gas powered for hunting rabbits

Guill

Hi, I am strongly considering buying a gas powered rifle for hunting rabbits/ rats etc. Some of my friends hunt with 'real' guns but they are unsure of the laws about this. What would be a good make of gun to look into? What firing distances would i be looking at? I assume it would have to fire lead bullets? Any help, info, tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.

kildare.17hmr

They would be plenty powerful for rabbits, i used a spring loaded SMK out to about 50-60 meters and it worked fine and that was a cheap piece of crap! Have you considered a "real gun" as you put it? For the money you would spend on a gas powered rifle you would get a nice .22 or even a .17hmr and go alot further with shots and shoot the occasional fox if the mood or oppertunity stricks

Guill

Sorry for the term 'real' guns, my vocab regarding guns in not very big.
Rifles and shotguns are out of the question due to an unfortunate incident a few years ago involving a friend. I am looking for something that will kill small rodents but not injure a person (although i would love some pay back on poultry nabbing foxes).
I am surrounded by a large farm, (GF's fathers farm) and there would be no issue tipping down the field at night time for rabbit stew ingredients :pac:.

It wasn't me!

To be honest, air rifles are very mission specific. They cost at least as much to buy and require the same licensing rigmarole as a cartridge rifle, while being less versatile. In addition, they're more than capable of causing injury and death. If the incident you reference would preclude you having a cartridge rifle either by rendering you disentitled to apply under the firearms act or for any reason with regard to safety, the same thing will apply when considering an air rifle.

kildare.17hmr

Licencing is the same for air rifles as it is for the others i mentioned. were you in trouble with a gun in the past?

Guill

Never in trouble before regarding guns or for that matter anything.
Incident was a suicide (gf's brother).

My Gf does not want a gun aroumd the house, she has a fear of them which is probably well founded.

However, i believe that the gas powered versions are alot safer (depending on the user). I know she believes the same. Are they?
I know any item on the planet can be used to kill but in comparrison to cartridge guns are they safer or less inclined to cause serious harm to a person?

kildare.17hmr

safty all down to the user not the gun. my GF had similar concerns so no prob my gun lives in the home place which is fine because i dont use it at home;)

It wasn't me!

Guill wrote: »

Never in trouble before regarding guns or for that matter anything.
Incident was a suicide (gf's brother).

My Gf does not want a gun aroumd the house, she has a fear of them which is probably well founded.

However, i believe that the gas powered versions are alot safer (depending on the user). I know she believes the same. Are they?
I know any item on the planet can be used to kill but in comparrison to cartridge guns are they safer or less inclined to cause serious harm to a person?

Airguns will kill, as will cartridge rifles. The concern is with the user, not the firearm. To be honest, you're better off resolving all concerns with your girlfrien and then selecting whatever best suits the task you want, which sounds like a .22LR if you're going to be after rabbits. Alternatively, you could get a shotgun, which would give you more facility for foxes up close, but you won't get as many rabbits with it.

landkeeper

an up to date modern gas powered air rifle is well able to kill rabbits out to 50 yards and if it's one of the higher powered ones 24ftlb jobs it'll do it at 70 metres no bother , if there are issues in the house hold re guns then i can understand the op asking about air rifles so there is no point telling him about cartrige rifles and shotguns really
anyway to reply to the questions asked, air rifles use lead pellets as ammunition they are like a tiny lead shuttlecock usually in 2 calibres .177 and .22 and yes you will need a licence for it and it's the same process as if you were getting a cartridge rifle

Vegeta

Again just to point out that air rifles are lethal in suicide scenarios(sorry, no easy way of saying that ) and are licensed exactly the same as a cartridge firearm.

If it is a pre-charged pneumatic rifle, well they are excellent. As it is a hunting firearm I'd advise a 30ft/lb rifle or close to it if you can. Powerful enough to take rabbits, very cheap to buy ammo for and superbly accurate. Downside is the cost, a good PCP is more expensive than a lot of rimfire rifles.

