If you’re hunting for the best 1000 FPS pellet gun, you probably want something powerful, accurate, and reliable. Whether you’re into target shooting or small game hunting, a pellet gun that hits 1000 FPS delivers the speed and impact you need. In this guide, we’ll break down the top options so you can find the perfect one for your needs.
1. Gamo Swarm Fusion 10X GEN3i
Highlight: Whisper Fusion noise dampening technology. The quietest Gamo noise reduction technology.
Constructive Review: After looking at it for over a year, I finally bought this gun. I’ve read all the reviews, good and bad. So far, I’m not finding the issues that people complained about.
It always amuses me how many people will write a review without giving a product a realistic trial. There are so many variables that need to be taken into account.
Quick summary. I love the Speed Load magazine. The main reason I waited for this gun. The Gen2’s mechanism gave me the option to use the gun’s very good iron sights.
Iron sights are great to have and are too often excluded from guns that are bundled with a scope. Power is good enough for pest disposal.
Don’t worry about FPS. Muzzle energy is more important and this gun has plenty. The sound is not too loud but will seem loud because your head will be right next to the spring piston bang. If you’re more than a few feet away, it’s quiet enough to be backyard-friendly, especially with heavier pellets.
Very comfortable to hold but it’s not light 8 lbs fully spec’d and loaded. Sling mounts would’ve been nice for hunt hikes. Not too heavy to cock/break the barrel, 30lb or so.
So accuracy first. It’s important to understand that this is a gas piston/spring piston, break barrel rifle.
And with such, it’s going to be different for most shooters upgrading from the pump guns from our youths. The recoil will be different and your hold will need to be different.
I did have to deal with that learning curve. YouTube Artillery Hold for a better understanding. Start with getting your practice in with the iron sights to gauge out-of-the-box accuracy.
And make sure you try a few different pellets to find one your specific rifle likes. I’ve shot 4 types of Gamo pellets ranging from 14 grains to 22 grains and have been able to group them easily.
The scope sucks but fine for a beginner. Tried it for a couple of weeks and just didn’t like it. I wanted adjustable objective and Mil Dots features this stock scope didn’t have.
So I upgraded. Just make sure you get a scope the same or shorter than the stock scope because the 10X mechanism will limit how long the front of your scope extends.
I went with a UTG Hunter but the UTG Bug Buster may have been better size-wise. Take your time zeroing in and remember the springers/pistons are harsh on scopes.
Tighten all screws every once in a while, on screws and the gun. Once the scope is mounted, take your time to understand flight trajectory and practice practice practice
10x Magazine has been fine for me. I bought an extra so I’m always at the ready. I have had maybe 2 pellets fail to cycle properly.
I bought the Gamo combo pack which includes the Hunter, Master Point, Magnum, and TS-22 pellets. I shot all these pellets using the magazine and they loaded and cycled with no issues.
Even the Magnum which says not recommended for repeaters has cycled flawlessly. Just remember not to leave them loaded too long since it is spring-operated.
Overall, I’m happy with the gun. Would’ve preferred they keep the scope and made the gun $20-$30 cheaper. Oh well, now my son has the coolest scope on his Nerf gun, haha -Jay Ho
Trending Review: The Gamo Swarm Fusion 10X Gen 3i rifle is fantastic. It takes 30 pounds of force to cock it but is very manageable.
I am 71 and in good shape but glad I chose this gun instead of the big brother Magnum version that requires 30% more power to cock it.
This 22 caliber rifle blew pellets right through a 3/8” OSB backstop. Switched to a backstop of 3/4” 5-ply plywood, the rifle fully embedded the pellets but they didn’t penetrate all the way through. Plenty of power for squirrels and any other rodents you may wish to dispatch.
The targets above are from my second session with the rifle, the first after sighting in the scope. No bench or bench rest, just sitting on the ground using my knees for support. Gamo pellets, the Hunter impact 15.43 gr at 75 feet were decent.
The Red Fire 15.4 gr was more accurate, although it could partially be attributed to my getting used to the trigger pull. ( Before yesterday, it’s been a few years since I shot a rifle.)
The 30-foot target is the range I estimate for my bird feeder, where the squirrels have been harassing my feathered friends. The 3-9x scope that comes with the Fusion is very good.
The only con I have is that I have to break open the barrel to remove the scope covers or put them back on. The front cover will just about but not quite slip by the breech platform.
Small thing and I would rather break it open than loosen the rings and reposition the scope. (The base of the scope is anchored by a recoil pin and the barrel mount can’t be moved any further back when mounting the scope to the gun (but the screws on the rings can be loosened and the scope moved further to the rear. )).
A 5-star product and I am very pleased with it. The gun is also quiet. Makes about as much noise as an air nailer. The pellets make more noise hitting the backstop than the gun does spitting them out. -bill vasaly
Reassuring Review: The only gripe I have with it is that I was unable to use my laser bore scope on it, due to the flair and noise reducer at the end of the barrel.
I had to zero it the old-fashioned way. Once I did though, my shot groups were nice and tight, and it held accuracy through many many shots.
