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A CO2 air rifle is the simple answer when you want repeating shots without a pump stroke or a tank-and-fill ritual. You seat a cartridge, load pellets or BBs, and shoot until the gas runs out. That convenience is the whole pitch, and it is also the bill you keep paying.
What you get is a rifle that is ready in seconds and easy to hand around a backyard range. What you give up is weather independence. CO2 sits in the cartridge as a liquid and boils into gas as you shoot, and cold air makes that conversion lazy. A gun that feels snappy in July can feel tired in January, even with a fresh cartridge.
This list splits three ways, because the listings do. Two Crosman 1077s shoot .177 pellets for aimed work, three guns are full-auto BB rifles built for volume rather than groups, and one Umarex launches arrows on a big 88-gram cartridge instead of shooting pellets at all. Pick the job first, then the rifle.
What does a CO2 cartridge actually buy you?
No pumping. That is the point. A spring rifle asks you to cock every shot. A PCP asks you to own a pump or a compressor and to fill a reservoir. A CO2 rifle asks you to keep cartridges on the shelf.
None of these listings include the gas in the box, so the first range trip is a second shopping list: cartridges, ammo, and eye protection. The RepeatAir lists a 12-gram cartridge. The DPMS SBR and the CFAM1 list two 12-gram cartridges. The R1 lists two CO2 cartridges in the mag with no gram weight printed. The 1077FSG is a CO2 gun with easy-access housing and no gram weight on the listing. The AirJavelin lists one 88-gram cartridge, and Umarex wants its own brand for seal and performance.
Treat the velocity on the box as a ceiling. Makers quote it with light ammo and a warm, full cartridge. As the cartridge empties, pressure falls. As the gun cools, pressure falls again. If you shoot in a coat season, you will see it.
Pellet, BB, or arrow?
The 1077 and 1077FSG are the pellet guns here. Crosman specs a rifled steel barrel on the RepeatAir so .177 pellets stay on target at backyard distances. Pellets are the round you want if you care about holes in paper.
The DPMS SBR, the CFAM1, and the R1 all shoot BBs. The DPMS and the CFAM1 quote 430 fps, and all three are built to dump magazines, not print groups. BBs are cheap, and steel BBs bounce. Plan a solid backstop and keep people well behind the line.
The AirJavelin is a different tool. Umarex quotes up to 300 fps and up to 35 fpe with its carbon-fiber arrows. That is the only energy figure on this page, and it is not a plinking loop. It also asks for an 88-gram cartridge you will not find in the same bin as the 12-gram caps.
Is full-auto worth the extra gas?
The 1077s are semi-auto only. You get a follow-up shot without breaking your cheek weld, and you still aim each one. The BB rifles add a full-auto switch. DPMS quotes 1400 rounds per minute at 430 fps on the SBR. Crosman quotes 1400 rounds per minute on the R1, and says a 25-round mag is gone in about a second.
That is a good time. It is also a fast way to spend CO2. Blowback makes it worse, because some of the gas moves the bolt instead of the BB. If you want cheap practice, stay on semi-auto and shoot pellets. If you want a selector switch, budget extra cartridges and do not expect pellet-gun groups.
What the listing will not tell you
Shot count is missing on every 12-gram listing here. Do not invent one from a forum memory. Plan to buy more gas than you think, then keep a spare sleeve in the range bag.
Read the feed system. A 12-shot rotary clip is a pellet cadence. A 25-round BB mag is a burst cadence. A 300-round reservoir is how you stop fishing in a bottle every other minute. Then look at mounting. Dovetail on the 1077FSG, Picatinny on the DPMS and the AirJavelin, rails on all four sides on the R1. If you want a red dot, that is the fork in the road.
Weight is the last honest number. The RepeatAir is listed at 3.7 pounds. The DPMS SBR is listed at 6.21 pounds. Hand the heavier gun to someone who wants an AR stance, not to a new shooter who is going to hold it up for an hour.
