Don't underestimate an air rifle!

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TheEgg

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Messages
1,363
(Trying to make long story short) -- There had been several reports around our area (rural) about a very large feral dog -- we had lost a cat, some other neighbors had lost a small dog, some chickens, a goat, etc. So everyone was aware and a little nervous about this. Where I live we have no 'animal control'. By all reports, tt was apparently a large german sheppard.

Last Saturday, nice weather, I was out in the back yard doing some target practice with my air rifle, a Beeman CrowMagnum IV in .22 caliber. I had just cocked and loaded, when out of the woods comes running the dog in question -- it had seen another of our cats right at the edge of the woods and grabbed it and proceeded to crush it.

I did the instinctive thing -- raised the rifle, aimed at the head and fired. I had thought that I might be able to startle the dog enough to get it to drop the cat and run. To my great surprise, the dog dropped dead right there, instantly.

Examining the dog, I had hit it square between the eyes, the pellet had penetrated and did a "one shot stop". Distance, 25 yards.

I have only used this air rifle for small varmints around the house and barn, and never intended to use it on anything larger -- this was just "one of those things" that happen fast and you use what you have.

But I have a new respect for the power of these magnum air rifles and wished to relay this experience to let everyone with one of these air rifles know to treat them with the utmost respect

(BTW, the cat, after a trip to the vet and a lot of stitches, will probably be OK!)
 
I've been looking for a quiet squarrel killer..maybe this is it......thanks for the post....and good shooting BTW..:cool:
 
Egg, how loud is the CrowMagnum? I bought an R7 because I wanted something quiet. The magnum powered guns all seem pretty loud (for air rifles) to me.

Good shooting, by the way.
 
If you want a quiet air rifle, get the pneumatic or CO2 kind, the spring-type air rifles can be quite loud.

A good .22 air rifle is more than enough for squirrels. Just make sure you get a decent one (RWS, Beeman, etc.)
 
Wow! A new & lethal phrase.
Click to expand...

Not new at all. That term's been around for years. It's used to describe high powered air rifles over and above the kiddie ones you see at Wal-Mart. At the extreme high end, you can hunt big game.

Chris
 
Noise

Don't know how to describe noise level very well -- it is certainly not as loud as a .22lr, but louder than a Daisy BB gun.

I guess the closest I can get is that if you have ever fired a .22lr shot shell, it is about that loud (or soft, depending on your point of view!). It certainly is not silent.

Thanks for the compliments on the shooting -- but in all honesty I must admit that a little bit of luck was with me on that shot!
 
Careful. Magnum Air Rifles are the weapon of choice for criminals and drug dealers...:D
 
Lewis&Clark carried an airgun which was capable of killing deer. Someone makes custom airguns firing 50 caliber lead balls at over 1000fps today. Can be used to hunt pigs and larger game, although I can't find the link right now.
 
I bought my 5 mm Sheridan to kill pigeons in the steel fabricating plant I worked at in Georgia. Pellets would pass thru the pigeon and bouce off the corrugated steel walls/roof. :D
 
The Quackenbush site was the one I was thinking of. Looks like Barnes has some very nice guns, though they're too expensive for me. :(
 
The ATF watchword for Airgun and paintball silencers is:

"Readily Convertable"

So if you had an airgun in a caliber that's not in any known firearm, and you permanantly welded a supressor for that caliber to the airgun, it would still boil down to:

"Does the ATF feel like seeing you prosecuted today?"

.177 caliber only? Sorry, there's all sorts of .17 caliber rifles out there.

Welded on? Sorry, you could cut it off with a hacksaw, and duct tape it to a real gun.

Etc. etc. etc.

The ATF has a habit of zip tying parts together on a machine rest and getting it to fire once in the manner they're trying to prosecute, and using that as evidence in court.

