Air Gun
 

I'am an exterminator and do Sparrow/Starling shoots inside buildings. Plus I get paid for it. The company guns are both .177 cal.. Doing this once or more per week, I'd rather buy my own air gun so I always have one with me that shoots consistent for me.

Does a .22 air gun shoot tighter patterns than a .177 because of its weight/momentum or the .177 for the speed.

Normally dealing with 10 to 20 yard shots. The first shot needs to count for the small/smart sparrows.

Also, do you know of a preferred brand of air gun? With sprinkler heads, lights and windows, accuracy is the main factor.

I haven't decided whether this is real or not yet :D

Believe it or not this is an actual work question.

I work for a well known pest control company. Being a hunter, doing bird shoots inside of food factories, warehouses and grocery stores is a nice perk of the job. Even I am surprised what a regular occurrence this is. That is why I can personally benefit from having my own work air gun.

Birds regularly sneak into facilities when garbage bins are pulled out, open loading doors, and accidentally get trapped inside from other entries.

That explains the sparrows in the ceiling of wal-mart. Well, I can say I like how Gamo and Beeman .177s work. Is too much penetration a problem? Sparrows are pretty soft and easy to zip through with a pellet...

Beeman and RWS are some of the tops. I had a Beeman R-1 that shot over 1000 fps and could hit aspirin at 40'

Make sure you get an air rifle specific scope and a scope stop.

Actually I would be amazed if a "well known pest control company" would let an employee use their own personal air rifle for insurance purposes.

BUT. In my experience, for those birds, I prefer a larger (.22 cal), heavy and slower pellet over a smaller faster one. I prefer the thundering whallop over the piercing zinger anyday.

I have many air rifles and BB guns. But it's an old .22 single break .22 pellet rifle that rules the rabbit population around here. It shoots pretty slow that's for sure but delivers a lethal head shot.

have you considered a air pistol? for the sounds of it something handy with a bit of power will serve you best. i have a custom shop crosman 2240 fitted with a .22 cal 14'' barrel and a set of williams sights. that thing hits dimes from a rest at 30 yards for at least the first 20 shots from a co2 capsule. i also have a benjamin eb22 that actualy groups a little better at 20 yards but it cant really compete after that. benjamin rifles also could serve you fine since you can pump in as much energy as you need.

if your going to get a springer or a piston gun you should read up on the tom gaylord and what he calls the artillery hold. if you cant master the artillery hold you cant master a springer.

as for the pellets id just go with fly weight flat points. imo flat points have a much greater terminal effect on the animal at short to medium ranges. most of my air gun hunting is with pistols and ive yet to take the head off a grouse with round nose or pointed pellets. almost every bird ive hit with flat heads has completely lost its head. my favorite pellet is the rws hobby pellet, taken around 50 grouse with them and have never failed me. i have tried other pellets and the only time that pointed pellets are really needed is when you are using a under powered gun.

if you can afford a pcp gun go out and get a benjamin discovery kit. the discover will outshoot any of the springer guns mentioned earlier, it will provide equal if not more power and it handles like a 10/22. but thats about $400. thats edging into the price of the air arms tx200 which is undoubtedly the most accurate springer ever made