Rimefire or Centrefire?

The Big Fella

Im looking for a rifle for pest control. Does anyone have suggestions on a gun that fits the bill for shooting crows and rats and so on for €300 -€500.:)

Dvs

The Big Fella wrote: »

Im looking for a rifle for pest control. Does anyone have suggestions on a gun that fits the bill for shooting crows and rats and so on for €300 -€500.:)

Can you specifiy,
the location and circumstances,
where you will be shooting crows and rats,
at first glance on what you say so far,
a shotgun might be more suitable.



Dvs.

The Big Fella

Dvs wrote: »

Can you specifiy,
the location and circumstances,
where you will be shooting crows and rats,
at first glance on what you say so far,
a shotgun might be more suitable.



Dvs.

Ill be shooting on farmland quite close to the bog. I have a shotgun that does the job but would like to use something with a bit less kickback now and again.

Mellor

.22lr or .17hmr, both rimfire

A centrefire isn't suited to rats and crows. Too powerfull. The above would be fine up to rabbits.

Vegeta

.22lr all day

CJhaughey

^ same as Vegeta, .22LR with subsonics, quiet, plenty powerful for Rats and you won't scare all the Crows off with the first shot.

Dvs

The Big Fella wrote: »

Ill be shooting on farmland quite close to the bog. I have a shotgun that does the job but would like to use something with a bit less kickback now and again.

Fair enough,
As others have said a .22lr is a great way to learn your craft as a rifle shooter,
but with rifle shooting there are extra things that you must take into consideration,
you cannot use it the same as a shotgun,
you must always shoot with a safe backstop behind your target,
this means shooting crows in a tree is not safe
also shooting rats in a farmyard with concrete as a backstop,
can result in ricochets, this is not safe either,
you can either use a natural backstop in the yard somewhere,
and bait to bring the rats into the open, or make a backstop bullet trap to do the same thing,
sand bags are on option, always wear eye protection, and personally I always wear ear protection also.

Dvs.

The Big Fella

Dvs wrote: »

Fair enough,
As others have said a .22lr is a great way to learn your craft as a rifle shooter,
but with rifle shooting there are extra things that you must take into consideration,
you cannot use it the same as a shotgun,
you must always shoot with a safe backstop behind your target,
this means shooting crows in a tree is not safe
also shooting rats in a farmyard with concrete as a backstop,
can result in ricochets, this is not safe either,
you can either use a natural backstop in the yard somewhere,
and bait to bring the rats into the open, or make a backstop bullet trap to do the same thing,
sand bags are on option, always wear eye protection, and personally I always wear ear protection also.

Dvs.

It makes it alot harder to shoot birds pests like crows when you cant shoot them in trees. Is it due to the risk of a stray bullet hitting an aircraft or something Dvs

Dvs

The Big Fella wrote: »

It makes it alot harder to shoot birds pests like crows when you cant shoot them in trees. Is it due to the risk of a stray bullet hitting an aircraft or something Dvs

I will proceed on the assumption that you are not winding me up,
It is due to the fact that there is no back stop,
the bullet will in the event of a hit pass through the crow and continue on its way,
it may be deflected from its trajectory and lose some of it's velocity,
but that is no guarantee that it will not do harm when it finally comes to a stop,
it poses a danger to people and livestock.

In the event of a miss the bullet dependent on angle of elevation,
will continue on it's way for a distance of up to 3 miles with a .22 and may still possibly prove fatal.

So it is not safe.

Here are some maths to consider:

A 36gr .22 shot by a 6 foot tall shooter fired from the shoulder,
so the barrel is at five feet held parallel to the ground.

Because gravity is a constant,
you can simply drop a bullet that has been pulled from the case from the specified height of 5' ,
and time how long it takes to hit the ground to calculate the "time of flight" which in this case is approximately 0.5 seconds.

The rounds muzzle velocity is a approx 1,050fps, it will travel 1050 feet in a second,
we know the bullets "time of flight" is half that,
so half of 1050' is 525' or 175 yards is,
how far it will travel before hitting the ground,
when fired from a firearm held parallel to the ground at 5'.

Dvs.

