backyard squirels and rats

[kace]

Guys,

Thinking of buying a decent air rifle for general plinking/target but also backyard pest control. That is squirrels and rats.

Considering a bsa r10, but am unsure of whether 177 or 22 would be the best choice for 15-30yard backyard shooting. Low noise is a consideration. Wondering if the lower velocity of the 22 would be quieter (only ever owned 177) over the 177, but also don't want any errant or deflected shots to punch through fence boards or anything like that. I think either caliber will easily dispatch rats and squirrels at these ranges so any advice?

[Rob112o]

Yeaaaaaa, that BSA r10 is gonna be doing some damage to them boards(depending on type of boards). In 22 you may have them going threw when they hit closer to the end of the board. As they might take a chunk out. I wouldn't worry so much about deflections, cause that power you are gonna be shooting right threw target. Squirrel skulls are pretty tough and may stop the pellet, but I doubt it. I'd go for something with a bit less power. Even something with adjustable power if your going PCP. Rats you only need 4FPE on target. I'd look at a marauder pistol at 15-30 yards that will be cake. May want to get a moderator to hush it up a little more. Depending on where in Cali, it may benefit you to use co2 in the Benji instead of air. Get you shooting lower fps which will make it quieter and still have more than enough power for your targets.

[Rivers]

Either the .177 or .22 will work fine for your needs. The BSA seems to be an expensive hit-or-miss rifle. For far less than that, you can get a Benjamin Marauder, totally trick it out and still have money left over to buy a good bottle for easy refills. I know that up to 50 yards, an average shooter with a basic, scoped .22 Marauder can put 10 shots inside a quarter at 50 yards, and do it very quietly. At 85 yards, that opens up to a golf ball spread. That rifle was straight out of the box, no helpful tuning. I have a RAW .30 HM1000x and was pleasantly surprised with the performance of my friend's .22 Marauder. No, it can't match the RAW's performance but then his rifle didn't cost $2,000 (without scope!) either.

For more information and resources, you might check out Airgun Nation's forums. Of course there are more forums too but that's a good place to start.

[kace]

Thanks Guys,

I know there are a lot of variables, but all things being equal - say a mid weight pellet for both calibers (so the 177 is still subsonic) is there a great difference in noise between 177 and 22 in the same gun.

On the BSA, I've seen mostly stellar reviews, and the older model (mk2) is selling at a pretty good discount at the moment.
The marauder looks like a good gun as does the Umarex Gauntlet at only 300 bucks.

[Bart1015]

Kace

I have an Airforce Condor SS, 18 in barrel, in .22. I use 32gr diablo pellets that kill the cr@p out of rats, skunks, turkeys and other animals. I got the SS model because it has a very good factory suppressor that truly works.

I consistently hit a coda can size steal plate at 100 yards, well my mini "gong" is 298 ft. from my deck. I have had it about 5 years and have fired countless rounds from it. I have never had any issues and the workmanship is great.

Once you buy a high quality air rifle you will get hooked.

I don't know where your located, but if your in the bay area your welcome to stop by and shoot it.

Brett

[Rivers]

Thanks Guys,

I know there are a lot of variables, but all things being equal - say a mid weight pellet for both calibers (so the 177 is still subsonic) is there a great difference in noise between 177 and 22 in the same gun.

[k1dude]

I've found most .177's to be very loud due to the pellet speed. Even those with shrouded barrels and supposed suppressors.

I've found .22's to be much more quiet. As long as you have a shrouded barrel.

Your problem is the fence boards. Any full power pellet hitting a fence board will be loud. You also have to worry about over penetration.

For short range pest control with low noise, I've never found a better option than an inexpensive Crosman Classic 2100.

You can pump it only 3 or 4 times for a low noise, low penetration pellet that's still powerful enough to kill a squirrel or rat at close range. It's also ideal for shots against the house where if you miss, you won't penetrate the stucco/fascia or break a roof tile.

