BB / PELLET guns

did a search and didn't find
any of you use pellet or bb guns for small game?
any recommended favorite plinkers?

cant use them in FL

Howdy: I shoot an RWS 48. I love it. It works great on feathered rats (pigeons) and the four legged ones also. Have not tried on anything bigger then that. I have been trying to get on the list to buy a .38 caliber Quackenbush air rifle. That would be good to use on the songdogs near our local golf courses.

I didn't even know they made .38 cal air rifles... damn

Georgia requires .22 rimfire for dispatch of trapped furbearers. Also, bobcat and fox may only be hunted/harvested with a .22 rimfire or any muzzleloader in GA. Other small game in GA may be hunted with any leagal modern firearm, muzzleloader, shotgun or archery equipment.

Don't know UT rules.

Looks like furbearers may be taken in Utah by any means other than poison, explosives or crossbow. Except bobcat must be trapped or shot (doesn't say by what) and Marten must be taken by trapping using an elevated covered trap (dog proofing).

I have a Winchester .117 break action pellet gun. used it a ton when i lived in the city to clear the backyard and garden of everything from little squirls to large rabits.
1000fps (tho i havnt chrono'd it) and it shoots into about 1 inch at 50 yards.
i wouldnt get anything unless its listed for better then 1000fps.

thanks for the replies

Gamo CFX

Jim Chapman is one of the leading experts in airgun hunting. He has a regular column with Predator Extreme magazine, among others, and has hunts small game, deer, even African plains game with airguns. You can read his article various places online, but his dedicated website is here: http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/airgun_hunter.html

I've taken on cottontail rabbit in Kentucky with a RWS 34 .177 air rifle, range 25 yds, one shot below the eye. Took the same rifle to Haiti in 95' and elimated tarantulas,rats, and large lizards.


CD

Is a Daisy 835 powerful enough to hunt squirrel?

http://www.airgundepot.com/dy853.html

Yes, but probably illegal. Check you local game laws.

Within 15-20 yards with good shot placement, sure. 510 FPS in .177 is a bit on the anemic side for tree rats once you get beyond that range, unless you are confident of the head shot. Pellet choice is critical, try and go with light weight pointed pellets to get the most out of that rifle. Try Beeman Laser or Silver Sting.

Longtime Airgun hunter here, started over 30 years ago with a german Wischo 55B in .177, a 750 FPS gun that at the time was considered a "magnum" air rifle. That springer harvested hundreds of tree rats, rabbits, pigeons, and rats. I regret that I traded it long ago. Since then I've owned many, currently I only have a RWS 34 in .177 and a BSA in .25, but they do their share in keeping the rabbits out of the garden. I'm also trying to get on the Quakenbush list for a .50, big bore airguns are awesome!

Ive been known to tote an air rifle from time to time for rabbits and squirrels. For years I used a Benjamin Sheridan 177 cal more recently I picked up a gamo shadow 1000 in 177 cal has a little more velocity helps take the larger jack rabbits but I have not found a pellet that will give me consistent accuracy passed 40 yards so I tend to go back to my Benjamin which will give me consistent accuracy to 50 yards.

There's a fair amount of discussion of small game hunting with airguns on The Yellow Forum.. Look for thread titles that say "graphic."

I like my RWS 850 magnum with LDC. It's fun and quiet to shoot.

I bet very few ARFcom readers have a clue what a "LDC" refers to. If anyone is curious, some airgun people refer to a device mounted on the end of a barrel that attenuates noise as a "lead dust collector" so as to not attract the ire of site moderators who do not allow suppressor discussion on some popular airgun forums.

If anyone has ever poured out a tin of pellets, or handled them for any length of time have seen what ends up on your fingers. People who shoot indoors can choose to breathe that in, or not, by installing the collector. It also helps balance with the weight up front. We can argue about the benefits of less noise and the definition of a firearm to the Feds in another thread.

Above is not aimed at you bladeswitcher.

