What air rifle for squirrels?

session savage

Hi all. I want to start hunting grey squirrels. I'm lucky enough to live in a village with a good gun dealer.
I want to apply for a liscence so I need to know the gun type.
Question is, what do I get. I want a good 'hunting' gun. not a toy.
Do I go for gas powered or not? do I have to use a sight or is there a real need. etc.

Also, in tipperary, where do these greys be??

Thanks for your help.

flanum

"grey" indeed.
heres where somebody else explains the law (grey area). over to you lads.

session savage

flanum wrote: »

"grey" indeed.
heres where somebody else explains the law (grey area). over to you lads.

?? What do you mean? Cant I get a rodent liscence which would then cover grey squirrels. The reason I want to hunt greys is because of the effect they are having on the native red squirrels.

milkerman

Weihrauch are good. Particularly the HW80, HW90 & HW97k to a lesser extent. Theoben are also good. Found BSA to be rubbish.
A PCP rifle is also great but the hassle with air bottles etc is a major pain.
You should always use a telescopic sight for hunting IMO, as a kindness to your quarry. Even Grey squirrels & rats deserve an instant death.

session savage

Thanks for the suggestions.

clivej

Many years ago I shot grey squirrels with a BSA metior .22. It was just a spring chamerbed afair that was armed by pulling/braking the barrel to arm the spring and put in a new slug. We shot in the woods and just used the sights off the gun, no scopes as we couldn't see/keep up with the grey squirrels because of the trees, too hard to find the grey squirrels through the scope glass.
Cheap good fun and did the job, it must have been the cheapest air rifle to buy at the time.

stevoman

dont get a gas powered onje. i have one at the moment with a bloody pellet lodged in the barrell. That wat happens when the gas is running out and somewho who happens to be taking a few shots with it doesnt realise. Now i dont know how to get the pellet out. :mad:

Hezz700

stevoman wrote: »

dont get a gas powered onje. i have one at the moment with a bloody pellet lodged in the barrell. That wat happens when the gas is running out and somewho who happens to be taking a few shots with it doesnt realise. Now i dont know how to get the pellet out. :mad:

use a .22lr cleaning rod, it works for me:)

I only have a cheapo springer now but it works just fine with no worries.:D

SS

I prefer to hunt squirrels with a 12 gauge, it much easier to aqquire your target on the move in the tree tops and it gives you the option of blasting dreys with some bb shot.

Hez

triggerpull

mink trap will do the job well if you just want rid of them....
shooting is more fun:D:D:D

Umiq88

yeah unless you thinking of scoping it what about a 16, 10, 18bore shotung or even a .410 not sure if hushpowers are available over here

BryanL

the problem with most springers is that they are set to the 12ft/lb english limit,which gives a very poor tragectory in .22 and .177 although flatter is easily affected by wind.
the HW80 is only a goods choice if you buy it new at full power or else fit an after market kit from V-Mach.takes the gun to 22 FT/Lb in .22
if you can afford it PCp's are the way to go and with a pump are not too expensive, can easily be adjusted to higher power levels are very silent and have no recoil.
photo full power HW80 with friends

pullandbang

session savage wrote: »

Question is, what do I get. I want a good 'hunting' gun. not a toy.
Do I go for gas powered or not? do I have to use a sight or is there a real need. etc.

Also, in tipperary, where do these greys be??

Thanks for your help.

Get a shotgun!

As to where to find them........look up! They love beech trees and the shotgun will take the from the tree tops. Just make sure they are grey!

Vegeta

Get a PCP air rifle and a manual pump. Try and get a 30ft/lb rifle

I have had a logun mk II pro which was a multi shot and a single shot BSA Hornet.

Sold the logun and kept the BSA. These guns are crazy accurate at 40 yards but at that range a shotgun will do the job.

