It's hard to find the perfect Pump BB Gun. Luckily for you, I tested the Daisy Powerline 880 and it actually exceeded my expectations. Here's my hands-on review.
FYI, Prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
Daisy Powerline 880 - Pump BB Gun .177 Cal (BB or pellet)
Highlight: Kit comes ready to shoot with glasses, scope, rings and ammo.
Helpful review: After reviewing a bunch of high-powered pellet guns, most of which shoot 22-caliber pellets, I have to say finding a pump Bb gun on the market is very exciting. I enjoy plinking and setting up a bunch of the little spinner targets around the yard, sitting on the deck, and seeing how well my open iron game is.
When I was a kid, only a few buddies had a pump-up BB gun; we all had a single pump unit. However, no one had the Red Ryder with a compass in the stock. I like the ability to use BBs instead of pellets. I also like that this air gun can pump several times and not shoot through the vinyl fence or soffit on the house, so I can plink around in the yard.
I think my single cocker air rifle was a Daisy. I am sure we all carried a Daisy back then. I don't think it had to do with brand loyalty. It was just because is was sold everywhere and have been very popular. Nowadays, with the superpower to spend money on Amazon, all the air rifle makers are available with just a click on an impulse buy. So now I have a brand new BB gun and some spinning targets in the yard.
After getting this new air rifle, I am confident in blasting all remaining pigeons and ridding the neighborhood of that vermin. Once it got here, I went out to lay waste to the flying rats, and they were all gone, and we had snow. So, I set out the spinners, and I am thrilled now.
The air rifle will pump up to ten times, Daisy's recommended max. I have taken it to that pump level three times to ensure it would pump up and hold the pressure. I set a spinner over the fence in the HO park and shot at it for a while, and the ten-pump pressure is impressive. I am also delighted that this gun does not make any noise as I may have gotten in troubleshooting over the fence, so don't tell anyone it was me; tell them it was the neighbor, Brian.
The thing I am most excited to do with pump-up air rifles is to show my kids how to shoot them. I can pump it three times and get the BB far enough away that it won't rebound back to us, but it's low power enough that it won't kill the fence if we miss. The kit comes with eye protection in the box, which is very nice that the manufacturer thinks about safety to that level. Before anyone goes nuts and starts calling names or showing me the NRA instructor book, I already have them, and the kids will never shoot this without supervision and all the protection gear.
The kit comes with an old-school BB gun scope. Many people who have bought his kit complain about this optic as if it were intended to be an insult. This is a scope made by an air rifle maker for an air rifle; what else did they expect? I set the scope on the rifle and used the included rings so it would mount without any gunsmithing. Just clamp them on the rail thing, place the scope inside the rings, and get it on target.
The air rifle will not accept any of the lasers from the bore sighter, so I just shot a Bb into a box, then moved the crosshairs to the hole to see how that worked. To be perfectly honest, it did not work very well at all, so it took a while to get the scope to shoot a two-inch group across the garage shop, and I called that good for now. I prefer to use the open iron sights, but for the kids to get a feel for shooting, I will use the most straightforward version, which is the cheap little scope.
The thing I like the most about their air rifle is the way it looks. It has all the nostalgia a guy could want. The diamond on the foregrip of the stock does it for me, just like the old-school BB guns. The stock also has a Monte Carlo cheekpiece, which I love about good stocks. This could only be better by making a BB gun stock for 5XL guys, not ten-year-olds, and that will never happen.
The trigger is not as impressive as many of the super pellet guns, but this is what I expected from a BB gun: rather tight to begin the pull, then lots of creep. The air rifle will also shoot pellets, and I don't plan on doing that; this is my throwback to childhood and doing stuff in the field behind the house, and it will only eat BBs until my kids inherit it. Speaking of passing this gun along, I am optimistic that it will go to the next generation of shooters. The build quality seems high, and the materials are that good. — Casey Wilson
Get it from Amazon now: $79.99 & FREE Returns