I know a few airguns do come with integral suppressors on some models, the Gunpower Stealth comes to mind, (My local gun store even had one for sale) but presumably they've jumped through all the hoops and had thier designs pass muster with the ATF tech branch.
 
i have killed armadillos and opossoms with my gamo single pump 1000fps air gun.

works fine when the .22 is a little to loud. midnight stealth style
 
...If you want a quiet air rifle, get the pneumatic or CO2 kind, the spring-type air rifles can be quite loud....
Click to expand...
-Do you mean mechanical noise? The CO2 and PCP guns I have heard were the louder ones. They actually have a muzzle blast that spring-pistons do not....
------
-Spring-piston air rifles do not have any "muzzle blast" as it is, but cheaper ones do have mechanical noise from the giant spring inside going "TWANG!" when you pull the trigger. There's a couple rifles however that use a gas-filled ram (like a car shock absorber) instead of a mechanical spring. Theoben in the UK makes them (A few different models), Hermann Weirach makes a lower-priced one under license also (HW-90). In the US, Beeman sells the Theoben Eliminator as the Crow Magnum (~$1000), and the HW-90 as the RX-2 (~$500). In Europe they come with silencers, but US-market ones get muzzle weights or bare barrels. People in the US who have fitted silencers to these guns have found basically no change in the noise levels.
....
Depending on the caliber used, these guns run up to about 25 ft-lbs (for the Eliminator) and 22 ft-lbs (RX-2). These guns have no muzzle blast at all and make very little noise when fired, and what noise they do make is totally unfamiliar to most people and animals. I have an RX purchased several years back, it is a very nice-shooting airgun and having the power level adjustable is a major strong point. By adjusting the ram pressure, you can "tune" the gun very accurately with just about any pellets. Mine is a .177 that shoots the fabled 1125 FPS, but that requires a light pellet, doesn't get you a lot of accuracy and it's hard on the piston seal. The gun will shoot pellets at supersonic speeds which sounds odd--because you don't hear any muzzle blast, but you hear the pellet crack echo back to you. There is a noticeable time delay between the trigger pull and the noise.
------------
US shooters have gotten ahold of UK "barrel shrouds" for various airguns on the sly and use them.
This is pretty much throwing yourself on the ATF's mercy in advance, however.
If you're in the US and just itching for a legal unlicensed silenced airgun, then check out the Air Force Talon SS--Pyramid Air sells them, for one. $439, PCP mini-tank, single-shot with a "suppressing" barrel shroud.
http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/show.pl?cmd_rifles=show_guns_manufacturer&Manufacturer=Air Force
~
 
Egg ... definitely a fine example of effective shot placement .. good result. As you may well have thought yourself tho .. a tad higher perhaps and thicker bone ... maybe not much effect.

It's true tho .... never under estimate a pellet guns potential for damage ... you maybe saw my thread on pellet ballistics?? This one in case you are interested......

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?threadid=43643

I have several air weapons the most potent being a ''Eurolux'' .... got thru Sportsman's Guide coupla years back ...... it was quoted as .177 1,000 fps ..... well, it does chrono at 950 with my heavy pellets so it ain't bad at all .... even if ft lb figures seem feeble. It sure does go deep into OSB at 20 yards. .......


Eurolux ......


eurolux_s.jpg
 
My Beeman Vulcan in .177 has to its credit 3 Raccons and countless squirrell sized rodents it has also taken on many Ravens and crows. They are to be respected these airguns have lots of UMPH. I only use the high cost ammo that is coated and pointed.
 
According to folks on the airgun forums, ATF refuses to discuss anything regarding airguns. The claim it is outside their realm of responsibility. I've also never heard of anyone with an integral airgun supressor running afoul of the ATF either.

Chris
 
...According to folks on the airgun forums, ATF refuses to discuss anything regarding airguns. The claim it is outside their realm of responsibility....
Click to expand...
- It has been noted that all of the current (three?) different "suppressed" airguns available in the US use barrel shrouds that attach to their receivers -- not their barrels. And this is assumed to be the technical distinction making them "integral"--you cannot put the shroud on any weapon that is not designed for it, unless you make an adaptor. And with the "soda-bottle adaptors" of days gone by, the ATF ruled that the adaptor constituted the constructed part.
....Pure net speculation, but does make some sense.....
~
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

K
  • Locked
BB/Pellet Gun for Dog Control
2 3
Replies
61
Views
36K
Larry Ashcraft
Larry Ashcraft
C
  • Locked
Enough about bears, how about cougars?
2 3 4
Replies
83
Views
4K
wesessiah
W
H
  • Locked
Did Meriwether Lewis Carry an Assault AIR Rifle?
Replies
5
Views
4K
Harry Tuttle
H
B
  • Locked
Air Rifle Info Needed
Replies
16
Views
862
hso
hso
B
  • Locked
Help me pick an air pistol, please.
Replies
4
Views
688
No Trespassing
N
Back
Top