Shooting advice please?

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Shooting advice please?
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coyotekiller

Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 14
Location: Iowa, USA

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 05 3:00 am Post subject:

Hello Brica and everyone. I thought I might add a little to the wonderful posts already written. I've hunted rabbits since I was a teen, many years ago I'm afraid. In the 70's my favorite rabbit gun was a .410 shotgun. Very effective out to about forty yards. They also carry a lighter load of shot and spread faster so a lot of times excessive shot damage wasn't really a factor. Some even come with adjustable external chokes to choose for the situation at hand. 12 guage is nice but I feel shots should be limited to longer shots to minimize damage. When a young adult I switched to a .22 rifle for a favorite bunny gun. A semi-auto is really nice or a bolt with a large magazine. I avoid scopes for bunnies because a lot of shots are moving. Hitting a running rabbit with a rifle isn't to terribly hard with a little practice. I have a .17 HMR that I have shot a few rabbits with and I say unless you're a real fine shot avoid that round for rabbit. I say avoid because your best bet with the .17 is a head shot. Every rabbit I have shot with it in the body is not one I would want to have to clean then count on eating later. Major damage. Impressive yes, but not much good for eating. I currently use a .22 revolver for rabbits for the challenge and the sheer fun of it. Once again a lot of practice required for this method but I've never lost a wounded one. One cartridge I've never seen mentioned on this site is the .17 mach2. A necked down .22 long rifle as apposed to the HMR being based on a magnum case. The M2 runs about 2000 fps, the HMR around 2600 fps so there is considerable difference in velocity. In accuracy they run almost neck to neck. I've had a few oppurtunities to use the M2 on sitting rabbits and head shots at a hundred yards are totally feasible. Body shots do little more damage than some of the hyper velocity ..22 long rifle rounds. Vipers' stingers, yellow jackets, etc. Also where I live it's legal to shoot pheasants with a rifle so my HMR is in my truck most of the winter. Kills them out to 150 yds easily. Or farther with head shots. In the long run I say find some people with the various weapons you are interested in using and maybe get them to let you accompany them on a hunt. Get a little first-hand experience before choosing. I would like to add that at one time my favorite bunny gun was a .177 cal. air pistol. You had to get real close which is great practice in honing stalking skills. Have a great day.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 05 11:17 am Post subject:
Coyotekiller, are you also a Deerstalker?

Guest

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 05 12:28 am Post subject:

Madman, hee hee you so make me laugh. And a good laugh even at ones expense is a darn good thing. Yes I am a deer stalker, but only a couple weeks a year. Why, cause I have hunted deer by every legal method and stalking is the funnest method I've come across. My favorite deer gun is a scoped Raging bull in .44 magnum so being close is a plus. 8 3/8 inch barrel. My closest kill was a doe at thirty feet and she never knew I was there till I shot her in the neck. Longest kill was 111 yards with a .357 magnum same barrel length. Also a Taurus and scoped. I took that shot because conditions were right and I was confident of a clean kill. She took three steps before she fell dead. Im hoping it's ok even to be a deerstalker once in awhile.

Have a great day.

coyotekiller

Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 14
Location: Iowa, USA

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 05 12:31 am Post subject:
OOPS,forgot to log in for the above.

shaun

Joined: 29 Nov 2004
Posts: 13

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 05 9:16 pm Post subject:

Just read the previous posts and feel obliged to put up some support for the shotgun fans. I too have used air rifles to take rabbits ranging from break barrel springers to super fancy pcp's. Having aquired a .22 rimfire a few months ago I can state that this in sub-sonic form is a fantastic way to control vermin but you cannot beat walking rabbits etc up over a dog and completing the shot on the move/wing with a shotgun.

bimini

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 156

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 05 8:17 pm Post subject:
Reading the above leads me to the conclusion that the �50 air rifles advertised in the classifieds of Country Smallholding are not really up to the job: https://www.bluemoonguns.com/Budgetrifles.htm https://www.sportsguns.co.uk/main.php?p=ca&id=39 Advice from more experienced air rifle users gratefully received. Thanks.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 05 10:39 pm Post subject:
Is the right answer.

Penelope Anderson

Joined: 21 Sep 2005
Posts: 326
Location: london

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 05 10:29 am Post subject:
For rabbits, or anything in the air, get a twelve or twenty bore shotgun (and please observe safety rules).

Bunnykiller

Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 56
Location: Brixham S.Devon

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 05 10:04 pm Post subject:

Hi Brica ...just thought i would post a pic of a bunnykilling expedition for a couple of hours one evening last week ... just to prove u dont really need anything more powerful than an air rifle for hunting for the pot (oh and they are good fun too) the gun on the left is my Air Arms S200 .22 and the other is my m8's Daystate Harrier x .177 and they are both below 12 ft/lb neither out perform the other really they just do what they are supposed to kill bunnies!!

and we shot 8 a nice 4 apiece. The only thing i need now is the 10 shot adapter which is on order from my local gunshop as it is a pain to load a pellet in the dark under the scope, my m'8s daystate is already a multishot also our bi-pods help alot for a steady shot when needed Oh and that thing on my chin isnt a sleeping badger, its an erm .....experiment

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 05 11:30 pm Post subject:
Are those "Hunter " wellies?...they're definitely green!

Bunnykiller

Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 56
Location: Brixham S.Devon

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 05 11:47 pm Post subject:
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyNO!! they are definately el cheapo wellies

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18415

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 05 11:46 am Post subject:

I'd like to concur with the comments offered on page 1 of this thread by Woodsman, JB and Boff. All very sensible. Do get a lot of target practice in, both at first, and before you start again if you have a break for a few months. Calibrate the rifle (i.e. make sure it is accurate). My stomach and my freezer agree too.

I've got a Webley Exocet .177 air rifle with telescopic sight. No silencer, though I think that might be useful if I were to shoot larger numbers. Not really needed when one can get a clean shot first time, and only wants one item for the pot at a time.

Range I tend to use it at is 30 yards (+/- 5yds). For pheasants and rabbits, though for the latter the summer midge situation in Scotland tends to put me off walking them up at dawn or dusk, and it's a bugger keeping still when you're being bitten and itching.

Though I am thinking of applying for a FAC - because I can, as much as anything else, and it might come in handy sometime.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 05 11:49 pm Post subject:
Every time I take a rifle out, I spend a few minutes checking the zero is still on target. Its sooooo disappointing if you miss because the sight or point of aim has shifted by a tiny amount, just enough to miss, or worse, to maim or wound.

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