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PSA rifling -16" barrel
 
Waterfowling season ended here on the 20th february on the shores, I got a red stag in the freezer and some duck geese and game. I will keep potting the odd rabb it or pigeon now and again keep us in meat.
Its bleak here both cold weather and shooting / hunting prospects. Powder shot and even .22 LR ammo is not cheap, and i am reluctant to use shotshels at £200 a thousand to shoot pigeons over decays.
I just saw a young rat dive under a pallet round the back, a hole under the edge of it obviously new digging a sign i am getting more spring activity from rats than what i will accept.
My reawakening of air pistol and air rifle interest which was largely slumbering since childhood, has me now in possetion of not one but two pre charged phnumatic air rifles not counting several spring powered and gas ram pistols and rifles etc.
The pre charged phnumatics are relatively easy to shoot, being more or less recoiless and thus pretty accurate within their limited range and applications.
rats and even pigeons fall into their practical usefulness spectrum and i do quite enjoy shooting rats with air rifles, its not only nessasary its a skill and though far from glamorous as a shooting form does provide a practical aspect its impossible to ignore.
I am finding a whole new to me chain of learning with both normal air guns and the PCPs. the use of slugs which is new to me is quite interesting and not something i ever did before so its a new steep learning curve i am quite enjoying.
seting back the ranges of the rat shooting is both challenging and surprisingly more fruitful in that they dont see that good but smell hear good so keeping 30+ yards away is productive even in broad daylight. The Learning curve with the lame trajectory of these air guns is all part of the challenge and add to that the added time in the air of projectiles means more wind effect too, its like long range rifle shooting in a miniture form and interesting. Hell at 45 yards the other day i even had a 20 yard improvised wind flag out i kid you not and i was even timing my shots between gusts :lol2.
Slugs do seem to hit hard and stop them in their tracks yet are a little more critical on consistent velocity at the lower speeds i am sending them. I tend to try not to get too technical in my rifle shooting generaly keeping things simple is my prefered way, hense my use of typicaly flatish shooting calibres .22250 / .2506 and 7mm rem mag , where to 300/ and a bit more yards the flatness kind of helps with conections if you get my idea. With these air guns especialy the .25s its a dropping the shot onto the target game and its again a steep learning curve for me even at these in real rifle terms short ranges.
Its kind of like a low powered .22 rimfire a CB cap sort of deal imagine that at 30 40 or even 50 yards.:lol3
I find it quite involving dare i say entrawling even, the whole thing involves a different set of skills which are different but vaugely familiar but in this more condensed smaller sort of way. And if we flick to 15/ 20 yards and air pistol its another world now that is super challenging and yet possible and the sense of acchievement i get from that is verging on adictive i tell you.
Nuff said, if you or a neigbour got a rat issue dig out that old crossman or sears air gun give it a whirl on the rats. who knows you might get a little fun out of it and do a worthwile job into the bargain.
 
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matty said:
Waterfowling season ended here on the 20th february on the shores, I got a red stag in the freezer and some duck geese and game. I will keep potting the odd rabb it or pigeon now and again keep us in meat.
Its bleak here both cold weather and shooting / hunting prospects. Powder shot and even .22 LR ammo is not cheap, and i am reluctant to use shotshels at £200 a thousand to shoot pigeons over decays.
I just saw a young rat dive under a pallet round the back, a hole under the edge of it obviously new digging a sign i am getting more spring activity from rats than what i will accept.
My reawakening of air pistol and air rifle interest which was largely slumbering since childhood, has me now in possetion of not one but two pre charged phnumatic air rifles not counting several spring powered and gas ram pistols and rifles etc.
The pre charged phnumatics are relatively easy to shoot, being more or less recoiless and thus pretty accurate within their limited range and applications.
rats and even pigeons fall into their practical usefulness spectrum and i do quite enjoy shooting rats with air rifles, its not only nessasary its a skill and though far from glamorous as a shooting form does provide a practical aspect its impossible to ignore.
I am finding a whole new to me chain of learning with both normal air guns and the PCPs. the use of slugs which is new to me is quite interesting and not something i ever did before so its a new steep learning curve i am quite enjoying.
seting back the ranges of the rat shooting is both challenging and surprisingly more fruitful in that they dont see that good but smell hear good so keeping 30+ yards away is productive even in broad daylight. The Learning curve with the lame trajectory of these air guns is all part of the challenge and add to that the added time in the air of projectiles means more wind effect too, its like long range rifle shooting in a miniture form and interesting. Hell at 45 yards the other day i even had a 20 yard improvised wind flag out i kid you not and i was even timing my shots between gusts :lol2.
Slugs do seem to hit hard and stop them in their tracks yet are a little more critical on consistent velocity at the lower speeds i am sending them. I tend to try not to get too technical in my rifle shooting generaly keeping things simple is my prefered way, hense my use of typicaly flatish shooting calibres .22250 / .2506 and 7mm rem mag , where to 300/ and a bit more yards the flatness kind of helps with conections if you get my idea. With these air guns especialy the .25s its a dropping the shot onto the target game and its again a steep learning curve for me even at these in real rifle terms short ranges.
Its kind of like a low powered .22 rimfire a CB cap sort of deal imagine that at 30 40 or even 50 yards.:lol3
I find it quite involving dare i say entrawling even, the whole thing involves a different set of skills which are different but vaugely familiar but in this more condensed smaller sort of way. And if we flick to 15/ 20 yards and air pistol its another world now that is super challenging and yet possible and the sense of acchievement i get from that is verging on adictive i tell you.
Nuff said, if you or a neigbour got a rat issue dig out that old crossman or sears air gun gi:lol3ve it a whirl on the rats. who knows you might get a little fun out of it and do a worthwile job into the bargain.
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Good post. Totally different hunting here in Alberta but obviously some similarities. I use .270 on Whitetail. We also have mule deer but tags are harder to get so I don't bother with them. I also bow hunt occasionally - longer season and more challenging. As for air guns I've often looked at PCP but not pulled the trigger on one yet (pun intended). There are no rats in Alberta and the province aggressively exterminates any that sneak in. So, no rat shooting but plenty of squirrels. I've had a few air rifles but eventually splashed out on an Air Arms TX200 in .22 - powerful and accurate. A bit pricey tbh but worth it as it is excellent for those tree rats.
 
