Air Rifles For Small Game?

[Cabin Fever Bob]

I recently got my licence to do nuisance wildlife control and I've already ran into a couple of situations where it would be ideal "IF" I could have used a .22 for some small animal removal. Being that it was in an area where you can't discharge firearms I could only sit back and grumble "wishing" I could use my .22 as I watched critters walk by only 10-20 yards away. Anyway it got me wondering if an air rifle would kill these critters(squirrels to woodchucks) with a head shot out to ~20 yards??

I have a Crosman 766. Would this do the job? If not, what should I look for(fps?) in an airgun that will?? What type of pellets would you recommend that'll do some damage and put a small critter down for the count??

Thanks!

[ratthevol]

I have Killed Squirrels and Rabbits before with a .177 airgun.

Just buy some pointed pellets. I just use the Copperhead pointed pellets and they do fine.

If you are in an area where you are just worried about noise, you should try to find some .22 CB&#39;s. The are .22 shorts, but with less powder yet. I think they used to use them in the old carnival shooting galleries back in the day. I have shot plenty of birds and such in my back yard with them and the make less noise than the air gun when you use a 22 rifle. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/two-cents.gif

[QALHNTR]

I&#39;m not familiar with the 766, but any decent airgun should do fine with the critters.

My Beeman is a few steps up the quality ladder. I have a .20 that shoots @850 fps. So far, my list includes

Dove
Quail
Jack rabbit
Cotton tail
Many crows
Squirrels
One big old pigeon


Twenty yards isn&#39;t that far if you practice at that distance - good luck

[machine]

I&#39;d go with a .22 cal. spring pistion air gun.

[JDC]

Originally posted by machine@Jun 19 2003, 03:36 PM
I&#39;d go with a .22 cal. spring pistion air gun.
with the upgraded spring, plus he&#39;s added:

two more inner springs -- It takes 3 guys and a vise to cock it
and a comresso air bottle charged to 2500psi


He&#39;s got the only single stroke pellet gun that shoots a .22 cal 50 grain pellet at 3500fps! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-biggrin-aqua.gif

[Nathan]

Well if it keeps getting more difficult to buy firearms we will all be shooting super pellet guns. Until they ban those too. Or limit them

[machine]

Yah, could you imgine registering an air gun...


http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-hitting-self.gif http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-hitting-self.gif http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-hitting-self.gif

[Csbishop]

I like my rws 48 .22 But it is a little heavy.

[MNHNTR]

I hunt rats in the backyard with and old "Slavia" made in Czech. .22 breakopen single pump. bait em with dog food!

http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-gunfighter-yellow.gif

[jmabbott888]

I&#39;ve used a Crossman 760 & Daisy 880 for tree squirrels, dove, quail, rabbit ( doesn&#39;t work to great) & snakes. With head shots at about 15 yrds on a squirrel it will shake a bit then fall backwards of the tree trunk. I did this as a kid in NC when I didn&#39;t care about licences or using a shotgun on birds.

[DKScott]

As a kid, I used to shoot ground squirrels and cottontails regularly with my trusty Crossman 760 at a friend&#39;s ranch near Valley Center in SD County. The ranch is long gone, but I still have the 760. Quail, dove, lizards and rattlesnakes were also standard targets.

We used to be able to quite easily sneak to within a few yards of the bunnies in an open pasture. I can&#39;t even begin to imagine getting that close now. Apparently the rabbits had a misplaced faith in the innocence of children. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-devil.gif

Scott

[RIDGEBACK]

http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-gunfighter-yellow.gif

[GruntHunter]

I have a Beeman GH500 combo that&#39;s supposed to shoot .177 pellets at around 500+ fps and it&#39;s just NOT hacking it with disposing of squirrels. I&#39;ve had to hit them sometimes 5 or 6 times before they expire, and I&#39;m talking at 20 - 30 ft distances and using the pointed pellets. The gun is darn accurate but just seems to knock them about without always doing any serious damage. I&#39;m looking for something more powerful now and have been thinking about going to a .22 cal pellet just for the ease of handling them. Most of the ones I&#39;ve seem seem to be in the 850 fps range for .22 cal pellets. My question is; "Is that enough or should I go for the higher velocity (1,000 fps) of the .177 cal pellet guns. I think I&#39;m narrowing the field down to a Beeman or Gamo silver shadow combo. Any comments or suggestions?

