While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

.....I've been nabbing pellets.
I'm really amazed at the seemingly pervasive attitude that pellet rifles are akin to toys only. Honestly, it kinda ticks me off that folks are missing out on what I feel is the primo survival (not defense) tool around.
I live in sage land, awfully hilly. We are beset by ground squirrels and rockchucks every year. They have teeth and stomachs. They love to use both, preferably together. If their little tummies aren't filled, they like to use their teeth anyway. Need to pop them before they get my garden, let alone the PVC.
For years I used the good old 10/22. I even hopped it up a bit with the bull barrel and trigger and,,,,and,,,,and,,,,,
It did the job but was noisy. Our neighbors are fairly close but usually on the other side of a hill. Any gunshot is apparent. Apparent to people who might know when we're at work and heard those shots...and think, "Hmmmmm."
So...
I got a Benjamin Discovery in .22 last year. I put exit wounds through chucks at 63 yards. I headshot squirrels at 30 yards without difficulty. It sounds like an air nailer. I know many prefer to get CB's and Shorts, but ammo is getting tough to find and lots of citizens haven't covered the pest control base yet.
I know there'll be a response that amounts to "whydontya jes do......"
Yeah, you'll probably be right.
But many people still live in close neighborhoods or might not want, um, a "gun".
A tin of 500ct .22 Disco pellets is $10. 2 cents a pop, and they haven't really gone up in the past few years as far as I've watched. No need to concern one's self about reloading, 10,000 pellets for $200. That's a lot of rabbit, coon, cat, whatever.
Just a thought.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

He, He.

Have a Gamo Whisper .117 that I think is great
tree rats and rabbits not a problem.(for the pot)


And also I have some rats, that go after my bird feed for
my outside birds,They don't know what hits them..

The newer Air Guns are way underrated Imo
You can also make your own darts and that is way cool.


:yes:

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

I used to live in a somewhat wooded subdivision and had a problem with squirrel chewing on the house so I bought a pellet gun and went to work. Later that summer I saw a neighbor that I'd never met and went over and introduced myself. We began talking about the squirrels and I confided that I'd shot a 1/2 dozen or so, he told me that he too had been shooting them on the sly and had gotten 25 greys and about 45 reds. I smiled and told him to consider my yard a free-fire zone he replied "I already have" :)

Yes pellet guns do have their place in the ol' gun cabinet.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

I've got the benjamin sheridan in .177 and have made dogs(k9) yelp and close to 100 yds. Have wacked a few rodents and had good results. I put a williams peep sight on mine. Though I have over looked the pellet stash. Thanks for the idea.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

I went looking for a pellet gun today, and they are all gone, just like the ammo situation.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

There are still plenty of shotgun shells/bird loads to be had. I've got a stack of 20 gauge, pretty much to the ceiling. Great for hunting small game.. I had a fox come in to the back of the property yesterday and I popped him with an old single shot 20 gauge. I still pick up bricks of 22 any time I can find them.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

I just had the air rifle out last night. I had missed a shot earlier this week with a bolt action .223. A shot I should have made. So I figured it was time to get in some rifle practice. I took the air rifle out in the front yard, sat in a lawn chair, and practiced hitting a little metal swinger that was made for .22 rimfire. Then I progressed to sitting and prone. Then finally standing but with a shooting stick since I would usually be carrying one of those.

It is a Beeman HW 97K in .20 caliber. The HW 97K is an underlever rifle. Almost looks like an over under shotgun. The bottom "barrel" is actually the cocking lever. It's a very powerful rifle and quite accurate since the barrel/breech/sights stay locked together rather than the barrel pivoting downward to load. (Even seen a competition air rifle that was a barrel cocker?) I tend to like .22 air rifles the best. I've had too many things take good hits with .177 pellets and just stand there. In the case of this rifle, velocity was so high that I decided I could live with the medium caliber. And I had always wanted own a .20 (5mm). I've been very pleased with it for about ten years now and still have a good sized stash of pellets.

I put a Bushnell 4-12x AO on it. Quite a nice scope for only about $175. The AO lets me focus down close and eliminate parallex problems. Beeman mounts finished the whole thing off. Beautiful wood stock. Non-slip rubber buttplate. It's a serious rifle. Adult sized and basically the same weight as some of my centerfire rifles. Heavier than any of my .22 rimfires. And spring piston air rifles are MUCH quieter than pneumatic or compressed air guns.

Gregg

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

True about springers typically coming in as a quieter option, with a couple of exceptions in PCP: Air Force Talon and the soon to be released Benjamin Marauder, both of which are shrouded barrels. I have a Marauder on preorder...probably will see it in the summer. I didn't plunk the money down until I saw the video on the Crosman site demonstrating the relative quietness of the shrouded barrel.
Gotta go. Time to make breakfast.....

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

http://www.airgunsmith.com/cgi-bin/a...ew/reviews.pl?



This info might be useful.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

.....and after making breakfast there was a squirrel digging in the back yard.
There isn't one any more.

Nice site, Tallships.

I forgot I have a Drozd too. Not practical, nor very accurate. Had to heat treat the metal globes so they wouldn't get too boogered up in the mag.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

When i was a kid ....about 8 or 9 my dad bought me a Sheridan Silver Streak pump in 20 cal.....I think they are now sold under Benjamin name.....

He game me a list of stuff I could kill.....pests.....by the time I became a teen and moved up to a 22LR.....killed several hunderd red squirrles and chipmunks and over 1000 birds.....I was a death machine.....hunting every summer day and school days after school.....building blinds, rafts....you name it to get at these little pests. I learned a lot about outdoors and hunting as a kid with that pellet rifle.

Today....the only way to go is one of those $200 - $400 single stroke spring pneumatics....they make about 2X the velocity of a very good pump and 4X the energy....easily kill rabbits and squirrels. I shot one of those $200 Gamo rifles (was at a friends house) at a plastic utility pole used to cover phone/cable wires.....it was about 70 yards away....figured it was just bouncing off....went over and looked....holes in and out both sides....and this was very heavy plastic.....

A very powerful survival tool.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

Why not give blow guns a try? Seriously, check them out. You'll be impressed with how accurate you can be without really trying. With no moving parts, there's nothing to maintain. If nothing else, they are cheap and fun. I take mine camping just to shoot at cans. It helps pass the time between beers.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

When i frist started in engineering over 20 years ago...still had drafting boards.....we were in a big converted facroty area...turned into office/drafting room....very high ceilings....and a bird got in over the weekend and was craping all over the drawings.....

There was this little guy from Laos....he ate this crap every day that looked and smelt like fish heads and rice.....everyone teased him....mostly in fun....

He took a roll of mylar drafting paper.....made a tube.....made a mylar cone....got a compass point.....taped it all together.......and shot and killed a bird about 35 feet up in the rafters....in one shot....hit it right in the head!

We never teased him about his lunch again.

He said as a kid he hunted and killed monkeys a lot with a blow-gun.

It was very impressive.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

Never underestimate simplicity.

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2009/...er-part-2.html

The Delrin blank fillers in the Benjamin Marauder shroud.
Let's see.....what would a more porous material do in place of Delrin?

Re: While everybody worries about ammo.....
 

What...you don't like nuoc mam/nam pla (fish sauce)?!?!?! It is definitely an acquired taste. Years ago, I couldn't stand the stuff. Now, I miss it if it's not in a stir fry or Thai style soup. Try Three Crabs Brand fish sauce if you don't want something that smells super-fishy.