Pest Control Air Gun Question

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Phydeaux642

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I have seriously been considering getting a suppressor for a pest control .22lr but I don't really want to deal with the hassle and wait of getting one. So, now I'm considering getting an air rifle/pistol instead.
Lot's of internet based "reviews", or propaganda posing as reviews, that I don't want to wade through so I'll just see what recommendations I can get here.
I'm looking for the quietest air rifle/pistol that still has enough power to take down squirrels. "Quiet" is the key word here as I don't want to freak out the neighbors. Thanks.
 
I have seriously been considering getting a suppressor for a pest control .22lr but I don't really want to deal with the hassle and wait of getting one. So, now I'm considering getting an air rifle/pistol instead.
Lot's of internet based "reviews", or propaganda posing as reviews, that I don't want to wade through so I'll just see what recommendations I can get here.
I'm looking for the quietest air rifle/pistol that still has enough power to take down squirrels. "Quiet" is the key word here as I don't want to freak out the neighbors. Thanks.
I loaned my Sheridan "Blue Streak" .20 caliber air rifle to my buddy, Gary, for a couple of weeks last year. He said he solved his "squirrel problem" with it - at least temporarily.
The problem is, I don't know how "quiet" my Sheridan "Blue Steak" is compared to other air rifles. It's a bit quieter than a .22 LR fired from a rifle. I can tell you that much, but it still might upset your neighbors. Gary lives in Downey, Idaho - I suspect his neighbors might be a little more tolerant of air rifle shooting than neighbors in a big city might be.:)
 
I loaned my Crosman 760 Pumpmaster in .177 to a buddy who lived deep in the city (Denver) for squirrels raiding his garden. It had a cheapo .22 scope on it.

Pumping it irritated my arthritis, so I rarely used it,

The beauty of it was you could keep it quiet by not pumping it to the whole 10-pump pressure.

Upshot: When I asked him about the noise at 10 pumps, he said the neighbors were thanking him for shooting the squirrels anyway !

Terry, 230RN

https://www.crosman.com/product/cro...-177-pellet-bb-pneumatic-pump-air-rifle-brown


.
 
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The problem is, I don't know how "quiet" my Sheridan "Blue Steak" is compared to other air rifles. It's a bit quieter than a .22 LR fired from a rifle. I can tell you that much, but it still might upset your neighbors.

This ^! One man's "quiet" seems to be another man's " it's so loud I need hearing protection"! :D

It does seem that .22/.25's are quieter (in general) than the .177's due to lower velocity. All I can say is that my recently bought Gamo Whisper started off a bit loud but got quieter after 50 or so rounds through it. I (and my daughters) compare it to a very light duty nail gun and, with my neighbors being 20 yards away, I can shoot it without too much worry... unless it is dead silent outside. Background noise, i.e. traffic, airplanes, air conditioning units, geese honking incessantly, etc. all help in masking the noise...
 
Look for one that comes with a fully shrouded barrel. I’ve tried most all of the airguns on the market and if you want hunting power with minimal noise you’re gonna need the shrouded barrel. PCP is expensive to get into but it is the way to go ultimately. I can shoot mine while sitting on the porch having a conversation and not interrupt the conversation while shooting. How you tune it has a great affect on the noise level it produces. Mine is quiet enough the neighbors can’t hear it and the animals don’t get spooked. You can shoot a squirrel and the other ones just look around wondering what happened and go back to what they were doing. The impact of the pellet is the loudest part of the process.
 
My experience is with a Daisy Avanti refurbed by CMP. It's already extremely quiet, but lower powered than what you're expecting. It's great for chipmunks. . .

None the less, if you keep the muzzle back 5' inside the house, even a subsonic .22LR is hardly perceptible in the neighbor's yard. Use the house as you silencer.
 
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Some air rifles are louder than a .22lr without a suppressor. My Benjamin discovery makes more noise than a 20” barreled .22 shooting standard velocity ammunition, for example.

There are “moderated” ones as well that reduce the noise a lot. My Benjamin Marauder being one of them, it still makes more noise than a suppressed .22 but is quiet for an air rifle.



