Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Vanity - Recommendations for a pellet gun
GraceG

Posted on 01/02/2013 11:18:54 AM PST by GraceG

Ok, I have a squirrel problem, and I am needing some recomendations for what to get to shoot them with, namely I want to use a pellet/bb gun. I want to get one that is powerful enough to put them down quickly but not too expensive. Any recomendations?


TOPICS: Gardening
KEYWORDS: bang; banglist; bbgun; pelletgun; varmits
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-92 next last
To: GraceG

Live trap ‘em and drown ‘em. Bag ‘em and throw them in the regular trash. However since the coyotes moved in the neighborhood, they are under control. The rabbits are gone as well but we’ve got to keep an eye on the little dogs.


61 posted on 01/02/2013 12:17:15 PM PST by Patty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GraceG

The Sheridan 5mm was a great varmint gun, but Benjamin bought them out. I have a Benjamin .22 and it works pretty well. I would recommend .22 over .177 if you are going after rodents larger than rats.


62 posted on 01/02/2013 12:26:39 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum ("More law, less justice." --Cicero)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Patty

We are seeing more coyotes and coydogs, which are worse. I’d take an army of squirrels over them.


63 posted on 01/02/2013 12:33:22 PM PST by jboot (This isn't your father's America. Stay safe and keep your powder dry.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: Mr. K

A mouse can squeeze through a 1/4” or smaller crack. I’ve seen small ones wriggle through the holes made by carpenter bees. Squirrels and rats need a larger hole, barely. I’ve seen them get into old bluebird boxes with a hole no more than 1-1/8”.


64 posted on 01/02/2013 12:40:09 PM PST by jboot (This isn't your father's America. Stay safe and keep your powder dry.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: Eric in the Ozarks; GraceG

About 20 years ago I lived on a 58 acre horse-boarding ranch. There were ground squirrels everywhere. One day the ranch hands decided it was squirrel shooting day and dozens were killed with .22 rifles. But a piece of one of the bullets ricocheted and embedded into a horse, hundreds of yards away. So even if you are acres away from your neighbors you could still end up putting lead into someone or something you don’t want to. Stick with the pellet or bb guns, they’ll do the same job and you won’t get sued by your neighbors.


65 posted on 01/02/2013 12:44:39 PM PST by Kevmo ("A person's a person, no matter how small" ~Horton Hears a Who)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: jboot

I know a few squirrels, woodpeckers, opossum, to mention a few that would beg to disagree after seeing the business end of a cheap crosman .177. I have to admit the .22 is clearly superior but you must be more careful.

On second thought, anything supersonic is going to be real loud so if that’s an issue maybe a .22 with lower velocity may be more practical. In this case a maim is as good has a quick out.

You get what you pay for however. I had an old Sheridan and it was dynamite on pigeon.

If you don’t practice, however, it’s really a moot point.


66 posted on 01/02/2013 12:47:15 PM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie (zerogottago)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: golux
Hahaha.

I was thinking about the 200 yards as I was reading further down...I mean, 200 yards?? That's half of a football field!...(I think)....hahahaha!

FMCDH(BITS)

67 posted on 01/02/2013 12:47:49 PM PST by nothingnew (I fear for my Republic due to marxist influence in our government. Open eyes/see)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: JoeProBono
I bought myself a Benjamin Trail Nitro .22 similar to this for Christmas. Comes with a shroud on the barrel that is actually a modest suppressor. That and the nitro piston take a lot of the noise away from what high power airguns usually have. Came with a decent scope as well, a bit over $200 at Sports Authority.

Will smack a pellet through 1/2" plywood, so a rat/squirrel would be no problem, and it is quiet enough so the next door people should not suspect much.

68 posted on 01/02/2013 12:53:44 PM PST by doorgunner69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: JRandomFreeper
Hey! Squirrel makes a good meal.

I thought I was the only one that ate squirrel. Mmmn, Mmnnn good.

69 posted on 01/02/2013 12:54:31 PM PST by itsahoot (Any enemy, that is allowed to have a King's X line, is undefeatable. (USS Taluga AO-62))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: itsahoot
Not hardly. After the 2008 market crash, the squirrel population around here took a steep nose dive.

No food stamps, thanks, God gave me plenty of squirrel and feral pigs.

/johnny

70 posted on 01/02/2013 1:04:04 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: doorgunner69
I have the Benjamin Trail Nitro .22 also.


71 posted on 01/02/2013 1:15:02 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas exercitus gerit ;-{)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: GraceG

First: if this is an urban setting with neighbors who can see what you are doing, then the question becomes difficult with or w/out a pellet gun “rifle”. If you are a good shot, maybe not.

