[280PLUS]

Just got my new Daisy 953 Pro Target rifle with the intended use being to cull down the squirrels that raid the birdfeeders. I THOUGHT it was 1000FPS but turns out I misread and it's max velocity is 560 FPS. .177 pellet x 560 fps, is this OK for squirrels? I don't want to be wounding the little buggers. They (Daisy) are claiming it's a GREAT small game rifle but I want to hear this from somebody else. All my shots will probably be less that 25 ft. More like 15 actually.

[JAMES77257]

Marginal, at best.

[280PLUS]

Those are my thoughts. I just took it out and shot some steel cans with it. It penetrates a soup can, some through and through, at about 20 ft. I think this is sufficient given I will be shooting at close range. I'm actually kind of liking the slower velocity, as long as it works, because the neighborhood is tight and it means less chance of a stray getting too far. If I don't like the results I'll go back and get the 1000 fps model. Either way, I used it to introduce my stepdaughter to shooting today. She didn't want to at first but after one shot at the can that missed she was all about trying till she hit that can. Then she didn't want to stop. I may have created a monster. :p

[razorburn]

I had a crosman rifle when I was a kid. It was also advertised around 500fps and it literally bounced off squirrels. Thin, harder object like cans are easier to penetrate. A piece of carpet or old rug is a lot harder to shoot through than a metal can. So's an aniimals body, for that matter. Caliber is big with air rifles. They don't got that fast, but you can double the weight of the projectile for only a 10-20% loss of speed and get a big boost in power. An 800 fps .22 air rifle shooting 14 gr pellets packs a bigger whallop than a 1000 fps .177 shooting 7 grain projectiles. Air gun manufacturers exaggerate velocity figures a lot too.

[280PLUS]

What distance were you shooting at? 20 ft seems to be maximum range for good penetration on a steel can. My shots will be at ~ 12 ft from an upstairs window. Two things, one, I think the squirrels know. Ever since the can test yesterday they haven't left the treeline at all to attack the feeders which strikes me as strange. They've been pretty bold up to this point. And if the gun proves to be unacceptable for close range on squirrels you can bet your bottom dollar I'll have Daisy's butt not long after. I HATE false advertisement and they'll find out how much if that's what they're up to. I already know long shots are out of the question but in my case, for my purposes, it may work. I'll keep you all posted.

[HankB]

According to the kill charts in an old Beeman catalog, squirrels, starlings, and pigeons need about 3 ft. lbs, equating to an impact velocity of 415 ft/sec. If your rifle is putting out 560 ft/sec, a typical flathead pellet will fall to that velocity somewhere in the vicinity of 20 yards or so out.

Beeman's catalog states "Carefully practiced head shots are necessary . . . "

Rats or rabbits (presumably cottontails) require about 5 ft. lbs, or 515 ft/sec with a .177 pellet. Jackrabbits about 8 ft. lbs, or 670 ft/sec.

So if your rifle is actually putting out an honest 560 ft/sec, you should be able to kill a squirrel at 15 to 25 feet IF you place the pellet with near-surgical precision . . . not trivial, considering both parallax error and the rainbow-like pellet trajectory.

I have an RWS M48 which clocks an honest 1100+ ft/sec - but only if I use light pellets. Using "Superdome" (which seem to be most accurate in my rifle) I've taken cottontails at 30+ yards, and a couple of armadillo (!) at about half that distance. Accuracy is pinpoint up to about 40 yards, at which point groups begin to grow a lot faster than the increase in range.

[bigcim]

Has any body had experience with break barrel type pellet guns, do they hold there zero. It seems to me moving the barrel would cause the gun to be inaccurate, thats why I always stuck with the fore end pump models

[peteinct]

Hi, I ave a RWS model 34 which is a break barrel spring piston rifle. The rear sight is mounted on the barrel not the receiver so everything stays the same relative to each other. It is a good gun with a trigger that better then some of my centerfire rifles. It supposedly shoots a 177 cal pellet at 1000 fps.

Mark, I would look at the RWS line if you are interested in serious airguns. There is a good site www.pyramidair.com. Did you get a squirrel cookbook for christmas?
pete

[sixgunner455]

15 feet should be doable, especially if you take head shots. I don't hunt with my pellet gun, but I did have a quail get loose from my cage (I was training my brit the next day). He hid under the bushes, and I couldn't net him, cause he'd run away to the next one. So I shot him through the body with my pellet gun, at about 15 feet. He flopped and stayed there, but then stood back up. I shot him through the head, and that was it.

