backyard air gunners?
 

who on these forums is a backyard air gunner? post a reply and be proud. I'm just starting out. read some reviews and i'll probably pick up a Crosman quest 1000x combo. seems like a decent value gun to shoot under 40yds with. anyone have a good bait for starling/english sparrow? i'm goiing to re-use an old milk jug or two to make a feeder(s)

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

Yep i am i just got a airgun about 1 month ago and i already got 4 squirrels and a bunch of birds. Crossman generally has pretty gun airguns for the money. I wouldnt spend over 200 for a airgun.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

Blow guns are the way to go for back yard safaris.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

A sling shot is more sporting.
Plus the ammo is all over the ground for free

JMHO

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

one thing i've really noticed as a trend in break bbl air rifles is all of the scopes or scope mounts are terrible and should be thrown away. any good suggestions for a good scope? i'll be getting the Quest for ~$100 so maybe a $50 dollar (give or take) scope? i've heard something about bushnell making a decent 3-9x. are there any specific tips for mounting a scope on a springer? i know i should use blue threadlocker on all the hardware but is there anything else?

made a couple feeders today and filled em with a cracked corn/blackoil sunflower mix. some sparrows have visited on the ground where i had scattered bits to attract them to the area but i haven't seen any on the feeders as of yet. only been out for the later half of a day so i'm hoping they'll find em by the end of the week. i'm waiting on a paycheck to get my rifle.[:@]

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

Read your states hunting regulations and local laws. Most birds are protected and many towns prohibit the use of airguns in residential areas.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

I have that bushnell 3-9 scope and it was great for what i paid for it. Only $50 and works fine.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

I borrowed my buddies Crossman so I can take out some of the squirrels that inhabit my garage. The air rifle doesn't have a scope though so shooting is tough. I am going to put a scope on it this weekend. Should have much better luck then. It is fun to shoot though.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

my brother just got a .22 caliber benjamin, very accurate. and in two shots with this special pellets he has, it will tear a potato in two, cant wait to see what it does on squirrels when the season opens

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

After I had Prostate cancer surgery in 2005 I found my self with 8 weeks of recovery time so just before I went under the knife I ordered the Gamo NRA special. Shoots 1000fps and came with a BSA 4x scope. I have shot it many times in my back yard and currentlyI'm thinning out the pigeons in the area. Started with an ever dozen and down to just two left, but they have a way of multiplying just as they get low in numbers. I work night shift so I find my best time is when I get home a 6am and catch them roosting on the light pole or on the neighbors roof. If they fall into the next door neighbor’s backyard they just pick them up and put them in the trash. Makes for a nice shooting gallery.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

One caveat for those buying a spring piston air rifle, the reverse recoil they impart is a real scope destroyer, make sure that the scope you choose is rated for this type of air rifle. I'd love to be able to free up the coin for something from Feinwerkbau or one of the other higher end rifles.

I have several airguns for backyard plinking, a Daisy 1000 springer rifle(1K fps)and a Beeman springer pistol(400 fps). In addition to paper targets I have several spinning/resettable targets. I prefer the paper targets, especially when used with Shoot n' See stick ons, really makes it easy to see where you're hitting. I don't plink the local songbirds or squirrels, sometimes they even sit on nearby branches and watch me while I shoot. LOL

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

I use a Daisy 1000s with scope. I have taken many squirrels and rabbits with this gun! ;)

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

I'm sorry A11en, but did you say checkstate hunting regulations for the use of an AIRGUN on protected birds? WOW, you have got to be kidding me. :DDo you know how many bluejays I've killed since I was a young airgunner years ago? Thousands, plus tons of other birds that were most likely "protected". I can honestly saythat, while sitting on my back porch with a BB-gun, I have never wondered which one of these little boogersflying around is protected. I try to take em all out, because it's something we call FUN.Do you know how many squirrels I've killed with an airgun just playing around? Hundreds. And do you know that my granddaddy taught me how to shoot a gun by letting me take out Yellowhammers in his back yard with a .410? Yeah thats right I said Yellowhammers, our state bird down here in Alabama. Down here we call em sapsuckers cause they tear up trees just like a woodpecker, so we took care of the trees that the other "cute little birdies" nest in by killin sapsuckers. Where I live right now one of my neighbors owns quail houses. Well, of course there arehawks all over the place down here, so he sits outside and shoots hawks so they dont get his quails and cause him to lose money. Call me what you will, redneck, hick, anything.......but that's how we ALL were raised down here.Come on buddy, I'm sorry but I will never ever let somefooltell me I can't shoot an airgun in my own backyard.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

I guess I'm one of the carzy ones.I had a buddy who had a precharge airgun and after thinking about one for long enough,I had to have one.I had run into some extra cash and thought I'd go ahead with one.Man I've loved it.I've had plenty of off the shelve guns that I thought were pretty good but this thing don't mess around.It'll wear a squrriel and plenty of illegal birds out lol.I'm sure most would'nt be interested in spending the money but I just thought I'd let you all know about this gun.
http://crosman.com/site/listing/1395

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

here in michigan the DNR wants us to take out starlings and english sparrows so i'm doing my part. i decided on a Gamo big cat 1200 and i'll probably get it sighted in tomorrow. i've been seeing lots of starlings in the yard a couple squirrels (for when small game opens;)) and sparrows here and there.

as soon as i get it sighted-in i'm gonna start sniping

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

I think it's great that you've done a little research and are making an effort to thin outnon-native or over populated species. I was a little concerned there for a moment when you said you were baiting for birds to kill. But sounds like what you're doing is respectable.

