Pellet Guns for Survival

Ataman M2R Ultra Compact Carbine

If you could only have one gun during a survival situation, your first choice probably would not be a pellet gun / air rifle. Most firearms provide a better all-around survival capability than a pellet gun, however this does not mean that there is no place for a pellet gun in your survival gear.

Modern pellet guns in .22 and .25 caliber are more than sufficient for hunting small game such as hare, rabbit, squirrel, dove, quail, and ducks. With careful shot placement, a pellet gun can even take larger game such as wild pigs.

Pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) pellet guns provide the greatest range and power of the various types currently on the market, but these can be difficult to re-charge in the field, requiring a SCUBA tank or hand-pump to refill the air reservoir.

Spring Piston / Gas-piston and Multi-Pump Pneumatic pellet guns can also generate sufficient power for small game hunting, but will generally have less power than a similar PCP pellet gun. The advantage to Spring Piston / Gas-piston and Multi-Pump Pneumatic pellet guns is that they require no external devices (i.e. hand pump) to make them ready to shoot.

Ammo is very inexpensive, allowing you to purchase 1000s of pellets for very little money. Because pellet guns are so inexpensive to shoot, they are excellent for maintaining your marksmanship skills and for simply enjoying time with family and friends on your backyard shooting range.

All pellet guns have the advantage of being quieter than any firearm, and pellet guns with built-in sound suppressors can be extremely quiet. This helps to prevent frightening game in the area, and serves to conceal your presence and the fact that you are hunting / shooting in a specific area.

Choosing a pellet gun for use in a survival situation (like choosing a firearm) is much a matter of personal choice, and dependent on what role you see your pellet gun playing in survival. Personally, I like the additional range and power of the PCP pellet guns and don’t mind having to have a hand-pump at my base camp to refill the air reservoir. Most PCP pellet guns allow around 20-30 shots before you have to refill the air reservoir. This is more than enough for a day of hunting.

In a case where you are not returning to a base camp every day, you might be better served with a Spring Piston / Gas-piston or Multi-Pump Pneumatic pellet gun, which does not require a hand-pump or SCUBA tank to fill an air reservoir.

All types of pellet gun, PCP, Spring Piston / Gas-piston and Multi-Pump Pneumatic, are very accurate within the range at which they were designed to be used, out to perhaps 50 meters - with greater range being seen in the PCP guns. Hunting range for most any pellet gun should be limited to 25 - 30 meters, although longer shots are certainly possible. In a survival situation, you will likely have far more opportunities to harvest small game than you will to shoot larger game that cannot be taken with a pellet gun.

My favorite PCP pellet gun is the Ataman M2R Ultra Compact Carbine, built here in Russia. This is arguably the best pellet gun on the market, but may be a bit expensive for some. Another excellent PCP pellet gun, is the Benjamin Marauder Woods Walker, and even a very basic gun such as the Crosman P1322 American Classic Multi Pump Pneumatic .22-Caliber Pellet Air Pistol has potential to harvest small game at close ranges; especially when equipped with the optional shoulder stock.

So, while I consider a pellet gun to be a specialty tool in a survival situation, it is a tool that is well worth considering.

Benjamin Marauder Woods Walker

Crosman P1322 American Classic