Best CO2 Air Rifles
1. Crosman 1077 RepeatAir Semi-Auto .177 Cal CO2 Air Rifle
This is the pellet repeater people actually mean when they say they want a CO2 rifle for the backyard. Crosman powers it with one 12-gram cartridge (not included) and quotes velocities up to 780 feet per second. The action is semi-auto with a 12-shot mag, so follow-up shots do not cost you a cocking stroke.
Crosman specs a rifled steel barrel so .177 pellets stay on target at backyard distances. That is the job: paper, cans, and practice, not mag dumps. The stock is water-resistant synthetic, and the rifle is listed at 3.7 pounds and 39.5 inches long, which is light enough to shoot offhand without turning the session into a workout. The listing also talks up expanding-tip hollow points. That is ammo copy, not a rifle feature. Buy pellets that fit a .177 rifled barrel, and treat 780 fps as a top-end number.
Best for: Backyard .177 pellet shooting without a pump
Listed at $78.09 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy. Amazon is showing limited quantities on this one.
2. DPMS SBR CO2 BB Air Rifle
If you want the CO2 rifle to feel like a short carbine, this is the one with the measurements to match. The DPMS SBR is a BB gun with a 25-round mag, a thumb selector, and a listing that quotes 1400 rounds per minute at 430 fps in full-auto. Two 12-gram cartridges live in the magazine, and the blowback action moves the bolt with every shot for a physical kick.
The buttstock slides to six positions, and the pistol grip is compatible with standard AR components. Four Picatinny rails on the forearm, removable pop-up sights, and a movable angled foregrip come with it. At 30 inches long and 6.21 pounds, it is the compact, heavy option on this page. You are paying for the layout and the blowback, not for pellet groups.
Best for: AR-style full-auto BB shooting with blowback
Listed at $189.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
3. Crosman CFAM1 Full Auto CO2 BB Rifle
The spec that sets this one apart is onboard ammo, not rails. Crosman put a 300-round BB reservoir in the gun that feeds a 25-round spring magazine, so you spend the afternoon shooting instead of unscrewing a bottle. Flip from single shots to full-auto, and the listing quotes 430 fps on BBs.
Two 12-gram cartridges power it. No pump. The stock is all-weather synthetic in a brown finish, and the rifle is listed at 4 pounds and 38.7 inches long. Crosman says it is light enough to carry all afternoon, which is a fair claim at 4 pounds. You do not get blowback or a quad rail here. You get a traditional profile and a lot of BBs ready to go, which is the more practical full-auto setup if the target is a row of cans.
Best for: Full-auto BBs with a 300-round reservoir
Listed at $119.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
4. Crosman Full Auto R1 CO2 BB Air Rifle
Crosman says this one empties 25 rounds in about a second when you flip it to full-auto, at a quoted 1400 rounds per minute. Semi-auto is still there when you want to aim. That rate-of-fire claim is the reason to look at the R1, not a hidden accuracy spec. The listing does not even print a velocity.
Blowback kicks against your shoulder, and Crosman describes a heavy feel. The 6-position stock sets length of pull, and there are rails on all four sides of the barrel for a red dot, a flashlight, or a grip. The magazine drops from the bottom and holds both the BBs and the two CO2 cartridges, so a spare mag is a real reload. The weight number on the listing is not usable. It reads like a cartridge, not a rifle. Shop this one as the mag-fed, rail-covered BB gun with a selector, and ignore the scale field.
Best for: Mag-fed full-auto BBs with rails and blowback
Listed at $180.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
5. Crosman 1077FSG Freestyle Semi-Auto CO2 .177 Pellet Air Rifle
What you are buying here is a better sight picture and easier CO2 changes on a semi-auto pellet rifle. It uses a 12-shot rotary clip, and Crosman quotes .177 pellets up to 780 fps. The listing calls out easy-access cartridge housing, which is the small change you notice every time you swap a cylinder.