RockyDS said:
Good post. Totally different hunting here in Alberta but obviously some similarities. I use .270 on Whitetail. We also have mule deer but tags are harder to get so I don't bother with them. I also bow hunt occasionally - longer season and more challenging. As for air guns I've often looked at PCP but not pulled the trigger on one yet (pun intended). There are no rats in Alberta and the province aggressively exterminates any that sneak in. So, no rat shooting but plenty of squirrels. I've had a few air rifles but eventually splashed out on an Air Arms TX200 in .22 - powerful and accurate. A bit pricey tbh but worth it as it is excellent for those tree rats.
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The PCP air guns, are Ok but a faff. The Dive bottle re charging, the need to pressure test the bottle every five years etc its a nuisance. Hand Pumps are Ok bu t£100 to £200 ish and aside from the physical angle of PUMPING, is the moisture ingrees threat on the non water trap type pumps. the high pressure Electric Pumps again Money, and if £2/ 300to £500 will they survive long term hard use. ?
in the PCP ish type of guns i suppose C02 gets you a cheapish rifle or pistol, with the cold weather drop off in power and faff / expense of C02 its again ok but not perfect.
The old pump up guns like crosmaqns sheridans benjamins and shars inova and clones for example. Ok the need to pump is there but it vgets PCP type ease of shooting well at a self contained no bottle etc deal.
Witch brings us down to the good old spring powered or perhaps gas ram type guns. Im my opinion the way to go everything taken into account, its self contained nothing but gun and pellets or slugs required and its functioning any place anytime and Reliable.
If you buy a HW or a air arms or BSA webley benjamin or a cheap Kral or hatsan its all the same they work and are simple and practical.
Your Air arms BSAs Hws etc are smoother in action have had more time in the refinement development stage and tend to be nicer to use , still with all the spring rebound / recoil issues but being smooth helps IMO.
Having said all that i have a 1907 BSA model D ( my grandfathers) a Feinwerkbou 127 sport was mine since age 15 and a webley vulcan i had 20+ years . I do however have some cheaper spring type guns, and Three i bought only 6 months ago. Two pistols a Umarex Trevox .177 silenced gas ram pistol, and a Hatsan model 25 supercharger in .22, and a Hatsan 1000X spring power rifle in .25.
I had not bought any spring air gun in at least 15 years until then and i got 3 in quick succession.
I rate all 3 of these and for different reasons. The Hatsan .25 rifle, was my first ever venture into .25 air guns. its something i wanted to explore and got the urge and gald i did.
Plain and simple .25 is theoreticaly not flat shooting compared to say .177, or even a .22 of equivulent power. But if you shoot .25 even with moderate 12ftlbs power levels and keep projectile weights on the light side say 20 grain, they not only get quite close to a .22 in trajectory they actualy retain energey better downrange by around 20%. Watching a pellet flatten out at 30/40 yards is something you dont see in .22 or .177 that often at moderate power levels but .25s will do this, and the projectile weighs 20 grain, its not mind numbingly powerfull, but its significant on small pests like rats squirels etc.
Ok you got the added complexity of loopy btrajectory, but we are only talking 30 yars or so . and if you zero the .25 to hit say for rats say on at 15 yards its going to be on at around 40 again with the worst need to aim under being about 25 yards with everything inbetween getting slightly better as you get closer to 15 or 40 yards respectfully.
:lol3 Its like long range ballistics in miniature , and you can add yet more thought provoking challenges to the air gun thing if you opt for the likes of the hatsan superchargermod 25 in .22, its loopy trajectory like the .25 but in a lower power so similar but at roughly half the range and probably twice the skill level needed to acctualy conect. with an air pistol. its a whole new thing for me, i never grew up handgunning here in uk remember. If you got a few $ to spare want a challenge, Buy a Hatsan mod 25 supercharger a cheapo red dot and learn to hit rats and squirels at 15 to 20yards, its got the power and can be accurate even though a pistol its doing your bit thats the skill, and it is a skill and quite adictive. .
 
