Follow on from crossbow thread - co2 pistol

[Karidian]

Done a bit of research. A co2 pistol firing 1.77/4.5mm bearings will fire at approximately 400fps. This equates to under 1 ftlb. An air rifle in the UK has an upper limit of 12 ftlbs. In other words even a dedicated co2 pistol for firing steel ammo is very weak and not really worth the effort.
Went and spoke to an airgun dealer and discussed the various type of air rifles available. He tried to put me on to a precharged (PCP) rifle. Very accurate at 30 yards+ and with a silencer fitted very quiet. Without a silencer he says it sounds like firing a small bore rifle. Unfortunately needs a compressed gas diving bottle to refill it which may be a small problem after shtf. So back to break barrel or under barrel type. Will last for yonks if taken care of and can be almost as accurate as pcp. However a little more research and ive found that a decent one can cost almost as much as a small bore rifle. May be better off joining a gun club and getting a firearms certificate, a small bore rifle and a shotgun :-P