Enough Air Rifle?

[280PLUS]

Just got my new Daisy 953 Pro Target rifle with the intended use being to cull down the squirrels that raid the birdfeeders. I THOUGHT it was 1000FPS but turns out I misread and it's max velocity is 560 FPS. .177 pellet x 560 fps, is this OK for squirrels? I don't want to be wounding the little buggers. They (Daisy) are claiming it's a GREAT small game rifle but I want to hear this from somebody else. All my shots will probably be less that 25 ft. More like 15 actually.

 

[JAMES77257]

Marginal, at best.

 

[280PLUS]

Those are my thoughts. I just took it out and shot some steel cans with it. It penetrates a soup can, some through and through, at about 20 ft. I think this is sufficient given I will be shooting at close range. I'm actually kind of liking the slower velocity, as long as it works, because the neighborhood is tight and it means less chance of a stray getting too far. If I don't like the results I'll go back and get the 1000 fps model. Either way, I used it to introduce my stepdaughter to shooting today. She didn't want to at first but after one shot at the can that missed she was all about trying till she hit that can. Then she didn't want to stop. I may have created a monster.

 

[razorburn]

I had a crosman rifle when I was a kid. It was also advertised around 500fps and it literally bounced off squirrels. Thin, harder object like cans are easier to penetrate. A piece of carpet or old rug is a lot harder to shoot through than a metal can. So's an aniimals body, for that matter. Caliber is big with air rifles. They don't got that fast, but you can double the weight of the projectile for only a 10-20% loss of speed and get a big boost in power. An 800 fps .22 air rifle shooting 14 gr pellets packs a bigger whallop than a 1000 fps .177 shooting 7 grain projectiles. Air gun manufacturers exaggerate velocity figures a lot too.

 

[280PLUS]

What distance were you shooting at? 20 ft seems to be maximum range for good penetration on a steel can. My shots will be at ~ 12 ft from an upstairs window. Two things, one, I think the squirrels know. Ever since the can test yesterday they haven't left the treeline at all to attack the feeders which strikes me as strange. They've been pretty bold up to this point. And if the gun proves to be unacceptable for close range on squirrels you can bet your bottom dollar I'll have Daisy's butt not long after. I HATE false advertisement and they'll find out how much if that's what they're up to. I already know long shots are out of the question but in my case, for my purposes, it may work. I'll keep you all posted.

 

[HankB]

According to the kill charts in an old Beeman catalog, squirrels, starlings, and pigeons need about 3 ft. lbs, equating to an impact velocity of 415 ft/sec. If your rifle is putting out 560 ft/sec, a typical flathead pellet will fall to that velocity somewhere in the vicinity of 20 yards or so out.

Beeman's catalog states "Carefully practiced head shots are necessary . . . "

Rats or rabbits (presumably cottontails) require about 5 ft. lbs, or 515 ft/sec with a .177 pellet. Jackrabbits about 8 ft. lbs, or 670 ft/sec.

So if your rifle is actually putting out an honest 560 ft/sec, you should be able to kill a squirrel at 15 to 25 feet IF you place the pellet with near-surgical precision . . . not trivial, considering both parallax error and the rainbow-like pellet trajectory.

I have an RWS M48 which clocks an honest 1100+ ft/sec - but only if I use light pellets. Using "Superdome" (which seem to be most accurate in my rifle) I've taken cottontails at 30+ yards, and a couple of armadillo (!) at about half that distance. Accuracy is pinpoint up to about 40 yards, at which point groups begin to grow a lot faster than the increase in range.

 

[bigcim]

Has any body had experience with break barrel type pellet guns, do they hold there zero. It seems to me moving the barrel would cause the gun to be inaccurate, thats why I always stuck with the fore end pump models

 

[peteinct]

Break barrel accuracy

Hi, I ave a RWS model 34 which is a break barrel spring piston rifle. The rear sight is mounted on the barrel not the receiver so everything stays the same relative to each other. It is a good gun with a trigger that better then some of my centerfire rifles. It supposedly shoots a 177 cal pellet at 1000 fps.

Mark, I would look at the RWS line if you are interested in serious airguns. There is a good site www.pyramidair.com. Did you get a squirrel cookbook for christmas?
pete

 

[sixgunner455]

15 feet should be doable, especially if you take head shots. I don't hunt with my pellet gun, but I did have a quail get loose from my cage (I was training my brit the next day). He hid under the bushes, and I couldn't net him, cause he'd run away to the next one. So I shot him through the body with my pellet gun, at about 15 feet. He flopped and stayed there, but then stood back up. I shot him through the head, and that was it.

Then had the little pup (6 or 8 months at the time) trail and find him. She wasn't sure about picking him up, but did get excited about it.

 

[bigcim]

what about scoped break barrel

 

[280PLUS]

Thanks for the Beeman info, good stuff.

HEY PETE! I was just thinking about how I ain't heard from you lately. And YES I DID get a small game cookbook (or 2) for Christmas. Plus "Kill It and Grill It" by some guy named Ted Nugent. Ever hear of him? I bought the gun specifically for the back yard. We get a LOT of crows too so they're on the "list" of stuff to shoot at in the back yard. That's why I'd be happy with the 560 FPS if it works. 1000fps has the potential for pellets to travel to far places they shouldn't.

