

25 caliber rifles that generate power in the 20 to 40 ft-lb range. The rifles I gravitate toward for small game and varmint hunting are primarily. Once you’ve decided on the game you’d like to pursue you can narrow down your choices to the proper caliber, power, and features. With today’s accurate and powerful air rifles you can hunt squirrels, predators, wild pigs, and deer. The first consideration for choosing a hunting air rifle is deciding what you’d like to hunt. Within each of these categories, there are several purpose-designed guns for just about any application or budget. Using that experience, I’ve selected the best air rifles for small game PCP, cross-over guns that can be used for small game and predators, primary predator guns, crossover guns for predators and big game, and primary big game guns. I’ve used air rifles to hunt small game, predators, and big game species all across the continent and I’ve shot every major air rifle brand. The guns for hunting these varied species include spring piston rifles, Pre-Charged Pneumatic (PCP) powered air rifles in standard calibers, and larger-caliber PCP rifles for predators and big game. While airguns are most commonly thought of for small-game hunting, they have expanded into predator and big-game hunting. In recent years, there’s been significant development focused on airguns for recreational shooting, competition, and - my particular area of interest - hunting.
