Air Rifle for small game

[ShawnT]

Was just wondering if any of you use an air rifle for small game such as squirrel? I am thinking about getting one and have no experience with them and have no first hand knowledge on what to look for in one. I was looking at reviews at Cabalas and saw some good ones for RWS and a lot of not so good ones for Gamo. Any recommendations?

Thanks,

 

[gobbler getter]

i have a gamo "American Hunter" 177 cal. that was a fathers day gift. i have had it for three years and have killed 2 coons. 1 possum & a truck load of tree rats with it. one coon was shot out of a tree the other was raiding my trash cans, both one shot kills to the head at a distance of about 20 yards for trash can bandit,about 30 feet on tree coon.i have never had an issue with this air rifle.

 

[Widude]

I'd look at a Beeman. Another option is the quiet 22 shells, 'Super Colibria'(or however it's spelled), 20 grains at 500fps & very quiet.

 

[cell]

I use a Norica Storm .22. Its a Spanish rifle that some of the Beamans/Chinese rifles are copied from. Its a med. rifle-not a magnum. Pretty good rifle I think. Good for any small game.

One thing is don't drink the cool aid about haven to have a magnum air rifle. They are hard to shoot constantly for most. Also google artillery hold for air rifles...and learn to use it when you make your purchase. <helps a lot with accuracy when your trying to hit a target about four inches.


Cell

 

[cayuga]

About 40 years ago I purchased a Sheridan Silver Streak 6mm pump pellet rifle. At the time we were living in the city. My buddy had an identical one also. And we would go out on midnight/moon light hunts along railroad tracks and warehouses.

In the moon light and lights from building, street lights, etc.. we could spot cotton tail rabbits sitting in the snow. I know hunting in the city was illegal, and a few times we had to hide from traffic, but we did hunt only the edges of town where we were no danger other then to ourselves. Plus when you're young, this was all the more excitement. I would hate to think how many rabbits I shot with that air rifle.

My mother could never understand how I was so successful with hunting rabbits. Well at night they would just sit there. And that rifle with 8 pumps in it (that is the max) and that 6mm lead pellet would kill a rabbit with no problems. I even used to walk out of town and find some woods and squirrel hunt with the thing.

It is very accurate, and powerful. I have no idea what the FPS is on the pellets. I still have that pellet rifle. Every once in a while I will take it out and shoot it. It has a nice wooden stock, and even rifling in the barrel. It was the best pellet rifle they had at the time. There was even scope mounts for it. And you could purchase a cheap scope. But when I was young, I had good eyes and we needed no scopes to hunt rabbits.

 

[dodge]

can't believe it! i thought i was the only one that did that! my sheridan had the safty on the top and was spring loaded so you had to hold it down with your thumb all the time in order to pull the trigger.

 

[mattri]

Our garden is exactly 25 yards from the window of my reloading room. At that range my B26 break barrel has no trouble with rabbits or squirrels.

 

[n8dawg6]

over the past two years or so i've killed a stack of squirrels with a couple of beeman break barrel springers. i started out with a beeman R7, which is their smallest, lightest rifle. i decided that the R7 is too light unless you are willing to get really close to the squirrel and wait for a perfect head shot. it was murderous on starlings in the backyard, though.

next i got an R1, which is beeman's original "magnum" air rifle. it hits with a lot more authority. most of the squirrels i have killed have been with this one. it will send a pellet all the way through a squirrel at 30 yds. you still have to be very careful with shot placement, though, much more so than with a .22 lr.

my problem with the R1 is that i don't shoot it as accurately as the R7. it has quite a bit of recoil, which makes my groups sometimes inconsistent. also, it periodically loosens the screws on the scope i have mounted on it, loctite notwithstanding. its also a big heavy rifle, kind of a PIA to carry anywhere.

so then i got the HW50s, which is midway between the R7 and R1. i shoot it much more accurately than the R1, and it definitely hits harder than the R7. doesn't loosen scope screws. i have killed several squirrels with it, but i've also had a couple get away or require a finishing shot.

bottom line? doesn't matter which one i use, the rules are the same: i have to get real close to get consistent, repeatable kills with an air rifle. the hw50s and r7 need to be close so the pellet will have enough energy to kill, the R1 needs to be close so the groups will be small enough to be precise. i will say that the HW50s is my favorite, because it is more powerful than the R7, and more accurate (in my hands, at least) than the R1.

all of them take more skill and patience to use for squirrel hunting than an ordinary .22 lr rifle. but i guess that's part of the fun. if you pop over to one of the airgun forums, you will find some dudes that have airgun hunting for squirrels down to a science.

 

[ShawnT]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the info. Only saw a couple replys so I forgot about this. I was doing some pondering on using an air rifle while sitting in a Deer blind this year. I am sure that you see about as many squirrels as I do when you are looking for deer. After a while you start to think about silenced 22s and air rifles to fill the freezer with tree rat! :lol: :lol: So I thought about taking one and sticking it in the blind for the slow dull moments when the reds and greys are making fun of me. :lol:

By the way, how quiet are these new air rifles anyway? I have seen a couple reviews that mentioned some being not so quiet. I have absolutly no experience with air rifles. As for the 22lr, I got that covered with my Anschutz. I was lookiing at a couple RWS rifles though.

 

[cayuga]

check your regulations.. an air rifle in a deer blind during season could be illegal. My luck would be about the time that loud SNAP from the rifle sounds, I'd hear a loud snort behind me and the brush crashing.

 

[C-Monkey]

I have a Gamo Bone Collector and have to admit instead it should be named the Dust Collector. Biggest piece of junk I ever spent a cent on. I'd be lucky to have any type of "group" at 25 yards, and I've bought a ton of different pellets too. I'd like to ditch the beast.

I had a Sheridan when I was young and was impressed...zapped a few coons with it. I even had a Daisy 880 that wasn't bad either. This Gamo gave me a sour taste.