The rest is furniture. Checked all-weather stock, a dovetail receiver, a fiber optic front sight, and an adjustable rear sight. It is listed at 4 pounds and 39 inches long, so it sits in the same size class as the RepeatAir, a little heavier on the spec sheet. If you want pellets and you would rather have a dovetail and fiber optics than the plain RepeatAir setup, this is the fork. You keep the 12-shot rhythm and the same 780 fps ceiling.
Best for: Semi-auto .177 pellets with fiber-optic sights
Listed at $101.90 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
6. Umarex AirJavelin CO2 Arrow Gun Air Rifle
This is not a pellet plinker. Umarex built an arrow gun that runs on one 88-gram CO2 cartridge (not included) and ships three Straight Flight Technology arrows with 50-grain field tips. One cartridge is quoted at up to 27 effective shots. The muzzle claims are up to 300 fps and up to 35 fpe.
The stock is all-weather, with a rubber recoil pad and Picatinny mounts for optics, bipods, and quivers. There is a fixed orange fiber optic front sight, and it will take aftermarket quivers. Umarex recommends its own brand of CO2 for seal and performance. The gun is listed at 4 pounds. Do not buy it expecting the 1077’s cheap, fast loop. Arrows are slower to load and worse to lose, and the far side of the target is a different safety problem. Buy it if you want a CO2 arrow launcher with a published 35 fpe figure, and price the 88-gram cartridges before you commit.
Best for: CO2 arrow shooting with a published 35 fpe
Listed at $183.99 when this guide was last updated. Amazon pricing moves, so check the figure on the page before you buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a license for a CO2 air rifle?
Airgun law is local. Many places sell CO2 rifles with no firearms license, and some cities ban them or treat them like guns. Look up your state and your town before you buy, especially for full-auto BB rifles and for arrow guns.
Do I need a tank or a compressor?
No. That is the reason to buy CO2 instead of a PCP. You will need a supply of cartridges, and you will keep buying them. If the gas bill bothers you, look at a pump-up or a PCP and price the fill gear honestly.
Why does my CO2 rifle feel weak in the cold?
The cartridge is a tiny pressure vessel full of liquid CO2. The gun needs that liquid to boil into gas to push the shot. Cold slows the boil, so you get less pressure and less speed. Keep spare cartridges inside, and do not judge a rifle by a January session.
Pellets or BBs in a CO2 rifle?
Shoot what the gun is built for. The 1077 and 1077FSG are .177 pellet rifles, and the RepeatAir lists a rifled steel barrel. The DPMS SBR, CFAM1, and R1 are BB guns. Put BBs through a rifled pellet barrel and you wear the rifling. Put pellets in a BB gun and they may not feed. Steel BBs also bounce, so build a backstop that can take that.
How many shots do I get from one cartridge?
The 12-gram listings on this page do not give a shot count. Semi-auto pellet guns sip more slowly than full-auto blowback BB guns, which is common sense once a mag is gone in about a second. The AirJavelin is the exception: Umarex quotes up to 27 effective shots from one 88-gram cartridge.
Are these okay for hunting?
The BB rifles quote 430 fps, and none of them publish an energy figure. The 1077s quote 780 fps with .177 pellets and also skip energy. The AirJavelin is the only one that publishes kinetic energy, up to 35 fpe. If hunting is the job, start with that number and then read your state’s airgun hunting rules. If plinking is the job, do not dress it up as a hunt.
If you want pellets and a 12-shot semi-auto, the RepeatAir is the light, simple one and the 1077FSG is the one with fiber optics and a dovetail. If you want full-auto BBs without the AR costume, take the CFAM1 and its 300-round reservoir. If you want blowback, a selector, and rails, the DPMS SBR publishes 430 fps, 30 inches, and 6.21 pounds, while the R1 publishes the 25-round dump in about a second and a drop mag that holds the CO2. If you actually want to launch arrows, the AirJavelin is the only rifle here that does, with up to 35 fpe on an 88-gram cartridge. Price the gas before you fall in love with the rifle, because that cost never shows up on the gun listing.