Looking at getting a better pellet rifle for pest control. Whats your favorite and why?
Favorite Air Rifle for Pest Control
- Thread starter superlight93
- Start date
RWS 34! Very accurate with the recommended "Artillery Hold" of Springer's. Low noise and gobs of power for a .177. Kills the Farmer's Pigeons off the Silo and the Democratic sparrows that like the free lunch of my feeders.
RWS Very reliable and well built.
MrMajestic said:
What the heck is the "Artillery Hold"? I have a RWS 34 and it shoots to a different place depending on the hold. Sight it in for offhand and shoots geat or sight in for benchrest and it shoots better but you have to chose one or the other. I go with the offhand need the practice anyway.
I have a socom kit from cabelas with adjustable cheek and nice verticle grip. Gun shoots great but I wouldn't buy again. The scope rings pinch the top of the action similar to a picitinny but the pinch area is so small its darn near impossible to keep it tight enough. The scope rings have to be constantly tightned or it slides back off the rifle. Otherwise great setup.
Pyramid Air, a site sponsor, has some informative listings and videos of their rifles. 2 of the springer rifles I got from them are outstanding shooters.
The Air Arms TX200 at 930fps is a top shelf rifle. It is priced at $570 with no sights. But it isn’t ambidextrous, is slow to load, and at 900+fps you don’t want to shoot it in the house.
If you’re looking for a cheaper and near as accurate rifle the Air Venturi Bronco is a super buy at $125. Break barrel makes it easy to load. But it only shoots at 500-600 fps so it may not be fast enough for some killing. Nice thing about it is because of the speed you can practice with it in the house without having lead particles flying all over the place. And it is ambidextrous so you can practice lefty and right handed.
There’s a lot faster air rifles out there. But speed almost always costs accuracy. You’ll want to determine how much power you need. A tree squirrel needs a lot more speed than a mouse.
The Air Arms TX200 at 930fps is a top shelf rifle. It is priced at $570 with no sights. But it isn’t ambidextrous, is slow to load, and at 900+fps you don’t want to shoot it in the house.
If you’re looking for a cheaper and near as accurate rifle the Air Venturi Bronco is a super buy at $125. Break barrel makes it easy to load. But it only shoots at 500-600 fps so it may not be fast enough for some killing. Nice thing about it is because of the speed you can practice with it in the house without having lead particles flying all over the place. And it is ambidextrous so you can practice lefty and right handed.
There’s a lot faster air rifles out there. But speed almost always costs accuracy. You’ll want to determine how much power you need. A tree squirrel needs a lot more speed than a mouse.
rhbrink said:
http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2007/07/artillery-hold.html
Now that there's funny!Catfish said:
Minesweeper3433
45B/91F
red rider BB gun knock off at wallchart for 18 bucks. Live in the city the vermin look at you like your stupid when you walk up to them so dont need anything more than 10 yards of point shooting. Still shooting the same bottle of bbs I won selling popcorn as a kid.
H2OBUG
Silver $$ Contributor
I have a Sheridan--Blue Streak I think it is one of the better Air rifles I have ever owned, Shooting offhand at up to 50 yards, it felt like I was shooting a .22LR powder rifle, it is very accurate. Longest shot was a Crow @ 75 yards. I am guessing the unit I have has 30,000 + rounds --My dad would buy about 500 round a week for me--I have had the gun for right at 30 years now--It had a scope on it from day one-- great gun--Knock on wood It has never had a repair--I am amazed it has gon this long without even an o-ring replacement.
There's a lot to choose from but the choice can be narrowed down substantially if you give an idea of what you're pesting at and at what range and how much you want to spend? Depending on the powerplant of a rifle (spring, gas piston, PCP, CO2) and the recoil characteristics of a particular gun, the rifle prefers to be held very lightly or sometimes firmly (Artillery Hold)
I don't use springers for hunting because I don't like sitting for long periods with the gun cocked although many avid air gunners consider springs as a consumable item much like barrels are to benchresters. PCP's (pre-charged pneumatic's) are generally capable of much greater accuracy but require support equipment (fill tank or pump) but once filled can provide up to 100 shots.
Many get sucked in to the velocity issue and buy whatever is the fastest out there. Skirted pellets don't do well as they approach the trans sonic range. High velocity springers start having unpleasant shot cycles and beat up scopes. HV PCP's use up a lot of air and can start getting pretty loud. I'd recommend not exceeding the mid 900's (fps) to get the best accuracy and power. At that velocity the following energy can be expected:
.177 = 20ft/lbs
.22 = 30ft/lbs
.25 = 45ft/lbs +
I have humanely put down a 35lb raccoon with my .177 at short range (10yds) with an optimally presented target area. My HW100S pcp in .177 can shoot a .3" 10 shot group at 50 yards so head shots on squirrels or pidgeons are no problem on still days out to 60 or so.
Take a look at the Crosman/Benjamin Marauder. It's available in .177, .22 and .25cals. 10 shot repeater (8 in .25) and is fully shrouded (very quiet). Choked barrels provide sub 1/2" groups at 50 yards so a good scope should get you easy head shots on most things that are unwelcome in your backyard.
I don't use springers for hunting because I don't like sitting for long periods with the gun cocked although many avid air gunners consider springs as a consumable item much like barrels are to benchresters. PCP's (pre-charged pneumatic's) are generally capable of much greater accuracy but require support equipment (fill tank or pump) but once filled can provide up to 100 shots.
Many get sucked in to the velocity issue and buy whatever is the fastest out there. Skirted pellets don't do well as they approach the trans sonic range. High velocity springers start having unpleasant shot cycles and beat up scopes. HV PCP's use up a lot of air and can start getting pretty loud. I'd recommend not exceeding the mid 900's (fps) to get the best accuracy and power. At that velocity the following energy can be expected:
.177 = 20ft/lbs
.22 = 30ft/lbs
.25 = 45ft/lbs +
I have humanely put down a 35lb raccoon with my .177 at short range (10yds) with an optimally presented target area. My HW100S pcp in .177 can shoot a .3" 10 shot group at 50 yards so head shots on squirrels or pidgeons are no problem on still days out to 60 or so.
Take a look at the Crosman/Benjamin Marauder. It's available in .177, .22 and .25cals. 10 shot repeater (8 in .25) and is fully shrouded (very quiet). Choked barrels provide sub 1/2" groups at 50 yards so a good scope should get you easy head shots on most things that are unwelcome in your backyard.
H2OBUG said:
yea, i agree! had mine for 25-30yrs and just recently sold it to someone in the neighborhood who wanted to get rid of pigeons. when it started to lose pressure i would just give it a drop or 2 of 3-in-1 oil and it would be good to go for another few years. never had to replace any parts on it and would still kill rabbit out to 20 yards(that's about all the space i have in my yard).
now regret selling it!
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