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Air pistols split into a few honest camps, and the camp matters more than the badge on the slide. Some run on a 12-gram CO2 cartridge and shoot fast and easy. Some you pump by hand, so the power’s in your arm and the ammo bill stays low. A couple cock like a little break-barrel rifle. This guide reads each one off its published listing — the manufacturer’s own spec sheet — and tells you what that sheet actually promises. Where a listing contradicts itself, you’ll hear about that too, because a spec you can’t trust is worth knowing before you spend money, not after.
What the powerplant actually buys you
CO2 pistols are the easy button. Drop in a 12-gram cartridge, load the mag, and shoot as fast as you can pull the trigger. The trade is that CO2 loses steam in the cold, and the cartridges are a running cost. Pump pistols like the Crosman P1377 and P1322 ask you to work a lever a few strokes per shot — more effort, but you set the power and you never buy gas. Break-barrel pistols cock in one stroke off the barrel and fire once before you do it again. None of these is better than the others in the abstract; they’re better for different jobs.
BB or pellet, and does it matter
Steel BBs are cheap and fun, and most of the CO2 replica pistols here are smoothbore BB shooters built to look and handle like the real firearm. Pellets are the accuracy play: several guns here run rifled barrels that spin a pellet for a steadier hit. If you just want to knock cans off a rail in the backyard, BBs are fine. If you’re punching paper or dealing with a pest at close range, lean toward a rifled pellet gun.
How to read an fps number without fooling yourself
Every ‘up to’ velocity on these listings is a best case — lightest ammo, fresh gas, ideal day. Treat it as a ceiling, not an average. And read the spec sheet against the model name: when a listing quotes one speed in the title and another in the bullets, that’s a copy-paste mess, and the honest move is to trust neither number blindly. A gun that states fewer, cleaner numbers is often the safer buy than one shouting a big one it can’t back up.
Best Air Pistols
1. Umarex Glock 19 Gen3 .177 Caliber BB Gun Air Pistol
This is the licensed Glock 19 done as a BB gun: officially licensed Glock markings, fixed Glock-style sights, and a shape that drops into most 19-pattern holsters. Umarex quotes up to 410 fps on .177 steel BBs, fed from a 15-shot magazine and driven by a single 12-gram CO2 cartridge (which isn’t included). It weighs about 1.6 pounds, so it carries like the real thing, and there’s an integrated Weaver rail if you want to hang a light or laser off it. This is a non-blowback gun, so it’s simpler and easier on gas than the blowback Glocks below.
Best for: Glock owners who want a cheap, familiar trainer for holster and sight-picture practice.
Listed at $69.95 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
2. Crosman P1377 .177 Variable Pump Pellet Air Pistol - 600 FPS - Black
The P1377 is a hand-pumped classic: no CO2, no air tank, just a built-in pneumatic pump where you decide how much power each shot gets. It’s a single-shot bolt action with a rifled alloy-steel barrel, a fixed front blade, and an adjustable rear sight. It weighs about 1.875 pounds. One honest heads-up on the listing: the spec bullet quotes up to 800 feet per second for .177 pellets and even calls the thing an ‘air rifle’ mid-sentence, which doesn’t match the model name. That’s a sloppy, copy-pasted bullet, so don’t bank on the top speed. What’s real and worth buying it for is the pump-power flexibility and the rifled barrel.
Best for: Tinkerers who want adjustable power and no ongoing gas cost.
Listed at $74.52 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
3. Umarex Ruger Mark IV Break Barrel .177 Caliber Pellet Air Pistol
A single-shot break-barrel with a one-stroke cocking mechanism, the Ruger Mark IV keeps things simple: crack the barrel, load one .177 pellet, close it, shoot. Umarex rates it up to 360 fps, which is the gentlest number in this roundup, so think target shooting and casual plinking rather than pest control. It’s light and easy to handle, with a fully adjustable rear sight, a fixed front fiber-optic sight, checkered grip panels, a single-stage trigger, and a manual/automatic thumb safety. No gas to buy and no pumping — just cock and go.
Best for: New shooters and anyone who wants a fuss-free, no-gas plinker.
Listed at $58.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
4. Smith & Wesson M&P 40 .177 Cal BB Gun Air Pistol, DEB, Standard Action
The M&P 40 is a CO2 BB pistol built around a 19-shot drop-free magazine, a 12-gram cartridge housed in the grip, fiber-optic sights, and a manual safety. Umarex quotes up to 410 fps on steel BBs, and there’s an integrated accessory rail for a light or laser. One caution: the listing’s weight field is plainly broken — it reads a small fraction of an ounce, which no steel-slide BB pistol weighs — so ignore that number and judge the gun on the rest. As a training and backyard-plinking piece with a real drop-free mag, it earns its keep.
