"RBnDFW" wrote in message
...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"RBnDFW" wrote in message
...
Ignoramus13320 wrote:
On 2010-06-18, Wes wrote:
wrote:
For in-town use, I'd recommend one of the more potent air rifles, you
can still get a good springer for under $120. That should take care
of most anything up to rabbit size with proper shot placement. Ammo
is a hell of a lot cheaper than .22s, too.
Speaking of air rifles, a .22 cal or better would be a nice and quiet
rifle.
I have a Gamo `1000 FPS .177 air rifle, it is nothing short of
amazing. I once became upset at squirrels, took a rifle, out of five
shots, I killed three with headshots and fatally injured the fourth.
I have a couple of magnum air guns in that class, and I enjoy them.
But for the same or more power with less noice, nothing beats a
bolt-action or lever .22 with a long (22" or more) barrel shooting CB
Caps.
The only noise you hear is click of the firing pin and thunk of the
bullet hitting the target. No blast at all.
Energy on target is several times that of a pellet gun, with less noise.
That said, neither would be appropriate for small game.
I used CB caps for killing squirrels in my parents' back yard. As you
say, they're all but silent. And one will go right through a squirrel. I
killed at least a dozen of them, and never had one escape wounded.
Head shots?
About half the time. The first one was aimed at the head, but went clean
through the chest. Some others were through the body rather than the head.
A CB cap in a rifle chambered for long rifle ammo often is not accurate. My
ancient single-shot .22 was very accurate with standard velocity .22 LR (I
used it to earn my Marksmanship Merit Badge). But it was not good with
shorts, and even worse with CB caps. It slung them in about a 1" circle at
50 feet. The bullet makes a long jump to the rifling. I missed some shots
clean that I never would have missed with LRs.
It was good enough to kill the squirrels that sat in an oak tree that hung
over my parents' swimming pool and tossed the acorn shell pieces into the
deep end. d8-) I never minded vacuuming whole acorns (I could get most of
them up with a net) but bits of shell would clog the filter intake.
BTW, I also tried some BB caps in that rifle. I got them from England; they
had copper shell cases, or possibly they were red brass. The original BB
caps from the 1920s and '30s fired round balls but by the time I got mine,
around 1964, they were using very short conical bullets. Their accuracy in
that rifle was absolutely terrible.
--
Ed Huntress