When it comes to backyard pest control, nothing beats a quality air rifle. One of the essential qualities needed for pest and vermin hunting is stealth. You don’t want to alert every animal around you that you are hunting every time you pull the trigger.
In this article, we have reviewed and compared the best most quiet air rifles & pellet guns on the market in 2024 for backyard, neighborhood, squirrels, or whatever you need. Ready? Let’s get hunting!
Short on time? The best quietest air rifles are the highly rated Raptor Whisper Quiet Air Rifle and the Benjamin Marauder.
Quiet air rifle & pellet gun: Quick comparison
QUIETEST AIR RIFLE  |
RAPTOR WHISPER AIR RIFLE
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RUNNER UP  |
Benjamin Marauder Quiet Air Rifle
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SILENT PELLET GUN  |
Crosman CLGY1000KT .177-Caliber Pellet Gun & Silent BB Gun
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Quietest air rifles and pellet guns 2024: reviews
1. Raptor Whisper Quiet Air Rifle
Winner – quietest .22 air rifle
When looking for an air rifle that balances power, versatility, and quietness all in one, look no further than the Raptor Whisper air rifle.
This is the quietest break barrel air rifle on the market.
It can shoot .22 and .177 caliber projectiles, and it comes with an integrated 4×32 scope. The gun also has built-in WHISPER QUIET technology that enhances quietness and reduces recoil.
Its improved IGT or Inert Gas Technology allows the gun to fire .177 projectiles at speeds that exceed 1300 feet per second.
It’s great for pest control and best quiet air rifle for squirrels. This beast even takes home the quietest break barrel pellet gun 2024 title.
2. Benjamin Marauder Air Rifle
If you are looking for pin-point accuracy and stealth for hunting down vermin and pests, the Benjamin Marauder is on top of the game.
It’s a silent pellet gun that shoots .177 projectiles at 1100 feet per second.
It’s also lightweight, versatile, and super silent. The pellets this gun uses have enhanced accuracy thanks to their ability to spin within the barrel’s rifling when fired.
It can easily and silently take down any small animal almost instantly.
3. Crosman CLGY1000KT Legacy .177-Caliber Pellet Gun & Silent BB Gun
Quietest pellet gun
Next in our list is the most quiet pellet rifle in 2024 – the Crosman .177 Caliber Silent BB gun.
It’s very accurate, durable and water resistant.
It comes with rifled steel barrel, built-in 850 BB reservoir and side-load pellet chamber.
Crosman is compatible with .177-caliber pellets or traditional steel BBs.
It’s perfect for neighborhood and backyard use as well as plinking and pest control.
4. Gamo Whisper Silent Fusion Pellet Gun
If there is a company that delivers consistently with high rated and silent air rifles, it has to be Gamo.
The Gamo Whisper Fusion pellet gun uses the patented WHISPER technology that ensures a proper dissipation of noise throughout the barrel.
Ironically, one of the downsides this gun has is its power.
Its .177 pellets can be propelled at 1420 feet per second, which is faster than sound. When any object passes the sound barrier, they create what is called a sonic boom, an audible crack in the air caused by collapsing air pressure.
5. Gamo Silent Cat Air Rifle
The most quiet air rifle for neighborhood use
When it comes to hunting down any unwanted pests and vermin, the Gamo Silent Cat air rifle is as good as it gets.
It shoots at 1200 feet per second using PBA ammunition that’s chambered in .177 caliber, it also has an integrated 4×32 scope that allows for precise and variable aiming.
This air rifle sports a proprietary noise muffler on the tip of the barrel that makes it the quietest air rifle on the market. You won’t rattle any birds with this one.
6. Stoeger X20S Air Rifle
Quiet air rifle for backyard use
If target practice and soda can shooting is your thing, there isn’t a better-suited air rifle than the Stoeger X20S.
This air rifle comes with the industry-standard 4×32 scope.
It also has an integrated noise dissipation system that runs throughout the entire barrel, making it a perfect for neighborhood use.
It fires 2 types of ammunition, the .177 caliber, and the .22 caliber. This makes it a superb and quiet .22 air rifle that is well suited for any backyard shooting.
Is an air rifle the same as a pellet gun & BB gun?
The short answer is no. What sets both of these types of weapons apart is the shooting medium and ammunition. Pellet and BB guns use spring-loaded mechanisms in order to propel their ammunition.
Air rifles, on the other hand, use compressed air or gas like CO2 in order to propel their projectiles.
Unlike real weapons, air rifles and bb guns are some of the quietest projectile weapons on the market. When it comes to ammunition, pellet and BB guns are known to fire small metal pellets or BBs.
