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I have an orchard and garden that I put a lot of work into. Unfortunately, every summer the local squirrels, opossums, and raccoons really appreciate all that work as they help themselves to my fruit and tomatoes. I’ve yet to have one of my home-grown peaches because both of my trees get stripped before the fruit has a chance to ripen. All my attempts to use netting, sprays, and sonic deterrents have failed. I’ve tried diplomacy, and now I must go to war.
The Air Venturi Microstrike is the ideal tool for this conflict. It’s small, easy to keep at the ready, powerful, and plenty quiet (with a moderator) for backyard shooting.
I’ve found the Microstrike useful outside of protecting my crops, too. It’s an ideal small game rifle due to its light weight, effective power, and good accuracy. I recently went to pull trail cameras off my deer lease and, since squirrel season is open, it was no big deal to bring the Microstrike along. I kept it folded in my backpack until a squirrel made the mistake of popping its head out from behind a tree. A squirrel leg appetizer was enjoyed later that evening.
I’ve recently set up the Microstrike for nocturnal pest control using a laser, light, and 1x prism with a magnifier. This final use case makes it by far the most versatile and deadliest airgun I own. Here’s a deep dive into its performance.
Air Venturi Microstrike .22 cal Specs and Features
Specs
- Max Velocity: 830 fps
- Muzzle Energy: 27 ft/lbs
- Weight: 4.5 pounds
- Max Shots Per Fill: 26
- Cylinder Size: 80 cc
- Barrel Length: 10.65 inches
- Overall Length: 29 inches (stock extended) 17 inches (stock folded)
- Operating Pressure: 4351 PSI / 300 BAR
- Price: $400
Features
- Available in .177, .22, and .25 calibers
- Best for: Small game hunting, target shooting, and pest control
- Action: Side lever
- Two-stage, adjustable trigger
- Regulated
- Comes with two, 10-round mags
- Folding stock with adjustable length of pull
Caliber Exchange
One of the toughest decisions when buying an air rifle is choosing a caliber. You can go with .177 for more shots per fill, cheaper ammo, and less noise. A .25 caliber will give you the energy required to hunt larger animals like raccoons. Or you can go with .22 caliber, which is an excellent compromise between .177 and .25 caliber — pretty quiet, decent amount of shots per fill, and plenty of power for squirrels.
The Microstrike helps you with that dilemma by making it easy to swap between calibers. You can buy caliber exchange kits for $80. Then it’s just a matter of swapping the barrel and pellet probe.
Read Next: .22 LR vs .22 Air Rifle
Filling
The Microstrike uses a recessed fill port that’s fully protected by a rotating cover. It includes an extended fill probe that you insert when filling. While shooting for fun, I just keep the fill probe inserted. It locks securely in place, and there’s little chance of damaging it while plinking.
The Microstrike needs to be filled to 300 BAR, which is best done with a compressor. I recommend looking at the Air Venturi RovAir 4500, which will fill the Microstrike in just a few minutes, and it only costs $500.
Tuning
If you order from Pyramyd AIR you can add on a tuning service for $60. They’ll tune it for power or shot count, depending on your preference. I got my Microstrike with the 10-for-10 Test and the 24-hour leak test, which are a great way to make sure your gun will have no issues out of the box.
It’s fairly simple to tune the Microstrike, but it’s a little time-consuming because you must bleed out the air from the reservoir before making a regulator adjustment. The hammer spring is also adjustable and just requires the gun be decocked.
Trigger
The Microstrike has a two-stage adjustable trigger. Right out of the box, the trigger measured 3 pounds 12 ounces. It breaks very clean with no creep, so there’s no excuse to miss a squirrel at 25 yards.
Stock
The Microstrike has a 1913 stock interface, and it comes with a collapsible, folding stock that uses a standard AR buffer tube. The mechanism folds and locks into place easily and securely. The length of pull can be adjusted to approximately 13.75, 14.5, 15.75, and 17 inches.
