# Hunting > Varminting and Small Game Hunting >  Do cheap air rifles actually work well for rats etc?

## altair

Have a Benjamin Varmint (Crosman) a .22 which cost me $400 new.

I'm wondering if these cheaper air rifles are actually any good for this purpose of shooting rats? Seems to have a good punch for an air rifle, sends flat head pellets right through the rats when I manage to hit them.

Seems everyone else has $800-1000 flash air rifles..do you actually need to spend that much for accuracy and reliability, or will a cheapie like this do the job? Surely it would? be happy to buy an expensive one, but life gets in the way!

The $500 Stoeger I had seemed a better rifle.....

Just after opinions, how many of you on here have used cheaper air rifles with success?

Cheers

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## Micky Duck

if you can pierce the arse of a coke can at given range...you can kill a rat at the same....what else do you need to know.

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## Slug

As kids it used to be a thing to go to the local dump on Friday night to knock off a few rats just for the fun of it. Our old beat up BSA's even with missing sights still did the job, mind you we used to shoot these air guns in the back yard every day until we ran out of pellets and then used plasticine rolled up as a temporary pellet still ruined many fruit off the fruit trees.

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## Mooseman

I have a  Crossman 1000 ( 1000 fps Job) I have shot Rabbits, Possums, Wallabies , Magpies, Mynas and all the smaller birds  that mess the garden up. It works fine, it cost me $200 when I bought it and put a Gamo 4x32 Air rifle scope on it. It's accurate and have shot a rabbit out to about 50 yards. Your gun should be fine. It depends a lot on the weight of the pellets as to the velocity you get. In mine a 6gr pellet will reach close to the 1000 fps but the heavier 9-10 gr pellets only get about 750 fps. As slug said the BSA Meteor I have is only doing about 500 fps and it will easily deal to rats and birds out to 20 odd yards.( maybe more)

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## altair

I went out tonight and got 7 rats, almost seems this cheapie air rifle is getting slightly stronger with use...and I tried standing tonight and holding the gun instead of resting it on a bag, only missed once...guess I've answered my own question really. Was just curious cos you only seem to find pics of "expensive" air rifles on here. Out of interest I'm using Accupell, I think they are 14.5 grain approx? Tried using Barracuda Hunter Extreme from H&N which are 18 grain, but that goes right through them as well, and you can hear them hit hard. But, the accupell seem the best. 
Can't wait till the bloody Mynas show up here again, hate their screeching racket with a passion..along with Blackbirds.

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## Max Headroom

Try your rifle on a paper target and see if you can consistently shrink your groups.

That way you'll be working on the big variable: The Nut behind the Butt. :Have A Nice Day:

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## Cordite

Flat heads are a good start. 
 Reverse the pellets, skirt forwards, and you'll dump even more energy into the rats.  From memory I could not tell a difference in accuracy.

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## Mooseman

If you try a few different types of pellets you will find one that the rifle really likes. I used to do as Cordite did by reversing the pellet you end up with a huge hollow point, can't remember if they shot different have to try it again some day. In our younger days we used to shoot anything up to a 1000 pellets a weekend when I lived in Auckland. Not  far from me mates place was  an undeveloped area teaming with Birds and Rats and at night there were possums about . With our BSA Meteor 177 rifles we used to shoot rats swimming the river in the head it was great fun kept us youngsters busy all day. That was back in the late 60's, I don't even think the bush and scrub is there now it's all houses.

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## Micky Duck

flat heads followed by round heads (fortunately the cheapest) work very well...now get this YOU DONT NEED HYPERVELOCITY EXPENSIVE pellets to kill a rat...just a pellet that you can pierce bum of a coke can with and be able to hit what you are aiming at. another thing you may not have taken into consideration..air rifles recoil...quite a lot actually...it stuffs scopes as it is a two way thing very quickly...hold that forend very firmly and your groups will shrink...possibly why your standing shots worked well...a drop of 3n1 oil back into hole the air comes out of every now and again helps to keep things working properly too.

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## ghosts

The memories of those BSA Meteors. Two factors, good marksmanship and stalking ability.

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## Josan

It's all about accuracy. Almost any power level is enough, but i would consider 600 fps with a 7-8 grain pellet the minimum. Limit your shooting distance to where you can reliably hit a 2cm target. Flatheads work best at distance to 20m. Domeheads are more accurate beyond that, but they overpenetrate at the shorter distances.

