What springer for pest control?

[Mod]

Gents,

Your considered opinions please - air rifles are not my area of knowledge.

Land owner requires to buy a new air-rifle (sub 12 ft/lb) for occasional shooting of pigeons at 20-35m. Targets (rats/pigeons) are normally on the ground feeding on duck food. Budget >£500 for rifle, ancillaries & glass.

My thoughts are to go for a springer, coupled with a bright 3-9x40 - ideally with stadia to allow accurate holdover at longer range, but without the faff of adjusting parallax.

This is not his regular hobby and rifle will only be grabbed on occasion, so simple and fast would seem to be the best option.

I can find him a Burris FF2 which will sort the glass nicely ( I know they handle recoil without a problem) but in the current market, what rifle/calibre would you suggest & why?

Thanks in advance! :0)

Mod

[tinbum]

Any decent break barrel in .22. Break barrel because it's faster and easier to load and .22 because at that range .177 only has disadvantages.

As usual, find one that fits, make sure it's German and jobs a goodun!

[Mod]

Cheers for the reply.

What models should I search? Disadvantages of .177 over .22 against feather ?

Rgds

Mod

[Dodger21]

How experienced is the land owner at shooting with a springer or with any air rifle for that matter. Pigeons need head shoots to be effective and one shot and they all gone, he will not get a good return on his investment, if he is only going to take an odd pop shot.
He would do much better to try and find a local shooter to do the job for him, who will know how to get the best bags of his pests and will probably do it for free.

[tinbum]

Cheers for the reply.

What models should I search? Disadvantages of .177 over .22 against feather ?

Rgds

Mod

The "Feather / fur" thing is a bit of an old wives tail. The advantages of .22 in a springer are; Bigger and easier to load pellets. Smoother firing cycle with less recoil. Larger pellets make larger holes.

The only advantage that .177 has is its flatter trajectory which only really matters past the ranges you're talking about. (Some would say past the sensible hunting range of a springer) Fiddly pellets, smaller wound channel, over penetration and harsher recoil are the only rewards it would bring.

[Whitester]

How about a walther challenger, less hold sensitive out of the box and has open sights for close close range. At £350 he will have plenty of cash left for a scope, a hawke 2-7x32 will keep the weight down.

[secretagentmole]

Why not got for a Hatsan PCP in .177? No recoil, low cost, accurate, quicker to reload and you can pick them up from about £290 new, leaving plenty for a scope and pump!

A .177 PCP will give a PBZ from 15-39 metres if zeroed at 30 metres, so it will be point and shoot at those sort of ranges!

[charlie1]

99s best hw out of the box in .22

[secretagentmole]

Oh and Hatsan PCP rifles have anti double load so he can shove 2 up the barrel unless he runs out of air!

[PCPShooter]

Gents,

Your considered opinions please - air rifles are not my area of knowledge.

Land owner requires to buy a new air-rifle (sub 12 ft/lb) for occasional shooting of pigeons at 20-35m. Targets (rats/pigeons) are normally on the ground feeding on duck food. Budget >£500 for rifle, ancillaries & glass.

My thoughts are to go for a springer, coupled with a bright 3-9x40 - ideally with stadia to allow accurate holdover at longer range, but without the faff of adjusting parallax.

This is not his regular hobby and rifle will only be grabbed on occasion, so simple and fast would seem to be the best option.

I can find him a Burris FF2 which will sort the glass nicely ( I know they handle recoil without a problem) but in the current market, what rifle/calibre would you suggest & why?

Thanks in advance! :0)

Mod

For what you've asked I'd suggest a Cometa 400 Fenix Galaxy with mod, the shorter one, with a custom spring and guid set and a hawk scope (as they have good g'tee). Not too heavy, solid, decent enough trigger, very accurate with right pellet, spares easily around (Chambers etc)
I'd say HW80, but really too heavy for non air gun shooter imo. The Cometa is that nice 'handy yet solid' weight, a Spanish HW80 if you like-

[Rambo23]

As previously stated the HW99 is going to be a good contender but my preference would be for a 95. However I would really seriously consider a Diana 280 Professional.

[Mod]

Thanks for the replies - appreciate your thoughts guys.

Not too concerned about light weight items - this is a long term purchase by a lad who played for the England U16 Rugby team, so weight is not an issue.

Technique can be trained (my job). Needs to be able to grab rifle when opportunity presents - shooting close to the house and imported shooters would not be welcome.

PCPs require service and shooting to ensure seals stay lubricated & in good condition, & with the additional equipment needed, I get the idea a springer may be more straightforward in this role. Thanks for the suggestion - was not aware that Hatsan were producing a rifle that was not completely butt-ugly!

The Walther in .22 actually looks pretty good as an option - will investigate that further. I do like the practicality of plastic stocks on working rifles.

Keep them coming!

[shauny]

99 all the time

[PCPShooter]

Thanks for the replies - appreciate your thoughts guys.

Not too concerned about light weight items - this is a long term purchase by a lad who played for the England U16 Rugby team, so weight is not an issue.

A 'grab and shoot rifle' needs to be not too heavy, doesn't matter who you are, pure physics. To get onto a rat fast, you want something heavy enough to hold 'on', not so heavy it's gone by the time you line up
For what you've asked, honest look at Cometa 400, a compact 22 with factory mod. Will be spot on -



Technique can be trained (my job). Needs to be able to grab rifle when opportunity presents - shooting close to the house and imported shooters would not be welcome.

PCPs require service and shooting to ensure seals stay lubricated & in good condition, & with the additional equipment needed, I get the idea a springer may be more straightforward in this role. Thanks for the suggestion - was not aware that Hatsan were producing a rifle that was not completely butt-ugly!

The Walther in .22 actually looks pretty good as an option - will investigate that further. I do like the practicality of plastic stocks on working rifles.

Keep them coming!

...

[secretagentmole]

Thanks for the replies - appreciate your thoughts guys.

Not too concerned about light weight items - this is a long term purchase by a lad who played for the England U16 Rugby team, so weight is not an issue.

Technique can be trained (my job). Needs to be able to grab rifle when opportunity presents - shooting close to the house and imported shooters would not be welcome.

PCPs require service and shooting to ensure seals stay lubricated & in good condition, & with the additional equipment needed, I get the idea a springer may be more straightforward in this role. Thanks for the suggestion - was not aware that Hatsan were producing a rifle that was not completely butt-ugly!

The Walther in .22 actually looks pretty good as an option - will investigate that further. I do like the practicality of plastic stocks on working rifles.

Keep them coming!

As long as air is kept in the PCP ie over 100 bar, seals are not a problem, will be as much of a worry on a spring powered, thing is a recoil free .177 at full UK power is good over the ranges you described so is pretty much a point and shoot thing, without worrying about hold sensitivity, recoil et al.

If he is built like the proverbial brick outhouse then he will be fine with most guns, just be aware that most new guns (HWs included) will benefit from a strip down, de bur and re lube, some may also need new springs and seals because of poor finishing (HW included). You can see that a new spring powered gun can be as problematic as a secondhand one. A PCP will be ready to shoot and also get a second shot off in the case of the Hatsans, damned quickly, also with a silencer on the only noise is the pellet whacking home, so fast reloading can pay dividends!