Air Rifle Reviews
& Buying Guides
Written by Joey Barkley, 45 years behind air rifles. Every guide is research-compiled from manufacturer specs and current listings, to help you find the right pellet gun for hunting, pest control, or backyard plinking.
Newest Guides
The most recently published buying guides
Best Night Vision Scopes for Air Rifles
Pick a night vision scope for the air rifle you already shoot: rail scope, eyepiece add-on, or thermal. Recoil, eye relief, and IR glow matter more than a big range number.
Best Regulated PCP Air Rifles Under $800
Regulated PCP air rifles under $800 for backyard and small-game use, and how caliber and tank size should change which one you buy.
Best Big-Bore Hunting Air Rifles
Pick a hunting PCP from .35 to .50 by the shots per fill and the velocity the maker prints, and spot the air shotguns and smaller guns mixed in.
Best Air Rifle Bipods
Match the mount on your air rifle first, then the leg height. Barrel clamps, Picatinny, sling studs, and M-LOK do not swap.
Best Backyard and Suburban Target Air Rifles
Quiet .177 break barrels and the traps that keep backyard target practice off the fence and out of the neighbor's yard.
Best Break Barrel Air Rifles
Break barrel air rifles for the yard and the fenceline: .177 or .22, spring or gas piston, single shot or a magazine, and what the fps numbers really mean.
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Our Research Methodology
Every guide is research-compiled from manufacturer specifications and verified listings: published figures from the maker, product data read from current retailer listings when the page is built, and comparisons drawn from those numbers.
Where a guide reaches a conclusion, the reasoning is shown on the page, so you can weigh it against what you actually need.
Learn more about our methodologyMore Reviews & Guides
Our latest articles and updates
Umarex Notos Carbine Review: Gen 2 vs Original .22 PCP
Compare the original Umarex Notos Carbine and the Gen 2 .22 PCP, then match the magazine, single-shot tray, and fill probe to the gun you buy.
Best CO2 Air Rifles for Plinking, Practice, and Arrows
Skip the pump. These CO2 air rifles run on drop-in cartridges. Here's how pellet, BB, and arrow models differ, and which spec numbers actually matter.
Best PCP Compressors and Fill Stations for Airgun Owners
PCP compressors, carbon fiber tanks, and fill-station adapters compared in plain language: what each one fills, how fast it gets there, and which setup fits your airgun and how you shoot.
Best .25 Caliber Air Rifles
The .25-caliber field runs from Hatsan springers to regulated PCP repeaters. Here's what the spec sheets actually tell you, plus the air-supply cost the listings never mention up front.
Best Youth Air Rifles: Three Starter Guns You Can Actually Buy
Three youth air rifles sized for smaller shooters and in stock right now — a spring-piston .177 pellet rifle, a lever-action BB gun, and a cowboy-style BB-and-pellet rifle. Here's how to pick.
Best Air Rifle Scopes
A plain look at 16 air rifle scopes you can buy right now — from budget 3-9x40 CVLIFEs to the Hawke Vantage — sorted by mount type, magnification, and what each one is actually good for.
Best Air Rifles for Beginners
A plain-language guide to beginner air rifles — break-barrel, CO2, and multi-pump — plus the targets and pellets worth buying with your first gun.
Best Bullpup Air Rifles
Four bullpup PCP air rifles compared on power, weight, and shot count — from a light budget .22 to a 1100 fps Stoeger — so you can match one to your backyard or your hunting.
Best Air Pistols: BB and Pellet Guns for Backyard Plinking
A plain-spoken look at BB and pellet air pistols — CO2 blowback replicas, pump guns, and break-barrels — read straight off their published specs so you can pick the right one.
Best Air Rifle Pellets: Matching Grain, Caliber, and Head Shape to the Job
A plain-talk guide to choosing air rifle pellets — how weight, caliber, and head shape change what a tin actually does, for hunting, plinking, and paper targets.
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