Best for: Shooters who want a drop-free-mag trainer at the low end of the price range.
Listed at $43.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
5. Glock 17 Gen3 Blowback .177 Caliber BB Gun Air Pistol, Black
This is the Glock 17 done right for realism: a full metal slide that cycles with real blowback, a drop-out metal magazine, and licensed Glock markings and controls. It holds 18 BBs, runs on a 12-gram CO2 cartridge, and Umarex rates it up to 365 fps. It weighs about 1.5 pounds. Blowback and a metal slide mean it feels like racking a real pistol, and it fits most aftermarket duty holsters — but blowback also burns gas faster than a fixed-slide gun. If the recoil feel is the whole point for you, that’s the trade you’re making.
Best for: Realism-first buyers who want blowback and a metal slide for training feel.
Listed at $84.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
6. Glock 19X Gen5 .177 Caliber BB Gun Air Pistol, Glock 19X Gen5 Air Pistol
The 19X is another blowback, full-metal-slide, semi-auto BB Glock, this one with an 18-round drop-free magazine and a tan finish. It weighs about 1.7 pounds. Umarex’s listing here is thin — it lists the action and the magazine but doesn’t publish a velocity figure on the captured spec sheet, so I won’t put a number on its speed. If you want the 19X look and the blowback feel and you’re not chasing a headline fps, it’s a solid semi-auto. If a stated velocity matters to you, one of the Glocks above tells you its number.
Best for: Buyers set on the 19X specifically who care more about feel than a spec-sheet velocity.
Listed at $88.97 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
7. Umarex Trevox Break Barrel .177 Caliber Pellet Gun Air Pistol
The Trevox is the serious pellet gun of the break-barrels here. Umarex rates it up to 600 fps on .177 pellets, driven by their TNT (Turbo Nitrogen Technology) gas-piston system for smooth, consistent shots. A permanently attached 5-chamber SilencAir dampener cuts down-range noise, which is the kind of thing your neighbors notice. It weighs about 2 pounds and wears adjustable fiber-optic sights on an all-weather frame. Umarex pitches it for close-range varmint control and plinking, and the 600 fps rating backs that up better than the gentler break-barrel above.
Best for: Quiet close-range pest control and pellet accuracy without CO2.
Listed at $89.94 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
8. Daisy Powerline 426 CO2 BB Pistol - 15 Round - 430 FPS - Black
Daisy’s 426 is a straightforward CO2 BB pistol: semi-auto, 15 shots as fast as you can pull the trigger, with the 15-BB magazine built right into the frame so there’s no separate mag to lose. Daisy rates it at 430 fps, and because it’s CO2, the power holds steady from the first shot to the last in a fill. It weighs about 0.9 pounds and has a deeply checkered, molded grip. It’s the budget end of the lineup and doesn’t pretend to be a replica — it’s a plain, fast can-plinker.
Best for: Cheap, fast reactive-target plinking without any replica pretensions.
Listed at $29.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
9. Umarex Beretta APX .177 Caliber BB Gun Air Pistol, , Black
The Beretta APX is a blowback CO2 BB pistol with a metal slide and a durable polymer frame — the same recipe as the metal-slide Glocks, in a Beretta suit. It carries a 20-shot magazine, the biggest BB capacity in this group, runs on a 12-gram cartridge, and Umarex rates it up to 395 fps. It weighs about 1.6 pounds and has low-profile 3-dot sights plus an integrated Picatinny rail for accessories. If you like the APX platform and want blowback plus a high shot count, this is the pick.
Best for: APX fans who want blowback feel and the highest BB capacity here.
Listed at $64.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
10. Crosman P10KT CO2 BB Pistol Kit - 20-Round Mag - 480 FPS - Black
The P10KT is the grab-and-go starter kit: the pistol plus a starter pack of Copperhead BBs, two CO2 cartridges, and safety glasses, so you can open the box and be shooting the same afternoon. It runs a single 12-gram cartridge and a 20-round drop-out magazine, and Crosman rates it up to 480 fps. There’s a Picatinny rail under the barrel for a light or laser. If you’re buying your first air pistol and don’t want to also shop for gas, ammo, and eye protection separately, the kit does that math for you.
Best for: First-time buyers who want everything to start shooting in one box.
