Hunting with air rifle, which .177 or .22 ?
Discussion
Tampon said:
Happy days, i didn't mean you were a crossing dressing tranny f
ker ( I did think it was so ridiculous you would find it funny, sorry )
All round.
Thankyou for trying to help.
have to admit the phrase did make me ker ( I did think it was so ridiculous you would find it funny, sorry ) All round.Thankyou for trying to help.
enjoy your new hobby - i think shooting (as opposed to hunting) is a fantastic sport.
SS HSV said:
Tampon said:
I think I have shown here that I am taking this seriously and the last thing I want to do it hurt any animals...
Oh the ironyKill them, yes. torture them, no.
I want burgers, I don't want someone to prolong or hurt the cow whilst it is alive though.
Edited by Tampon on Friday 13th June 12:04
I prefer .22 i've used both for hunting as well as .20 (great calibre restricted pellet choice ) .25 (like lobbing a cricket ball but good for close range ratting)
I use a BSA superten which is a little modified by myself , works well , i've had it years its great with AA Hunter pellets and accounts for something almost everyday (large garden with lots of pests)
As well as choosing the rifle you also need to find out which pellets work best, (heavy, pointed or hollow point pellets are rarely consistant) takes a lot of time setting everything up and to get used to a rifle
My reccomendaion would be a BSA Lightning , great little guns coupled with AA Hunter pellets or H&N field target trophy for a little more punch
Have fun and enjoy it
I use a BSA superten which is a little modified by myself , works well , i've had it years its great with AA Hunter pellets and accounts for something almost everyday (large garden with lots of pests)
As well as choosing the rifle you also need to find out which pellets work best, (heavy, pointed or hollow point pellets are rarely consistant) takes a lot of time setting everything up and to get used to a rifle
My reccomendaion would be a BSA Lightning , great little guns coupled with AA Hunter pellets or H&N field target trophy for a little more punch
Have fun and enjoy it
If anyone is thinking of going the FAC .25 or even .22 air rifle route, I would heartily recommend considering .22 rimfire instead.
Application process is the same and there are quite a few advantages over air, not least of which is number of shots. An FAC air rifle can be quite hungry in it's use of air.
For anyone worried about noise, a .22 rimfire can be silenced quite effectively, certainly down to air rifle levels. Ammo is obviously a bit more expensive, but £45 or so for 1,000 rounds shouldn't break the bank.
My rifle is zeroed at 50 yards, and I have turret settings that allow me to shoot out to 100 yards (rangefinder is used to verify distances), which makes it a very effective tool to keep on top of rabbit numbers, which in turn keeps my farmers happy.
The only disadvantage I am aware of is if you only have a very small parcel of land to shoot on, which may not gain the approval of your local firearms officer for rimfire use.
Application process is the same and there are quite a few advantages over air, not least of which is number of shots. An FAC air rifle can be quite hungry in it's use of air.
For anyone worried about noise, a .22 rimfire can be silenced quite effectively, certainly down to air rifle levels. Ammo is obviously a bit more expensive, but £45 or so for 1,000 rounds shouldn't break the bank.
My rifle is zeroed at 50 yards, and I have turret settings that allow me to shoot out to 100 yards (rangefinder is used to verify distances), which makes it a very effective tool to keep on top of rabbit numbers, which in turn keeps my farmers happy.
The only disadvantage I am aware of is if you only have a very small parcel of land to shoot on, which may not gain the approval of your local firearms officer for rimfire use.
Edited by DIW35 on Friday 13th June 16:11
DIW35 said:
If anyone is thinking of going the FAC .25 or even .22 air rifle route, I would heartily recommend considering .22 rimfire instead.
Application process is the same and there are quite a few advantages over air, not least of which is number of shots. An FAC air rifle can be quite hungry in it's use of air.
For anyone worried about noise, a .22 rimfire can be silenced quite effectively, certainly down to air rifle levels. Ammo is obviously a bit more expensive, but £45 or so for 1,000 rounds shouldn't break the bank.
My rifle is zeroed at 50 yards, and I have turret settings that allow me to shoot out to 100 yards (rangefinder is used to verify distances), which makes it a very effective tool to keep on top of rabbit numbers, which in turn keeps my farmers happy.
The only disadvantage I am aware of is if you only have a very small parcel of land to shoot on, which may not gain the approval of your local firearms officer for rimfire use.
I would have liked a rim fire and asked my local police chap to come out and have a gander. I have quite a few acres, but the firearms Police chap that came out was concerned about the amount of woodland and advised me against applying because of ricochets. I think he was right from what I've subsequently heard.... So an FAC .22 (which he suggested) might be a good idea. Interesting that they use a lot of air - logical, but I hadn't considered that.Application process is the same and there are quite a few advantages over air, not least of which is number of shots. An FAC air rifle can be quite hungry in it's use of air.
For anyone worried about noise, a .22 rimfire can be silenced quite effectively, certainly down to air rifle levels. Ammo is obviously a bit more expensive, but £45 or so for 1,000 rounds shouldn't break the bank.
My rifle is zeroed at 50 yards, and I have turret settings that allow me to shoot out to 100 yards (rangefinder is used to verify distances), which makes it a very effective tool to keep on top of rabbit numbers, which in turn keeps my farmers happy.
The only disadvantage I am aware of is if you only have a very small parcel of land to shoot on, which may not gain the approval of your local firearms officer for rimfire use.
