what kind of accuracy and effectiveness?

[thelaw]

i've been reading the posts about hunting with air guns. i grew up hunting with a daisy poweline 880. times have obviously advanced since then. what is the preferred caliber, gun make that you hunt with? what kind of accuracy and effective range on squirrels?

[Questor]

I'm the oddball because most will prefer .22 or .20. I like .177. I've actually had more instant kills with the .177 at about 850fps than I have with .22 LR hollow points.  My hits on rabbits are typically instantly fatal, although I did have one move about two feet before dying.  I use RWS pointed pellets.

Anything over 25 yards is a pretty long shot because trajectory gets to be a problem.  I zero at 30 yards and that's good out to about 35 with my gun.  However, shooters of true magnum air rifles (unlike my semi-magnum) will shoot crows out to about 50 yards with suitably heavy pellets.  

Wind has a huge effect on pellets in flight. Just a slight puff of wind will really send a pellet off course, even at just 25 yards.

For serious hunting, you want a magnum .22 rifle or magnum .20. But then I don't use my air rifle for "serious" hunting. I wanted a compromise of low noise (for back yard pests), good accuracy, and reasonable effectiveness and I came up with the RWS underlever cocking rifle as a suitable compromise that works for me.  I also wanted .177 because most of my shooting is at targets and I'd rather use the least expensive pellets.

[Questor]

By the way, field accuracy with air rifles is typically pathetic when compared to a .22 LR firearm.  If you're shooting in a laboratory setting, the airgun may be theoretically superior, but when you factor in the realities of shooting. like wind and range estimation, the air guns are a real joke.  Do not let anyone try to BS you otherwise.  For example, if you're zeroed at 25 yards you will need to know how much to hold over at 35 yards. If you get it wrong, you miss your squirrel.  Of course, this assumes you can judge the difference between 25 yards and 35 yards very accurately.

That said, I do "long range" rifle practice at about 35 yards by shooting at spent rifle brass. It's quite challenging as a target game.  It's like shooting a 30-06 at 250 yard targets in the wind. The only thing missing is mirage and down-range wind effects.

[Lawdog]

thelaw,

I got back into air guns in 1991.  Wanted to have something to shoot around the place that would cost an arm or a leg for ammo.  While I have air rifles in calibers from .177 to .25 I prefer to use the .20 and .22 calibers more for hunting.  The real main reason for this is here in California you can use adult pellet rifles to take turkeys BUT they must be .20 caliber or larger.  I also use my air rifles for taking tree squirrels and brush bunny's.  Many a farmer will give you permission to hunt land that you can't hunt with a .22 rfl or even a shotgun when you explain you are using 'pellet guns'.  They are also safer to use in rocky country, as along creek bottoms where we find many brush bunny's.

I do hate to disagree with "Questor" but when he says,

By the way, field accuracy with air rifles is typically pathetic when compared to a .22 LR firearm. If you're shooting in a laboratory setting, the airgun may be theoretically superior, but when you factor in the realities of shooting. like wind and range estimation, the air guns are a real joke. Do not let anyone try to BS you otherwise.

he is the one BS'ing you.  (Sorry Questor I am not flaming you so no offence)  I do all my air rifle shooting outside and all my air rifles will equal and most times better the accuracy of any of my .22lr's, of which I own several.  Five and ten shot groups that can be covered with a dime at ranges of 35 - 45 yards are not that big of a thing.  To check out what kind of accuracy a pellet rifle is capable of just check out the air gun shooting venues at the Olympics and see if you can duplicate the same events using one of the new .17 Mach2’s?  Lawdog
 

[Questor]

You're right, Lawdog, but so am I. I think you're talking about shooting from a fixed distance with no variation in the crosswind.  

My point has to do with the nature of the shooting the TheLaw is talking about: squirrel hunting. Here, practical field accuracy is the issue.  That's a different kind of shooting and if your range estimation is off by even one yard it can open your groups significantly. Likewise if you get a little crosswind it will open your groups significantly. I find that my own groups at unknown distances between 15 and 35 yards are quite a bit bigger than can be covered by a dime.  