Then had the little pup (6 or 8 months at the time) trail and find him. She wasn't sure about picking him up, but did get excited about it.

[bigcim]

what about scoped break barrel

[280PLUS]

Thanks for the Beeman info, good stuff.

HEY PETE! I was just thinking about how I ain't heard from you lately. :D And YES I DID get a small game cookbook (or 2) for Christmas. :p Plus "Kill It and Grill It" by some guy named Ted Nugent. Ever hear of him? :) I bought the gun specifically for the back yard. We get a LOT of crows too so they're on the "list" of stuff to shoot at in the back yard. That's why I'd be happy with the 560 FPS if it works. 1000fps has the potential for pellets to travel to far places they shouldn't.

Yup, I was firguring head shots or right behind the shoulder just like a deer. The gun IS pretty accurate. I took a target, put it in the tree next to the bird feeders and did a little target practice / sight adjusting from the chosen window at ~12-15 ft. I put all but the first round of 10 shots pretty much in the same hole once I got it dialed in. Now I swear to you, them dang squirrels haven't come anywhere NEAR the birdfeeders since the tin can test yesterday. They've been out there but won't come past the tree line. If I'd known all I had to do was go out there and brandish a weapon a bit I woulda done it YEARS ago. :rolleyes: LOL...

Of course, the wife got all on board with this only recently. She got these preformed birdseed things you're suppposed to hang in the trees, which she did. The squirrels chewed through the strings and took every one of the "ornaments" whole. She's fit to be tied. :eek: That's probably the real reason they haven't been around though. The larder is full up! ;)

FWIW I'm using Crosman "Premier" hunting pellets

['Card]

I've killed squirrels pretty consistently with an air rifle. It works as long as you've got a good rest and a well-tuned scope on it. Anything less than surgical precision just mangled them, but even then the stupid critters just kept coming back to raid my birdfeeders.

Want to know how I finally licked the 'squirrels in the backyard' problem?

Traps.
http://www.kenthomas.us/images/remote/trap.jpg

May not exactly be 'sporting', but they work like a charm. I got that one off of eBay for about $12. Now my woodpecker feeders are unmolested.

[Aries-]

my local gun store is selling new .177 pellets that are saposed to increase the velocity of the gun by about 100fps.

they might work. but i would also look into pellets that have a pointed tip instead of the flat nose.

i know my pellet rifle (shoots at 1100 fps) with flat nosed pellets makes a mess of things. (like making a birds head totaly explode... that was gross being hit in the face by the beak from 20 feet away) went back to rounded and pointed tips. works much better smaller hole on the exit. and doesent explode things.

i dont know if they would work. but i have also seen now new .177 caliber shot shells for pellet rifles. i know they are designed for a new 1000 fps pellet rifle but it may work on a normal one just as good.

the .177 also does well on larger rabbits with a well placed shot. (in the typical heart lungs area) head shot is death on contact with mine. heart shot they flop around a bit first.

[WNTFW]

Traps are 24/7. I have a job & family. The squirrels (or rats) have all day & all night. I have to admit there is a lot of reward to making the shot.

I've killed many things with 5mm & .22 air rifles.
I never considered the .177 for hunting, but I never had to. Shot placement is probably way more critical with .177.

Someone once told me that shooting a squirrel with a .22 was like shooting a deer with a 20mm. I'm not sure how it was figured or how correct it is. But I know squirrels are pretty tough.

Let us know if it drops' em,
WNTFW

[280PLUS]

Post mortem report :D

Got one this morning, put the shot right between its eye and it's ear and it dropped like a stone. It is now all cleaned and in a ziploc in the freezer and it's only a little after 10 AM. Kinda cool to have a good "hunting" spot right out the office window. I can hunt and work at the same time. :p

"Squirrel, it's what's for lunch."

LOL...

[peteinct]

Mark, I have 3 types of pellets, flat target heads, pointy hunting ones and heavy field dome pellets. Supposedly the expensive ones are more consistent also.
pete

[280PLUS]

I will, I've got the pointy hunting pellets right now and they worked just fine, it was dead before it hit the ground. I got a real nice tight group out of them yesterday too. Easily fit a dime over the group at ~ 15 ft. So I'm satisfied, I may play with the sights becasue I'm noticing the windage needs to be over a LOT to get the round on target and I think it's because the front sight is not dead on center. It's on the "muzzle weight" which is set screwed on and I believe it's a bit off center. I'm hoping I can loosen it and readjust it over but for now it's hitting right where I aim so it's not a big issue.

