Velocity of 22 caliber pellet required to kill starlings and grackels

[jmothes@pld.com]

I have a friend that asked me to help him find a pellet pistol for eliminating these pests from his yard. He says they create terrible messes on their patio, sidewalks and other areas. He wants a pellet pistol for his wife. He has a break barrel RWS rifle but she cannot cock it. He is away on his job for weeks at a time. She wants a pistol, however I do not think she can cock a break barrel. My question is, will a CO2 pistol with 450 FPS velocity have enough energy to do the job. I do not know if he has an air compressor. Would a standard air compressor have enough pressure to charge a PCP? Any info and recommendations would be appreciated.

[Neil54]

450fps would be enough at close range, about 15 yds. The difficulty is hitting the target with a pistol.
She would be much better off with a rifle, C02 or PCP.

In the UK we cannot shoot starlings.
Do we have Grackles in the UK?

[flyingfish]

No Neil
They are a kind of all black magpie like bird i have seen in Central and the Southern States of North America
They were a real pain in Costa Rica
Saw some in Mexico

[tinbum]

No Neil
They are a kind of all black magpie like bird i have seen in Central and the Southern States of North America
They were a real pain in the Costa Rica
Saw some in Mexico

Is that rhyming slang?

As above, a pistol has the power, but not the accuracy required. A low powered rifle is much better

[Waddy]

Look at crosmans co2 offerings, no cocking required. Like everyone else has said you need a rifle for this, shooting birds in the body will lead to slow excruciating deaths, it needs to be head shots, even an expert with a pistol is going to have trouble doing that

[angrybear]

Obviously the laws in the USA are very different from our own, but I don't consider any pistol suitable for shooting pests apart from dispatching cage caught pests
I would advise you get some clarification on the details of the situation especially the shooting range & layout,

I'm guessing that his rifle is pretty high power hence it's hard to cock it, where a lower power rifle would require less cocking effort & might be an option for his wife,
another option is CO2 if it's legal over there, but whatever the choice it needs a shoulder stock so it can be aimed correctly.

[MartynB]

Do we have Grackles in the UK?

Don't think we do

[wall90]

how about getting a decoy bird of prey and moving that around the garden,that will keep them away while your mate is away then when he is back just use his airgun.