Air Rifles - Anyone familiar with them?

So looking to buy an air-rifle and was wondering if anyone can give buying tips? I'm an absolute noob when it comes to these sorts of things. All I know is I need a good range and not too pricey, maybe £80-£150? Or any links with information. Google isn't my friend tonight >_<

What are you looking to shoot?

Rabbits, targets, people ( Don't do that though)?

Are you looking for a BB gun or one of those things used in the Olympics?

an air rifle is basically a more powerful bb gun with better accuracy isnt it?

Just thought I'd add shooting to my list of things to try before I'm 30. Going to a range to use a shotgun is way to much machismo for me and with this I can train essentially anywhere. Never seen shooting at the Olympics so I wouldn't know but I wouldn't be surprised if these were used, even under the legal limit in the UK they pack some distance.

And as for quarry just a target for now hahaha.

http://www.youngmans.com/acatalog/law.html

So there's the law regarding air guns...

I haven't played with one in years. used to shoot Rabbits in my friends garden... if you can call 5 acres a garden... great fun.

As for what's good and what's not nowadays, I have no idea. I can't even remember if the .177 or the .22 calibre was most effective for killing stuffs... I want to say .177...

Baldheaded Scotsmen.

.22 isnt air rifle ammunition is it? because its a bullet with a case that is fired by a hammer striking the case, whereas an air rifle uses the release of pressurized air to propel a lead pellet.

Honestly the novelty wears off pretty fast. It's fun putting small holes in things from far away, but it gets boring quick. Not sure if you had this planned, but hunting is a boring sport. "Hey, it's 4am in freezing cold weather, I'm going to get bundled up and go sit somewhere quiet and freeze my ass off in the slim chance I might see something, that hopefully won't see me and get maybe one good chance to try and put a hole in some animal I may or may not even eat so it can die slowly and painfully." Find a friend with a rifle of some sorts and go shooting together. It's not really worth buying one if you have no legitimate need/want for a gun.

Get a boomerang and dress up like the feral child from The Road Warrior! That has way better potential for bragging rights!

No no putting small holes in targets is what I'm wanting though to be honest you made hunting sound very sexual. Since I won't be doing this alone. Together, in the silence of the snow, waiting for that one chance something might happen...

Oh yes I'm gunna like this hahaha

Welcome?
The jaded sentiment must be because I'm American, and ya' know, we've got piles of guns everywhere! Black powder rifles are fun if you're determined to be gung-ho. They're like cannons! They're heavy, and when you pull the trigger there's this half second delay before the spark ignites the powder. The whole world seems to stop! And lead slugs are way more brutal than a paltry .22 bullet. The lead becomes malleable at that velocity and actually makes a larger impact than the original slug's size. And they make these huge clouds of stinky smoke. f you're in it for thrill of making stuff go boom, do it right and go the old fashioned way!

Okay I gotta ask, have you watched Hot Fuzz lately and that's where you're getting all this from? Be honest...

Hot Fuzz? No, I haven't. And why do I have to get it from anywhere? I've always wanted to take up archery ever since I was a child. This feels like a half way thing until I can afford the equipment required for archery which is alot more expensive. Yes I could save up but atm I couldn't sustain to fund transport and participation of the club I'm wanting to join also.

Archery is fun, especially with an old style long bow. Its satisfying to hear that solid thump when you've hit the target, and to see how deep the arrow you shot buried itself in the target you hit. The thing with hunting that most people (and a lot of so-called hunters) don't realize is when you're hunting something, you get one good chance to hit and if you miss, taking second and third shots is a waste because whatever you're firing at is probably long gone by that time. You might wait for hours, then suddenly it's down to nano seconds and precise details that determines hit or miss. There are so many variables when you're out in the wild that often times it's a matter of luck that you're able to get something and not uber crazy skills. Let us know how it goes for you when the time comes!

Archery is fun. Does the club not have some basic equipment that you can use?

I know the university club I go to every now and again does.

Yes it does but it's one of those places it is not highly thought of to actually use the facility. I know, very pretentious.

a two second search on google told me that .22 is a pellet calibre.

Screw prententiousness, is a good way to actually learn the basics and see if you like it before spending too much.

ah. a friend of mine has a bolt action .22 rifle which takes .22 rounds with a case, i didnt realise air rifles fired .22 pellets with a different propellant system. so air rifles take .22 pellets which unlike the said rifle dont have a case s'what happens when you dont really know much about firearms/airguns

You got it! The diameter of the pellet and the bullet are the same, but the rifle is going to project the cased round with greater velocity whereas as most pellet rifles use little cartridges of pressurized gas to provide the burst to project the pellet.

most air rifles use .177 cal pellets. They're generally considered less powerful than say a .22 cal bullet fired from a rifle and so there are often less restrictions around them than other firearms. Still, you can get some pretty high power air rifles.

If you are just looking at making holes in targets, I would recommend you look for some people doing proper target shooting. Search your area for "smallbore shooting club". They typically use .22 cal rifles with scopes and it's an awful lot of fun.
Archery also is fun but having done a bit of hunting, a bit of archery, a lot of airrifle, a bit of smallbore and a bit of .762 and machine gunnery from my military days, I would recommend smallbore target shooting out of all of them. If you can't find anyone nearby doing that then archery would be my next pick.

That's assuming that you don't have access to a jet fighter plane with CRV7 rockets, AIM9 sidewinder A/A missiles and AGM65 A/G video guided missiles - that's REAL shooting!!!