Does anyone use low/medium power .177" for short range and barn vermin control?

[averageplinker]

Hi all,

I understand .22" is popular for this sort of work which is I believe due to the lower risk of over penetration causing property damage and the larger pellet imparting more energy into the target.

Would a similar effect be achieved by using .177" at a lower power? Does anyone here use low/medium power .177" for close range vermin control and can share their experiences. I do know that there is a chap in the states who uses an FWB300 target rifle for relatively long range, small vermin control but only in still weather.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[Rocket launcher]

For barn work I use a hw95k .25 l zeroed for 15 yards with a WTC 1.5-5x20 scope its like hitting rats with a brick. In the past I have used .177,.22 and .20 and the .25 I find to be the best cal for this short range work.

.177 at low power has no oomph

[tinbum]

It can, but as you've already worked out .22 is better.

[seagate]

I prefer 22 for vermin but..

My favourite low power rifle is a hw30s 177+r10 match 8grn, it's been very useful on various occasions on rats and magpies. they're 7ftlb ish,easy to shoot and accurate.It's effective up to 25max.With domed pellets it's another 5yards.

[rabbitwrecker]

Yes - my pal uses the .177 HW30s almost exclusively for barn work and quarry in general under 20 yards. In fact, he has two of them - one sports TruGlo opens, the other a 1x25 red dot sight. Both rifles run 6.5-7.5 ft/lbs (depending on pellet used) and he's bagged a fair few rabbits and squirrels with them...

http://s1036.photobucket.com/user/ra...tml?sort=3&o=0

[TonyL]

I stopped hunting many years ago, but took much vermin with my old Meteor as a youth, power unknown.

I have three HW30s in my collection.

Taking into account the comments up above from people who use them and considering the fact that these things are so accurate and forgiving to shoot, allowing perfect shot placement, a 30 in either calibre will perform admirably.

[jonnyovy]

I use a .177 HW30s with a simmons wtc 1.5-5x20, i was doing some indoor pigeon shooting on friday, at 30 yards pellets still zip through quarry and ping off the gurders in the roof. I am going to get this rifle glided/silenced and test a full range of hollow points and wadcutters.

Like said above if you can have one rifle purely as an indoor and medium/short range job go .25.

Ive had 3 and cant recomend them enough.

[seagate]

I'd just better add in relation to keeping over penetration/property damage to a minimum that even at low velocity with a soft domed pellet ,example 620fps with aaf 7.9express this can still occur on occasion.

With that in mind I should have emphasised that a suitable wadcutter is the way to go.

[seagate]

I've tested many different types of wadcutters in mine and found rws r10math 8grn the best for accuracy.They're still tight at 25 yards,but get abit iffy much past that.

[Harrympope]

I shoot my lgv .177 at 10.5 fpe for thinning pigeons from farm buildings.I use jsb 8.44 exact and shots are max 40 yards.
The gun is accurate and I do head or neck shots mostly,I've had a few suffer from a wing hit as there is too much to pass through.

Im a pretty mean vegatarian, but hey I have to protect my produce!

[32:1]

Yes I have had some cracking evenings useing my rapid .177 set at 9ftlb indoors out to 30mtrs ( wall to wall). My power drop was to cut noise mainly but I did find it great to shoot still, ratting with heavy pellets I have zero through n through even at close range, I did try wadcutters but the birds freak out and I think its the noise of the pellet in flight

Chris

[rabbitwrecker]

With that in mind I should have emphasised that a suitable wadcutter is the way to go.

My pal has had some success against close range quarry using RWS Super-H-Point pellets, but even then, there's been the odd through-and-through. I tried some 4.52mm/8.02 grain JSB Match (Yellow) wadcutters, which were very accurate - certainly at 20-odd yards - and also gave the lowest MV/ME of the pellets we tested, so less likely to over-penetrate...

[oliver13]

I tried using lower power guns, & they are nice & light, accurate, but went back to full power weapons with Super H Points.
I know it isn't important if you're hitting things in the right place, 6ftlb's is as good as 11.5ftlb's, but I like to hit them in the right place with as much force as possible.

[rabbitwrecker]

I tried using lower power guns, & they are nice & light, accurate, but went back to full power weapons with Super H Points.
I know it isn't important if you're hitting things in the right place, 6ftlb's is as good as 11.5ftlb's, but I like to hit them in the right place with as much force as possible.

Which is great - so long as the farmer doesn't mind a few extra holes in his barn...

[QUIGLEY]

Which is great - so long as the farmer doesn't mind a few extra holes in his barn...

Which is where .25 comes in
Edd.