Pellet guns?

[santahog]

I'm being suburban... Woohoo... 
I'm about to be overrun by squirrels and I now live in the burbs.. I need a suppressed pellet gun that shoots flat out to about 75 feet.
What am I looking for?
Where do I find objective "ratings?" on these things?
Anybody??

[Timothy]

The fightingquaker13 was big on pellet guns. 

Search his postings for some tips.

[alfsauve]

I've dabbled in air guns as well.

Short version.   A "springer" (which also can be a nitrogen piston) is the way to go.   CO2 is okay, but just when you want it, you're out of gas.   PCP (Pre-Charge Pnematics) are expensive and require ta tank and refilling.    They've VERY accurate but not always handy to press into service

Don't go for the "high velocity" marketing gimmicks.  You want to keep the pellets under 1,100 fps so there's no supersonic shock wave.  Hence, highly recommend going with a .22 and use lead pellets not the light weight alloy.

I have two both in .22.  One is an underlever,    Weihrauch 77, expensive, heavy but very accurate and hard hitting.  Usually have a 15x scope on it.  The other is a Benjamin Nitro, that uses a nitrogen piston instead of a spring.  Not quite as powerful or as accurate, but good for squirrels out to 15-20yds. 

One of the on-line retailers is Pyramyd Air.  http://www.pyramydair.com/   They have a number of advice FAQs as well as foums.    The Benjamin NP2 is $299 right now.  Sometimes you can find them cheaper at local stores on sale.   Make sure you use heaver lead pellets to keep the velocity sub-sonic. 

Of course almost all the sporting good stores, Cabelas, BPS etc.  carry air guns.

Another good source of reading material is Straight Shooters.  http://www.straightshooters.com/
They also use to sell samplers kits of pellets so you could try various pellets to see which shot best in your rifle.

[brushmore]

Since it's been so cold this winter I've been practicing with my old Daisy 840 in the basement.  I wouldn't use it for squirrels, I would want more power, but I know people who have successfully.  It's certainly accurate enough.

[ellis4538]

Perhaps MB will chime in or you could pm him.  He has a lot of experience with this sort of thing.

Richard

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

Don't get too concerned about all the gimmicks and even sound.  I grew up with a Crosman 760 (multiple pump - from 1 to 10).  Our son was having possum, squirrel and rabbit trouble in his garden in town, so he went out and spent $40 on a 760.  Picks off the little critters all day long, and nobody knows.

Of course, if you want something more ... Go For It!

[vincewarde]

I have a Gamo Whisper suppressed .22 springer and I love it.  I would get one with an "nitro spring" so it would be even quieter.  With a standard spring it sounds like a staple gun.  I target shoot with it INSIDE.  I just set up a pellet trap in the garage, open the door to the garage and I've got a 10 meter range!

It fires a 17 grain pellet at 650-700 fps (according to my chronograph).  Plenty of power to put down typical garden pests.

[alfsauve]

Here's the link to the Pellet Sampler.

http://www.straightshooters.com/straight-shooters-full-pellet-sampler-.22.html


Don't have any pictures of my HW 77, but it is an underlever springer which aids in accuracy.  You're not pulling and resetting the barrel with each shot.    I had to get mine from a Canadian dealer, because Beeman, who had the license for Weirhauch import at the time, wouldn't import the .22 and .25 calibers.   He said they were under powered, but also because he was pushing the .20 cal guns very heavily.

All the "fancy" spring airguns, like Beeman and Weirhauch are so much more expensive now.  Just looking at the Straight Shooters web site, I can't believe how much they cost.

   

[alfsauve]

OMGosh.   This is very bad to re-open the airgun thing for me.

So many new manufacturers and designs.   Love this PCP bullpup design.   Of course it's only $1,495.   Curse you SantaHog.

[Timothy]

Don't get too concerned about all the gimmicks and even sound.  I grew up with a Crossman 760 (multiple pump - from 1 to 10).  Our son was having possum, squirrel and rabbit trouble in his garden in town, so he went out and spent $40 on a 760.  Picks off the little critters all day long, and nobody knows.

Of course, if you want something more ... Go For It!

Yea, I had a 760 myself, circa 1968-69.  It dispatched a fair share of critters in it's day!  Eventually, I graduated to my Grandpaps Savage 1903 that I still have today!  Amazing that you can find basically the same rifle that was for sale in 1964. 

I thought I could pump it 100 times and knock down a "grizzle bear" but I was 10 years old!