[bigcim]

what about scoped break barrel do they hold there zero

[tank mechanic]

Walmart sells some gold plated pointed pellets and "the box says'' that they add 25% more velocity. I have yet to chronograph them but the are cool none the less.

[280PLUS]

Well, I spent a good hour bench testing the rifle last night, no chrono unfortunately, but I'm finding that 2 or 3 out of ten are runnin' wild. About 2" out. However the rest are dead on. So I guess I try some different pellets and see what comes up. Meanwhile, I'm ceasing all squirrel removal exercises, I'm not comfortable with the flyers or the velocity. I guess I'm going to look at a different rifle. I'm starting to like airguns, they're cheap. The step daughter DID ask to shoot cans again so it's not a total loss. :D

Oh, that was at 15" I pushed it out to 50 and the results were much more pronounced. They were WAY out there.

[razorburn]

I'm starting to like airguns, they're cheap.

Heh. You're going to eat those words someday. Wait till you get into the high end PCP's, feinwerkbaus and such. Go to airguns.net and check out the link to the airgun forums, but don't say I didn't warn you.

[280PLUS]

NOOOOOO!!! :eek:

Must,,,,,,resist,,,,,aaakkkk!!


:D

[bigcim]

Question, just bought a beeman 1100 air rifle with scope. I don't know if its because I wear contacts but if I focus on the target the cross hairs fade away does anyone know how to fix this

[kungfuhippie]

yes, focus your scope, if it's in focus the crosshairs and the target will be infocus. There should be something to twist on it. If not, get a new scope.

[280PLUS]

OMG!! I just looked at Beeman's website. They got some going for $2995 !!

Scratch all previous "airguns are cheap" comments. :eek:

:p

[SW1911PD]

I used to shoot rabbits with a Beeman .22 carbine (break action). That rifle was at the top limit for allowable power in England, I think it was just under 12 footpounds (?). It worked fine up to a few tens of feet, but I replaced it with a .22LR which worked a whole lot better.

I also have a .177 CO2 pistol, supposedly 430 fps. It will kill rats at point blank range (i.e. in a trap) when the CO2 bottle is new, but forget about it at any range or if the bottle isn't new. Pellets then just bounce off the critters. Seems to me that you need to get somewhere up to 1,000 fps to be serious.

[razorburn]

Beeman doesn't make guns, they just import.

[bigcim]

really then I wonder who made mine it says beeman on the side;:uhoh: no other names

[razorburn]

They relabel them. Guns like the R1, R9, HW77/97 are made by Weihrauch. The kodiak is the Webley Patriot, match guns are relabeled Feinwerkbau guns, etc. What model do you have? If you bought from walmart or cabelas or the like, it's probably gs1000 or something like that?

[bigcim]

beeman 1100 air rifle with scope

[razorburn]

What's sold at sporting stores as the 1100 is actually the ss1000 as a package. It's made in China, a newer and less expensive version of the gs1000, which were made by Norica in Spain.

Edit- tragically enough, during the course of my research, I found that the RWS 94 air rifle I previously had doubled in value and is now a bit of a collectors item. I sold it for $150 scoped. :(

[bigcim]

the box says 1100 but the upc says 1053 is this a decent one I paid 125 at walmart

[razorburn]

It's about on par with the rest of the chinese air rifles. Not of the quality as the much more expensive, German made Weihrauch guns, but whether it's good or not is up to you. Do you like it? The QC on these are a bit mixed. You can get a very nice one, or a poorer one. $125 is a good price though.

[bigcim]

its mostly for cans and critters

[NORTEXED]

I bought my son a Daisy/Winchester 1000 Powershot for Christmas, and it has amazed me. It was like 99.95 with a decent 3/9X scope. That gun blows holes through 3/4" plywood like it's not there (don't ask how I found this out:what: ). The gun seems adequately accurate out to 100', and like I said, the power amazes me. The HV pellets I think you were talking about are actually Zinc or something and while lighter and faster at the muzzle, don't carry velocity as well. We bought him 1 tin of those, and they shoot low at 125-150' out.

[bigcim]

I still need to try 3/4 but mine goes through 1/2 ply

[razorburn]

I bought my son a Daisy/Winchester 1000 Powershot for Christmas, and it has amazed me. It was like 99.95 with a decent 3/9X scope. That gun blows holes through 3/4" plywood like it's not there (don't ask how I found this out ). The gun seems adequately accurate out to 100', and like I said, the power amazes me.

Did smoke come out the barrel or breech, or do you smell burning afterwards? The gun sounds like it may be dieseling, and this is damaging and dangerous to the gun. It's probably stopped by now if you've been shooting often since Christmas.