I've probably killed more rodents with that 2100 than any of my fancy and expensive pellet guns combined. It's flat out deadly. Rarely do I find rodents away from the house. They always seem to be up close or on the house when I notice them. So the 2100 is perfect.

[Paul_R]

I have a down tuned edgun leshiy for backyard pesting. 670fps with .22 cal 18.1gr jsb's and 720fps with 16gr. polymags with the same POI at 25m. Both ridiculously accurate and I get around 50 regulated shots and an additional 20 usable shots after it comes off reg for a total of almost 70 shots per fill with the 12fpe huma regulator.

[-hanko]

Rarely do I find rodents away from the house.

They always seem to be up close or on the house when I notice them.

I'll go slow.

Rodents nest close to food sources.

If they're close to or on the house, it means that they're finding food there.

You might consider removing anything from around the house and your roof that rodents might eat. If that doesn't work, I'd call a professional.

Off topic, imo cats are by far the most effective means of eliminating rodents.

[BruceR]

I have 14 snap traps (Victor) scattered around the outside of my house. I get a rat about every day or two with this many traps, enough to maintain my interest in this venture. I change up the trigger bait on a regular basis, with the last round being bits of fish skin. It only takes be about 10 minutes to make the rounds to all my traps.

[-hanko]

I have 14 snap traps (Victor) scattered around the outside of my house. I get a rat about every day or two with this many traps, enough to maintain my interest in this venture. I change up the trigger bait on a regular basis, with the last round being bits of fish skin. It only takes be about 10 minutes to make the rounds to all my traps.

So catching rats in traps is kind of a hobby?

Not telling you what to do, but you might want to google a bit as to diseases carried by rodents and transferred to humans. Most are not pleasant, some can be fatal if your MD has no experience in animals as disease vectors, not to mention you can catch diseases by simply breathing dust from an old nest.

I would also see if your county has what we used to call in Texas a "county trapper".

[kace]

In my case it's my damn neighbors backyard which is full of junk and ivy. The rats love it. We don't have them in and around the house but our fruit and veg get eaten alive by the little b*s*ar*s. They especially like peaches, last year they stripped the peach tree bare in a couple nights. This year I built full enclosures around the raised vegetable plots with 1" pvc "cages" covered in 1/2" 16ga galvanised hardware cloth. The trees are too big for that so I built a 4 ft tall 6ftx6ft fence of pvc and chicken wire to keep our dogs away from the traps and put several snap traps inside. Got a total of one squirrel and 3 rats over a few weeks, but mostly the rats avoided the traps and simply went for the peaches. I won't use poison because of the dogs, so I'm out of options. I've tried bird netting, but they just eat holes in it. Next year it's going to be dusk to dark shooting - I know I can't win, but at least I can get some satisfaction out of whacking a few of them.

I did pull the trigger today on a bsa r10. Because of the new SE model, the older mark 2s are about 50% off retail so a good deal I think. To be fair I could have put a decent scope on my old Diana model 24 and probably done OK, although the Diana is a bit weak. I have a Gamo springer too, but it's pretty awful.

Thanks for all the advice guys!

[k1dude]

I'll go slow.

Rodents nest close to food sources.

If they're close to or on the house, it means that they're finding food there.

You might consider removing anything from around the house and your roof that rodents might eat. If that doesn't work, I'd call a professional.

Squirrels are constantly using my house for a lookout since it's the highest spot in the area. Since it's the highest spot in the area, they're always trying to chew through the walls to make a nest. There's no food on my roof. I'm not going to chop down the neighborhood's giant oak trees to eliminate the acorns.

The other rodents also love the house for the pool and plant irrigation. I'm not going to fill my pool or stop watering my yard plants. There's no food other than nearby natural foods. I live at the very edge of the wild countryside.

[Hopalong]

Marauder .22 will do yeoman's work, and nobody will know.

[Rivers]

We live right next to a huge wildlife area. Coyotes. Hawks. Owls. Snakes. Opossums. Raccoons. Rabbits. Ground squirrels. We used to have ground squirrels but they don't come into our yard anymore.