Survival Item – Pellet Guns
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Survival Gear
Most people wouldn’t think of a B.B. / Pellet Gun as a survival item, but lately a number or people have emailed us about adding one to their supplies.
So why do so many of our readers suggest adding a Pellet Gun to your list of survival items?
- Price – Pellets and B.B.’s are far cheaper than any other type of Ammo. You can easily buy 5000 rounds for under $10 When compared to other types of guns you get a bigger bang for your buck with a pellet gun.
- Good for hunting small game. A good Air Riffle can take down birds, rodents, small rabbits and other small game.
- Legal to carry in most of the country.
- They do not attract as much attention, making it easier to take out multiple small animals in the woods.
- Great for hunting bird!
B.B. Guns and Ammo on Amazon
Manny Toledo on Sat, 10th Oct 2009 1:23 pm
that is a good thing to carry for hunting small game
Kesten on Fri, 29th Jan 2010 9:20 am
It’s good to keep one of these around.
Big T on Mon, 22nd Feb 2010 6:48 pm
Very bad idea, and I am simply shaking my head in disbelief. I have hunted small game extensively, and only an expert would try hunting with a pellet gun. It lacks killing power for squirrels and rabbits, and have fun getting close enough to kill any animal with it. You are far better with a manual action .22, which has plenty of killing power and range. Ammo is cheap and you can therefore afford to practice and get the accuaracy skills necessary to hunt with a .22. A 410 shotgun might be better for those with poor skills; can still take small game, but slugs provide better protection against predators-or people.
Joe M. on Tue, 2nd Mar 2010 7:13 pm
Slingshot, slingshot, slingshot. replenishable ammo, doesn’t need CO2.
Numm on Fri, 5th Mar 2010 1:08 am
I think a BB/Pellet gun is a must have for any survival kit. Big T sais only an expert would try hunting with on but when it comes down to it if you need food this is the way to go. Not only can you take down small game but if you miss your first, second, third, or fourth shot it is silent enough to keep your prey close by. My Crosman 2100 goes for around $60 and shoots 755 fps with standard .177 cal BB’s and 725 fps with pellets, thats close enough to compaire to a lot of .22 cal long rifles out there which average 800 to 900 fps, and to top it off my BB gun is just as accurate as any small cal. rifle. And as Joe is implying I do not need Co2 for my gun it is pump action and a sling shot is not accurate at all unless you have enough experience to even come close to what you are shooting for.
joe c on Wed, 10th Mar 2010 11:44 pm
i think a pellet gun is a great idea.im not a expert by any means but i know for a fact you can take squirls,rabit,birds,rats,and coon with a .22 small calliber pellet gun because ive done it up to 35yrds easily and 50yrds is a little harder but definitly possible even at a hundred yards with a 1000fps rifle and a .22 pellet you can put down medium game.a 900fps gun using a 17gram pellet produces 30.5 ft.ponds of energy from the muzzle more than enough to penetrate skin and bones. not only that but pellet guns are very accurate and have low to no recoil. infact a moderatly priced pellet gun can out perform a compitition .22 centerfire rifle with in a 100yrds if put into the right hands.i can put 10 shots in a dime sized group from 35yrds away.also if you like big game i used to have a .50 calliber air gun that could take a 130lb buck look on youtube for people tacking wild boar and even a 2000lb buffalo with airguns. and if you want to know more about airguns try pyramydair.com or the yellow airgun forums.
Hank on Sun, 14th Mar 2010 5:29 pm
I am afraid BigT just has not given today’s air guns, which are worlds apart from the Daisy Red Ryders of our youth, a fair chance. Serious small-game hunting can be done with a growing number of offerings from Gamo, for instance. Their Whisper line has guns capable of 1,200 fps velocity, coupled with an integral sound-dampening muzzle, which reduces the “crack” produced by projectiles travelling faster than the speed of sound, by up to 52%. I have used one of these rifles for pest/vermin control at a large apartment community where I work and have never had one complaint of being “too loud”.
Goodwin on Mon, 15th Mar 2010 12:31 pm
I have the Henry U.S. Survival for a small game rifle. Its a semi-auto .22 rifle that can be easily taken down and stored in the stock. The stock holds 2 mags, receiver and barrel. It’s water proof, floats, and all the metal components are teflon coated for weather resistance. It costs well less than $300, ammo is cheap and light, and the rifle weighs 2 pounds. Much more practical than an air rifle.
joe c on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 11:24 pm
That is a neat gun i think i will pick one up to play with. hope i can find one for around a hundred or so. for “SURVIVAL” i agree this is much more practical. still love my airguns for hunting though…lol.
Goodwin on Fri, 19th Mar 2010 12:00 am
Yeah Joe, its great. It’ll fit in a backpack or large tool box. Check it out you’ll probably like it!
Jorge on Sun, 21st Mar 2010 8:18 pm
talking about pellet guns, yes you can hunt small animals like rats,rabbits,birds when i was 12 years old my dad bought me a daisy 880 pump air rifle that uses BBs and pellets.With BBs wouldnt do much damage, but with pointy pellets it was real good. now i use a winchester 1000X pellet rifle .177 cal. with a scope that goes at 1000 fps.
Dave on Sat, 15th May 2010 11:19 pm
By the time you found and outfitted completely one of those ultra super-duper pellet rifles that can take ‘coons at up to 100 yards, you could have bought a reasonably tricked-out Ruger .22 fitted with nice optics and a thousand rounds and still be money ahead. Good lord, gear queers. LOL. I swear.
Robin on Mon, 17th May 2010 6:28 pm
If I recall correctly Louis and Clark carried a Air rifle with them on their trip.
j.r. guerra in s. tx. on Fri, 25th Jun 2010 5:04 am
Also remember that if we are talking about ‘survival’ and not sport hunting, ANY source of protein adds flavor to the pot. Plenty of ‘tweety birds’ around for that overhead – add that to your canteen cup for about as easy a protein source there is.
Do agree that pellet rifles (at least pneumatics) should have their small game animal range limited – maybe 30 yards maximum. I killed a rabbit with my old 70′s vintage Daisy 880 when I was a teenager, but it was not a clean kill, it took several shots to make it dead.
You can go with springer, but those are pretty heavy. CO2 are lighter, but then you have powerlet availability and pressure issues with temperatures. To my mind, the Benjamin 397 or 392 makes a lot of sense, the Williams aperture receiver sight of great help.
JMO.