WardenWolf
member
Ouch. 387 FPS almost certainly won't kill you, but it certainly won't feel good, either. It's enough to do some damage, but not penetrate bone.
Shooting treed crows with a .22?
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TimSr
Member
387 fps is Daisy Red Ryder. You could put an eye out with that thing.
oneounceload
member
Put a full choke in that 12 gauge with a load of #6
jmorris
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Yep, the speed and energy is dismissed by many and made fun of in movies but google "BB gun deaths" and you will see that people have been killed by the minuscule amount of power from time to time over the years.
If you are a guy that believes in luck vs decision making, those that died had "bad luck" being hit right in the wrong place.
If your a guy that kills someone by deciding to shoot your rifle into the air, you will need luck to stay out of trouble.
Good to remember the "never point your firearm at something you don't intend to destroy" rule and remember it says nothing about distance.
tactikel
Member
It all depends on what's behind your target. Years ago in less populated areas shooting treed crows was hugely popular. Hitting a crow at 150 yards with iron sights with a .22 Hornet, or a .218 Bee, or using a scope at 250 yards with a Swift or .22-250 was the goal of a rifleman. If you have a safe shot for a good mile a center fire would work. A sub cal (5mm, .17) rim fire is mandated for more populated areas.
Good luck, shoot straight, and be safe.
Good luck, shoot straight, and be safe.
It has to be shot nearly straight up for this to be true. At 45 degrees, the bullet will come down with more than enough velocity to be lethal and the range could be more than a mile.
The 300-400fps velocity is accurate for centerfire rifle bullets fired nearly straight up that remain spin-stabilized all the way up and back down. My guess is that .22LR bullets fired straight up will tumble on the way down and hit the ground with somewhere around 150-200fps of velocity.
HOWEVER, once you start shooting at more reasonable angles (for example shooting crows in trees at 100 yards) then everything is completely different.
The straight up example means that the bullet velocity bleeds off until it is zero and then it accelerates downward under the force of gravity until it reaches terminal velocity. So it hits the ground with ONLY terminal velocity which will likely be quite low for a tumbling .22LR bullet.
When shot at useful angles, the horizontal velocity component is only decreased by air resistance and it can remain quite high even at significant ranges. The total velocity at impact will be the vector sum of the remaining horizontal velocity and the terminal velocity.
Firing at crows 100 yards away will not be a high trajectory at all. If the tree is 100 feet tall and the crow is at the very top, the upward angle will be about 18 degrees.
A Daisy Red Ryder is about 350fps with a 5 grain BB and that is manufacturer spec for the velocity which is probably exaggerated a bit. Even if you assume that 387 is the right number, the difference between a 5 grain BB at 387fps and a 40 grain bullet at 387fps is significant.
Depends on the pellet gun. That said, while the type of pellet guns that would be effective on crows at 100 yards or more are probably safer than a .22LR would be, the heavier projectiles and higher velocities involved (compared to more conventional pellet guns) would still require more care than a typical pellet gun. Typical pellet guns are generally considered to be safe at ranges beyond 400 yards because the projectiles are so light compared to rifle bullets.
EmbarkChief
Member
My experience closely resembles another poster here. I started out with a shotgun, then to a .22, and finally wound up using my .243 due to the ranges involved. Those are some pretty sharp birds. In the end the minute I stopped the truck to line up a shot they were gone no matter how far away they were.
To get an idea of the capability of high end pellet guns, watch some of these videos.
https://www.youtube.com/user/EdgunUSA/videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/EdgunUSA/videos
I can hit crows at 60 to 70 yards with my .22 cal Benjamin Disco PCP shooting JSB Jumbo Diablo 18.1 grain pellets, and they fall dead.
I am talking about big crows. A .25 caliber Maurder PCP pellet gun would certainly kill a crow at 100 yards.
I am talking about big crows. A .25 caliber Maurder PCP pellet gun would certainly kill a crow at 100 yards.
Crows like to eat my dog's food. This time of year there are 20-30 crows hanging around in trees waiting for their chance to steal some dog food.
Very easy targets no matter what weapon is used but the 22 is probably my favorite. I use subsonic ammo and it does not seem to totally scare them away. They really love that dog food. Only issue for me is they are out of season starting March 3rd so now I just have to sit and wait for next season to start. Wish they were not a protected species. I really do despise them.
Very easy targets no matter what weapon is used but the 22 is probably my favorite. I use subsonic ammo and it does not seem to totally scare them away. They really love that dog food. Only issue for me is they are out of season starting March 3rd so now I just have to sit and wait for next season to start. Wish they were not a protected species. I really do despise them.
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