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Had a fail to fire Magtech last week. I'm hearing that Magtech is generally considered good practice ammo though. Told the RO about it and he suggested re-chambering it, re-striking it. Still a dud. RO put it into his sidearm and had the same.

Also picked up some Federal 150 grain 9mm (red tipped, below) - really soft shooting, sub-sonic ammo that my buddy tells me is used in a lot of competitions.

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All ammo brands will have duds here and there. I wouldn't let it concern me too much. I've shot lots of magtech ammo, and lot from whatever brand was available/I could get a deal on. Can't say I ever really could tell much difference between any brands

The only noticable thing is Red Army ammo makes a wild muzzle flash compared to anything else I've seen. Different chemicals in the propellant, I guess. Still shoots fine tho. Looks less like a fire ball and more like grinder sparks streaking out. It's kinda cool
 
Wow. Those really dropped in price, huh? I remember when you couldn't touch anything AR for under a grand.

Wouldn't mind owning a 5.56 but don't care for the military look. Wood stock and a bolt action would be fun and look nice hanging on the wall.
 
south east okie said:
IMO the the .22 WMR aka .22 magnum is the most underrated round sold across the counter in the USA
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It really is i mean if all you want to do is go out now and again taking the occasional fox etc and dont want to reload it gets the job done fine. Way more versatile than the 17 HMR which as sort of stolen the .22magnums thunder in the big rimfire class.
 
Shinyribs said:
When you start looking down the subsonic bullet stability/ transonic rabbit hole the humble 22 lr starts looking pretty hard to beat.
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Not looked at it Technicaly balisticaly, But i learned as a Teen the hollow point Eley subsonic ammo or slowish target ammo was the way to go, Tried all the Stinger Yelow jackets and dexpetiter and laterly the lazers etc, but No just used Subsonic holow point ammo, And for the past i guess 40 years its been Eley or winchester subsonic only in the .22Lr. I am boring re rifles too, i have had a BRNO 452 bolt action for 30+ years before that a Vore automatic and As a Kid a winchester 72 auto with tube mag .
 
matty said:
Not looked at it Technicaly balisticaly, But i learned as a Teen the hollow point Eley subsonic ammo or slowish target ammo was the way to go, Tried all the Stinger Yelow jackets and dexpetiter and laterly the lazers etc, but No just used Subsonic holow point ammo, And for the past i guess 40 years its been Eley or winchester subsonic only in the .22Lr. I am boring re rifles too, i have had a BRNO 452 bolt action for 30+ years before that a Vore automatic and As a Kid a winchester 72 auto with tube mag .
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My understanding of transonic is that a bullet's flight gets disturbed once when it breaks barrier and again when it slows to a speed below the sound barrier.

So, if your barrel is long enough to still be guiding the bullet when it breaks the sound barrier you won't get disturbance as the bullet is still being guided. If you hit your target before it slows enough to get disturbed on the slow down then you're all good. But if you're target is far enough away that it'll be travelling transonically (?) then you're better off just running subsonic and calling it done.

Kinda fascinating stuff to think about, and it does make some sense.

100yds is a long shot for me and I like cheap, quiet guns, so I'm probably just gonna grab my 22lr anyway 😁
 
Shinyribs said:
My understanding of transonic is that a bullet's flight gets disturbed once when it breaks barrier and again when it slows to a speed below the sound barrier.

So, if your barrel is long enough to still be guiding the bullet when it breaks the sound barrier you won't get disturbance as the bullet is still being guided. If you hit your target before it slows enough to get disturbed on the slow down then you're all good. But if you're target is far enough away that it'll be travelling transonically (?) then you're better off just running subsonic and calling it done.

Kinda fascinating stuff to think about, and it does make some sense.

100yds is a long shot for me and I like cheap, quiet guns, so I'm probably just gonna grab my 22lr anyway 😁
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Cant remember the exact Ftlbs of energy a 40 grain subsonic has at 80 yards but it makes the 30ft lb air rifles at the muzzle look pathetic. :lol2
I know when you hit rabbits squarely at 80 yards with the subsonic holow points they are gone, but hit the same range rabbits with say a winchester T22 target solid, and they often get to crawl away and scream down the holes, i hate this and as a kid learned from this only subs and soft hollow points .
If you think shotguns and steel , steel needs to go fast or big shot sizes and thus fewer pellets. its a balancing act between speed to help with hitting power and not pushing it to fast to hinder pattern density and build over much presure. The simple fact is send it faster to start with and yes it will be going faster at the terminal end, BUT faster looses a bigger % of velocity, so at longer ranges say 50/60 yards the difference in FPS of a fast load to a more moderate cstandard load cn be as little as 30fps, which is nither here nor there.
Fast loads kind of work ok in light 1oz loads at 1700/ 1800fps but at closer ranges say for ducks into decoys tight in, but passing duck, ill take a 1400fps heavier load of 2s anytime over the fast loads.
 
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