If the GF has a disliking of firearms and you want to shield her from them , don't let her see you use it. They give off a loud crack which to the untrained ear can sound just like a smaller gun shot. Also if she sees the damage they are capable of well she'll stop thinking of it as "just an air rifle".

Guill

Thanks Vegeta, Have you any model names or brand names i could look up?

Vegeta

I have personally used a Logun and a BSA air rifle. My father still has and uses the BSA but I traded the Logun for a rimfire maybe 4 years ago.

I'd recommend either as they were both functionally perfect. Daystate are another brand I can think of off the top of my head, Air Arms is another. You'll want to be sitting down when you see the price of some of these things. Phenomenal pieces of engineering though.

Go into your closest Easons the next time you are near one and go to the shooting section. There will more than likely be an air gun or rifle magazine which will have reviews and advertisements allowing you to read up on them.

beretta686s

hi guill i have a hw 95 springer so u dont have to get gas refills it is very good a knocking rabbits crows pigeons magpies u name it,it will knock it gr8 fun ammo very cheap.rifle a bit dear o start off with doh other than ull love it:D

Sparks

Not to mention, in terms of lethality, that you don't really want to feck about with the tank from a precompressed air rifle. Even the low-powered ISSF ones charge to 200 bar and have the same degree of energy stored in them as a hand grenade or two. The safety features are pretty outstanding, but even so, there are always examples available on the net of what happens when an unlikely-but-not-mathematically-impossible accident happens.

Though I will say this - if you're hunting a rabbit and miss with a .22lr and your backstop's not up to snuff, it's potential bad news for anyone a mile or more downrange. With an airgun, the "oh crap" range is substantially less than that.

Tackleberrywho

Sparks wrote: »

Not to mention, in terms of lethality, that you don't really want to feck about with the tank from a precompressed air rifle. Even the low-powered ISSF ones charge to 200 bar and have the same degree of energy stored in them as a hand grenade or two. The safety features are pretty outstanding, but even so, there are always examples available on the net of what happens when an unlikely-but-not-mathematically-impossible accident happens.

Though I will say this - if you're hunting a rabbit and miss with a .22lr and your backstop's not up to snuff, it's potential bad news for anyone a mile or more downrange. With an airgun, the "oh crap" range is substantially less than that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyINNUaXa8Q

skipz

Hi Guill, i have a BSA scorpion that is a pcp air rifle and its the dogs for shooting!
It has 36lb/ft and is plenty enough. Most gas ram air rifles you can buy are sub 12lb/ft as there for the English market and lack the power for long range kill shots with the rabbits, but still do the job.
Id recommend a pcp before a gas as in the long run it would be cheaper and easier to power up the rifle.

Guill

I've been trying to find places that sell these guns, where should i look?

Vegeta

Guill wrote: »

I've been trying to find places that sell these guns, where should i look?

I think a user called civdef asked this exact question in the shooting section recently. If you do a search there using his name and air rifle I am sure you'd get a match.

recipio

Coming late to this post but I'm confused by the request and some of the answers.
By "gas powered " do you mean a co2 powered airgun using "powerlets"
If so, they will work, but only at a max range of about 30 yards for hunting They generate about 9 ft/lbs in hot weather ( less in cold ) and you would want to have a good scope and be sure of headshots. PCP rifles are another kettle of fish ,using compressed air range from 12 up to 40 ft/lbs. An experienced shooter will still zero at 35 -40 yards and use fieldcraft to get close to the quarry. A powerful 40 ft/lb gun will hit out to 70 yards ( not metres ) but you're into spending £700 upwards for a quality PCP and a scope, scupa tank and you will get about 40 shots per charge.
If you can't face all this hassle you could opt for a powerful gas ram airifle like a Theoben eliminator which cocks an fires like any airgun, but with more effort.
Either way you are into asking a RFD to order this for you and of course getting a licence beforehand.