Air rifles have their place around farm yards and in sheds etc but a shotgun will probably reap more rewards in your situation

damo03

scuttlebutt wrote: »

When shooting Squirrels bring Action Men

Scuttlebutt this pic got removed already from one of the picture threads because the squirrel is a red although it was probably road kill, you should delete it.;)

Rovi

I suspect that picture originated in a jurisdiction where the Red isn't protected, but it might indeed be a good idea to remove it in case of confusion.
However, if someone here shooting Greys happened to have a couple of Action Men and a camera...

scuttlebutt

Yep just a funny pic, no harm ment:)

scuttlebutt

Sorry about that , just a funny pic.. Removed

flanum

session savage wrote: »

?? What do you mean? Cant I get a rodent liscence which would then cover grey squirrels. The reason I want to hunt greys is because of the effect they are having on the native red squirrels.

ok!! see this, scroll down and read the AIR RIFLES bit!!!
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Information%20on%20firearms%20licensing.doc/Files/Information%20on%20firearms%20licensing.doc

ok?

BryanL

we've been through it many times here Flanum, that is an error,one of many on that page. It amazed me as well the first time i saw it.
the NARGC made a statement on is as well.seems an air rifle is all good for small vermin
Bryan

Mocha

Cometa or Norica Air rifles are decent break barrel air rifles. Around 20 foot/lbs.
George Mcgrath in Clonmel does them as does Open season in Nenagh.
I think Sean Harding in Urlingford (Stakelums) might have them as well.

Mellor

flanum wrote: »

ok!! see this, scroll down and read the AIR RIFLES bit!!!
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Information%20on%20firearms%20licensing.doc/Files/Information%20on%20firearms%20licensing.doc

ok?

Thats not a legal document, its not very acurate either

session savage

OK, so I choose a gun. And from what was on offer I decided on a Gamo air rifle with a mid range sight (cant remember the make but it seemed really good)

So tell me.. is the gun any good??
I tried it out and it seems perfect. I shot at a paint tin from 25 - 30 metres and it was bang on target and went through the tin.

http://www.gamo.com/?ID=53&ProductID=146

Vegeta

session savage wrote: »

OK, so I choose a gun. And from what was on offer I decided on a Gamo air rifle with a mid range sight (cant remember the make but it seemed really good)

So tell me.. is the gun any good??
I tried it out and it seems perfect. I shot at a paint tin from 25 - 30 metres and it was bang on target and went through the tin.

http://www.gamo.com/?ID=53&ProductID=146

I cant check the link as work has them blocked but what foot pound (ft/lb) is the rifle?

if it is a 12ft/lb one then I would not really try anything over 25-30 yards to be honest (that's personal opinion there)

If its a 30 ft/lb or higher then 40 yards is a good max range.

Again experiment on lots of reactive targets at various ranges ,safely of course (phone books are good, don't expect it to go the whole way through though) before you attempt a live target, vermin deserve respect too. Get an idea of its stopping power at various ranges.

session savage

I cant find what ft/lb the rifle is on that page, although it does say the velocity is 1000ft/s (305m/s) . Is that ok?

session savage

I cant find what ft/lb the rifle is on that page, although it does say the velocity is 1000ft/s (305m/s) . Is that ok?

Vegeta

session savage wrote: »

I cant find what ft/lb the rifle is on that page, although it does say the velocity is 1000ft/s (305m/s) . Is that ok?

I looked at this last night, that's with a .177 cal pellet.

Is yours a .22 or .177?

I assume the .22 would go a bit slower

Rovi

The linked page states:
"Initial Velocity: 1000 ft/s (305 m/s) with caliber .177 in (4,5 mm)."

Given some of the pellet weights stated here-
http://www.airsportdirect.com/acatalog/Ammo.html
...and plugging them into some ballistics software:
10-15 grain .177 (hunting) pellets will have muzzle energies of 22-33Ft/Lbs,
and 20-30 grain .22 (hunting) pellets will have muzzle energies of 44-66Ft/Lbs.

