I've got a "squirrel problem" with my bird feeders - I've been pestering them with a CO2 BB pistol, but need something more accurate and apparently more lethal (the only way you're going to keep them from a food source).
Someone loaned me a Beeman R1 in .177 to try, but I can't hit a darn thing with it. They have a nice Leupold scope on it, but it's both slightly tilted and I have a terrible time with eye relief - can't go messing with their scope, but the only way I can get a good sight picture is to hold it off my shoulder. Doing so means accuracy suffers, and since I don't have it jammed into my shoulder, the recoil keeps me from seeing where the pellets are hitting so I can correct.
Anywho...
Anybody got some suggestions?
I'm currently considering the SIG MCX but can't quite pull the trigger.
CO2 powered would be nice for no muss, no fuss shots - a break barrel rifle is quite a production just for one shot, and my squirrels are currently so gun shy that It's difficult to crack a window in order to get a shot off. With a spring powered rifle, if you don't get the shot off you can't just let it set 'til next time.
I'm torn between:
1. .177 or .22 pellet.
2. The SIG MCX or Winchester MP4 (seems to get good reviews).
I've pretty much squirrel-proofed my feeders, but I've got so many of the darn things that I need to thin the herd a bit.
Suggestions or experience anyone?
Ghost pepper is the best load you can buy, pour feed in a bucket spray with cheap oil in a can mix then pour in powdered cayenne or better ghost pepper. Chilli oil with a very high Skoville number will work. Then use as you alway do. Birds either do not react or simply do not care. BUT Mr Squiirel getting a mouthful will do a triple reverse gainer off the feeder. It may take 3 mouthfuls but silly rat will eventually figure it out. We did this and watched in amazement as they tried 2-3 even 4 times before they understood that they could not eat the "free lunch".
I simply bought pretreated feed.
If you are going to want to do contract work. Be advised springers (be they metal coil or piston), have a double recoil and you need the artillery hold to make they work best, (if they are magnum springers). That said, a multipump pneumatic will handle same as a Firearm. Shoots exactly the same.
Follow through is needed as the speed of the pellet means you can move the POI by twitching until it hits ,so keep aiming after you drop the hammer. A "bloop tube" can be made by the user and is not a silencer in any fashion, but helps with better aiming.
Keep you gun shooting at subsonic speeds choose a heavy pellet. If you are close in, use wad cutters they shoot very straight at near in distances. Subsonic shots will yield less noise, (yep, those suckers do make a lot of noise as they go Mach1). Further out a domed ,(not pointed), or a hollow point yield better accuracy. (pointies are good closer in like wad cutters)
And go for head shots,,,,,always, practice at distance needed and go for dime groups.
Every springer (just about) is pellet sensitive and you can spend a lot of time finding the best pellet, but when you do buy a lots , like 20 tins or as fast as you can afford them. Again multipumps are usually not very pellet sensitive nor do they require the artillery hold.
Artillery hold lightly hold gun rest gun on open palm, or back of hand. The gun needs to be let free to move about. And keep aiming after you pull the trigger. It matters. If you find the right place to put your hand then put painters tape at that spot (removable)a piece for the thumb another for the pinky, hold it then relax that hand. I have a Sheridan Blue Streak, a multi pump from the early 70's 20 caliber. The gent who invented it first designed the pellet in 20 cal. He felt it gave all the best characteristics. And the rigger is a very super light trigger. A lawyers dream or nightmare, depending on if you represent the maker or the person suing you when Johnny shoots he best friends eyeballs out by dropping it. I love it.
There is at least 1 company that sells sampler packs. I just don't remember who they are.
Oh and if you shoot a PCP (pre charged pneumatic, same as a pumper with an on board tank, refilled from a scuba tank), while it is expensive it is wonderful, and expensive , (to me), but with calibers up to nearly 72 (custom), they are lethal, to people or tree rats, or in some states, big cats. One day I will get a Marauder or the newest intro level one. Magazine fed is nice. There is on incredible one that uses the expanded gases to load the next round, so you can take 8 shots in a row, as fast as you pull the trigger. They have, on board built in suppressors or shrouds. And a 30 cal. pellet is quite lethal, as are the 45 and 50 cal.
I am a newb to Air Rifles but have been reading about them for years. I now own a few and only get to shoot once in a while. I do not shoot on my property as if I get a flyer it will go through any fencing around me and still could hurt a kid or a pet. Everything I wrote is from my readings from many good sources.
One last thing, accuracy over speed any day is what is needed. Crosman and many others will say 1250 FPS (then using lead free pellets). Well, they never get to 1250 and if they do, they are not accurate. Everybody who chrony's them, says that. The better rifles and especially the European ones are closer to the truth. Many people will say if the chrony is believed that 1250 is more like 850, or if lucky 950 fps.
But unless there is a lead free ammo restriction Lead Free pellets usually stink. And they wake the dead as they are supersonic. Slower lead pellets properly matched to the gun shoot slower but better and can splatter a bunny's brain box or a squirrel's. They willl flop around a bit, but so will a chicken if you wack its head off.
jest say'n
