Airgun advice?
- Thread starter d000hg
- Start date
Sponsored Links
I always remember an advert from the mid 1970’s where a chap shot 40 rabbits in a night With a 177 Feinwerkbau 300 match rifle, all shot through the eye . Always drooled over that gun but it was well out of my price range.
From what I remember, the field craft was everything. You can't just swan around like a Mexican bandit and expect to shoot much, not with an air rifle anyway.
Sponsored Links
I used to shoot rabbits with a Diana when I was a kid and small bore precision later on a range. More recently all sorts via a gun club and full bore on military ranges via another club. I gave it up eventually and never applied for a firearms license. My main interest was getting into long range full bore up to 1000yds which means having some truly lethal kit at home. 
They don't use telescopic sights for this style of shooting. I went off the idea for various reasons. Tried clay with a shotgun but didn't appeal.
When my son was young and old enough and ok with supervision I bought a few air rifles for target shooting in the garden. There are all sorts of targets. The regulated pneumatic guns can be very accurate but prices climb, a scuba air bottle is needed to charge them and gauges. CO2 is ok but depends on the weather. The cartridges get colder with repeated shooting and power drops. My favourite was a 10 shot winchester copy. Spring is limited to 12 ft lbs, all types are. Net effect is that the flatish trajectory range is rather limited and the error gets worse as the distance increases as the 12ft lbs varies a bit shot to shot. The unregulated pneumatics are much the same but some can be modified pretty easily to get the 12ft lbs up - totally illegal and getting caught is serious. For accuracy and distance 177 is best.
So for accurate shooting regulated pneumatic is rather ahead of the other options. 20ft lbs plus is probably best for killing things but needs a firearms certificate. Probably easier to get providing some one has a reason. 22 small bore is much the same. Both can only be used in approved areas so a farmer etc no problem. There is also a 22 magnum that can be popular with farmers but many use different styles of shotgun cartridge for killing various things.
Also tried them on rabbits. People say fine but there is a need to get rather close. Also tried lamping them. Shows the problem, the pellet shines in the light and can be seen at it goes along. Killed several but no chance of finding them myself, The farmers dog did. Cruel so stopped. It's possible to hear when they are hit in the correct place but doesn't help, still needs to be close. Probably best to wear sniper gear and wait for them to come to you.
They don't use telescopic sights for this style of shooting. I went off the idea for various reasons. Tried clay with a shotgun but didn't appeal.When my son was young and old enough and ok with supervision I bought a few air rifles for target shooting in the garden. There are all sorts of targets. The regulated pneumatic guns can be very accurate but prices climb, a scuba air bottle is needed to charge them and gauges. CO2 is ok but depends on the weather. The cartridges get colder with repeated shooting and power drops.
My favourite was a 10 shot winchester copy. Spring is limited to 12 ft lbs, all types are. Net effect is that the flatish trajectory range is rather limited and the error gets worse as the distance increases as the 12ft lbs varies a bit shot to shot. The unregulated pneumatics are much the same but some can be modified pretty easily to get the 12ft lbs up - totally illegal and getting caught is serious. For accuracy and distance 177 is best.So for accurate shooting regulated pneumatic is rather ahead of the other options. 20ft lbs plus is probably best for killing things but needs a firearms certificate. Probably easier to get providing some one has a reason. 22 small bore is much the same. Both can only be used in approved areas so a farmer etc no problem. There is also a 22 magnum that can be popular with farmers but many use different styles of shotgun cartridge for killing various things.
Also tried them on rabbits. People say fine but there is a need to get rather close. Also tried lamping them. Shows the problem, the pellet shines in the light and can be seen at it goes along. Killed several but no chance of finding them myself, The farmers dog did. Cruel so stopped. It's possible to hear when they are hit in the correct place but doesn't help, still needs to be close.
Probably best to wear sniper gear and wait for them to come to you.