It is pretty quiet, using my sound meter the highest I saw was 94db…which is not bad considering how powerful it is. The 10-pellet autoloader is a nice feature and works great. -Jeffrey C. Johnson
2. Gamo 6110017154 Varmint Air Rifle
Highlight: Synthetic Monte Carlo stock with dual raised cheekpieces.
Constructive Review: I have enjoyed shooting this air rifle. It appears to be well-built. Its accuracy and power are good, especially given the price.
It is difficult to cock, requiring more strength than the few others I have fired, but that may wear down with time. The trigger adjustment screw on mine is frozen, and it came that way.
I honestly cannot turn it. The scope appears to be as good as those on comparable air rifles, but I was unable to zero the windage (left & right).
No matter how many clicks or even turns I applied, it never changed. So I replaced it with one of an older air rifle, which luckily happened to be the same diameter, length, and power. -ADM
Trending Review: I’ve been looking to purchase a pellet gun for quite some time and had my eye on the Gamo air rifle. After it arrived, I decided to test its operation and the power it provides.
It’s rated at 1250 fps and when I tested it against a 5/8″ piece of cedar, I was amazed that it penetrated the wood board, and 3 pieces of cardboard, and went into the tree behind the target.
I haven’t mounted the scope yet…and will need to sight it in at the local gun range. Very happy with how easy it is to cock, load a pellet, and set the safety by the trigger. 5 stars! -Mister T
Reassuring Review: Powerful and accurate after adjusting scope and doing target practice for a month. This gun drops squirrels and rabbits in one shot if hit properly. For the price, this pellet rifle is a good deal.
I’ve tried several pellet bullet types and bought a gun cleaner to keep the spiral-bored barrel cleaned and lubed for maximum power and accuracy.
Dislikes the single-shot action but it is a beak-over spring-powered air rifle. Buy you some 4”-8” adhesive targets to scope site the rifle at 25, 50, and 100 feet. This pellet gun can kill varmints further than 100 feet. I would have preferred an over-under with a telescoping option.
The scopes fixed focal length with no adjustment means close targets 25 feet-ish get blurred some. The open-site addition would have been a great bonus to the rifle.
Different pellets behave slightly differently in accuracy and feet per second. Like the safety trigger feature. It’s a little loud.
The gun is weighted like a gunpowder firearm and seems to be durable. Rubber stock bumper and plenty of plastic but solid built for pricing range and performance! -Philly
3. Winchester 1977XS Dual Ammo Pellet BB 1000 FPS Air Rifle
Highlight: Rugged durable composite Stock and forearm.
Constructive Review: This BB rifle exceeded all my expectations, especially in accuracy and power. With three pumps the BB went through a half-inch slat of pine wood.
The safety features were impressive too. Some of the other reviews point to the difficulty of loading pellets, especially with the scope attached.
Pellets in general are not easy to handle. They are small and require proper orientation in the slot. All you need is a pair of tweezers handy to overcome that. On the other hand, the BBs are extremely easy to load and reload. Great value for your money.
This is a continuation of my assessment after using the gun for over one year: The gun still functions very well, but I have a problem.
When using tweezers to insert a pellet, it accidentally in the chamber where BBs are stored with the result that BB’s no longer would load when cocked.
The only way I could get it back out was to loosen the panel on the side of the rifle. The way to prevent that from happening is to position the plunger in such a way as to close the gap to the BB chamber. -Methew
Trending Review: I bought this because honestly, I missed having a decent pellet rifle. I was quite impressed once I opened the box. This rifle looks nice and first impressions were good.
I had ordered H&N Baracuda Extreme along with this rifle. I decided I would try shooting targets with one pump first and work my way up to ten. Well,l I was pretty excited that with just one pump I could puncture a can with the hunting ammo. Once I got up to 10 pumps I was piercing plywood at around 40 feet.
I dialed in the iron sights with ease and I feel confident I could hit a squirrel with just the sights but to be on the safe side I’ll use the scope when I do go hunting. Now this is a dangerous rifle because it is way more powerful than I had imagined so I am impressed with it.
I highly recommend it! If you’re upgrading your kids’ old BB gun or something just be on the safe side and treat this as you would a firearm. Safety first, always!
9/29/2024
I am still enjoying my rifle and I still use the iron sights. I have to admit though I never even tried the included scope.As soon as I picked the included scope up I felt immediately how light it was and upon inspection it appeared to be made of aluminum and I just personally felt like it would have never held up.
But honestly, I don’t feel like I need a scope for this rifle as I am very good with just the iron sights. Also, I never did hunt with this rifle but I have had to kill possums as they somehow seem to find their way into my house every winter I’m not cruel, I do trap those that I can but there are always one or two that I just simply cannot trap.
The trapped ones I just relocated back into the woods far from my house. I do honestly feel bad about having to shoot the ones that refuse to go into the cage trap as I imagine that they are only seeking warmth.