Listed at $44.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
11. Daisy Powerline 415 CO2 Pistol Kit - 495 FPS - Matte Black
The 415 is the speed champ of the CO2 guns here on paper: Daisy rates it at 495 fps on .177 steel BBs. It’s a dual-ammo design that shoots both .177 pellets and .177 BBs from the same pistol, with a 21-shot built-in magazine so you keep shooting without swapping mags, and an accessory rail under the barrel. It weighs about 0.93 pounds. The dimensions on the listing are clearly placeholder data, so don’t read anything into those. For fast, cheap backyard target practice with the flexibility to run either ammo, it’s a lot of pistol for the money.
Best for: Backyard target speed and dual BB/pellet flexibility on a budget.
Listed at $39.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
12. Crosman P1322 American Classic Variable Pump .22-Caliber Pellet Air Pistol - Single Shot Bolt Action - 460 FPS - Black
The P1322 is the .22-caliber sibling of the pump-gun family — heavier pellets, more thump per shot. Its built-in pneumatic pump lets you set velocity up to 460 fps with no CO2 and no air tank, and the rifled barrel keeps those heavier .22 pellets steady, which Crosman pitches for targets and small critters. It’s a single-shot bolt action with a fixed front sight, an adjustable rear, and a safety behind the trigger; it weighs about 1.875 pounds. If you want a pump gun but prefer the extra mass of .22 over .177, this is the one.
Best for: Pump-gun shooters who want heavier .22 pellets for close-range pests.
Listed at $69.95 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy. Amazon lists this one for pre-order rather than immediate shipping.
13. SIG SAUER P226 MK-25 .177 Cal Semi-Auto Air Pistol
The P226 MK-25 is the trainer’s choice and the priciest gun here, built to mirror the real SIG in weight and handling. It’s a CO2 semi-auto chambered in .177 pellet, feeding from a 16-round 8x2 rotary magazine through a rifled steel barrel with white-dot fixed sights and an M1913 accessory rail. SIG lists it at up to 380 fps and a 5.5-pound trigger, and recommends premium pellets to get the most out of it. The velocity is modest, but this gun isn’t sold on speed — it’s sold on realistic handling and a rifled barrel for practice, and that’s where your money goes.
Best for: P226 owners who’ll pay more for the most authentic handling and a rifled barrel.
Listed at $119.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
14. Umarex Colt Peacemaker Revolver Single Action Army Six-Shooter .177 Caliber Air Pistol, Pellet Gun, Black
The Colt Peacemaker is the fun one — an all-metal single-action six-shooter that loads .177 pellets into six individual cartridges, just like the frontier original. It’s rated up to 380 fps, runs on a 12-gram CO2 cartridge tucked in the grip, and weighs about 2 pounds, so it has real heft in the hand. You load casings, you cock the hammer, you shoot: it’s as much about the look and the ritual as the shooting. If you want a plinker with character and don’t care about high velocity or big capacity, this earns its spot.
Best for: History buffs and plinkers who want an all-metal single-action revolver feel.
Listed at $129.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
CO2, pump, or break-barrel — which should I get?
Pick by the job. CO2 guns like the Glocks, the Beretta APX, and the Daisy pistols are the easiest to shoot fast and the most fun for cans, but you buy gas and they slow down in the cold. Pump guns like the Crosman P1377 and P1322 cost you arm effort per shot and never cost you gas, and you set the power yourself. Break-barrels like the Ruger Mark IV and the Trevox cock in one stroke and fire once — simple, no gas, one careful shot at a time.
Do these need a license?
That’s a local question, not one I can answer for you. Air pistols aren’t regulated the same way everywhere, and some cities and states treat them more strictly than others. Check your own state and city rules before you buy, and know where you’re legally allowed to shoot one.
Why does one listing say two different speeds?
Because the listing’s sloppy. The Crosman P1377’s spec bullet quotes up to 800 fps and even calls the gun an ‘air rifle,’ which doesn’t line up with the model name. That’s a copied-in bullet, and the honest reading is to distrust the headline number and buy the gun for its pump-power flexibility and rifled barrel instead.
Is BB or pellet better?
Steel BBs are cheaper and most of the replica CO2 pistols here shoot them from smoothbore barrels — great for plinking. Pellets, especially through the rifled barrels on the Trevox, P1322, and SIG P226, group tighter and are the better call for paper targets or close-range pests. A few, like the Daisy 415, will run either.
There’s no single best air pistol here, just the best one for what you’re doing. Want the cheapest way to knock cans over? The Daisy pistols. Want a trainer that feels like your carry gun? The blowback Glocks, the Beretta APX, or the SIG P226. Want accuracy with no gas bill? A pump or break-barrel pellet gun. Read each spec sheet for what it actually promises — not the biggest number on it — and match the gun to your backyard, not the other way around.