Which Air Rifles or Pistols do you use for pest control, culling, stunning?

[mominoz]

Just wondering if anyone uses them for varmits and stunning?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I use an air rifle for some pest control problems that I cannot solve through other methods. There is a lot of information and a multitude of choices on the market.

To begin, you'll need to determine a caliber. The basic premise is if it has feathers go with .177 caliber, if it has fur then you'll want a .22 caliber or larger.

Not all air rifles are equal, there is a lot of junk on the market. You basically get what you pay for when you are talking about air rifles. Your biggest concern is accuracy, you'll need to be able to put a pellet into a target that is about the size of a nickel at distance. Quality air rifles are very accurate and very effective at pest control.

There are several power systems to choose from: spring-piston, gas-piston, multi-stroke pneumatic, and PCP pneumatic. You can also get CO2 powered systems, but those products have accuracy issues as temperatures change.

My personal preference are the single stroke guns either spring piston or gas piston. I like quality products, so I'm not going to reccomend cheap junk. In reccomending a specific air rifle, stay away from the Wal-Mart type of products. These are low end cheaply made products, some individual products perform accurately over tge short term, but they all fail in consistent quality and product durability. I went through the "let's just get a gun and go shooting" route...it can be fun, until things break, fall apart, or loose accuracy....so always go with quality and you will be happy over the long run.

My favorite air rifle is an Airarms TX200 in .22 caliber. The barrel has a built in suppressor, keeping the gun very quiet. The TX200 that I own lets me put a .22 caliber pellet into a circle the size of an aspirin tablet out to 60 yards.

My next choice of air rifle would be the RWS Diana...another great product.

On the low end (price wise) would be the Umarex Browning, at just under $200.00.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of reccomendations...I'm just mentioning the big hitters.

When choosing a scope, get quality optics rated for air rifles. Piston guns beat scopes to death...the physics of the recoil of an air rifles is in two apposing directions. Where a firearm has a recoil in a single direction.

For a scope I like the a Hawk Airmax EV 4-12x40. It's air rifle rated, and holds zero very well. It's a middle of the road product that I have found to be very reliable.

I hope this helps...

 

[mominoz]

Strength is an issue for even fit senior ladies.... single pump or piston require less strength I have read. I grew up with hunters,and was on a rifle team for a while as a kid. Have had some training. We live rural , but have some neighbors close by. The scuba tank types are above my desire at this time... smaller hands and shorter fingers play into it also. I need to go to a Cabela's I guess and do a fitting, The shorter range and lower cost of pellets seem like a good idea in theory.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Diana makes a very accurate youth break barrel model...if you may want to go that route.

Do you have a caliber in mind?

By far the most popular is .177 cal. Large selection of ammo. It would be great on birds, and small mammals like rats and mice.

A .22 would handle larger game, up through rabbits and such. I've used mine to quietly dispatch captured 50 lb raccoons with no problem.

 

[RonP]

Air rifles are categorized as firearms in my neck of the woods. Same rules apply.

That said, I do have a varied collection of both.

My favorite by far for varmint control, a 60 year old Remington 514 bolt action, using 22 caliber subsonic 40 grain ammunition.

Less noise than the air rifles, far more knockdown power than a pellet, accurate enough at 50 yards, lightweight and easily maneuvered.

Most varmints I encounter are within 20 yards...often within 10 feet.

Choose the right tool for the job.

 

[mominoz]

Of course that is the point. Cabela's is a bust , they only had about 5 air rifles there... I also am wanting to use it for target practice, for less cost and I wanted a shorter range, because of animals and neighbors.... often the sales people aren't very in tuned with women's differences , much less aging differences ( like easy bruising from recoil or getting blood blisters from pumping the air pistol.)...or they think I liked "pink"...(I don't).....or perhaps I can order Amazon prime, so at least I can see if I can cock it reasonably well more than 2 or 3 times. (I have looked at Pyramid air, and may see what their return policy is, I need to handle one and see if i fits or if I can actually cock one... or may try going with compressed air cylinders , not the scuba tank ones that are more serious) I have a Crossman .22 pellet pistol, but you have to cock it about 10 times for real 'force', and load one at a time....

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I bought a Crossman .22 pump pistol as well.

I got one with a detachable shoulder stock. The original of this gun, that I remember from my youth, was a great gun, so I had no qualms concerning purchasing this pellet pistol.

So after purchasing and using for about ~500 pellets (1 tin), the sights Of this model leave a lot to be desired. They are plastic with no fine adjustments of the earlier models. This gun remains a very popular model, but if you want this gun to be a good solid accurate pellet pistol, it can only be achieved with some serious investment in after market parts sets. That's a ripoff in my book...it should be a good solid performing shooter right out of the box...

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I've used a .22 caliber pellet gun to dispatch raccoons in cage traps, that I caught in populated areas. It's commen for modern pellet guns to have built in suppressors, making them a very quiet option....these guns are quiet.

A person standing within a 45 degree arc infront of the shooter, will have difficulty discerning a shot beyond a distance of 75 or 80 ft, a person standing behind the shooter will probably not discern the shot beyond a distance of 40 ft.

Both of my pellet guns have suppressors and are perfect for quiet backyard plinking into a solid backstop.

 

[Gresh]

I used to use a .22 LR rifle for predator control, but after the rifle had some firing issues I discontinued use of it in favor of my Chiappa .22 LR Single-Action Revolver. It's a great pistol that's simple to operate and works great for close-quarter shooting (like finding a coon in your yard).

I have a Crosman .177 pellet rifle that I would be more than happy to use for longer-ranged situations, but for two issues: 1) I have neighbors close by, and I'd be afraid the pellet would miss the mark and hurt someone nextdoor, and 2) the only thing I would try to kill with it would be a hawk, and since I am terrified of flaky environmentalists putting tracking devices in hawks and reporting me to the Feds for killing a hawk, I would never risk it.

 

[ThomasKirby]

Is it safe to use them all by ourselves!!