.177 or .22 for me?

[Loki_762]

I have been seriously considering a high powered pellet rifle for dealing with pests around my house. Living on the edge of a greenbelt, there is plenty of critters out there that are not welcome in our yard, and I need a means of keeping them out. Most of what I would be shooting at could be taken with a .177 moving at about 1000 FPS, I would imagine - things like rabbits, crows, and starlings. However, within the last few weeks, the raccoons have begun to get pretty bold, and have even gone so far as to come up on to our deck in the middle of the night. We have cats, and we really don't want them getting torn up by raccoons. So, my question is this: will a .22 be a better gun for me, in case I have to shoot a raccoon, or will a .177 suffice? I am thinking of getting the larger caliber, thinking that I want it to be able to humanely kill ANY of the animals it hits, if I do my part right. Also, can anyone recommend an air rifle that they feel is a good value and good quality for the price that is under the $200 mark?
Thanks for any advice you can give me,
Loki

[gregarat]

thinking that I want it to be able to humanely kill ANY of the animals it hits, if I do my part right.

I'm guessing there isn't neighbors near by?

I think the chances of getting a clean kill with a raccoon isn't high, with an air rifle.
You should get a .17 HMR. Thats if geting a totally clean kill, is your bottom line. The .17 HMR bullet should fragment on a starling, I'm not sure. On everything else it will.

If your intent on useing a air rifle. My vote is .22.


Oh... and don't soot them on the deck;) .

[Loki_762]

Actually, I do have neighbors nearby, which is why I don't want to use my.17 HMR, which would be my first choice if I didn't have to worry about stray bullets and excessive noise. I just want a quiet, relatively powerful, and above all, safe way of dispatching these critters. Thanks for the response.
Loki

[model 70]

i'm no expert but that sounds like a tall order for coons. a co-worker shot a opposum at about 3' in the head with a .177 pellet rifle. he said he had to shoot it 5 times before it died. what about a .22 short and make sure you there is nothing behind your target. seems like a bolt action .22 rimfire using .22 shorts would be perfect for close up coons....if you don't mind a hole or 2 in your deck;)

[fabsroman]

You guys want to hear something crazy, my uncle killed several deer with a RWS Model 54 .22 airgun out of his window. Granted, they were 10 feet or less away, but he killed them. I never would have believed it if it wasn't for my aunt swearing about it (i.e., she is really religious) and the fact that my cousin did them same thing when he inherited my uncle's airgun 2 months ago upon my uncle's passing. I am still a little skeptical about it, and know that I am not able to cleanly kill a groundhog at 25 yards with a .177 RWS Model 36 at 1,100 fps. I do know that my airgun will cleanly kill doves out to 30 yards and crows out to 20 yards. Starlings are no problem out to 25 yards. Then again, none of the shots made to kill these deer have been the drop them in their tracks dead type of shots, but I have seen deer run further after being shot with rifles as comapred to how my uncle and cousin describe what the deer did after being shot with the .22.

In the end, I think a .22 at a reasonable range would kill a raccoon. The question is what is reasonable. I think you need to start at 10 yards and see where it goes from there.

As far as a airgun recommendation, I don't have one for less than $200. The ones I described above run about $400.

[steven gordon]

A friend of mine accidently killed the doe he had intended to hit in the gluteus with a 177 to keep her out of his apple trees. She turned to look at him exactly as he was pulling the trigger, the pellet hit her in the chest, she staggered two steps and fell over, dead.

Inside a deer, a small, low speed pellet will ricochet around the inside of the chest cavity several times before stopping, creating a lot of damage. Thus the weapon of choice of many hit men (I'm told) has been the .22 short.

I don't know if an airgun pellet would exit a raccoon or not; if it would, the animal's death would be agonizing.

My bottom line: get the .22. Put the extra $ into it now; there are some very accurate, fun 177's out there that don't cost as much as dinner and a movie for two but to the best of my knowledge there aren't any bargains like that for .22's.