Fiber optic sights are a plus when using open sights under low-light conditions, but using a simple 4x32 scope will enhance your accuracy a lot. If using a scope on a break barrel, the barrel pivot bolt/hinge and solid lockup are critical for repeated accuracy.

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## gadgetman

> I have a  Crossman 1000 ( 1000 fps Job) I have shot Rabbits, Possums, Wallabies , Magpies, Mynas and all the smaller birds  that mess the garden up. It works fine, it cost me $200 when I bought it and put a Gamo 4x32 Air rifle scope on it. It's accurate and have shot a rabbit out to about 50 yards. Your gun should be fine. It depends a lot on the weight of the pellets as to the velocity you get. In mine a 6gr pellet will reach close to the 1000 fps but the heavier 9-10 gr pellets only get about 750 fps. As slug said the BSA Meteor I have is only doing about 500 fps and it will easily deal to rats and birds out to 20 odd yards.( maybe more)


I have pretty much the same Crossman, just wears different trousers, and it works brilliantly. It has had many thousands of pellets through it (now on second spring), and has takes rabbits, cats, birds and of course cans and bottle tops.

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## gadgetman

> flat heads followed by round heads (fortunately the cheapest) work very well...now get this YOU DONT NEED HYPERVELOCITY EXPENSIVE pellets to kill a rat...just a pellet that you can pierce bum of a coke can with and be able to hit what you are aiming at. another thing you may not have taken into consideration..air rifles recoil...quite a lot actually...it stuffs scopes as it is a two way thing very quickly...hold that forend very firmly and your groups will shrink...possibly why your standing shots worked well...a drop of 3n1 oil back into hole the air comes out of every now and again helps to keep things working properly too.


I've found the military hold, where you don't grip the fore end at all works best.

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## gadgetman

Here's a better video.

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## Tommy

Still have an early Meteor Super and a 90's Supersport. Used to shoot out candle flames at 15m standing when I was a kid: as @Slug says, shot the absolute arse out of the Meteor, I remember having multiple towers of empty pellet cans (500 each) on the bedroom windowsill. Cabbage white butterflies for instance. Would sit on the deck and watch them in the garden 10 -15m away, as soon as they landed, there would just be two wings, body gone.

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## Gordo

> Try your rifle on a paper target and see if you can consistently shrink your groups.
> 
> That way you'll be working on the big variable: The Nut behind the Butt.


ha ha "nut behind the butt" a new one for me.

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## Gordo

had a cheap air rifle as a kid. could shoot the stalk above the lemons to get them out of the tree. best was six in a row.

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## Max Headroom

I have also found that playing anything by Portishead gets rid of rats and mice.

It does attract stoners though.

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## Ultimitsu

> Have a Benjamin Varmint (Crosman) a .22 which cost me $400 new.
> 
> I'm wondering if these cheaper air rifles are actually any good for this purpose of shooting rats? Seems to have a good punch for an air rifle, sends flat head pellets right through the rats when I manage to hit them.
> 
> Seems everyone else has $800-1000 flash air rifles..do you actually need to spend that much for accuracy and reliability, or will a cheapie like this do the job? Surely it would? be happy to buy an expensive one, but life gets in the way!
> 
> The $500 Stoeger I had seemed a better rifle.....
> 
> Just after opinions, how many of you on here have used cheaper air rifles with success?
> ...


Any crappy gun will hit the bulls eye (or hit a rate, as you may say) once in so many shots, or even produce a nice looking 3 shot group once every blue moon. What matters is whether a gun a consistently shoot well, every single shot.

The way I see it, spring guns are always, always *less* accurate than 22LR rifles for the same money. The awkward dual directional recoil and the light bullet weight are inherently bad for accuracy. Having shot at least 50 different 22LR rifles, I personally would not bother with inaccurate 22LR rifles. As such I see even less reason to do serious shooting or hunting with low-end spring guns.

When I first started shooting, I bought from Youngs a secondhand Gamo for 150 dollar. It works well enough for its money, and at 600 fps it was reasonably quiet. But it definitely is not reliably accurate. I only used it to plinker around the back yard.  Earlier this year a fellow forum member had a second hand AA TX200 for sell, I bought it off him. It definitely is a lot better, very nice bluing, beautifully carved stock, very powerful, and noticeably more accurate.

Good Spring guns hold their value quite well too. If you can get a secondhand high end spring gun for about 800~900, say Daina mod 54, Weihrauch HW97, Air Amrs TX200, shoot it for a couple of years, you can sell it for about the same as you paid minus a hundred dollars or so. There are *not* a lot of people going after a second hand 350 dollar spring gun.