If you want real quiet, get one of those compressed seed bird feeding blocks or dried corn and put it in a live trap. An even better idea if you live in a city where shooting an air rifle is the equivalent of shooting a firearm and prohibited.
 
FX Whisper.

Integrated shrouded barrel PCP, dead quiet as long as you don't press it up to sonic velocities
 
FX Whisper.

Integrated shrouded barrel PCP, dead quiet as long as you don't press it up to sonic velocities
That's it right there; keep the velocities subsonic and there won't be a sound
 
For my neighborhood safaris I find that CCI CB 22 shorts used in a rifle are quieter than my air rifles. I have taken down many small to large neighborhood pests.
 
If squirrel be your quary and neighbors are close and in everyone’s business. Trap them. Can modify a rat trap to kill squirrel. Havahart traps work good. Then again a simple pump BB gun can take small game.
 
I have been shooting 2 to 3 squirrels a day with my PCP Air Venturi Avenger 25 cal. little to no noise. but I can shoot a 22 and not bother anyone, BUT the ammo is dirt cheap. BUT there is the rifle $400 and the high pressure are pump $200. then you are set up to shoot for near nothing. forget how many shots per air fill up with my regulated rifle but maybe 30 or 40. maybe $15 for 300 pellets. and can take down a coyote.
 
Any excuse to get yourself a nice adult air rifle is valid.
No excuse necessary.
Mine is a Hatsun 95. Probably not much difference in power or noise than a .22short.....
Fun, accurate. No gunpowder required.
 

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I live in the city and had a problem with squirrels and chipmonks in my garden. I got the $75 Crosman Tyro. The spring in loud, but that is all that you hear, so I'm sure the neighbors never notice it. For the price, it has nice sites and is very accurate. It is a little weak, I clocked it at 595 fps with 7.9 gr cheap Crosman pellets. Half of the squirrels I've hit didn't have an exit wound, but still died right there. With the iron sites and cheap pellets, I can keep a quarter sized group at 25 ft pretty easy.
 
Look for one that comes with a fully shrouded barrel. I’ve tried most all of the airguns on the market and if you want hunting power with minimal noise you’re gonna need the shrouded barrel. PCP is expensive to get into but it is the way to go ultimately. I can shoot mine while sitting on the porch having a conversation and not interrupt the conversation while shooting. How you tune it has a great affect on the noise level it produces. Mine is quiet enough the neighbors can’t hear it and the animals don’t get spooked. You can shoot a squirrel and the other ones just look around wondering what happened and go back to what they were doing. The impact of the pellet is the loudest part of the process.

I just bought my first PCP. Umarex Origin. It was a little under $350 and included a decent hand pump.
PCP is not nearly as pricey as you might think for an entry level gun.
BTW, I sighted it in at about 20 yards in my back yard and it punches single holes In my target and my cedar fence. Oops!
 
I have my eye on a shrouded .22PCP, possibly the Gauntlet from Umarex to go with m RWS 34 in .177. That .177 gets two loud noises - the spring and the sonic crack so something quieter to take out the squirrels would be better.
 
PCP is the way to go if you take it seriously.

I've replaced the 22LR & WMR with a FX Cutlas in 22 and i train a lot more with this than I did with the "real" rifles.

Shooting 22LR in your suburbian back yard is kinda frown upon...
Nobody cares about an air rifle.

I'm restricted to 10 J muzzle energy, but if I happen to reassemble it slightly wrong after cleaning, then we leave subsonic behind.

Initial cost is steep, the thing is not to see it as an air gun, but as a quality rifle that's propelled by air and then it's frankly not expensive at all.

 
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A friend has done Urban Tree Rat control with an RWS 45, a big break barrel spring gun.
It is not very loud.

I have read that a spring gun is not as loud as a pre-compressed air gun.
I never thought to compare it with my well pumped Sheridan, though; and the 5mm is now long gone.
 
Well, I'll have to consider some of these. Yes, I know I'm not supposed to shoot sqirrels in town but the town I live in is such a toilet anymore that maybe LE will leave me alone since they can't really stay on top of the murders and shootings that happen here all of the time now. I've tried the trapping thing and it was too big of pain in the hind end to continue with it.
 
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