Pellet gun for rabbits?
 

I have more rabbits coming into my yard than I can count, and due to the close proximity of neighbors my .22 lr doesn't seem like a very good idea. I'm hoping to pick some off with my bow, but was thinking a pellet gun may be more efficient. I was leaning towards a crosman nitro venom dusk.

http://www.crosman.com/airguns/rifle...arrel/CD8M22NP

I'm not sure if that will be any safer than a .22 lr though. Has any body had any experience with this gun or a similarly powered gun? Is this a good option or should I stick to my bow?

1st check and see if your local laws say you can take animals in city limits. If you can then yes I pop them with my ruger airhawk all the time.

Thats how I got my first pellet gun when I was ten. Rabbits kept eating my Mom's flowers. All I used was a .17 cal Daisy and I could shoot them from my kitchen window at 40 yards.

That Crosman will be more than enough power and not as noisey as a .22lr

Aim for the head and they wont run off injured.

That's the same one my father in law has for popping rabbits in the backyard.

Even the mother in law has got a few... I always bring my recurve when I come over and help out a bit too.

Yes, that pellet rifle will kill rabbits, squirrels, pigeons. As others have mentioned, make sure that you can legally and safely shoot a pellet rifle/bb gun on that specific property.

Yes, a pellet rifle is slightly safer than a 22lr, but not by much.

Another option to consider would be a Crossman Pumpmaster 760 variable pump repeating rifle. Break barrel single shot pellet rifles are more powerful than most variable pump rifles, but that's not always a good thing, and I hate being forced to single load the pellets. The new model 760 pump rifles come with a multi-shot pellet clip so you can use it as a repeating pellet rifle, OR a repeating BB gun (cock it, pump it up, fire). I hate using break barrel rifles because even though it's faster to cock it once and load a pellet, I am a mess carrying and loading each pellet one at a time, so I prefer the repeaters. Another benefit is that you can pick how powerful you want a variable pump rifle to be. My wife and I shoot ours in our basement as practice, pump them only once and it won't penetrate its way through 2 layers of cardboard backstop. Pump it 10x and it will kill a rabbit at 30yrds with ease. Almost ALL of my hunting with a BB gun/pellet rifle has been with simple BB's, never needed that much more accuracy to use pellets.

legally speaking there's no issue, I live in an unincorporated "village". my only real concern is upsetting my neighbors and any accidental damage that might occur to others and their property. I've got an old 760 from when I was a kid but it doesn't seem to pressure up the way it should anymore. Thanks for the input guys I appreciate it. I've got til Oct. 1 before rabbit season opens so I'll keep researching it and make a decision then.

One suggestion to this point: The seals may be too far gone for this to help, but on the 760, it's really common for the piston seals to dry out. If you open the pump handle, and squirt some gun oil on the piston (under the pump handle, you'll see the sleeve and the piston body) you might be able to get that old rifle to hold pressure again. I have two 760's that are 25yrs old, both need a few drops of oil a couple times a year, otherwise you can pump until you're blue in the face and they won't build pressure.

I really like the old multi pump Crosmmans too but if you dont mind heavy and expensive, the RWS 48 side cock is really nice. The RWS 46 looks interesting too.

This one is worth looking at;

http://www.gamowhisper.com/


Remember; they taste good too !!!

just slightly safer , really....:confused2:

much safer actually

That was pretty much informative thanks for posting that.

My point wasn't necessarily meant to compare the relative energy of a bbgun (5-12grns at 750-1300fps, not including larger bore 'hunting ariguns') to a .22lr rifle (30-50grns at 800-1200fps), as obviously, the rimfire takes the cake.

My point, which I didn't make well in the interest of brevity, was more that the difference is moot if you're talking about close quarters. Break the glass in your neighbors truck window with either of them and you're still on the hook for reckless discharge of a firearm charges, violation of proximity law charges in some areas, paying for the damages. Accidentally injure your neighbors dog, or worse, a person, and again, you're still on the hook for reckless endangerment, criminal negligence, recuperative damage restitution, etc etc.

So no argument that the extent of damage done by a pellet rifle vs any rimfire or centerfire rifle, but moral of the story, you're not off the hook for safety and responsible gun handling just because it goes 'pitooey' instead of 'kabang'.

I hunted in England with a BSA Airsporter in 22 the velocity on that air gun is about 750 fps and it will kill Rabbits and Squirrels as good or better than a 20 gauge shotgun. Buy a good Air gun Scope and quality pellets and 50yard shots will be a breeze. Pellets are much lighter than even .22 bullets and go much slower out of most air guns so they wont travel as far., but you still have to be very careful with them. Pellets are cheaper now and eAsier to find than .22 ammo. Have you considered the .22 rimfire BB or CB AMMO?