Have a Remington airgun (break action .177) that accounted for 15 red squrrells and 49 chipmunks last year....the little buggers wouldn't leave my wife's gardens alone....all 1 shot kills from 10 to about 40 yards.....they "pop" when you hit them.............

my buddy shot a .177 1000fps rifle point blank at a large racoon several times and it did not stop the animal. I was suprised when he told me but i take his word for it....thats prob why a .22 is the smallest caliber one should hunt small critters with.

Did your buddy say where he put the pellets? Still have to put the pellets in the right spot to do the job.

CD

He said he got 2 body shots and one head shot he said some blood was coming out of its eye but it still ran away, i dont know how far he got and i assume he died, but was still suprised when he told me a point blank head shot didnt stop the animal.

A raccoon is a pretty large animal to try to take with an airgun. An airgun would be appropriate for squirrels, and possibly rabbits, but raccoons? Not so much . . .

Also, you do realize they lie when they claim 1,000 fps, right? To get these kinds of numbers they use superlight pellets that you wouldn't/shouldn't use in the gun.

It's my experience that Raccoons are too big for just about any Springers, including supermagnums like the Beeman Crow Magnum/Theoban Eliminator rifles. These critters are simply too tough to kill with anything less then a large bore PCP gun like a Quakenbush or a Korean unit like a Sam Yang 909.

I use a Benjamin 392 with a Williams peep sight when I cant use a 22.

I don't hunt "game" animals with one but I use it to eliminate ground hogs from my back yard. I wait until I get a good side shot and put a .177 pellet through their rib cage, usually at 40 to 50 yards. They spin around and look to where the noise or shot came from, then after a minute or so, they go back to eating. After another couple minutes they slump over dead. I hate groundhogs and the damage they do to my property. I can not legally discharge a firearm where I live so I use my Gamo or Crosman break barrel air rifles.

People have used airguns, regular caliber to take up to coyotes that I have seen on the forums I frequent. Coyote was a lucky spine shot. People take raccons with .177 springers all the time. Just stick it in the fuse box. That doesn't make it enough gun, just know that people do possums and racoons with air guns alot.

You have to use a high powered air rifle with solid, hard pellets and hit the spine right behind the head. This is very precise shooting, not exactly humane when you miss. Far better to hit them with a high velocity .22 RF or a load of #4s from a 12 gauge.

Very much considering using my air rifle to rid our backyard of some REALLY large racoons.

Large and pretty mean. With 2 young kids (older daughter is 3, younger is 8 months) and a lab, I really don't want any racoons thinking its alright to use my yard as a highway.

Speaking as someone who has killed many a raccoon with a variety of weapons, including Airguns, unless you have a magnum PCP gun you don't have enough weapon for a raccoon. You do not want a wounded pissed off raccoon on your hands. One shot, one kill, and that means big bore airgun or move up to rimfire.

Probably true.

Rimfire is an option............if the wife lets me.

Beeman R-10

Killed all kinds of stuff with it. Great rifle.

Gamo Whisper .177 with 4-16X42 40-50 meters in an inch with crosman 7.9 grain hollowpoints.
RWS Diana 34 .177 with 4-16X42 50-60 meters in an inch with crosman 7.9 grain hollowpoints.

The RWS Diana 34 is a work of art compared to the gamo, but both are accurate varmint control tools.

Both rifles love the Crosman 7.9 grain hunting hollowpoints. I have some 10 grainers that hit hard
but requires a hold over to hit the target. The whisper has a lot less "report", but the "SPROING"
is loud. The RWS has report, but no "SPROING". The RWS Diana has a fantastic stock trigger. The Gamo
has the aftermarket zero pull weight trigger.

OPossums
Raccoon
Rabbit
Squirrel
Chipmunk
Lizards
Bees
Flies
Wasps

Not a problem. I could feed my family with my airguns. And remember: two is one, one is none.

No argument from me concerning the difference in quality between the Diana/RWS 34 and the GAMO. I have shot thousands of rounds through it, and the sadly discontinued RWS 36 that preceeded it (the 36 is/was superior to the 34). That said, it is simply not enough gun for Raccoons or Opossums. In desperation, perhaps, but in the current non-SHTF environment you need more gun. PCP gun in .25 or larger is the base gun to use for reliable kills on these larger critters.

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