That being said, I use CB caps (22 ultra shorts, you can get them from cheaperthandirt.com) in a bolt action .22 and it's quieter than my air rifle. I recommend at least a 21" barrel, preferably longer.

[Cossack]

The 17 is just fine for your purpose. My RWS has accounted for crows, lots of squirrels, 3 racoon and a mistake deer too.
17shoots flatter, less niose and recoil and less expensive to shoot. Don't waste your $ on cheap imitations. Get a decent gun and at least 4X airgun scope with strong rings.

[skeeter@ccia.com]

skunks, coons have been taken with the pointed pellets. Non of these were more than 5 yds shots. Doves, etc I have taken out to 40yds with the wadcutters. I have also taken down possums with the wadcutter but what is needed is the ear to ear shot at about 4" from them. I understand the neighbors and backstop problem and is why I have used these myself. Penetration was greater with the pointed pellets. Believe me there are ears tuned to the sound of a pellet rifle going off when they can't even hear a car crash in front of their house...I know this for a fact. So, if you want to spend the money on a good pellet rifle, might as well get the 22 and shoot the pointed pellets at as close to ear to ear as you can get. Will get the job done.

[Mickey Rat]

I have two sugestions for you.

1. Buy some CCI CB caps and try them in the LONGEST RIFLE you have. Sound level will be very low. Accuracy will be great. Power is OK for squirrel out to 35-40 yards (bullet stops under skin on far side), so head shots up close are a snap. Price is about 5.00/100.

2. Buy a 22 caliber air rifle that can get 800 fps. It will perform way better than the 117 @ 1100 fps. 117 tends to pass thru leaving very little damage. I've never dropped a squirrel with a body shot. Body shots with a 22 puts them on the ground. 200.00 will buy a 800fps 22.

http://www.compasseco.com/
http://www.airgunexpress.com/

Compasseco sells cheaper stuff. REMEMBER: A new spring piston air gun must be broken it to be accurate. 1000 rounds or more. Scopes for airguns MUST BE AIRGUN RATED. They will eat almost any standard scope, now matter how expensive.

I've shot air guns for years, trust me. The lower priced Chinese 22 can be pretty accurate and under 200.00.
http://www.compasseco.com/index.php?action=item&id=1060&prevaction=category&previd=1&prevstart=0

[Minihuntur]

i dont know how big coons are, but there's a gamo that fires 22 cal pellets (at 1000 fps or so) that should take 'em out, but it's kinda $$$, 250. the chinese tsa mod b-22 goes almost 800 according to ffg mag, which says flat out you can take coon shots, plus groups under an inch at 25 yds. Im broke and would go wiht the latter, but it's up to you.
Minihuntur

[DaMadman]

Been a loooong time since I posted here and my thoughts are still the same. If you wanna kill pest in a suburban environment this is the only way to go

http://www.aguilaammo.com/images/supercolibri2.jpg

http://www.aguilaammo.com/supercolibri.htm

[spike1]

The problem here in AZ is, if it has FIRE it is a FIREarm. If you discharge a FIREarm in city limits you go to JAIL ! I'm sure this is different depending on your state.

Still glad you showed those. They may be great for campsite vermin hunting with the kids.

One up from the pellet rifle :p

[DaMadman]

Spike check with your local law enforcement. In Maryland we have similar laws. BUT those .22 shels have absolutely no gun powder in them. The only thing that propels the bullet is a very hot primer.

I asked a couple police officers in my area and tehy told me. if it doesn't have gun powder in the shell, then there really is no way they could consider it illegal to shoot in my back yard. As well as the fact that they are actually QUIETER than my break barrel pellet rifle. I have sat a shot prolly a couple hundred round of those aguila no powder .22 shells in my back yard while my neighbors was weeding her flowers. she never looked up and paid me absolutely no attention until my son came out and shot his pellet gun. The first time he pulled the trigger she jumped as if startled and turned around to see where the noise was coming from. I waved and she went back to her flowers