E
EddieM
Personally wouldn't try the hunt rabbits with an air rifle as I wouldn't consider a none FCA one powerful enough. For that I'd use a .22 rifle. Ensures a clean kill, if accurate of course.
Some people do use them or at least say they do with "good" results so gave it a try. Results suggest people would really have to be close to drop a rabbit. I'd wonder if 5m was too far away to be honest even with a reasonably accurate shot. When I've seen people target shooting with them at clubs distances are short really and bulls are large. I suspect a lot comes down to power. I did a lot of small bore precision average with competition rounds 99.3. 20 yds from memory. Outward scoring so the equivalent of hitting a pin head. I took the Diana there. I could hit the bull with it and not stray that far from it so given an accurate gun it has to be power.
Only problem with hitting the bull was not powerful enough to go through the butts so bounced back and hit me in the forehead. I didn't do it for long. Talking to people the Diana could have been 30ft lb maybe even more. Some countries where there are less restrictions seem to reckon that 18 is enough. I have a Korean unregulated pneumatic gun restricted for the UK. I hear that it's a lot more than 18 unrestricted and has a capacity of 10 shots. As it comes side to side variation is negligible. Drop, maybe 100mm or so before it starts to run down. One reason I stopped was eye accommodation. No longer able to keep both eyes open when using aperture sights. I actually scored a bull for some one else at 600yds on full bore. 2 eyes are needed to see which target is being shot at as the holes are so small.My recollect of target air rifles when more powerful guns could be bought is that they were only of any use on targets as they had a lot less power. Probably 12ft lb. I'll add that spring modifications were popular on all.
Last edited:
Hi,
You have much good advice here but here's my 50 cent. Pistols, forget it. They are 6FtLb and have little range. BB guns, forget it, you need range.
I would opt for a .177 springer or PCP with a 3-9 to x 40 scope. With a springer you can sit there all night blasting away without having to re charge, as I used to on my local allotments that had chickens. It's a trade off either way. PCP's are convenient, have no recoil and are 2/3 times the price of a 22Rimfire. If I had an FAC I would choose something like a Ruger 10/22 for ratting.
Then you will need a night vision setup. Little point shooting rats in daytime, they are mostly out after dark.
These can be bought as commercial items OR you can build your own.
https://www.nightvisionforumuk.com/viewforum.php?f=3
This forum gives lots of info about how to build your own set up at greatly reduced cost, and it's a great hobby too.
A .22 rifle thumps rats harder but you have limited range. A .177 has a flatter trajectory, longer range, and will still kill the rats, even though most of the time the pellet goes straight through them. A .22 is really only much good if it is FAC, but try applying for one and see how far you get!
The next hurdle is getting a permission from the farmer/landowner. You can't just go out on the canal or wherever shooting at will like in the old days when my Dad used to take out ratting. They are making it increasingly difficult to shoot anywhere. Pretty soon all you'll be able to do is shoot targets in your back garden, in fact I would be surprised if there's some do gooder looking for a way to stop that too!
Pellet wise, avoid the cheap, sharp pointed pellets like the plague. Something like RWS superdome is a good starter for ten.
Another good choice are the GAMO Raptor types. They are a steel pellet gold plated. Lighter than lead they give you more range. They also do a steel tipped pellet with a yellow plastic surround. I have used these with good effect. Remember, if you're using a springer the lighter the pellet the better.
There are ways to increase the power of a 12FtLb gun, but I'm not going to go into that.
Hope this helps.
You have much good advice here but here's my 50 cent. Pistols, forget it. They are 6FtLb and have little range. BB guns, forget it, you need range.
I would opt for a .177 springer or PCP with a 3-9 to x 40 scope. With a springer you can sit there all night blasting away without having to re charge, as I used to on my local allotments that had chickens. It's a trade off either way. PCP's are convenient, have no recoil and are 2/3 times the price of a 22Rimfire. If I had an FAC I would choose something like a Ruger 10/22 for ratting.
