just wondering what folks have, what the likes and dislikes are, and what would they recommend. thanks.

I have a Gamo Silent Cat and love it! It is very consistant and I can shoot a 6 shot group at about 20 yards that can be covered with a nickel. I have had a few different air rifles over the years and this is by far my favorite one so far. I dropped a nutria with it and it didnt even kick!

Cant go wrong with the Gamo or you could go old school with the Benjamin!

Beeman R9 20cal

I have been thinking about one of these

Benjamin Trail XL Nitro Piston air rifle
.177 cal 1500 fps .22 cal 1100 fps .25 725 fps

I'm a complete novice when it comes to air rifles. How quiet are they? I have a rabbit problem but I live in the city limits. Is an air rifle a possibility or still too loud for city use?

Or, heck, is it even legal to shoot one in town? Like I said, complete idiot on air rifles.

gents, thx for the inputs! wow, how these things have changed over the yrs. i was surprised at the price range too, anywhere between $60-400(+)!

bdjncox,
some air rifles are very quiet and others with right type of pellet sound similar to a .22 short because they break the sound barrier so do some research to find out what's best for your situation. i suppose a reasonable range would be anywhere from 30-50 ft although some folks claim to be shooting birds and squirrels beyond that.

hope this helps and good luck with rabbit problem.

don't forget to check out your city ordinances, they may or may not allow it.

Technically in most cases you cant shoot any projectile in the city limits.... But we have had a squirrel issue at my house with them chewing into the attic and we tried everything but nothing worked except doin a little backyard sniping. I shoot my pellet rifle in my backyard all the time and never had a problem. Just becareful of the direction your shooting!

Beeman R1 20 cal.

Beeman has made some rather significant changes as of late. Beeman was known to be built by Weirhauch and rebadged under the Beeman name imported to the US. Laws dictated differently between European airgun ownership and the US and were manufactured specifically for various markets...the US being the most powerful. Recently Beeman has changed and parts are made hither and yon. Weirauch though (which was Beeman in the US) is most likely what you'd want to look at.

I'm excited about getting into airgunning and I was surprised too at the level of sophistication. I've had a Beeman P1 for a couple of years and have a new scoped .177 HW80 wrapped up under the tree...I think that's whats in the box. I ordered it, but my wife is guarding it till Santa comes. I'd certainly like to find others in this area to share the enthusiasm.

Go all in and look at a Beeman RX-2

I had no ideal that there were thousand dollar pellet guns.

I think you'll find that a beginning point for pneumatic match air guns. Airgunning has become quite a sophisticated sport, thus now an Olympic interest.