That said, and all else being equal, I'd expect the heavier .22 pellets to be going slower than the .177, so they're more likely to be in the 40-50Ft/Lbs range.

BryanL

the 1,000 fps is usually with a lighter pellet, it's a high powered airgun thats for sure.
probably need to consider using "bisley mags" or H+N "barracuda" or H+N "FTT" pellets through it at that power. otherwise most pellet skirts will be distored by the power ,making it hard to be accurate.

did you get a .177 or .22/
i've a .22 HW doing 825fps with H+N FTT with good results

basic stuff on shooting springers can be picked up on www.airgunbbs.com basically hold the gun very loosely to the shoulder and with your hands,let the gun kick freely and never rest the fore end on anything solid.
you can shoot to any distance you can do sub inch groups at.
Bryan

session savage

Yeah, I'm 99% sure its a .22. (bear with me, I'm new to this) That would be the 5.5mm pellets yeah?

Thanks for all the help by the way.

IRLConor

4.5mm <-> .177
5.5mm <-> .22 (a little under .22, but close)

BryanL

yeah thats .22 usually they are about 5.52-5.54mm and pellets in the same brand will come in a few diameters. try to get one that fits nice an snugly.
.22 in higher powered springers shoot much more smoothly than in .177 so you did well there.
it looks to be a nice gun you got based on the HW97 which is a great gun, just get a couple of 100 pellets down the barrel now and you should be flying
Bryan

Vegeta

assuming the .177 pellet weighs 6.9 grains and has an initial velocity of 305m/s then that would be just over 15ft/lbs

So for a .22 pellet it would go a little slower so I'd say its a 12ft/lb air rifle

stick to 25-30 yard shots for the sake of your quarry

session savage

Vegeta wrote: »

stick to 25-30 yard shots for the sake of your quarry

Will do.

Cant wait to get me lisence now. Thanks for all the info lads.:D

Vegeta

session savage wrote: »

Will do.

Cant wait to get me lisence now. Thanks for all the info lads.:D

Good man, looking forward to hearing about your experiences with it. Good luck with it anyway.

Tom Donnavan

BryanL wrote: »

the problem with most springers is that they are set to the 12ft/lb english limit,which gives a very poor tragectory in .22 and .177 although flatter is easily affected by wind.
the HW80 is only a goods choice if you buy it new at full power or else fit an after market kit from V-Mach.takes the gun to 22 FT/Lb in .22
if you can afford it PCp's are the way to go and with a pump are not too expensive, can easily be adjusted to higher power levels are very silent and have no recoil.
photo full power HW80 with friends

was thinking of going down that road myself , would you think it too powerfull for a bit of indoor target practice in a 30ft garage or my house even with kitchen, utility and back toilet doors open (32ft straight line) any danger of rickoshea?how silent is it ? did you ever come across an air gun threadded for a silencer?

It wasn't me!

A lot of the popular air rifles used for hunting are threaded, so you're onto a winner there. Others will be along presently to tell you the best way to shoot safely and avoid ricochets. I'd have a few ideas of what might work, but I dunno if they'd be up to scratch, so I'll leave it to those who know better.

Vegeta

Tom Donnavan wrote: »

was thinking of going down that road myself , would you think it too powerfull for a bit of indoor target practice in a 30ft garage or my house even with kitchen, utility and back toilet doors open (32ft straight line) any danger of rickoshea?how silent is it ? did you ever come across an air gun threadded for a silencer?

Firstly I'll point out that in court a garage or kitchen style practice set-up may be considered a range and therefore need authorisation.

Personally I'd stick with the garage as the thought of someone walking into the kitchen doesn't bear thinking about

I have a 30 ft/lb air rifle and you'd want a decent backstop for it, it is surprisingly powerful. Something like a sheet of ply over a dart board.

Safety, safety, safety is always your first concern. Have never done it myself either so I'd be very careful, wouldn't be hot on the idea.