Air Rifle Brands Compared: Who Makes What, and Who It's For

Price brackets are approximate mid-2026 street ranges for the models we cover and move constantly. Verify current pricing before buying.

Benjamin and Crosman are both Velocity Outdoor brands— the same parent that owns Ravin Crossbows and CenterPoint Archery. Crosman occupies the affordable, simple end and Benjamin the premium, precision end of what is effectively one product family.

That matters practically because parts, service and accessory ecosystems overlap. It also explains the price gap: a Crosman C362 and a Benjamin Marauder are separated by roughly $580 and by an entire design philosophy, but they come from the same house.

Benjamin is where airgunners go when they have decided this is a serious pursuit. The Marauder family is the reference point for build quality in the American market — well-made barrels, adjustable triggers, and PCP platforms that reward good technique.

The Marauder BP22SAS at roughly $707 (verify current pricing) is a semi-automatic .22 PCP, which is a genuinely useful capability for pest control where a second shot matters.

Honest cost: Benjamin pricing is real, and none of it includes the fill equipment a PCP needs. Full detail in our Benjamin brand guide and Marauder review.

Crosman’s strength is that its best products need nothing behind them. The C362 at roughly $124 (verify current pricing) is a variable-pump .22: you choose how many pump strokes to put in and therefore what power level you shoot at, with no compressed air, no tank, and no compressor.

For a barn rifle, a first airgun, or anyone who wants to shoot occasionally without maintaining an equipment chain, that is exactly right. The variable-pump concept also makes it a genuinely versatile plinker and pest rifle in one.

Honest cost: single shot, slow to reload, and pumping between shots gets tiresome quickly. Modest top-end power. Our Crosman 362 review covers the quirks.

Gamo dominates the break-barrel shelf, and its distinctive contribution is the Swarm 10X inertia-fed magazine— a system that indexes a fresh pellet as you cock the barrel, turning a single-shot design into a ten-shot one.

That is a real capability difference for pest control. Gamo also fits its IGT gas piston and Whisper noise moderation across much of the range, which are the two features that most improve a break barrel.

Honest cost: Gamo advertises very high velocities that come from light alloy pellets you should not hunt with. Expect meaningfully lower real-world numbers with proper lead pellets. See our Swarm Magnum review and break barrel guide.

Umarex has quietly become the brand that makes PCP ownership affordable. The Origin at roughly $343 (verify current pricing) ships with a hand pump, which removes the single biggest barrier to PCP shooting.

The rest of the range fills in around that: the Notos Carbine as the cheapest way into PCP, the Gauntlet 2 SL22 as a regulated high-shot-count option, and break barrels like the Prymex at the budget end.

Honest cost: build quality sits below Benjamin’s, and hand-pumping a PCP is genuine physical work that gets old. Detail in our PCP guide.

Hatsan’s position is features and power per dollar. The Mod 95 Vortex QE at roughly $203 (verify current pricing) gives you a gas piston and a genuine moderator at a price where competitors are still selling coiled springs and bare muzzles.

Across the range, Hatsan tends to offer a specification a tier above what its price suggests. That is the reason to look at the brand.

Honest cost: Hatsan rifles are heavy, cocking effort is firm, and fit and finish are functional rather than refined. Factory scopes are consistently the weak point.

The Avenger at roughly $399(verify current pricing) is a regulated PCP with externally adjustable regulator and hammer spring — which is to say, a rifle you are expected to tune rather than simply shoot.

For an owner who enjoys chasing velocity consistency and shot count, that adjustability is the entire appeal, and the Avenger delivers performance well above its price once dialed in.

Honest cost: out of the box it is not optimized, and getting the most from it requires a chronograph and patience. If you want a rifle that simply works at its best on day one, buy Benjamin instead.

Whichever brand you land on, settle the power-plant question first — PCP vs break barrel is the decision that actually shapes your shooting, and the caliber question in our .22 guide comes second.

Check the Umarex Origin .22 price on Amazon, or start with our how to choose an air rifle guide.