The score so far for the past 2 months is:
Squirrels = 0
Me = 42

Most I&#39;ve had to trap first and shoot them several times with a pump up BB rifle.

[machine]

Webiely & Scott, Patriot .22 Cal 920 FPS

[swampfox]

I have an old Benjamin Air Rifle in .177 cal. that is 23 years old and have personally killed over 400 squirrels in a single season before with it. Some long head shots that were astronomical. I also have a Sheridan 5MM (.20 Cal) that i have used extensively to hunt squirrels and have probably bagged over 50 rabbits using it. Even on a rabbit at 35-40 yds,one shot to the head and they are grounded. Both of these guns are inexpensive at right around $100.00 ,the stocks are real wood (not plastic) and are great for small game. I would reccomend shooting lead ball pellets or diablo pellets out of both. The ballistics on both of these pellets make them deadly and they both are very accurate...I have owned and collected pellet guns and bb guns of all kinds all my life and these seem to impress me in the field more than any. They are the poor mans, http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-gunfighter-yellow.gif better quality pellet gun and they wont let you down...Try them out ,you&#39;llsee.

[Mattman]

My brother has a Gamo Hunter 220. It&#39;s no where near their top of the line. I was VERY impressed with it. Quality scope, 1 cock activating, quite accurate, good range, 1,000fps. It&#39;ll put a pellet through a piece of 7/16" thick chip board at 25 yards, a severe dent in a Coleman 1lb propane cylinder at the same distance, and a through-and-through on big gray squirrels at 40 yards. Our Dad borrowed it to dispatch of an overpopulation of barn cats (shot 35 of the approximately 40) and was impressed enough that he&#39;s buying one for himself. Cabela&#39;s carries them.

[SierraExplorer]

a severe dent in a Coleman 1lb propane cylinder at the same distance

hmm- May I ask it was empty/full and if you chew tobbacco or smoke lol.

I got a laufgh out of that sentance.

Congrats on your brothers gun- be safe and rember eye protection- Pellets DO richocet at times off of hard objects- When I was a kid we used to shoot the glass thingys on power poles and a pellet came back and stuck into his denim jeans.

Dan

[raidernation]

I bought a Gamo 440 Hunter at Big 5 for $219(With a Scope). Awesome gun, Will shoot right along with my buddies $600 Sheridan. It&#39;s a .177 @ 1000 FPS

[machine]

$600 Sheridan ???????? http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-hitting-self.gif

[Orygun]

My Crossman 277 RM puts .177 out at 850 fps. I have only had it out a few times for our crows here. Made 2 kills so far, rangefinder put em at 45 and 50 yards. I suggest whatever you get, don&#39;t chinch on the scope. Get a quality air rifle scope.

Also, the Beeman Silver Jet Magnum pellets are unbelievable. At $15 a box they aren&#39;t the cheapest, but they pack a whollop and are very accurate. I also like the copper coated pointed pellets that have that long German name.

[Bearmage]

<span style="color:green">I hunted with an airgun for years. I rented from some Indians on a reservation in Valley Center, California. I was poor back then and actually suplimented my meager groceries with rabbit and quail. I used a crossman pump bb/pellet gun. 10 pumps max and I took down some cotton tails from what I thought were impressive distances. Pointed pellets weren&#39;t common place when I was hunting with my air rifle but the regular flat pellets worked just fine. here is a site that can give you info on different makes and velocities that you can get.

bbgun world (http://www.bbgunworld.com/)

hope this helps

Bear http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/stimpy--sm-ani.gif



</span>

[JDC]

Originally posted by raidernation@Jan 26 2004, 10:17 AM
Will shoot right along with my buddies $600 Sheridan.
http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-ren.gif

Holy ripoffs Batman!

