for the money. It seems to be very well built and has a much better trigger out of the box. My only issue is that its not as quiet (not suppressed). That lead me to the Hatsan 85 Sniper (Vortex). It seems like it should be a very nice rifle, but its a little above what I wanted to spend. In all likelihood, the extra money would probably be worth it, and I am seriously considering it. It also appears to be pretty new, and I couldn't find reviews with as good info as other rifles. There are reviews on the springer version, but not yet on the gas-piston version.
If I bump the price a little to get to the Hatsan 85 Sniper, that also puts me in the range of the Ruger Yukon and the Umarex Octane. As I understand it, both are made by Umarex. The Yukon looks nice, but the power seems to be overstated and the trigger only so/so. The Octane looks to be very powerful, but also very hold sensitive (the Yukon also seemed to get this complaint). Both cost less than the Hatsan 85 Sniper, but not too much.
The last contender is a bit of a ghost. There seems to be a lot of hype about the Benjamin Trail NP2, but they are not yet in stock most places and haven't been really independently reviewed yet as far as I can tell. It looks great on paper, but I would want to wait for some additional reviews. It is also the most expensive I am looking at (~$50 over what I was hoping to spend). If the hype is true, it might be worth it, but I would have to wait and see.
Anyone have experience with these guns? Are there some contenders I have missed (gas piston, good power, suppressed, .22 cal)? Is the gas piston worth dropping possible springer contenders?
Thanks for any input!
I am pretty new to air guns. I recently got a Daisy M853 (refurb) from the CMP. It shoots great, and the customer service was very good. My plan was to get the M853 as my target/plinking air rifle, and then get another at some point for plinking/hunting (more powerful). I figured that the second would be a break barrel in .22.
After a bit of research, I decided I wanted the second air rifle to also be quiet (integrally suppressed). My hope was to stay below $200. I was hoping now that I could get some comments or suggestions. Point out my flaws in my assessment or point out what I may be missing.
The first thing that caught my eye was the Stoeger X20S. It seemed to get pretty good reviews and was supposed to be pretty quiet but as I researched more I started leaning away from it. Gas-piston seems like a good way to go, and it seemed that I might end up replacing the trigger and scope on the X20S. If I was going to spend more after the sale, there might be others that could be a better deal without upgrades later.
Looking at gas-piston guns, the Hatsan 95 (Vortex) seems like a very good gun for the money. It seems to be very well built and has a much better trigger out of the box. My only issue is that its not as quiet (not suppressed). That lead me to the Hatsan 85 Sniper (Vortex). It seems like it should be a very nice rifle, but its a little above what I wanted to spend. In all likelihood, the extra money would probably be worth it, and I am seriously considering it. It also appears to be pretty new, and I couldn't find reviews with as good info as other rifles. There are reviews on the springer version, but not yet on the gas-piston version.
If I bump the price a little to get to the Hatsan 85 Sniper, that also puts me in the range of the Ruger Yukon and the Umarex Octane. As I understand it, both are made by Umarex. The Yukon looks nice, but the power seems to be overstated and the trigger only so/so. The Octane looks to be very powerful, but also very hold sensitive (the Yukon also seemed to get this complaint). Both cost less than the Hatsan 85 Sniper, but not too much.
The last contender is a bit of a ghost. There seems to be a lot of hype about the Benjamin Trail NP2, but they are not yet in stock most places and haven't been really independently reviewed yet as far as I can tell. It looks great on paper, but I would want to wait for some additional reviews. It is also the most expensive I am looking at (~$50 over what I was hoping to spend). If the hype is true, it might be worth it, but I would have to wait and see.
Anyone have experience with these guns? Are there some contenders I have missed (gas piston, good power, suppressed, .22 cal)? Is the gas piston worth dropping possible springer contenders?
Thanks for any input!
