"Quiet" Pellet Rifle?

[BluNorthern]

Any advice as to a very quiet pellet rifle? I've got a serious varmint problem...foxes...that are coming around and I think are being fed by neighbors because they are very bold and show very little fear of humans. We've lost one cat recently and had another chased into the house last night with 2 foxes on his tail. I need to take care them.
Any recommendations? Looking for something with enough power to drop one with a head shot within 20 yards, and that won't 'upset' the neighbors.
Reasonable cost would help also, maybe under $225 or thereabouts.

[V8toytruck]

Even the Gamo ''Whisper'' series is pretty loud, speed of the BB and the mechanism inside.

Ever consider a crossbow? There are a few options in your price range through Amazon.

[asheron2]

The spring type guns tend to be a little noisy, if you can get your hands on a PCP(compressed air) style gun the noise is drastically reduced

Edit: Just found this while surfing, might fit your bill and they are decent guns.............or used to be have a friend with a really really old one that works quite well.

[ojisan]

My buddy and I did some informal sound tests with a .177 cal Big Cat, a Whisper and a gas piston break barrel.
Whispers seem louder than they are when you are up close.
Step back 20 feet and they only make a clunk sound that does not sound much like a gun.
Honing the inside of the spring tube and greasing the spring cuts the gun noise down quite a bit.
The gas piston guns are fairly quiet and not much louder than a Whisper as they have no spring noise.
I have not used a GP Whisper yet, this is next and should be really quiet.

Whispers are available in .22 cal, the pellets move slower so they are quieter.

[Cali-Shooter]

Even the Gamo ''Whisper'' series is pretty loud, speed of the BB and the mechanism inside.

Ever consider a crossbow? There are a few options in your price range through Amazon.

+1 on a crossbow or a regular bow (although this is much trickier to use properly). I have a gamo whisper, and for any kind of varmint that's bigger than a cat, there seems to be stopping power issues (crows will not die from 1 shot with a gamo).

[glockman19]

Since someone......felt the need to delete my prior post...

Your actions are ILLEGAL/UNLAWFUL within city limits....

...Call Anmial Control.

[BluNorthern]

Since someone......felt the need to delete my prior post...

Your actions are ILLEGAL/UNLAWFUL within city limits....

...Call Anmial Control.

Yeah, Ok, thanks.

[wilit]

Since someone......felt the need to delete my prior post...

Your actions are ILLEGAL/UNLAWFUL within city limits....

...Call Anmial Control.

The OP lives in Butte County (at least according to the location he put in his profile). Butte County is very sparsely populated and it's my guess he probably doesn't need to worry about local ordinances.

[amd64]

.22 rifle and CB Longs.
About the same volume as a high power air rifle, but with same/more punch.
Please be sure to comply with all local, state, and federal laws.

[vintagearms]

Since someone......felt the need to delete my prior post...

Your actions are ILLEGAL/UNLAWFUL within city limits....

...Call Anmial Control.

http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientID=16065&stateID=5&statename=California

[Sub95]

got a .22 rifle? Order some Aguila colibri there in a rainbow colored box and make very little noise at all. just make sure the bullet comes out of the barrel as some times they get stuck, cleaning rod will push them out.

[Shellshocker66]

I would suggest traps instead of BB guns or bow. Foxes do tend to keep down some other unwanted critters like rats, mice, snakes and so on. Then just relocate them far away from your property. Usually you can rent the traps from animal control for a low price or deposit.

[BluNorthern]

The OP lives in Butte County (at least according to the location he put in his profile). Butte County is very sparsely populated and it's my guess he probably doesn't need to worry about local ordinances.

I've got neighbors but am out of the city limits. I don't want to upset the peta types, I'll just take them out quietly. I totally understand the fact that they keep down rodents and such but we seem to have an overabundance of the varmints running around here. Like I said, they are getting too bold, there's a neighbor woman down the street that feeds them....not good.

[ojisan]

got a .22 rifle? Order some Aguila colibri there in a rainbow colored box and make very little noise at all. just make sure the bullet comes out of the barrel as some times they get stuck, cleaning rod will push them out.

I'm a big .22LR fan but if the bullets go so slow that sometimes they don't clear the muzzle how fast will they be going and what damage will they do at 10-20 yards?

.22 Whisper Ballistics:
Velocity: 950 feet per second (fps) with PBA, 750 fps with Lead - Max. Energy: 24 Joules -
Quote "The non-removable noise dampener reduces the noise up to 52% from standard spring air rifles! We at Airgun Depot have tested this rifle and it is as quiet as it claims, although the difference is only noticeable to those downrange or to the side of the shooter. To the shooter the noise dampening is not significant because the sound is suppressed and pointed back towards the shooter to lessen the carry".

Here's the new gas piston version...getting rid of the spring noise makes a big difference:

http://www.airgundepot.com/gamo-whisper-22.html

I'm not sure how big the foxes are, maybe they are too big for this size airgun.
Of course, there are bigger airguns available.

Maybe smack a few with a good paintball gun first and see if they decide to hunt elsewhere.

[Sub95]

I did some chrony testing on .22-25 cal pellet rifles, first shot is close to what they say but every shot after that the fps drops down alot.

the warning for stuck bullet is because some of the bullets are not sized rite and i found older .22s seem to have a tighter barrel then newer ones, my mp15-22 has never had a stuck one yet. they will do alot of damage at 20' on varmints, they say they are 350fps but when chrony ( set 7 feet out ) they were more like 450-500fps, target set up at 15' HardiePanel, Fiber Cement Siding it would go threw it with no problem and quite.

the Aguila colibri .22 ammo is a 20grain bullet. the Pba are around 10gr for the .22 even the .25 cal is 15 grain and they dont do much damage, they just make a small hole, lost a few none native doves because of that and went back to the hollowpoints which go from 20grains to 26+ grains but the fps is alot slower then Pba, but the non native doves dont get away now. you can have a fast pellet but if it does not do damage what good is it.