Yup, I was firguring head shots or right behind the shoulder just like a deer. The gun IS pretty accurate. I took a target, put it in the tree next to the bird feeders and did a little target practice / sight adjusting from the chosen window at ~12-15 ft. I put all but the first round of 10 shots pretty much in the same hole once I got it dialed in. Now I swear to you, them dang squirrels haven't come anywhere NEAR the birdfeeders since the tin can test yesterday. They've been out there but won't come past the tree line. If I'd known all I had to do was go out there and brandish a weapon a bit I woulda done it YEARS ago. LOL...

Of course, the wife got all on board with this only recently. She got these preformed birdseed things you're suppposed to hang in the trees, which she did. The squirrels chewed through the strings and took every one of the "ornaments" whole. She's fit to be tied. That's probably the real reason they haven't been around though. The larder is full up!

FWIW I'm using Crosman "Premier" hunting pellets

 

['Card]

I've killed squirrels pretty consistently with an air rifle. It works as long as you've got a good rest and a well-tuned scope on it. Anything less than surgical precision just mangled them, but even then the stupid critters just kept coming back to raid my birdfeeders.

Want to know how I finally licked the 'squirrels in the backyard' problem?

Traps.

May not exactly be 'sporting', but they work like a charm. I got that one off of eBay for about $12. Now my woodpecker feeders are unmolested.

 

[Aries-]

my local gun store is selling new .177 pellets that are saposed to increase the velocity of the gun by about 100fps.

they might work. but i would also look into pellets that have a pointed tip instead of the flat nose.

i know my pellet rifle (shoots at 1100 fps) with flat nosed pellets makes a mess of things. (like making a birds head totaly explode... that was gross being hit in the face by the beak from 20 feet away) went back to rounded and pointed tips. works much better smaller hole on the exit. and doesent explode things.

i dont know if they would work. but i have also seen now new .177 caliber shot shells for pellet rifles. i know they are designed for a new 1000 fps pellet rifle but it may work on a normal one just as good.

the .177 also does well on larger rabbits with a well placed shot. (in the typical heart lungs area) head shot is death on contact with mine. heart shot they flop around a bit first.

 

[WNTFW]

Traps are 24/7. I have a job & family. The squirrels (or rats) have all day & all night. I have to admit there is a lot of reward to making the shot.

I've killed many things with 5mm & .22 air rifles.
I never considered the .177 for hunting, but I never had to. Shot placement is probably way more critical with .177.

Someone once told me that shooting a squirrel with a .22 was like shooting a deer with a 20mm. I'm not sure how it was figured or how correct it is. But I know squirrels are pretty tough.

Let us know if it drops' em,
WNTFW

 

[280PLUS]

Post mortem report

Got one this morning, put the shot right between its eye and it's ear and it dropped like a stone. It is now all cleaned and in a ziploc in the freezer and it's only a little after 10 AM. Kinda cool to have a good "hunting" spot right out the office window. I can hunt and work at the same time.

"Squirrel, it's what's for lunch."

LOL...

 

[peteinct]

try different pellets

Mark, I have 3 types of pellets, flat target heads, pointy hunting ones and heavy field dome pellets. Supposedly the expensive ones are more consistent also.
pete

 

[280PLUS]

I will, I've got the pointy hunting pellets right now and they worked just fine, it was dead before it hit the ground. I got a real nice tight group out of them yesterday too. Easily fit a dime over the group at ~ 15 ft. So I'm satisfied, I may play with the sights becasue I'm noticing the windage needs to be over a LOT to get the round on target and I think it's because the front sight is not dead on center. It's on the "muzzle weight" which is set screwed on and I believe it's a bit off center. I'm hoping I can loosen it and readjust it over but for now it's hitting right where I aim so it's not a big issue.

 

[bigcim]

what about scoped break barrel do they hold there zero

 

[tank mechanic]

Walmart sells some gold plated pointed pellets and "the box says'' that they add 25% more velocity. I have yet to chronograph them but the are cool none the less.

 

[280PLUS]

Well, I spent a good hour bench testing the rifle last night, no chrono unfortunately, but I'm finding that 2 or 3 out of ten are runnin' wild. About 2" out. However the rest are dead on. So I guess I try some different pellets and see what comes up. Meanwhile, I'm ceasing all squirrel removal exercises, I'm not comfortable with the flyers or the velocity. I guess I'm going to look at a different rifle. I'm starting to like airguns, they're cheap. The step daughter DID ask to shoot cans again so it's not a total loss.

Oh, that was at 15" I pushed it out to 50 and the results were much more pronounced. They were WAY out there.

 

[razorburn]

I'm starting to like airguns, they're cheap.

Heh. You're going to eat those words someday. Wait till you get into the high end PCP's, feinwerkbaus and such. Go to airguns.net and check out the link to the airgun forums, but don't say I didn't warn you.

 

[280PLUS]

NOOOOOO!!!

Must,,,,,,resist,,,,,aaakkkk!!

 

[bigcim]

Question, just bought a beeman 1100 air rifle with scope. I don't know if its because I wear contacts but if I focus on the target the cross hairs fade away does anyone know how to fix this

 

[kungfuhippie]

yes, focus your scope, if it's in focus the crosshairs and the target will be infocus. There should be something to twist on it. If not, get a new scope.

 

[280PLUS]

OMG!! I just looked at Beeman's website. They got some going for $2995 !!

Scratch all previous "airguns are cheap" comments.