If you are rural, the best option for a squirrel “problem” (rural types would not ‘waste’ one in general but would shoot to “harvest”)—
22 Long Rifle Shotshell (a small 22 cal “shotgun” shell if you will- fired from a 22 rifle or pistol— will not have enough charge to chamber another round in a semiautomatic 22 pistol, take note).
Brand: in Wally Martland— they sell CCI 22 LR (long rifle)
Shotshell
1000 Feet per second, 31 grain small pellets
and lists 250 yard range.
Usually, no questions asked— “I got rats...etc.”
Called this “rat shot” and use it to shoot fruit rats off o power lines in orange groves (again, rural use). Doesn’t hurt the power line either.

Issue as pointed out is if the “oh horrors” neighbors see you with a rifle and firing it, etc. report to police, etc.
and a world of unneeded trouble.

If you can fire cleanly- from within the house or darkened room, a makeshift sound suppressor can be made from a small plastic soda bottle with the bottom cut out. The “shot pellet column” will not have spread out to hit the sides of the bottle and the sound (which is lower by far than a 22 solid round anyway) muffled effectively.

BTW, squirrels will get caught in rat traps, the traditional kind— bait it with peanut butter and put a few peanuts,carefully around the bait tab (watch your fingers). They come in to the whole peanuts, and go for the butter and “whamo”.


72 posted on 01/02/2013 1:15:23 PM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slump Tester

I second that , Crosman Pumpmaster 760 , $33 at WMT (I paid $28.88).. hits hard ,, sinks BB’s deep into my backstop (wood fence) at 100+ feet.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Crosman-760-Pumpmaster-.177-Caliber-Air-Rifle/16536173


73 posted on 01/02/2013 1:17:09 PM PST by Neidermeyer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: GraceG

You can get a Crosman Pumpmaster 760 for $35 ($50 with scope) and it will dispatch a rat or squirrel just fine. Anything else starts costing money, $150 and up. There are some very fine air rifles that are competition accurate, but you won’t get one for $100 or under.


74 posted on 01/02/2013 1:18:29 PM PST by BuffaloJack (Children, pets, and slaves get taken care of. Free Men take care of themselves.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GRANGER

So what happens when you feed them unshelled, unsalted peanuts every day? I live in prarie dog country so squirrel hunting is a mystery to me.


75 posted on 01/02/2013 1:20:20 PM PST by Redcitizen (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: JRandomFreeper; itsahoot

Years ago my brother came visiting for a couple weeks, and he set up his travel trailer at a nearby campground. One afternoon they heard a little commotion between campground owners and one of the customers. A man in his campsite was sitting at his picnic table coaxing nearly tame squirrels up near him with peanuts, then he’d club them over the head and break their necks. After he got a few he’d dress them out for the cooking pot. The squirrel lovers around there were too upset and they threw the guy out.


76 posted on 01/02/2013 1:27:40 PM PST by BerryDingle (I know how to deal with communists, I still wear their scars on my back from Hollywood-Ronald Reagan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: GRANGER

Knew a guy who’s mom fed them macadamia nuts. He said they were almost too fat to climb the deck railing for more.


77 posted on 01/02/2013 1:30:21 PM PST by gundog (Help us, Nairobi-Wan Kenobi...you're our only hope.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: JoeProBono
Cool, I have the "all weather" version with black plastic stock. Working on the horrible trigger now, and may do a muzzle crowning job after reading an article on drastic accuracy improvements after cleaning up the crude Chinese tooling.

Funny how darn near all these Gamo/Cros/Benji guns are based on the same or nearly so platforms from China. Oh well, no way I can justify the cost of a modern RWS or Feinwerkbau these days......I do miss my old Hammerli side lever rifle though, could have had it rebuilt.

78 posted on 01/02/2013 1:32:21 PM PST by doorgunner69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: rockinqsranch

Is that the trap made by Dr. Doofensmerf!!!!! “inator” ha! Use a good air rifle, Red Rider might kill a bird but will just piss off a small animal.There are many great air guns out there, just take your time to find the right one. I personally don’t like to be trapped by CO2 cartridges. PS barbecued squirrel is pretty tasty!


79 posted on 01/02/2013 1:33:26 PM PST by Ab Alius Domitor ("In the end; the winner")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Kevmo

.22 CB rounds don’t have enough power to rocochet off. No gunpowder is used; just the cap.


80 posted on 01/02/2013 1:37:59 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (In the game of life, there are no betting limits)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-92 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson