Round BBs are the dominant ammo format for air-powered pistols. While BB pistols, especially licensed replica designs are seemingly sucking up all the air in the room, pellet pistols have always been a popular choice for shooters looking to take care of garden pests or for some friendly backyard or basement target shooting. Can you do this with a CO2-powered BB pistol? Yes and no. Or rather no, and yes. BB pistols are not ideal for taking care of small game. Yes, they can dispatch some small game, but the humane thing to do is use a harder-hitting pellet for that job. Plinking, yes, BBs are good for that, but pellets can deliver a much finer degree of accuracy when it comes to punching out the X on a target.
So what are some of the pellet pistols that Umarex makes that would be great choices for the gardener or paper puncher? Let’s take a look at a few.
Up a Tree with the Trevox
The Trevox is a break barrel .177 caliber pellet pistol that launches pellets around the 500 FPS range. The barrel features an oversized grip that also functions as a sound dampener to ease the cocking effort. With the standard fiber-optic sights or an aftermarket optic mounted on the 11mm dovetail, the Trevox offers the power and accuracy needed for garden pests or target shooting. The cocking effort for single stroke break-barrel designs is usually fairly substantial, but typically to so much as to make the pistol unshootable. With .177 caliber pellets flying fast out of the barrel, the Trevox is a great choice for the occasional garden shooter or the frequent plinker!
Make a Point with the Strike Point
The Strike-Point is a pump pneumatic pellet pistol that is available in either .177 or .22 caliber. Like most pump pneumatics, this pellet pistol can be shot with as few as 2 pumps or fully charged with 7 pumps. If all you are doing is punching paper, a few quick pumps can get the pistol charged sufficiently for that task and still be very accurate. However, when fully charged, the Strike-Point can deliver more energy than the Trevox. It is rated for 600 FPS with an alloy .177 pellet and 500 FPS with an alloy .22 caliber pellet. This pistol is also equipped with a 3 chamber SilencAir device so it is very quiet to shoot either indoors (in a properly set-up home range) or in the backyard (where legal).
Umarex Has Licensed Browning and Ruger Pellet Pistols
While not ideal for pest control, we do have two great licensed pellet plinkers in our catalog. Alphabetically, the Browning Buck Mark URX and the new-for-2021 Ruger Mark IV Air Pistol. Both of these models utilize the break-barrel design, but due to their compact size, only generate velocity in the 350 FPS range with lightweight pellets. Both have rifled barrels and are best suited for plinking cans, airgun silhouettes, or punching paper. Both the Browning and the Ruger are light enough to not be cumbersome and small enough that they can be easily stored in a secure location. Operation is safe and secure with automatic engaging thumb safeties and both are equipped with adjustable rear sight blades. With these easy-to-use pellet pistols, the choice simply comes down to which model you prefer.
The Browning Buckmark URX has been in our catalog for several years now and is the go-to pellet plinker for the long winter evenings coming soon. The new Ruger Mark IV* may be the new kid on the block, but we are sure that it will develop a fan club on its own. These lower energy pistols work well with a proper indoor range setup and are great tools to keep the trigger press honed for outdoor shooting when the days grow long again and are always a great choice for backyard plinking.