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## Micky Duck

> flat heads followed by round heads (fortunately the cheapest) work very well...now get this YOU DONT NEED HYPERVELOCITY EXPENSIVE pellets to kill a rat...just a pellet that you can pierce bum of a coke can with and be able to hit what you are aiming at. another thing you may not have taken into consideration..air rifles recoil...quite a lot actually...it stuffs scopes as it is a two way thing very quickly...hold that forend very firmly and your groups will shrink...possibly why your standing shots worked well...a drop of 3n1 oil back into hole the air comes out of every now and again helps to keep things working properly too.


did you try this?????????

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## TeRei

Anyone able to appraise the Crossman 2240 CO2 .22 slug pistol? Any good?

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## NewbieZAR

as a kid i had a chinese jobbie in .177, would have propably cost equivalent of $25 (was in South Africa), got it at the chinese shop. it has accounted for many many Minor birds, pigeons, rabbits, dassies (google that one) and quite a few stray house cats that came onto our place. main thing is shot placement and getting close enough. i cant imagine this did much more than 700fps. Marksman red box ammo did the job

Later on i got a 1000 or 1200fps hatsan, now that was a beast by comparison, but i wont say on here what animals i got with it as some might start calling me "unethical hunter" lol

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## MB

Power doesn't matter if you can't hit a target the size of a rat's head.

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## erniec

Had one years ago and the Co2 canister cost/shot was more than using a .22.
Not sure on cost now.

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## ghosts

Had many air driven guns over the last 50 yrs or so.
 The first was a ''Slavia'' brand break barrel of low power but well made. It served myself and younger brothers with thousands of practise shots, and the odd hospital visit.
 Next up was a BSA Meteor, a big step up in power etc, starlings, blackbirds, thrushes, sparrows etc with-in a closest range . Perhaps the best use was for kingfisher patrol. My father was a builder etc and built one of our homes. Included was a Goldfish pond where said Kingfishers waited for a slow Goldfish or two. 
Many years latter came a series of air-pistols , the best being a Webley with a top break charge barrel. Very accurate and capable of eliminating ratty at close ish ranges. 
The last one I swapped. It was an under lever fixed barrel model of dubious manufacture. [Only had Chinese style marks on it]. Anyway this V sight airgun entertained us ,[me the missus, friends etc] and could really shoot further than anything else I've shot with an airgun. Clothes pegs were a good target at times, until ''her indoors'' shot the actual washing line . To be fair it was her washing line and all I did was mow underneath it. 
Always used .177 as you could get more pellets in your mouth than a .22..

Whats your stories?

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## Magnus

Lol my cheap ass ruger Hawk smokes rabbits with iron sights. Was $180 bux from gunshitty, 
Would definitely turn rats inside out.

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## Magnus

Ha no idea how the pic of the pos mosen ended up there.

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## T.FOYE

Yeah ya gotta warn people before posting up a pic of a "moist nugget"

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## T.FOYE

Airguns are the embodiment of the saying "you get what you pay for". My first airgun was a $50 gift. Chinese BAM or something. Killed a rabbit or two with it so it wasn't useless. 
But it didnt last, wore out pretty quick, was loud etc. Compared to my air arms TX200HC, chalk and cheese. That thing kept my friends property clear of bunnies and hares for years

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## kruza

for rat shooting at a dump that gun should be fine. I've found the artillery hold works best. the air rifle goes thru a forward shock as the piston gets to the end of its stroke, then a reverse shock as it recoils back before the pellet leaves the barrel . the gun needs to held the same way every time as it affects the harmonics of the shock waves differently if held different between shots. which affects point of impact.i let the gun sit on my palm with no restriction to how it recoils. it has to move the same way every time.  use the pellet that groups best for your gun. accuracy kills. ( I have 11 tins of pellets that weren't quite right for my gun left. settled on the best) the price of an air gun will get you a better gun, but you buy what you need. yours works for what you need. all good. I've just spent over 2300.00 on a new air rifle and scope because of the type of hunting I do. I sure as heck wouldn't for rat hunting. if your happy with it and it's doing its job well, you have the right gun.

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## Billbob

> Have a Benjamin Varmint (Crosman) a .22 which cost me $400 new.
> 
> I'm wondering if these cheaper air rifles are actually any good for this purpose of shooting rats? Seems to have a good punch for an air rifle, sends flat head pellets right through the rats when I manage to hit them.
> 
> Seems everyone else has $800-1000 flash air rifles..do you actually need to spend that much for accuracy and reliability, or will a cheapie like this do the job? Surely it would? be happy to buy an expensive one, but life gets in the way!
> 
> The $500 Stoeger I had seemed a better rifle.....
> 
> Just after opinions, how many of you on here have used cheaper air rifles with success?
> ...