[280PLUS]

What's "dieseling"?

[lee n. field]

What's "dieseling"?

As air is compressed it heats up. Dieseling is what it's called when the compression heating caused by the moving piston in a spring piston rifle ignites residual oils in the piston chamber.

A little bit's OK. It's normal. But don't go squirting anything in there attempting to enhance performance.

[280PLUS]

Thanks lee,

Wow, who woulda thought. Does it happen while charging or while firing? In other words, the gun doesn't spontaneously fire while your pumping it up, does it?

[lee n. field]

It happens when the air is suddenly compressed --> It happens when firing a spring piston air gun. It does not happen when you cock a spring piston gun.

I does not happen at all with a gun you "pump up" (a multi pump pneumatic like unto the Sheridan Blue Streak).

[Hot brass]

280, as you have discovered airguns are a hoot. Some of the pricetags will cause the hair on your neck to stand. If one has the money why not?

I have guns (air) that range from $150.00 on up to $800.00 including scope.
Don`t go for the 1000fps crap. Pellets become unstable a supersonic speeds. If you are looking and want to have a blast, and a good gun, then you can order an RWS mod. 34 .177 from Midsouth. It is a nice gun. It will shoot about 900fps with a decent pellet. I like Crossman Premiers. 7.9gr to be exact. I have not found a gun that did not like the Premiers. A decent scope for this gun will cost you in the neighborhood of $150.00 plus mount. Learn to shoot the gun and kills at 35- 50 yards are possible. Its shotplacement.
In this price range is the RWS mod. 94, another gun that requires a good scope. Beeman mahes a pellet called the Crow Magnum. In .177 it will ruin a head shot pests day. I like to deal with Steve at Pomona Air.


http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000622166160

Any questions PM me.

[280PLUS]

Thanks for the replies. It turns out that, having nailed one squirrel and missed a couple others they seem to have linked the sound of the gun to bad things because a couple days ago I took a long shot (50 yds?) at one just for ha ha's knowing it would fall short and as soon as the gun went pop the squirrel was scrambling for cover and THEN I saw/heard the pellet hit the ground in front of where it was. I haven't seen a squirrel anywhere around since and I've been looking. If they start sticking their little heads up around here again I'll look into one of those more better air rifles. I had an old Simmons scope that I mounted to this one and I'm shooting much better groups with it, although I do still see the occasional flyer. For the most part it WILL put them in the same hole fairly consistently at ~20 feet anyways. Thanks for the tip on the 1000 fps vs 900, good to know.

[MP-44]

I love airguns!!!!

FX SuperSwift, PCP, .177cal., 8 shot mag with biathlon cocking, 3 power settings. Can throw a heavy ( 10.2gr ) .177cal pellet @ ( a chrony'd ) 730, 895 & 1000 fps. It can consistently hit tacks @ 40yds and 3/4" dot stickers @ 60yds. Weighs but 5.5lbs without scope ( Weaver R7 2.5-7X28 )

The perfect squirrel rifle
http://www.hunt101.com/img/466250.jpg
http://www.hunt101.com/img/467519.jpg
http://www.hunt101.com/img/467521.jpg

[Oldnamvet]

Don't put a normal rifle scope on a "springer" air rifle. The peculiar recoil will shake that scope apart in no time. For pump up air guns there is no problem, just the ones you cock using the barrel or a large side lever. Buy the air rifle scopes designed just for that type of recoil (and they aren't cheap either).:uhoh:

[Odd Job]

@ bigcim

I had a break-action spring air rifle with a scope and I can tell you it kept its zero. It was an old BSA. It is the same rifle I used to split pellets in two, by shooting a scalpel blade embedded edge on in a blob of putty.
Unfortunately the rifle was lost in a move from one house to another (not my fault, I was furious with my folks).

[Odd Job]

I agree with oldnamvet.
There is one thing worse than a spring gun though, and that is a crossbow. I have had to buy the very best air rifle scopes for my crossbow otherwise the reticles rotate :uhoh:

[NORTEXED]

Razorburn, No smoke or burnt smell I'm sure. We used to do that as kids to an old Benjamin to "Hop" it up. Used Kerosene in the air chamber between shots. Man those suckers would shoot through bothe sides of Galvenized trash cans and keep going (at least for a month or two :evil: ).

[280PLUS]

Nice rifle...

Some day maybe, right now they're not coming near the tree anymore so we've had a bit of a detente lately. I find it's not safe to shoot anywhere but out the window and down at the tree. I'm hearing too many of the more level shots zinging off the ground and into the trees.