DIW35 said:
The only disadvantage I am aware of is if you only have a very small parcel of land to shoot on, which may not gain the approval of your local firearms officer for rimfire use.
and therin lies the rub . BUT in my experience farmers are more willing to allow a rimfire shooter rights to shoot on their land than an airgunner , like most things too many idiots and even with a airgun FAC farmers dont see a difference Edited by DIW35 on Friday 13th June 16:11
Getting anywhere to shoot can be very difficult , i used to shoot rats for a local animal feed producer but they have gone out of business , i currently shoot rabbits , squirrels , rats and pigeons for friends in their gardens , not something i could use a rimfire for although i'd love one
Practical experience here - my last rifle - a Weirauch 97K in .22 was OK at mid distance but the pellet drop was significant at medium ranges - switched to a Daystate .177 with a 10 shot mag - my kill ratio on bunnies has improved easily threefold - a much flatter trajectory allied to greater velocity and much better accuracy means I can shoot much more confidently at mid distances - so I'd recommend .177 every time.
Plotloss said:
richyb said:
Has anyone tried hunting rabbits with a bow? DON'T!!! I went along with someone who used one and it was the most traumatic 2 mins of my life. The screams of this little rabbit where chilling.
Its illegal to hunt anything in the UK with a bow, slap your mate.Firstly the hunting of small animals with a bow was done with an arrow with a head which stunned and killed by shock, you could get specialised heads but most peeps used rifle cartridge cases on the end of the arrow, very effective I believe. With a rifle you have a similar thing in that most of the shots kill by shock; the trouble with a hunting arrow is it kills by haemorrhage, not a very nice thing. There was an American in the 50’s who used to hunt big game, including elephant with a bow, he was called Howard Hill and wrote several books on the subject, I was sickened by it. Firearms are the most humane way of dispatching animals if it is done competently. Anyone who goes out with a firearm to hunt must be competent before he does so.
I think it was Norman MacLean who wrote in his excellent book A River Runs Through It, ‘ no one who does not know how to fish does not deserve to catch one’. The same applies to hunting but more so.
G
Plotloss said:
richyb said:
Has anyone tried hunting rabbits with a bow? DON'T!!! I went along with someone who used one and it was the most traumatic 2 mins of my life. The screams of this little rabbit where chilling.
Its illegal to hunt anything in the UK with a bow, slap your mate.'Tis still the law that, in the city of York, it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow.
Jesus.... look at the slugs it fires (I am not using the word 'pellet' for those!)
http://www.airgunsbbguns.com/Career_Dragon_Slayer_...
Is the ft/lb correct or a typo?
http://www.airgunsbbguns.com/Career_Dragon_Slayer_...
Is the ft/lb correct or a typo?
They are not wrong!dealmaker said:
Practical experience here - my last rifle - a Weirauch 97K in .22 was OK at mid distance but the pellet drop was significant at medium ranges - switched to a Daystate .177 with a 10 shot mag - my kill ratio on bunnies has improved easily threefold - a much flatter trajectory allied to greater velocity and much better accuracy means I can shoot much more confidently at mid distances - so I'd recommend .177 every time.
nothing to do with the fact the daystate is a better rifle then;)
liner33 said:
dealmaker said:
Practical experience here - my last rifle - a Weirauch 97K in .22 was OK at mid distance but the pellet drop was significant at medium ranges - switched to a Daystate .177 with a 10 shot mag - my kill ratio on bunnies has improved easily threefold - a much flatter trajectory allied to greater velocity and much better accuracy means I can shoot much more confidently at mid distances - so I'd recommend .177 every time.
nothing to do with the fact the daystate is a better rifle then;)The 177 is the no brainer cos of the flat trajectory, the .22 does require an accurate distance from a well calibrated sight, or a mil dot sight to do the same hit. In other words the .177 requires little thought. The .22 requires more which makes it less fire and forget and more 'whats the distance here'
But on a simple magpie the bird would often flap and fly away before dying after a .177 hit. The .22 hit to the head was probably more of a shock to the bird as I can't remember the last magpie that did anything other than fall straight to the floor after a headshot. I wouldn't do a chestshot with a .177, but I would with the .22 as the bird pretty much flops straight down, and the pellet has done so much damage after its gone straight through that I doubt the bird knew anything about it.
It might be that some primitive neuro ability lets the bird take flight after a .177, and its really dead but just going through the motions. Both are very dead by the time I get to them. Just a bit disconcerting to see the bird fly and I prefer the .22 just for this. No retrieving birds from anywhere other than where I hit them.
I personally think for target shooting .177 probably rocks, but for birds/bunnies .22 is better.
This thread has had me looking at a range of .22 rifles...
Any thoughts on the BSA Ultra?
http://www.bsaguns.co.uk/?ID=53&ProductID=589
Right thought i would update, i took everybodies advise, wne and got a Gamo cf-30 .22 full power rifle. Been practising loads, indoors to start with hen target shooting outside, eventually could shoot the bottom of can on coke from 30-40yards 9 out of 10 times. Went for the rabbits for the first time last night and came back with 7 of them. Skinned my first ever rabbit ( after watching, and have it run in the background a vid of it on youtube ).
One question though, I got one in the chest ( rest were head shots ) and once it was skinned there was a blood clot where it had been shot, just wondered would you bother eating one like that ( it is skinned and in the freezer now ).
Thanks for all your help.
One question though, I got one in the chest ( rest were head shots ) and once it was skinned there was a blood clot where it had been shot, just wondered would you bother eating one like that ( it is skinned and in the freezer now ).
Thanks for all your help.
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