Testing the Air Venturi Microstrike
The Microstrike comes with iron sights, and thankfully, it’s easy to take them off. After all, it’s 2026, and we have a wide range of reliable, affordable optics. I think one of the ideal setups for the Microstrike is an LPVO. I initially tried mounting my Primary Arms PLx 1-6x using a unimount, but the mount blocked the magazine from loading. I tried four different unimounts before giving up and going to medium-height rings. Another thing to keep in mind is that you’ll need to remove the rear sight if you choose to run a magnified optic.
The Microstrike has a side lever that sits flush with the receiver. The lever is on the left side, which allows you to keep your firing hand on the grip while cycling the action. It’s not a super-fast cycling action, but it is easy to manipulate and keeps the gun slick.
I tested accuracy using the factory tune, which had the regulator set to 2,600 psi and shot 18.13-grain pellets at 757 fps with a 2 fps standard deviation. That gave me around 23 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle. I’m getting 20 shots per fill with that tune.
I shot five, five-shot groups at 25 and 50 yards with the 18.13-grain JSB pellets. At 25 yards, they averaged 0.45 inch and 0.95 inch at 50 yards. The 15.89-grain Hades pellets shot a 0.6-inch group average at 25 yards. I also tried 0.217-inch-diameter, 22-grain FX Hybrid Slugs at 50 yards, but I had issues chambering them, and a few got stuck in the chamber.
If you’re looking at the Air Venturi Microstrike, you’ll inevitably consider the very popular Umarex Notos too. I’ve tested the Umarex Notos as well and it shot a 0.96 group average at 50 yards. It’s trigger is heavier than the Microstrike at 4 pounds 2 ounces. I prefer the Microstrike for it’s improved ergonomics and ease of customization, but the Notos costs around $100 less. Another competitive option to consider is the Air Venturi Alpha, which I haven’t yet tested but its feature set is compelling.
| Distance | Projectile | Average Group Size |
| 25 | Hades 15.89 grains | .60 inch |
| 25 | JSB 18.13 grains | .448 inch |
| 50 | JSB 18.13 grains | .950 inch |
| 50 | FX Hybrid Slug 22 Grains | 1.5 inch |
Without a moderator, the Microstrike is loud by air rifle standards. I wouldn’t call it backyard friendly. But adding even a small moderator tames the report, and it’s a pleasant shooting experience. I ran mine with the Donny FL FX moderator, which is only 5 inches long.
This air rifle’s best features are its size and weight. It quickly comes to the shoulder for fast, off-hand shooting. Despite its light weight, I didn’t have issues stabilizing the gun while shooting from standing, kneeling, sitting, or supported positions. Inside 30 yards, this gun is certified deadly, and it will absolutely kill squirrels with a single, well–placed shot.
I could shoot the Microstrike in its stock configuration and be totally satisfied. Yet it’s an ideal platform for accessorizing and customization. I swapped the stock grip with a B5 P Grip 22K, which is shorter and has a more vertical grip angle. Swapping the grip only requires removing a single screw, and you can exchange it with any AR grip that doesn’t have a beavertail. You can also change out the stock with any that uses a 1913 attachment. I opted for a minimalist stock that keeps the gun’s profile thinner when folded. The full-length Picatinny rail allows you to run accessories like clip-on thermals, flashlights, and lasers.
Read Next: Best Air Rifles
What it Does Best
The Microstrike is versatile and can be configured as a handy truck gun, a dedicated small game hunter, a trainer for young shooters, or the bane of any pest. It’s light, powerful enough for small game, and very accurate.
Where it Can Improve
I’d like to have more Picatinny rail behind the magazine in order to get a unimount or a red/magnifer on that one section of Pic rail. Along those same lines I think Air Venturi can ditch the irons without hurting anyone’s feelings, which would free up additional Picatinny slots.
Another small improvement is to undercut the trigger guard. The underside of the trigger guard is unnecessarily thick, and machining a relief for the shooter’s middle finger would improve ergonomics.
Final Thoughts
This is a great air rifle for hunting anything from iguanas to squirrels. It fills multiple use cases for me, and I like that I can configure it to suit those needs. I think it’s far superior to similar airguns like the Umarex Notos and much cheaper than options like the EDgun Leshiy.