Then you will need a night vision setup. Little point shooting rats in daytime, they are mostly out after dark.
These can be bought as commercial items OR you can build your own.
https://www.nightvisionforumuk.com/viewforum.php?f=3
This forum gives lots of info about how to build your own set up at greatly reduced cost, and it's a great hobby too.
A .22 rifle thumps rats harder but you have limited range. A .177 has a flatter trajectory, longer range, and will still kill the rats, even though most of the time the pellet goes straight through them. A .22 is really only much good if it is FAC, but try applying for one and see how far you get!
The next hurdle is getting a permission from the farmer/landowner. You can't just go out on the canal or wherever shooting at will like in the old days when my Dad used to take out ratting. They are making it increasingly difficult to shoot anywhere. Pretty soon all you'll be able to do is shoot targets in your back garden, in fact I would be surprised if there's some do gooder looking for a way to stop that too!
Pellet wise, avoid the cheap, sharp pointed pellets like the plague. Something like RWS superdome is a good starter for ten.
Another good choice are the GAMO Raptor types. They are a steel pellet gold plated. Lighter than lead they give you more range. They also do a steel tipped pellet with a yellow plastic surround. I have used these with good effect. Remember, if you're using a springer the lighter the pellet the better.
There are ways to increase the power of a 12FtLb gun, but I'm not going to go into that.
Hope this helps.
E
EddieM
Little drop of washing up liquid in the base of the pellet is supposed to up the power, don't know if that's actually true though.
Fill the pellet with Vaseline for an instant increase, in some cases it can be supersonic with a .177
I did a test on a piece of 1/2" MDF
One with and one without. Then take a look at the rear side of the target MDF and you'll see the difference.
Some folks use Diesel fuel or engine oil, but Vaseline is the best I have come across, as it stays put.
Forget using higher powered springs or drilling out the bore aperture, it makes no difference. Unless you increase the bore or stroke of the piston you're on a road to nowhere.
I did a test on a piece of 1/2" MDF
One with and one without. Then take a look at the rear side of the target MDF and you'll see the difference.
Some folks use Diesel fuel or engine oil, but Vaseline is the best I have come across, as it stays put.
Forget using higher powered springs or drilling out the bore aperture, it makes no difference. Unless you increase the bore or stroke of the piston you're on a road to nowhere.
Did you buy anything then , @dh000g?
Never heard of that. Anyone know why these soprts of things are supposed to work?
I went to my local gun store just as lockdown was starting and got a 2nd hand .22 rifle and a tub of pellets (no idea what).
I also got a cheapish red/green dot sight.
So far the rats are winning. The council put down poison whcih they ignored. Our electric trap they'd set off but it didn't seem to kill them. Our live-capture trap has been sat for a fortnight and they haven't been inside.
Our rats seem fairly timid out in the country so you basically get one shot then they disappear for ages. And the place they like to hang out is hard to get a good shot. And I'm pretty busy so finding time to go sit with a gun is difficult. I've got it sighted in OK but so far, no rat murders.
I shall have to try again over the weekend!
Have you zeroed in your sights? The reason I ask is that you say the rats are winning ; it's out that you're shooting at them but missing, or they're just staying away?
Re: traps, I have had good results will kill trap (like an industrial mouse trap), baited with chocolate, and hidden in a run they were using.
IIUC, putting oil in the pellet tail causes "dieseling", where the compression of the piston upon firing causes the oil to ignite. Effectively, instead of the pellet being shot by compressed air, it is also powered by the expanding ignition as well. I don't know whether vaseline behaves in the same way.
E
EddieM
Don't think it causes ignition, but it vapourises the substance causing an uplift in pressure. Could well be wrong on that though.
Foot of water in base of dustbin and lace a ramp up too top with bait, screw a narrow baton to inside just below the rim and grease it, extra bait on it. Rats are greedy and will fall in trying to get food.
Sponsored Links
