Airguns, power isn't everything.

[gamekeeper]

I recently bought a little .177 air rifle a Norica Thor. It is a junior size rifle with about 9ft lbs of muzzle energy.
I bought it for three reasons, 1, I wanted a small lightweight air rifle for tin can practice, 2, I wanted to try out the fiber optic sights, 3, I was curious about the gas ram system.
Well the tin cans are too easy, so are 12 gauge shells, at 25yds I use spent rimfire shells for targets, not that I hit them all the time the fiber optic sights are good, I'm trying to get a set for my Magtech 7022. The gas ram system is much smoother and quieter than springers.
Although I didn't intend to use it for live quarry, it has taken Magpies, Woodpigeon and Squirrels out to forty yards, I am impressed with this little gun, sorry I can't post photos but if you're in the market for a "kids airgun" Google Norica Thor GRS Supreme.

[earlmck]

Sounds like a nifty acquisition gamekeeper.

And I am in the market for just such a beast. But near as I can tell, this is the wrong side of the pond to find a Norica airgun product.

[gamekeeper]

Sounds like a nifty acquisition gamekeeper.

And I am in the market for just such a beast. But near as I can tell, this is the wrong side of the pond to find a Norica airgun product.

Noricausa.com I believe they import all their Spanish air rifles....

[GunnyMack]

It is impressive what can be accomplished with air rifles.
Back in the 90's living in Colorado we kept our .22s sighted in for 150, I kept my RWS mod 45 sighted in at 75, every once in a while I'd take it out to the prairie dog towns. Was lots of fun doping the wind with both .177 and the 77/22. Of course my 22-250 was there for the far shots.
I also had a lot of fun with my Savage 23B in 25-20, 2 of my buddies witnessed me center a pasture poodle at 275 yards with the 25-20. Boy how I miss those days!

[Pete44ru]

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Yep - I like the .177 Ruger Air Hawk I bought several years ago; and today I snagged a NIB Webley Tempest pistol online - it should be here (from CA) sometime next week.





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[earlmck]

Noricausa.com I believe they import all their Spanish air rifles....

Thanks for that link gamekeeper -- I believe I have found them. Google and Yahoo must have them blacklisted, or maybe I was just having a bad search-engine day.

[Bill in Oregon]

Earl, years ago Crosman sold a nicely made and affordable break-barrel made for them by Norica. It was my first springer, and I did not realize at the time just how nice a rifle it was for the price. Quiet, smooth, accurate.

[3leggedturtle]

I had an Norica pellet rifle I bought in the mid-70’s that was rated at 670fps. Killed lots of grays, rabbits and grackles with it. What’s the velocity with yours. It only show ft. alp. energy. Todd/3leg

[gamekeeper]

I had an Norica pellet rifle I bought in the mid-70’s that was rated at 670fps. Killed lots of grays, rabbits and grackles with it. What’s the velocity with yours. It only show ft. alp. energy. Todd/3leg

Velocity in .177 is about 755 fps or 230 m/s at around 9 ft lb it's really a junior level rifle but I've found it a good little gun for pests.
I have an old Weihrauch HW77 .22 but after 10 minutes of shooting it feels heavier than all my other guns put together.

[Pitchy]

Cool beans pard, we have two rifles a springer and a gas operated in .177 and Norma shoots blue jays all the time with the springer.
They like to raise havoc with scopes, they have a weird recoil so a scope made for a air gun is a good consideration.

[gamekeeper]

Good for Norma, our Jay's are egg stealing varmints so I plan to take out a few this spring. Scopes on springers have to be well made, I do not know if the gas ram system is any kinder on scopes. Personally I have found the fiber optic sights are fine so I won't be scoping mine.

[stretch]

I bought an inexpensive Chinese-made Beeman from Cabela's a few years back.
Came with a scope. The scope ain't the greatest, but that said, the thing is
silly accurate. Last kill was a head shot on a red squirrel at 40-45 yards with a
9.5 - 10 gr. pellet. DRT.

-Stretch

[GunnyMack]

Spring guns AND 10/22's will eat low quality scopes all day long!
My RWS 45 I got from a neighbor, his kid couldn't quite get it cocked and let go of the barrel under spring pressure. The barrel slammed back into battery and put about .085-.100" of bend in the barrel. Not enough adjustment in the sights to account for that much UP. Even so you could cut playing cards at 30 feet if you did your part.
While I was in the gunsmith school we had an indoor range for running bore, (no scopes allowed), one of the instructors was trying it out and kept over shooting the target. When I told him about the barrel being bent he said we could straighten it. So the next day I took it apart enough to get the barrel off and he proceeded to beat the barrel on a hunk of babbet- he got it back to about .010 straight! It'll still shoot strike anywhere match heads at 30'

[Nath]

Just somert about air guns.
The velocity of GK's little air rifle reminds me of a little crosman I had decades ago. That was in the 750fps range in .17" and it took plenty a small critter too.

N.

[Blaine]

Are those blue jays that bad to have around? I love seeing them.

[gamekeeper]

Jays are indeed handsome birds, both the American Blue Jay and the European Jay. The Jays over here are great egg stealers, they take song bird and game bird eggs in the Spring. As members of the Crow family they are very intelligent and usually shy of letting humans get too close. Magpies are worse and I regard them as public enemy No1, I only shoot Jays in the Spring but magpies I will shoot anytime, anywhere and with anything.

[Nath]

Jays are indeed handsome birds, both the American Blue Jay and the European Jay. The Jays over here are great egg stealers, they take song bird and game bird eggs in the Spring. As members of the Crow family they are very intelligent and usually shy of letting humans get too close. Magpies are worse and I regard them as public enemy No1, I only shoot Jays in the Spring but magpies I will shoot anytime, anywhere and with anything.

+1

Took a friend out with his new air gun. A BSA Dolly of some kind. I was impressed.

N.

[gamekeeper]

Update on my Norica Thor .177.
I'm really impressed with this little air rifle, when my .22s and shotguns are in the safe I grab this junior size air rifle and between 30 and forty yards the number of one shot kills is amazing. I'm puzzled by how a low powered .177 pellet can be so effective, it certainly isn't my marksmanship with open sights I can just about see the squirrel, so head shots are accidental rather than aimed for, body shots very rarely require a follow up shot as most are DRT.
The fiber optic sights are a great help to my old eyes. I really must get some for my Magtech semi auto.
Like I said in my OP I only wanted it for shooting tin cans, I never expected it to be so effective on small game.

[3leggedturtle]

Back in the 90’s the big accuracy game was to shoot an empty 9mm case at 35 yards with pellet rifles. Todd/3leg