If you are only shooting rats (but i have slocked bigger critters) get a C02 rifle like the cr600w from Gun city, this is very accurate at 20m and quite quiet with the factory suppressor, GC also have started selling the Crosman 2250B carbine c02, this is alot louder with no suppressor as std but also a fun little gun. (I have both these in my collection and are both my go to for pests like rats and Starlings - both have been severally modified)

Ive written all my 2 cents worth about air rifles in some place in this forum a few months ago if you can find it that will give you some tips with pellets etc.... 

Another option for pests if you want to stay with a brake barrel will be a kids rifle like Hatsan Striker or similar - alot cheaper for you but here is a little secret about youth air rifles - they are most of the time more accurate for shorter shot ranges as due to being less powerful and obviously less recoil resulting in better accuracy. Ive head shot rabbits and Hares with a .177 only doing 600fps

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## Ranger 888

I had a cheapo Chinese .177....used to kill treed possums if you aimed under the chin. Possums can be difficult to kill with a .22...

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## Black Rabbit

I got some experience of shooting very cheap air rifle for rats and sparrows back to 30 years ago. Within 15 meters is the most effective range, the accuracy out of 20 meters ....can hit a beer can.

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## Black Rabbit

This rusty piece of shit I found in a remote place, bit of cooking oil and little sight in works, 20 meters on a beer can, hit every time. But, did `t have chance for a field test.

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## kruza

fixed barrel, pretty chunky so have weight. Under/side lever, pump up or gas? Any idea what it is? love the little heart tin for pellets. Ironic  or not hmmm guess depends where ya shoot the critter.

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## Black Rabbit

> fixed barrel, pretty chunky so have weight. Under/side lever, pump up or gas? Any idea what it is? love the little heart tin for pellets. Ironic  or not hmmm guess depends where ya shoot the critter.


It `s side lever, bit of noise, heavy trigger, not comfortable to use but it was very very, very cheap.

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## kruza

Pull it apart give it some tlc. See the pics of some of groups air gunners on other nz site have grouped after they done work to guns. Some of them cheap and it's amazing how they tighten them up? The fixed barrel is a plus for accuracy. I've just polished the  air  cylinder and piston on a gamo I have. Got new seals.  G
Few other parts on the way. (parts have come to $30 all up delivered.
 The gun has been nothing but a pain in arse since I got it. But now I got it apart and sorting stuff I can see why and already feel good about how much better it will be when done. I still think a lot of hunters underestimate what it takes to hunt and shoot with an air rifle and the advantages of having one or two in the gun cabinet. Their loss.

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## gonetropo

as a young fella i used to shoot rats at the tip in woodhill forest. the trust old bsa meteor worked a treat.
then a got a 22cal meteor and would glue rifle primers on to the tips of pointy slugs, lets just say that exploded rats do not smell good.

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## Mintie

> Attachment 203928
> 
> This rusty piece of shit I found in a remote place, bit of cooking oil and little sight in works, 20 meters on a beer can, hit every time. But, did `t have chance for a field test.


That rifle is a thumb stealer, make sure you block the side lever under your arm in case the sear drops while your thumb is in there. I have one in the safe waiting for a rainy day rebuild.

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## Black Rabbit

> That rifle is a thumb stealer, make sure you block the side lever under your arm in case the sear drops while your thumb is in there. I have one in the safe waiting for a rainy day rebuild.


yeah :Grin:  I guess, we all have had that little accident when we were teenager.

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## SL600

> Have a Benjamin Varmint (Crosman) a .22 which cost me $400 new.
> 
> I'm wondering if these cheaper air rifles are actually any good for this purpose of shooting rats? Seems to have a good punch for an air rifle, sends flat head pellets right through the rats when I manage to hit them.
> 
> Seems everyone else has $800-1000 flash air rifles..do you actually need to spend that much for accuracy and reliability, or will a cheapie like this do the job? Surely it would? be happy to buy an expensive one, but life gets in the way!
> 
> The $500 Stoeger I had seemed a better rifle.....
> 
> Just after opinions, how many of you on here have used cheaper air rifles with success?
> ...


You get what you pay for. Get yourself a sampler pack of slugs & find the one that groups best in that rifle.

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