The Big Fella

Thanks for the explaination Dvs and you sure sound like you know what your talking about as well.:D

vermin hunter

i was the same as yourself bigfella and done a lot of reserch and i ended up geting a cz american .17 hmr wich im chuffed with it and used propaly it will take a fox no problem if your out and about and come across one

johno2

I've heard of ratshot cartridges that can be used in a .22. I've never seen or used them though. They're supposed to be like a mini shotgun cartridge with a very short range. Some Aussie guy told me about them years ago. Do any of you guys know anything about them?

johno

Cass

Short thread about rat shot here.

Mellor

The Big Fella wrote: »

It makes it alot harder to shoot birds pests like crows when you cant shoot them in trees. Is it due to the risk of a stray bullet hitting an aircraft or something Dvs

If you couldn't immediatly see why it was a bad idea to shoot up with a rifle. I'd seriously reconsider getting a rifle. Or at least, spend some time with somebody who is experienced with one. Some elements of safety can't be learn from a message board.

johno2 wrote: »

I've heard of ratshot cartridges that can be used in a .22. I've never seen or used them though. They're supposed to be like a mini shotgun cartridge with a very short range. Some Aussie guy told me about them years ago. Do any of you guys know anything about them?

johno

Apparently they make ****e of the barrel. Never used them though.

kay 9

Mellor wrote: »

If you couldn't immediatly see why it was a bad idea to shoot up with a rifle. I'd seriously reconsider getting a rifle. Or at least, spend some time with somebody who is experienced with one. Some elements of safety can't be learn from a message board.


+1
Should be common sense in all fairness

bang2

johno2 wrote: »

I've heard of ratshot cartridges that can be used in a .22. I've never seen or used them though. They're supposed to be like a mini shotgun cartridge with a very short range. Some Aussie guy told me about them years ago. Do any of you guys know anything about them?

johno

I bought 2 boxes of federal birdshot http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/rimfire.aspx?id=51

Still have 98 left, should have been obvious but it dosent recycle in semi autos (ruger 10/22)

The brass expands like a shotgun shell and jams, had to prise them out with a tweezers

expensive too about 11 euro a box.

Bang2

Tackleberrywho

Mellor wrote: »

.22lr or .17hmr, both rimfire

A centrefire isn't suited to rats and crows. Too powerfull. The above would be fine up to rabbits.

I have not seen a crow complain yet if he was shot with a .223 or a rimfire

Personally I think nothing is good enough for rats, except a humane trap that is used as a swimming cage in the river for rats.

Guy I know reckons if you catch 2 rats and starve them that one will eat the other, turn canible and go on a rat rampage :eek:

I have never tried though!

Mellor

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I have not seen a crow complain yet if he was shot with a .223 or a rimfire

That really isnt the point. obviously both will do the job. But CF ammo is dearer, more dangerous and harder to get a licence for.
No point using a sledge to drive panel pins

Ghost.

I agree with the 22lr. A good choice. But after a while you might want somthing with a bit more range and power for longer shots.

Id be thinking more along the lines of 22wrm, it would be my choice. Its a nice round, no kick, good killing power and fairly cheap to run. You can even use it for fox if you come across one.

If you arent after fox I would stay away from centrefire. They are far more expensive to run for crows and rats.

And a rimfire should be much easier to get a licence for.

Remember, with a rifle you always have to be aware of your backstop.

Tackleberrywho

Mellor wrote: »

That really isnt the point. obviously both will do the job. But CF ammo is dearer, more dangerous and harder to get a licence for.
No point using a sledge to drive panel pins

Depends on where you live, was a strraight swap from a .22lr to a .223
Just got the licence stamped and out the door.

Wolf is 10 euro a box 20 .223. It's relatively cheap and remington 40grn hollow point 14 quid.
.22lr last I bought E10 for 100 CCI Minimags. So cost is quite cheap.
But shooting crows I find one needs the range as they rarely sit down beside you to talk to you.
I shoot greycrow that are eating the cattle nuts with the .223.

But rats I would prefer a .410 shotgun or a 16g or a 20G rather than a rifle or 12G

But thats just my opinion learned from my experiences.
My granddad's .410 Harington Richardson was an ideal ratter @ 25 yards or so without blowing the yards or out buildings to pieces:D