Hunting with Air Guns

[leathermanwave]

Completly not my intention but I took the shot and I paid $200 bucks for that damn dog.

Why in the world did you pay your neighbors for a dog that was on your land killing your chickens? I would have shot both dogs.

 

[jbkebert]

If the dog growled at one of my kids completly different story. I felt bad as hell for killing the mans dog. Yes I warned him, I found my dog lying dead in my yard from some jerk drivng around shooting peoples pets and cattle. I was so pissed off. I can't kill a mans dog and not feel responsible for it. I hit the dog from 35 or 40 yards away. I thought it would sting the hell out of it and it would run off. I always looked at the thing like a overpriced red ryder boy did I give it more respect after that.

 

[6x6pinz]

RWS 48 in .177 with a nice 3x9 air rifle scope and just this year took a turkey with it at 22yds. I have taken a bunch of squirrels, rabbits and miscellaneous birds with it.

I would love to have a 22 cal for hunting only but the 177 is working and matches the other air rifles I already have.

 

[t165]

I would think if the dogs were on your property killing your poultry then the dog was bought and paid for. But I can also understand wanting to keep on good terms with your neighbor and sympathy for the animal. In rural areas dogs who start packing up create all kinds of mischief...sometimes much worse than killing chickens. I've killed many mischievous/feral dogs but not with an air rifle.

The pawn shop I visited had (1) Gamo Hunter Extreme in .177 caliber. He had me cock it and then told me to shoot it without a pellet at the floor. I told him that was hard on an airgun but he said he did not care. When I pulled the trigger that thing sounded like a real rifle. Other people in the store were startled. It was his private rifle he was selling to buy a stored air model. He was not a large man and he had to stick the gun between his legs and pull down with both hands to get it cocked. The biggest animals I have killed are possums and coons with my RWS 34 .177. These are pushing the capabilities of my rifle. It will be interesting to see what the RWS 350 magnum can do. I have 250 rounds through it so far and it has smoothed out pretty nice. Much more power on the spinners and black birds do not stand a chance as far as I can hit them. I use open sights because the RWS airguns are such a PITA to scope.

 

[t165]

The RWS 350 Magnum is smoothing out nicely! About 500 rounds through it now. A spokesbird for the local sparrow population is pictured below.

Okay...I have tried to upload the picture for two days and about 20 times without success. If I figure out what I'm doing wrong I'll post the pic later.

 

[hardluk1]

I know this is a air rifle tread but if any of you have a good 22 bolt rifle look to AGUILLA ammo they have some 375fps, 500fps 22 rifle ammo that will shoot a 20 grain bullet that will make no more bang than most of these new air rifles. My wifle uses a old reming ton 22 rifle we have for raccon control at our old home and its so quite that she can get up and slooolwy open a slideing door about 1" and stick that rifle out and shoot one in the guts and while the second one watches his buudy running around she will shoot the second one at 10 feet. All i hear in side is a trigger snap. For the cost of ammo it would take a while to pay for those good air rifles at 3 bucks a box for 22's . And you can still just change ammo for a 1750 fps 30gr 22 for them too.

 

[t165]

hardluk1, I have tried the Aguila .22 Super Colibri ammunition, I think 500fps. It is far quieter than either of my air rifles. All I hear is the click of the trigger mechanism and the impact of the bullet on target. I have fired this ammunition less than 30 feet from from friends and family members and they did not even notice. Unfortunately for me after just a few shots my accuracy is so bad groups open up to the 5-6 inch range at about 50 feet. The bore of the Remington 581 I used was extremely fouled. Even after cleaning the barrel these cartridges are nothing to brag about in the accuracy deptartment. Vertical impacts are huge even with a clean bore. I would appreciate any advice I could get to make these cartridges perform accurately in my rifle.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Air guns are at home where it may be illegal to shoot firearms, such as inside city limits. But most airguns are too heavy for the field, relative to a better choice in a .22 rifle. I suppose if you were gonna let a young teenager loose in the woods where there are houses within a mile and the kid is not 100% trustworthy on the 4 rules, but is 97% trustworthy, then you might give him a springer and let him have at it, over a firearm.

 

[RoostRider]

Another vote for a Gammo Hunter +1. Mine drops rabbits and tree rats without any problem. I shot the neighbors rotwheiler that kept getting into my chickens and dropped him on the spot. I could not beleive that it killed a 90+ pound dog. I wanted to scare the hell out of him but it went a little furthur than that. I felt bad as hell and bought him another dog. I guess I really did not have to. I had warned him several times to keep his dog away. It still was not what I wanted. Goes to show how powerful some of these pellet rifles can be.