Pellets tend to work more like actual firearm ammunition, engaging the rifling within the barrel and giving the projectile a spin that increases accuracy exponentially.
BBs are essentially round balls in the millimeter diameter range. In fact, some of the first ammunition to be used on the first BB guns were small shotgun pellets.
On the other hand, air rifles tend to fire plastic BBs that don’t cause much damage, but high-end air rifles can fire metal ammunition as well, with arguably much more power than your average bb gun.
What makes an air rifle quiet
Air rifles, like conventional firearms, are loud because of the expanding and escaping gases exiting the barrel. However, because air rifles don’t produce and expand nearly as much gas as firearms, they will always be quieter.
This makes them a versatile and worthy addition to any vermin hunter’s stealthy gear.
Newer air rifles that are designed with stealth in mind, normally integrate unique muzzles and muffler technology that dissipates and absorbs much of the noise coming from the gun.
Another big factor in noise is the speed of the projectile, once a projectile reaches supersonic speeds, it will produce much more noise than anything traveling on the subsonic range.
What to consider when buying the quietest air rifle
Before purchasing a quiet air rifle for your neighborhood or backyard use, you should always consider many of the factors that play a role in matching the right gun, with the right user.
Below we have made a list of some things you should keep in mind when buying a new air rifle.
Understand noise
Noise is a very important factor that should always be considered. You don’t want to rattle up all the animals around you every time you pull the trigger. Or even worse, you don’t want to start getting complaints from neighbors because your gun is too loud.
Most air rifle manufacturers measure the noise levels of their guns in decibels, or DB, which is a number that is labeled and easy to access when making any air rifle purchase. The rule of thumb is to go for lower numbers if you want a more silent air gun.
What will the gun be used for?
It’s very important to know what the gun will be used for. Are you looking to get rid of some pests? Maybe you want to enjoy your time outdoors practicing your aim?
There are different guns that can fit better for different purposes. If you are looking for precision, stealth, and killing power, try going for a fast .177 scoped and silenced air rifle.
If you need to get many shots off quickly, try a multi-shot .22 pellet rifle with noise-canceling features. As long as you match your gun with its intended use, you’ll have grandiose shooting experience.
Ammunition types
Ammunition is one of the most important components of any projectile weapon. Air rifles can shoot many types of ammunition, and they are all labeled based on their characteristics.
Some ammunition is made with heavier metals, while others are light and travel super fast. There are also standardized sizes for the diameter of the ammunition, ranging from .177mm to .25mm ammo.
A .25 round will do much more damage but will travel slowly because it’s larger, while a .177 round exchanges power for speed and penetration characteristics.
Power sources
The power source of these weapons also varies depending on the complexity and ease of maintenance. Unlike firearms, which use the chemical energy of contained explosion as a power source, air rifles use compressed gas or spring-piston mechanisms, sometimes both.
Pre-charged pneumatic guns, also known as PCP, is the most widely used, as one charge can handle multiple shots. Another popular power source is CO2, which is commonly seen in gas-piston air guns.
Weapon safety
It is imperative to learn how to use these weapons safely and responsibly. Air rifles and pellet guns are not toys, they fire projectiles at speeds that can easily tear the skin and cause internal injury or death.
Learning proper trigger behavior is very important, that way you can always have control of when its time to shoot and when it isn’t. Another thing to consider is the safe reloading and handling of the weapon.
We recommend you get comfortable with your air rifle so you can understand its ins and outs, that way you can handle it properly and safely.
Conclusion
This concludes our journey through the world of most quiet air rifles. A fascinating topic that threads on the innate evolutionary drives of human resourcefulness from a hunter’s perspective.
We learned about the quietest air & pellet gun in 2024 for backyard, and neighborhood use. We also reviewed and compared some of the best-rated air & pellet silent guns available on the market.
We learned about the way air rifles work, and we also saw the different factors that should always be considered before making a purchase.
To sum it up – if you are looking for the quietest .22 air rifle on the market, the highly rated Raptor Whisper silent air rifle is your best bet. It’s great for neighborhood & backyard use, pest control (even squirrels). It’s also the most quiet break barrel air rifle.
The honorable second place belongs to the Benjamin Marauder air rifle.
When it comes to the best quiet pellet gun and silent BB gun, the Crosman takes the cake.
Dave Pearson is a Canadian musician, sound editor, and audiophile. He is also the founder and owner of the website SoundProofGeek. On SoundProofGeek, Pearson offers advice and resources on audio equipment, including how to assess and improve audio quality, how to troubleshoot and repair audio equipment, and how to improve the music listening experience.
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