Field Target is an air rifle game that TheLaw may not have seen yet, but involves shooting at metallic silhouettes of varmint critters (like crows and rats). The objective is to hit a relatively small kill zone on that silhouette.  The winners in field target use:
1) Pneumatic air rifles because they have no recoil and are more forgiving of variations of hold than springers.
2) High magnification scopes of good quality

What it requires of the shooter is:
1) The ability to estimate distance very exactly
2) Knowledge of how to adjust the objective on the scope
3) Very steady field shooting positions (like sitting).

With an air rifle you're basically using long-range riflery techniques at short distances.  

With a scoped .22 you can zero the sight for 50 yards and expect to hit the squirrel fatally at any distance from about 10 yards to 75 yards with no holdover or holdunder.  Airguns are a totally different game.

[mjfa]

I effectively dispatch grackles at up to 75 yrds with .22 cal 21 gr. Kodiak pellets at 850 fps muzzle velocity.

[Lawdog]

Questor,

I think you're talking about shooting from a fixed distance with no variation in the crosswind.

No like I said before "I do all my air rifle shooting outside and all my air rifles will equal and most times better the accuracy of any of my .22lr's" means I am talking about hunting situations.  What target work I do is for checking sights, pellet testing and friendly contests with family and friends.  Even then all shooting is done outdoors and at unknown ranges.  In 2003 the wife and I accounted for 83 Brush Bunny’s(small rabbit about 4 pounds for an average adult), 26 Gray Squirrels, untold number of pest birds, Jack Rabbits and Ground Squirrels and 6 turkeys(turkeys were taken between last Fall and this Spring - all body shots) all with air rifles.  Ranges were from point blank(rattlesnake at 5 feet) to a Jack Rabbit over 70 yards away.  If you sight in your air rifle at 30 yards you can pretty much hold dead on a cow bird out to 45(+/-) yards and still score a kill.  As you insinuated all it takes is knowing your rifle and it’s capabilities.  This comes easy because of all the shooting one can do cheaply(even using premium pellets) due to the cost of pellets.  When out in the field with my air rifles I shoot at things other than game.  Oak balls are a favorite along with pine cones.  I used to shoot at just the Oak balls but now I try to shoot the stem holding the ball to the tree.

As far as Air Rifle Silhouette shoots go our club holds them all the time.  We classify the shoots by rifle type.  Springer rifles include break barrel and underlever(this is the largest class).  PCP’s shoot against each other as do the pump shooters.  Also all shoots are held outdoors so everyone has to deal with the wind conditions.  Shooting the new breed of pellet guns is about the fastest growing shooting sport today.  Accuracy levels rival fine target guns and the new more powerful springer type rifles are bringing about changes in the opitics industry.  Scopes that would hold up to the recoil of big bore dangerous game rifles broke in very short order under the double recoil of springer rifles.  Now if you have a scope that is air rifle approved one need not worry about mounting it one the BIG KICKERS.  How effective are air rifles today?  Very effective and getting to be even more so as technology moves forward.  Lawdog
 

[Questor]

That's really good Lawdog. Nice hunting!  Got any pictures?

My gun is a .177 RWS 46 underlever with 4x scope and it's absolutely deadly on rabbits and squirrels. I haven't shot at anything over about 40 yards, though-- not out of gun limitations, but because I could always get closer.

I'll retain my side of the argument, though by maintaining that the guns require more of the shooter than firearms. My .177 will shoot .4" at 25 yards in a dead calm, but when the wind is puffing intermittently across the range, even at 5mph, it opens the group to as much as 1.5"  Have you conducted similar tests with the .22? Apparently there's a big difference between .177 and .22 as to wind bucking. I'd expect that because the pellets for .22 weigh about twice as much.

It's very clear to me from your accounts that the .22 pellet is the way to go if you want to hunt with an airgun.

[lilabner]

I shoot only 10 meter standing with my air rifle. It isn't a burner - MV is around 500 fps - but I have learned that when a breeze starts blowing in the back yard, I might as well hang it up. I shoot from a protected spot out of the wind but the pellets cross 7-8 meters in the open. Talk about horizontal stringing! I also shoot .22 rimfire and the .22 standard velocity ammunition I use is far less wind sensitive. Pellet shape is important, though - the dome shaped or pointed jobs used for hunting are less sensitive than wadcutters.