Budget Air Rifle for Cottontail
- Thread starter clunker
- Start date
I can vouch for the Marauder & the Discovery as well. During the ammo crisis, I got into PCP guns, picked up a M-rod in .25 and a Disco in .22. The Disco was used on squirrels & rabbits, the M-Rod did those plus coons. However, they're not city friendly unless moderated!
MikeT49
Gold $$ Contributor
A little over your budget but check into a Benjamin Discovery 22 Cal with hand pump. Put a muzzle brake or LDC on it to moderate the report. You will only hear a Pffft!. The loudest things you will hear are the internal noises from the firing mechanism. You can get about 25 or so accurate shots per 2000 psi fill. The beauty of the 2000 psi fill is is you won't wear your butt out pumping it up and when and if you you go to scuba tanks for fill, you don't need a carbon fiber tank. With some minor mods (trigger 3 screw, barrel band, etc) they are very capable of putting 5 shots into one hole at 10 yards. Deadly on small varmints to 50 or so. Unlike springers, PCP airguns recoil like centerfire guns making them an excellent platform for getting inexpensive trigger time in.
One warning when shooting rabbits in a residential neighborhood. Don't wound them. I had one move just as I broke the shot with my Beeman 1000fps .177 springer on nice sunny Saturday morning at 5:45am.... a screaming rabbit definitely attracts a lot more attention than you'll want.
Compounded by the fact that I only grabbed one pellet and had to run back in the house to grab another pellet to finish the job while wearing only boxer shorts. Video would have been special I'm sure. This was in the late 80's and I still remember that like yesterday.
Compounded by the fact that I only grabbed one pellet and had to run back in the house to grab another pellet to finish the job while wearing only boxer shorts. Video would have been special I'm sure. This was in the late 80's and I still remember that like yesterday.
One warning when shooting rabbits in a residential neighborhood. Don't wound them. I had one move just as I broke the shot with my Beeman 1000fps .177 springer on nice sunny Saturday morning at 5:45am.... a screaming rabbit definitely attracts a lot more attention than you'll want.
Compounded by the fact that I only grabbed one pellet and had to run back in the house to grab another pellet to finish the job while wearing only boxer shorts. Video would have been special I'm sure. This was in the late 80's and I still remember that like yesterday.
I aimed for the head. I didn't want to wound them. It would then be a kill or a complete miss.
POI was the eye, nicked the skull.
CCI Quiets, the 710 fps model, from my 29" miniature Martini makes less noise than my .177 RWS 34. If you kept the muzzle in the house as you shot from a window I'm sure the noise would go unnoticed. Now keeping a miss or pass through on you property would be my concern. I would trap it, my backyard pets really like apple peels..
dgeesaman
Gold $$ Contributor
The last time I trapped a nuisance critter it was a groundhog living under my hay stack. My fresh carrot peels must have had him running out of his burrow because that trap snapped shut just minutes after I placed it.
David
Chucks love strawberries also...
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
Get a fully tuned Xisico XS25 SFB from Flying Dragon Air Rifles for $180. Available in either .177 or .22. Base price is $80, fully performance tuned adds $100. Will be the best gun you can find for the money. Reviews are excellent, and all tunes are done to meet your specific needs by Mike Melick himself. Mike is one of the premier air gun tuners around.
searcher
Gold $$ Contributor
I'd just get a break-open .22 cal air rifle, preferably with the new "silencer" shroud a lot come with. You want to be sure it is accurate and powerful enough to cleanly take the rabbit with a head-shot - without question. I shot a crow out of a tree in the backyard many years ago that had been causing problems. The crow went down - but not before making it over the house and into the street - where a bunch of neighbors were out on the sidewalk, socializing. There were cries of horror, animal rescue and fifty people out on the street before it was over. Trust me - you need to make sure that rabbit drops where you shoot him.
Doug Beach
Silver $$ Contributor
Trap, put trap in trash can full of water. Extract at your convenience, dump in trash.
Trap it do not become a felon and lose your gun rights over a stupid rabbit
The Maruder is a great PCP airgun for the money. I have a 22 and 25cal. They both will shoot 1/2 inch 3 shot groups at 40yds. The 22 is pretty quiet. The pellet impact is about as loud as the report. The 25 cal. Is definitely louder. Midway had the 25 cals with a 3×9 scope. On sale for 375$ about a week ago. Only thing about the pcps is you have to pump them up by ,means of a bicycle type pump. Or A local paint ball gun shop might be able to accommodate. You can get around 30 accurate shots with the 22 and 18 with the 25. Out f one fill.
A supressed subsonic 22 bolt action is your best option in firearms. Nothing else is quieter that shoots a lead projectile.
22CB are louder than CCI Quiets in my 16.5" CZ. Quiets aren't that quiet in a shorter bbl, but they are about the same as my Mathews bow. In my pistol, Quiets are as loud as anything.
Without a supressor, the key to being quiet is to run the slowest, lightest bullet that will exit the longest barrel you have. YOu want 1) subsonic so no crack and 2) minimal pressure at the muzzle for minimal "pop."
If you really want the quietest round you can shoot unsuppressed and have a long (24"+) bbl .223, then just whip up some min-spec loads with a 40gr bullet and some Blue Dot, trail boss, or Clays. Somewhere around a grain and a half will get the bullet out of the barrel and at speeds of 700fps or so.
A PCP air gun would be ideal, but whipping up some powder puff .223 using my existing rifle sure seems a lot lower cost. It might work for you, too.
22CB are louder than CCI Quiets in my 16.5" CZ. Quiets aren't that quiet in a shorter bbl, but they are about the same as my Mathews bow. In my pistol, Quiets are as loud as anything.
Without a supressor, the key to being quiet is to run the slowest, lightest bullet that will exit the longest barrel you have. YOu want 1) subsonic so no crack and 2) minimal pressure at the muzzle for minimal "pop."
If you really want the quietest round you can shoot unsuppressed and have a long (24"+) bbl .223, then just whip up some min-spec loads with a 40gr bullet and some Blue Dot, trail boss, or Clays. Somewhere around a grain and a half will get the bullet out of the barrel and at speeds of 700fps or so.
A PCP air gun would be ideal, but whipping up some powder puff .223 using my existing rifle sure seems a lot lower cost. It might work for you, too.
I have account for many backyard pests with a Remington/Benjamin Nitro .177. Payed 200.00 and it came with a scope. If I keep muzzle inside the house, my wife can't hear it s,standing at the corner of the house. Only thing I might recommend is a .22 over the 177.I do not like bb or cb cap. Poor accuracy and a sharp crack. The Nitro piston does not have the sharp crack of a firearm. If there is any animal easier to kill than a rabbit, I have yet found it. I have tried lots of pellets. I get best accuracy with Daisy domed hp.
I would buy a live trap. No need to take it far....mile or two and let it go in city park....or in your brother in laws yard when he isnt looking, depending on how you feel about him...Rabbits generally are not homing pigeons.
Or better yet, if you know a animal rights person in your area, release it at their place, but in covert style. They would love it hanging around.
Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
I doubt anywhere discharging an air rifle on your property is a felony, maybe a misdemeanor. Probably take a second offense for that. Shoot with barrel inside, no one will hear.
I am in no way an expert on US law, but, an air rifle is not a firearm and does not fall under the ATF...
Most cities prohibit shooting air rifles within city limits and fines can be imposed.. Some cities worse than others..
If I were that guy I'd shoot the damn rabbit in the brain with an accurate .22 pcp..With a moderator... DRT.. or trap the rodent and well, do what you feel you need to do..
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