But I just can’t allow possums to live freely in my home, they tend to end up in my bed while asleep and they eat my cat food. I do shoot them humanly and for that, I will use the correct pellet such as those used for hunting. And I never miss it! -Derek W.
Reassuring Review: Overall looks of the gun are very nice, weighted nicely, and handles well. Trigger action is smooth and crisp.
But that’s about all I like about the gun. When it comes to performance, the gun is extremely inaccurate. Shot 50 bbs through it with iron sights, shoots high and right often.
No matter the adjustment on iron sights it didn’t get any better. Installed the scope it came with and used a bore sight to get it sighted in. Didn’t matter, the scope is nice and clear but it’s the gun that’s extremely inaccurate regardless.
One shot it’s 1″ right of center, next shot 6 pumps and it’s 10″ to the left, next shot 8″ to the right. All while using a sandbag for a rest and even with scope dead-sighted on the bore sight later it still shoots in all directions but straight.
Out of 100 shots, 4 were dead on, and that was after running the scope from one end of adjustment to the next. Seems to have a decent amount of power, but unfortunately besides looks it falls short of what it’s made to do, perform. -John S
4. Lancer Tactical Air Rifle 1000 FPS
Highlight: Acquisition Options: Benefit from the built-in adjustable fiber optic iron sights, providing additional flexibility.
Constructive Review: This thing is hefty and feels like an actual gun. The sights are a bit on the cheap side but do the job.
The trigger is terrible. I can’t actually tell how accurate it is because even from a rest, the trigger is so bad that it can impact your shot placement noticeably.
If accuracy matters to you, I’d look elsewhere. The trigger, even when carefully staged, has made it difficult to hit small games with and neutralize humanely. -Eric Duane Vetter
Trending Review: So the package arrived on time and undamaged which is good, it was double boxed, they must have had a shortage of boxes or ran out of the size because the box that it came in was like three times the size necessary, I hope they got charged by weight and not volume because the box is so big I had to put it in the back of my pickup truck.
This is my first break barrel from this company and like the title says a little different. The only negative thing I can say about this rifle is that I probably paid like $20 more than what it was probably worth but with inflation and all it’s probably about right.
That’s the only thing that bothers me a little. It’s a fine rifle but if I would have got it for 20 bucks less I probably would have been a whole lot more happier. So now that we got the negative out of the way let’s talk about the rifle.
The camouflage stock is nice, what I noticed that’s a little different is the fact that the trigger guard is molding one piece with the stock and is not something that is bolted on. This helps with the weight but you got to be careful that you don’t break it because you can’t replace it.
The safety is a little bit different from the design also but it works well and it’s easy to move. The rifle shoots and sounds like a Springer and shoots pretty well out of the box. It was not hard to zero. It did not come with a scope and I did not want one but it would probably take a school pretty good. Most break Barrels have fragile rear sights and this one has a more sturdy one.
The adjustments for elevation and windage are adjustable by turning screws with a screwdriver instead of just turning a knob by hand. So the site is sturdy and it doesn’t run away after a few shots like some other guns.
The one thing I noticed right away was how light this thing is. It is probably my lightest break barrel. I do a lot of shooting in the offhand position and this rifle is so light that you can hold the position for quite a while quite easily unlike the heavier guns.
Another plus is that it is very smooth and does not require a lot of effort to caulk. The first time I caught it I was disappointed because you usually can tell how much power the gun has by how hard it is to cock, so I thought that this gun was going to be weak.
However, to my surprise, the power on this gun is pretty good even though it’s very easy to cock. I’m on the second day of shooting and it’s still smoking out the barrel some after the shot but that’s okay with me.
You won’t hear the dying crack because it’s not a 177 but the smoke is there for some people that would even be kind of cool. I must admit I like the smell LOL. So yeah I have nothing bad to say about the rifle. I don’t regret the purchase, however like I said $20 less would have been about right but I’ll get over it:-) it seems like this company makes a lot of Airsoft guns so I wasn’t sure about the quality of a regular air rifle but they did a good job.
Another fine addition to my collection. If you want a basic Springer that shoots pretty good is light, powerful, and looks good this could be the ticket for you. It’s a good rifle. -Gregory Perreira
Reassuring Review: Ok… so this rifle has been pretty decent, I’ve had it for a couple of weeks with no problems (that I was aware of..) well I was shooting some today, and it was on safety and while I was walking, I touched the trigger, knowing it was ON safety so wasn’t worried about firing….. and BOOM…… ….. I thought maybe I accidentally hit the slide and moved safety to fire, so I reloaded and tried it again while ON safety… and after a couple pulls of the trigger …. BOOM……..
This could have been a Fatal flaw or at the
least a serious injury………
The rifle shoots well, but this safety flaw is a deal breaker!!!! I have young children and “what if”. -Cameron
Final Words For The Best 1000 FPS Pellet Gun In 2025
Finding the best 1000 FPS pellet gun comes down to your specific needs—whether it’s accuracy for target shooting or power for small game hunting. With so many great options out there, you’re sure to find one that fits your style and budget. No matter which you choose, always prioritize safety and proper handling. Happy shooting!