[codypernice11]

I have a Crossman 1008 pellet pistol.It has 430 f.p.s Will this pistol kill squirrels at 10 or 15 yards?

[GruntHunter]

codypernice11,

My experience has been &#39;NO&#39;. My Beeman 500 (500+ fps) won&#39;t kill them even when I have them in a trap and the gun up next to the trap. Then it even takes several shots 3-4 to take them out. I have shot them at that distance (inches) and seen the pellet just stuck in them.

I think I&#39;m going to order a Beeman GS1000 in .22 cal.

[katana]

The 1008 pistol isn&#39;t intended for hunting. Some people do but i think its cruel. Use a nice air rifle or something. A springer will normally do the trick if it&#39;s shooting at about 800 fps in .22 or a 1000fps in .177.


Regards,
katana

[Chuck N. Lead]

I&#39;ll tell you, gray squirrels have to be the toughest critters I&#39;ve hunted. I typically use a twenty two long rifle ctg. I&#39;ve made clean head shots and they don&#39;t always die. Sometimes I have to finish them off with a good number of wacks across a tree trunk. I&#39;ve thought about air guns on squirrels but I hate to see an animal suffer.

As for rabbits, you can kill them with a rubber band or dirty look!

[LeeChul]

I got my first Daisy pump BB/pellet gun when I was 3 years old, my brother got his the same day, he was 9. Dad told us not to pump them more than 5 or 6 times but as soon as we figured out that wouldn&#39;t kill even a lizzard (and we were after pigeons) we pumped them up 20 to 22 times and found out you can take just about any small game with that. Although it may be dangerous to over pump, I did it for the next 7 years on the same gun and never had any problems. In Africa I used that gun to shoot tree squirells, all kinds of birds and the occasional Guinnea Foul with a shot to the head. We didn&#39;t have the luxury of a scope though, I&#39;d say our shots ranged from 10 to 40 yards. I recall even shooting a few monkeys in the butt, only to discover that they become very angry when they&#39;ve got a piece of lead in them. -It was good to have a big dog...

Cheers

[fossilman]

I shoot a Daisy,it takes rabbits out! I bought it from a drunk for $10.00 plus free ammo..... http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-faces-toast-beers.gif

[Chuck N. Lead]

Originally posted by fossilman@Apr 17 2004, 02:08 PM
I shoot a Daisy,it takes rabbits out! I bought it from a drunk for $10.00 plus free ammo..... http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-faces-toast-beers.gif
I used to have a daisy BB gun. That was until my dad got drunk one night and sold it for ten bucks, with ammo. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-bag-on-head.gif

[theJester]

I used to have a daisy BB gun. That was until my dad got drunk one night and sold it for ten bucks, with ammo. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/%3C#EMO_DIR#%3E/smiley-bag-on-head.gif

:rotflmao:

[asaxon]

I use a spring loaded Biakal INK61 .177 and it works just fine for squirrels in the back yard here is Santa Monica. Quiet enough so as not to disturb neighbors too much and not too much penetration so I can use wooden fence etc as safe backstop. I’ve taken a couple of dozen out of the avocado tree in one year while protecting my wife’s apricot tree from predation when the fruit is ripening. I use the iron sights that come with it, makes it a challenge but the range is generally 20 meters or less. And if I miss, they come back anyway. I’ve used both target pellets and pointed pellets with good effect – always go for head shots. This is a far cry from my Benjamin Marauder that shots very quietly but at over 1000 fps, it is far to powerful to use in built up area except with prepared range/target/backstop. However, it is deadly accurate and with it's 3-9 objective adjustable scope, it would be a terror for squirrels etc. in open areas. Pellets go right through ½ plywood at 25 yards.