Rats

[Karakal]

Do you need to go higher than 12 ft to take out rats gents
What air rifle multi shot pcp will best do the job for around £400

[chimpy leon]

No 12ftlb does fine. Accuracy and shot placement is key.

A second hand BSA ultra or a Gamo Phox/gx40.

[madcarlos]

Do you need to go higher than 12 ft to take out rats gents
What air rifle multi shot pcp will best do the job for around £400

No sub 12 will be fine, Myself I would go for 22 cal for that extra thump,

[gsxrman]

12ftlb is more than enough.
Second hand AA410, BSA Ultra or Scorpion would do really well.
Rats are generally taken at close ish range and so, any calibre will suffice.
Accuracy is paramount and speed of shot.
Practice so as not to let the adrenaline take over.
Rats are proper horrible, but are still live quarry and therefore deserve your respect.

[PCPShooter]

Do you need to go higher than 12 ft to take out rats gents
What air rifle multi shot pcp will best do the job for around £400

Ideally more like 10/10.5 works better unless a text book perfect head shot - which is the optimum way

[angrybear]

Most rat shooting is done at less than 20yds so 12fpe is ideal, depending on the numbers a silenced/moderated multi-shot pcp in .22 or better still .25 is the tool of choice.

Rats are probably the smartest prey we go after, they wise up very quickly.

Anything accurate will do the job, remember your money has to buy the complete set-up, rifle, scope, pump & pellets, so buying a used set up is the way to go.

[woody2906]

12ftlb is plenty but head shots are recommended, see lots of YouTube videos of it, most of them use .177 and do very well with that calibre. Personally I use .22 but only because I always have. Nothing like rat shooting, great fun!

[davederrick]

Ideally more like 10/10.5 works better unless a text book perfect head shot - which is the optimum way

I rarely shoot rats, but I recently used my HW97 .22, which I know is close to 12ft. I put a perfectly placed headshot, and even saw the hole in his head ! The little rascal carried on running around. A quick 2nd shot dealt with him.

[Chris1]

I have a Titan Bearcat .177 does the job fine, as stated in posts shoot if possible at 20Yards Max, although I have shot many at 50 Yards with a good kill rate.
Cammo is essential during daylight as I shoot on a smallholding when in the UK, cannot shoot Rats with air Rifle in France.
Best aim just behind the ear this takes them out, although they may thrash around for a while but are dead
Brains and nerves take a while to calm down and never pick them up by hand I use a litter picker. Good luck

[rapidresponse1]

ive used my 22 sub 12lb on many a rat and lights out

[Steyr]

Placement of shot... as stated .... is very important.
Type of pellet can also bring a lot to the party especially in .177 which has a tendency to drill through.

My main problem was actually close pigeon so I swapped to HPs and end of issue.

I would suggest finding a good hollow point or polymag. I have bought some Hades but not tested yet.

£400 for all the kit is going to be tight imho.

As per comments made, rats learn super fast. I suggest you put in place strategies to adapt how you shoot as they will, like as not, change theirs. One permission I saw serious activity. Shot 1 rat and they instanly disappeared! Literally not seen one since. NV and trailcams all show no activity.
Imho, 940 IR is the best and having various bait spots and firing points.

The elder rats usually are very suspicious of new. They often send out younger members and watch. If its new food, they watch to see if they die from poisiong etc.

You got to respect their intelligence as its pretty much the only element of a rat I do respect.

[rapidresponse1]

very clever creatures rats