Weather you by a Pellet Rifle or a .22 is all about safe shot practices and line of sight.

I'm not really sure that a bow is safer than either one of them.

Well, that really depends. If his closest neighbor is 60-70 yards, I would argue that the bow is much safer than either one.

Granted, you're not going to sustain much in the way of an injury if you get hit with a pellet at that distance (an arrow could really jack you up still), but typically you're shooting into the ground when you're shooting at rabbits. I think there is a much smaller chance of an arrow being deflected and damaging anything, than if you were to ricochet a 22lr round off a rock and send it to god knows where.

Hard to say really without knowing the layout, but I feel much safer shooting a bow in my yard than anything else. Especially at the angle that you typically shoot rabbits at.

Most of the rabbits I see are coming out of the one acre blackberry patch behind my house that is bordered with trees, so by limiting my shots in that direction only there is virtually no chance of injury or property damage with my bow. I think that with a pellet gun the risk would probably go up only slightly, that risk only coming from ricochets. I think a .22 would really be problematic due to the report and my neighbors becoming upset and calling the sheriff. This morning I had four rabbits and one squirrel stop and stare at me when I went out on the back deck, all of them were within 30 yards and so tempting.

I'd much rather stand 100yrds in front of a bbgun than I would 100yrds in front of a bow. Effective range for a bow has less to do with energy as it does with accuracy. BB gun is generally both.

Id go with a bolt action .22lr with CCI Quiet rounds... but thats just me. Or a pellet gun, lol.

A little oil on the seal helped out tremendously, thanks for the tip.

When you are done shooting. Before you put the gun away.Be sure to pump it 2 to 3 strokes.That will help to keep your seals from losing a seal. Even a Co2 guns seals last longer with a Co2 cartridge that has some life left in it than one that is empty.

Forgot to mention. Me and my cousins shot and killed many rabbits with .22 caliber airguns. Most always airguns of multi stroke type, and with a 4x scope. Always head shots for quick kills.

Or … maybe a compound bow for rabbits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrnAK...n6LHZvXUCN87Qw

Avoid the springer piston break barrels
 

Good points made in posts:

1 keep the seals oiled; recommend a silcone spray, keep pressure on seals
2 there are a number of ways air rifles delivever their air, a break barrel uses a spring loaded piston which has a brisk small kick forward then backward, I can't hit much past 30yds with one and some quality scopes will simply break after some use on such gun. Of course some folks prove this wrong. If using a break barrel, hold loosely, don't grip tightly.
3 CO2 smooth shots but generally underpowered for rabbits
4 multi-pump rifles work well
5 pcp high pressure rifles work great, are the bees knees if you have more money for air rifle than a 22lr
6 safety, a falling 16gr pellet smarts, yet barely leaves a red mark on bare skin; a falling 40gr bullet can break skin, cause injury, or pit a hole/break glass on reentry; 25ft/lbs pellet vs 125ft/lbs subsonic 22lr
7 noise, power roughly correlates to noise, double your 'crack' at 1100fps due to sonic wave affect
8 power, a 17 pellet loses power rapidly, a 22 pellet at 13-15ft/lbs would be a desirable minimun for a bunny headshot (though perfectly placed shots much less) 18ft/lbs at muzzle doesn't deliver 15ft/lbs at 40 yds
9 pellet shape; do not use hollow point pellets (or pointy pellets) commonly sold at Walmart, unless shooting inside 30yds, even then, there's no advantage, further out they have a ruinous coficient, don't fly straight, and haven't the velocity to expand on shots past 5yds. Soft lead dome pellets best, crossman sells fine pellets not too hard to find.
10 match pellet to power, 20ft/lb rifle around 15gr; 30ft/lb magnum pellet rifle around 20gr
http://www.straightshooters.com/
If you have good credit and credit card check out this site; loads of great info.
Checking the bunny population, what fun!

x2. i'm saying a .177 standard break barrel pellet gun shooting 1000-1200 fps wont hurt anyone over 150 yards. those light pellets lose energy very quick, and the almost explode on impact of anything hard at closer ranges.

Considering the "average" back yard, most pellet guns will work. Before spending a large sum on a pellet gun, have you tried the Aguilla Colibri .22 cal ammo? It's 20 gr. lead;shoots about 375-400 FPS,extremely quiet,almost silent. It won't cycle an auto but works well single shot or bolt. The round has primer only no powder.

I Like My .22 Benjamin Trail NP ...Great Small Game Gun