I know that here in Florida there area number of green parakeetsrunningabout that don't belong. Large iguanas are also starting to find there way infrom the swamps... I saw a3ft monster iguana sunning on a dock the other day. They're a tad more aggressive than the averagelittle lizard and can inflict a nasty bite if you're not careful.

I would tend to frown on killing for the sake of it...or fun, as some would callit. Removing varmints (squirrels, pigeons, raccoonsand so forth) seemsacceptable to me. But if it's just like one or two little squirrelsrunning across my backyard,Idon't see myself justkilling it for sport.

I need to check now to see if I can take out iguanas and parakeets. I've seen iguanas hiding in my front hedge, but haven't found any within the privacy fence of my backyard yet. If I wandered out in the front yard with my rifle I'd have a swat team at my house courtesy of the neighbors.

People keep buying these stupid pets (iguanas,jungle birds, snakes) they get too big (or hungry) and they just turn em loose in the canal behind their house! ...they do pretty well in Florida.

There was a story on the news the other night about someone trying to kill a peacock with a BB gun. They reported it as being cruel and intentional because they shot it 6 times. I was thinking, man what a lousy shot... and they really need a good pellet gun. Peacocks are pretty but they sure are annoying! I can't blame anyone for wanting to knock out those things. ...but I guess they're protected or something cuz they're still looking for the guy/kid who shot at this one. Seemed odd to me cuz they're not a native species. I would think they'd want to remove those as opposed to protect em?

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

Starlings, english sparrows, black birds, and the common pigeon are not protected under the federal migratory bird treaty act and can be dealt with accordingly. The air gun use in city limits is another story.

I use a Gamo shadow 1000 for my shooting, or my home made blowguns. I have devistated the local song bird killers and squirrels for years with these tools.

I use beef fat in a wire mesh feeder for starlings, and old stale bread for english sparrows. Another effective way of luring in those sparrow is to get a wire cricket cage and fill it up with crickets, they can't resist. Other than that, cheapo mixed bird seed works for the rest.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

Hey ur not carzy im gonna get one of those soon enough. also you think your crazy check out these guys. http://www.network54.com/forum/414006
Have fun. I have a modded Daisy 880, it shoots Crosman Premier Hollow Points at a little over 700fps. It does a number on Sparrows, Starlings, Grackles, and Crows. I have yet to take a mammal though.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

I'm a proud airgunner. I have a Crossman 2100 and throughly enjoy it. Since moving to the city, I have to have something to keep me busy:D




I shot this group the other day. Vertical stringing is fairly normal with pnumatic air guns. One day I might do some testing and really test it's accuracy but for now, it's accurate enough for shootin' birds and squirrels.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

I've got a Crosman 2100 just like that, except I don't have a scope on it. Nice scope by the way.

I was wondering if you have a good way to load pellets reasonably easily. maybe my hands are just too big to effectively drop one down in the loading port. Seems like I usually have to fiddle around with it to get the pellet aligned the right way in the port.

Considering picking up an RWS 350 .22 caliber break action air rifle. It's a little spendy though, hard to talk myself into since I've already go a .22LR and .22WMR, and can shoot the primer only loads in the .22LR for low power stuff.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

In fact I do. I too had a hard time loading them by hand. I took two straws. One of them I split all the way down so that it would slide inside the other one. Then I took a lighter and barly melted the end and lighly pressed it on teh table. That created a lip at the end to hold the pellets in. Then fed pellets from teh other end and inserted the split straw behind it. Taht allows you to push one pellet at a time out into the chamber kind of like a syringe. I'll take a pic of it this evening when I get home and upload it. I'm sure other fellas can come up with a more sophisticated meathod but that's what works for me.

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

Thats a good idea TNHagies.I would like to see a pic of that also.
And by the way,anybody considering shedding a few extra dollars for an airgun I would highly recommend the gun in the link from my last post.Groups awesome and it has absolutely no mercy on squirrls and birds.Especially the 22 caliber.I got a lot of rifles and belive it or not this is one of my favorites.
James

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

Here's a pic of it. It works well for me-and it's cheap to make ;)

RE: backyard air gunners?
 

gamo hunter 220 . 177 12 steps bang flop on this raccon. i mostly shoot squirrels but this gy was eatin my dogs food