Originally Posted by
lensman57
For years I have been believing that this level of power is fine for taking out the usual airgun quarry as ' humanely ' as possible. Having recently watched a lot of U Tube videos of the more responsible shooters and how increasingly they are trying to get closer to the target to make the one shot kill and quite often failing, I am now beginning to think that this level of power is not really suitable for general hunting of the allowed quarry but for perhaps close range ratting or taking the odd pigeon out. The problem from where I stand is that unless the shot is clinical to the brain the result is a wounded animal . Yes they are often taken out with a follow up shot but still. At 11 or so ft.lbs the pellets used do not impart much ballistic shock if any, even at very close distances, to the imapct area therefore even a very close miss does not do enough damage to kill the quarry cleanly. Perhaps the answer is to go for FAC guns of about 30+ ft.lbs where allowed.
A.G
12ftlbs is absolutely fine for rabbits out to 40yards providing you know your ranges, equipment and can judge weather conditions. A shot to the kill zone on a rabbit off of a bipod is not difficult if you're skilled enough. Wounding does happen, we're human at the end of the day, but should be a rarity and dealt with swifty. It happens with FAC air and firearms too.
I've had the inclination to go FAC as of recent, but that's because of one of my permissions is quite tricky to get within sub 12 ranges. Really testing my stalking skills as of late and it's very satisfying to get a good bag there. However, from a pest control point of view, FAC will be the way to go for me next.
Danny
My collection = Ratworks BSA Scorpion T-10 .177, HW100KS .177 (tweaked by me), PP750, Crosman 1322 and 1377