Ideal rat shooting rig?

[Chris St. MH]

I've been doing a bit of rat shooting lately and enjoying it immensely. When you live on the coast, rat shooting opportunities are never in short supply. However, I'm getting fed-up of hefting a full length Axsor around in the car or my friend's Trooper. I'm also finding that even FAC .22 doesn't stop these things with centre mass hits. I have .22 and .22WMR rifles, but they're also full-length, not silenced and I often shoot around rocks, livestock, inside buildings etc. where rimfires aren't ideal. Likewise a shotgun would be a bit on the loud side (unless silenced) and, worse still, take the fun out of the game.

What I'd like to know is what would you recommend for ratting in confined spaces? I'm looking for something compact and hard hitting with a decent number of shots per fill or self contained. I don't care whether or not it's FAC. A calibre larger than .22 might be in order. I've never taken a shot at more than 20 yards.

[Gary C]

.25 falcon fn12 would just about do it for me. Sub 12ft/lbs would be a nice trajectory

[Born Again]

And 20 yds is definite hollow point territory.

[RichardH]

BSA 635 Magnum (.25 Mercury 12" barrel) would be ideal.

Fast to load, stick an aimpoint on top.

Perfect

Or my current favourite FAC Winchester 9410 (Lever action Winchester 94 in .410 shotgun) again with an aimpoint

Richard

[Gary C]

And 20 yds is definite hollow point territory.

with .25 not needed, and I'm not convinced they stop a rat any better than a domed. I don't think there's enough resistance to open them unless you hit something solid, in which case a domed will stop them quick enough

[shuckers]

for fast fire can't go wrong with a skan m32,hand stays on the grip shift,nice and compact I've been using Bobs predators for ratting in the barns no problems

[Craig-P]

And 20 yds is definite hollow point territory.

Makes no difference, as Chris already said they sometimes run from his .22 FAC, I've personally seen them scarper from .22lr too - people don't realise just how tough they can be.
I used an old Rapid MK1 .22 to great effect but found the mag a pain in the @rse ( my mate and I were shooting between 80 and 200 rats PER NIGHT on a refuse site ). With that amount of targets, at the quick pace that we used to shoot, I defy anyone not to either a. run out of pellets just as move targets show up and then have to faff about loading a mag or b. fire a barrel full of air thinking it's got a pellet chambered. An easy loading, single shot PCP would be my personal choice.
I'd have a look at getting a tricked up Stealth with a cheapish 3.5-10 scope ( one of those Leupold copies from E8ay would be nice ), sorted to use .22 Bisley Magnums, but a nice .25 setup would be very very good at close range stuff.

Craig

[ross H]

rats are tough but not as hard as squirells IMO. if you get ratty in the head he will be out like a dark barn. even with .177 they should go easily. i would go fn12 raptor in .22. low mount with a low mag scope say max zoom of 9. i normally shoot on about 5. s200 are also good for rats but they do seem to jam occasionally

[Craig-P]

But it's not everytime the head presents itself for a shot - and even if it does, that's a right small target to hit at much more than 25 yards, even more so if you take into account obstacles that are usually associated with a rats' natural environment ( I've not seen many grazing in clear pastures... )
It's at this point that .177 even with wadcutters, goes right out the window...

[Born Again]

It's difficult for me to imagine how a .22 FAC with hollow point ammo can not be more effective than the same setup with round head, I don't have FAC so I'll take your word for it. I'm not about to dive inside a rat but I'll dig some out of a squirrel and get some 12ft/lb pics (of the pellets). Nurse, the forceps please...

[Chris St. MH]

To echo what Craig has said, I find that .22LR HP Subs (that do around 100fpe as Craig pointed out) very seldom open up - HVs are a bit better, but nothing like V-MAX ballistic tips out of a .22WMR which is very humane on rabbit sized game. The downside is up here they're 30p a round. I've had rats run off after solid body/chest hits with .22LR Lapua HP subs. To be honest, HPs are such a pain to get here in Orkney thanks to the whole S.5 thing (TNT don't deliver here) that I've gone over to solids with the LR.

I often only get to see the rat fleetingly (for example moving between rocks on a beach) so surgical shot placement isn't something I acheive very often. I totally agree that magazines are a pain in the **** if you're doing any kind of volume shooting with an airgun - more magazines just means more to fill up when they run out. Airgun mags are also a lot fiddlier to reload in the field than rimfire.

[Craig-P]

To echo what Craig has said, I find that .22LR HP Subs (that do around 100fpe as Craig pointed out) very seldom open up - HVs are a bit better, but nothing like V-MAX ballistic tips out of a .22WMR which is very humane on rabbit sized game. The downside is up here they're 30p a round. I've had rats run off after solid body/chest hits with .22LR Lapua HP subs. To be honest, HPs are such a pain to get here in Orkney thanks to the whole S.5 thing (TNT don't deliver here) that I've gone over to solids with the LR.

I often only get to see the rat fleetingly (for example moving between rocks on a beach) so surgical shot placement isn't something I acheive very often. I totally agree that magazines are a pain in the **** if you're doing any kind of volume shooting with an airgun - more magazines just means more to fill up when they run out. Airgun mags are also a lot fiddlier to reload in the field than rimfire.

'...You can be my wing man anyday...'

[ross H]

[QUOTE=Chris St. MH]
I often only get to see the rat fleetingly (for example moving between rocks on a beach) so surgical shot placement isn't something I acheive very often. QUOTE]

why dont you try and bait them so you have a better shot

failing that a howitzer would be ideal

ps do you find you get a lot of ricochets with the rimmer of the rocks?

[stillair1]

.177 for me. A close focus low mounted night sight would be even more effective. I have had the best sucess ambushing them at a certain point in there run.I would be worried about .22lr ricochet in a confined space. Stopped using Lapua HP for rabbits and went back to the old faithful eley hp.Excellent accuracy from Lapua, but upper body shots were not as effective.

[Chris St. MH]

[QUOTE=ross H]

ps do you find you get a lot of ricochets with the rimmer of the rocks?

Never had one - mainly because I don't shoot into the rocks with a rimmy!

I have permission for about a mile of beach with everything from clean white sand to, gravel, to huge rocks and with huge piles of (very smelly) rotting kelp. It's heaving with rats. I'm told works very well, although I only tried it for the first time a couple of nights ago.