So you said.... about 6 posts up from there.... ....

 

[jbkebert]

To Roostrider

Sure make me feel like a dumba$$. I didn't even notice that I had posted on this issue before. I still have shooters remorse apparently

 

[hardluk1]

t165 A did not have any fouling from them wonder if the barrel made a difference . Mine is a old rem 511 i think, peep site bolt gun. I did a bore polish on it like every gun i own ,don't know if that helps too. If a barrels is two long or maybe not the smoothest i guess you could be drag a bullets fps down also, hummm. I use to shot shorts and cb's back in florida ,a little more noise but not much but clean'n the chamber sucked. so a tried these s l o w aguilla rounds. Is do see they also have a 900fps round ,might have to try it. I do bet that new chipmunk bolt pistols and these type rounds would be the trick. I do shootthe aguilla lr 500fps in in my basement,only 15 yards but will shoot 1/2" or a bit less ok.I do bore snake it will kroil oil each time i finish shooting and then a good cleaning maybe twice a year. They do shot dirty but no trouble. Oh well.

 

[Lou McGopher]

I suppose if you were gonna let a young teenager loose in the woods where there are houses within a mile and the kid is not 100% trustworthy on the 4 rules, but is 97% trustworthy, then you might give him a springer and let him have at it, over a firearm.

Keep 'em supervised until they are 100% trustworthy. A kid can do a lot of damage with a spring-loaded bb gun.

If you don't trust em 100%, and don't want to supervise, get em a nerf gun.

 

[t165]

It doesn't take a genius to know nobody is 100% trustworthy, particularly a teenager.

I simply could not help mentioning "genius" in response to such a demonstrative username.

All kidding aside. I added a bit too much chamber lube to my older RWS 34 and my velocities diminished considerably. At 20 yards the same pellets are striking the target about 4-5 inches lower prior to adding the chamber lube. The nozzel of the chamber lube had a blockage and I squeezed the plastic bottle too hard and squirted too much lube into the chamber. I am at about 50-60 subsequent fired shots now and the velocity is not improving.

 

[TheFallGuy]

Well, considering Lewis and Clark carried a .31 caliber air rifle on their famous voyage (and got food with it frequently), and air gun is an excellent way to beat ammo prices and get rabbit or squirrel! I use a Benjamin Super Streak. It does a wonderful job and is quite accurate. I got it from this place: http://www.pyramydair.com/p/benjamin-sheridan-super-streak-air-rifle.shtml

 

[Cowboygunsmith]

Living in southern Idaho I have the great pleasure of getting to hunt wistle pigs (kind of like a small parie dog). My greatest enjoyment in the sprint is taking my Danna top break single shot .17cal pellet gun and shoot the little criters. I have shot and killed more than you can count at ranges up to 75 yards but this has to be done in the early morning when there is no wind. A high quality air gun is extremly accurate and is more fun and cheap to shoot than just about anything you will find. It is great practic to keep you shooting eye refined for hunting in the fall. Oh I have killed a badger with it but it was at about 25 feet and I shot it through the roof of the mouth while he was hissing at me. Have fun.

 

[scalper]

My Hammerli X2 is an outstanding small pest hunting rifle. It comes with interchangeable barrels .22 and .177. I have clocked the .177 at about 1100 fps and the .22 at 920 fps. In fact, the .177 sometimes exceeds the sound barrier and makes a crack like a .22LR making my neighbor believe I was shooting a firearm in the backyard [ouch!!]. As a result, I now only use the .22 barrel.

My other favorite piece of work is a Crosman 1377 pistol that I have modified with a steel breech, a Williams notched blade sight, exotic wood grips, etc. It is a ton of fun and is great for hunting starlings and other little undesirable critters in the back yard.

 

[Hunter123]

I hunt small game with my Gamo shadow express. It has all the knock down power you'll need for small game. It is in a .22 caliber.

 

[Speedo66]

Certain states apply rules to airguns as regular rifles when hunting.

In NY the rule about being 500' from a dwelling applies to airguns when hunting.

 

[12many]

Look at the crossman Quest 1000 also. It is about $100 so less quality than something in the $200 range (it has plastic sights.) That being said, it gets good reviews and shoots strong. I had one for a short period and it seemed good for the price. I was amazed at the power.

Ruger AirHawk is another good one in the similar price range.

Better quality around $200 though.

 

[MCgunner]

Cheap Walmart Crossman, trigger absolutely sux, but it kills grackles and starlings pretty well dead. Pretty accurate gun if you can handle the trigger's inch of creep.