Thread: Air rifles that are suitable for possums and rabbits?

Originally Posted by Angus_A

Are you in Auckland? Would you be up for coming with me to the shop and helping me get kitted out at some point?

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Nah I am Hawkes Bay based but Ron wont steer you wrong and has the best selection in the country. Feel free to message me with what you liked to ask advice after a visit.

A lot of us started out hunting with air rifles thats where you learn about shot placement i dont know if its still going but nzairgunners is a forum to check out

good info on the pellets too.
Oh and BTW got a big shock when I was buying pellets for the air rifle when I got it. Its the 22 jobbie and its way dearer a shot than the 177.
Not as dear as a rimfire but for what they are it seems a bit rude.

bugger you didnt get a license and i'm not going to pry into why
there are some decent airguns out there for sure but the most impressive non-firearm i ever owned was a buckmaster 70lb compound bow. even with a sharp targer head it went thru a holden kingswood (farm wreck)

Originally Posted by gonetropo

bugger you didnt get a license and i'm not going to pry into why
there are some decent airguns out there for sure but the most impressive non-firearm i ever owned was a buckmaster 70lb compound bow. even with a sharp targer head it went thru a holden kingswood (farm wreck)

I always knew a Holden Kingswood would be handy for somebody someday.

I'm looking at the Benjamin trail np 22, my mate can get good prices on them and they seem to tick the right boxes. Obviously have to handle it in person though before I make a proper decision.

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Originally Posted by Angus_A

It appears to be a blanket condition on all pre charged air rifles

Oh. Lesson for the day


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Originally Posted by Angus_A

I'm looking at the Benjamin trail np 22, my mate can get good prices on them and they seem to tick the right boxes. Obviously have to handle it in person though before I make a proper decision.

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Have heard of issues with the scope rail falling off those, seems they were just glued on. If you do buy it make sure you can get the warranty service to back it up.

Originally Posted by Mintie

Have heard of issues with the scope rail falling off those, seems they were just glued on. If you do buy it make sure you can get the warranty service to back it up.

I'll definitely keep an eye on that if I do end up with one

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I have used a 22 cal multi pump for a couple of rabbits and a number of possums.
If you have time spend some time at

https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/

This guy has reviewed most air rifles and give good practical advice.

Originally Posted by Mintie

Ive been into airguns in a big way now for a long time, most of my hunting is done by air. I collect and fix/repair/modify airguns as a hobby and have had hundreds of them over my bench. Some simple advice from me on buying a good airgun.

1- Stay away from the Gamo rifles, They are of poor build quality and are way over priced. Also give their pellets a miss, they are quite poorly formed and very inconsistent.

2- Ron is a good bastard, go see him.

3- JSB, H&N and some Crosman Premier pellets are good, the standard dome head is usually the most accurate but sometimes the polymer tipped predators group well enough at possums distance and they get messy on impact.

4- Buy .22 for possums, throat shots are usually the way to go

5- Stay away from anything over 1000fps, Pellets are not designed like bullets and they do not perform well over the SOS (actually its more about them de-stabilizing when they come back through the SOS which is normally only about 25 m down range). To help you out here almost all manufactures are telling bullshit when they claim 1600fps (like Gamo) anyway. Point 4 helps you here as you wont get a spring/ram rifle over about 950fps in .22

6- Spring vs Gas ram are different but they both do the job well if you get a good one, Springers don't like being cocked for too long (hour plus on a regular basis can "set" the spring shorter) but gas rams are ok cocked for longer periods - To be clear I don't cock any of mine until i'm ready to shoot anyway but some people like to trust the safety and be ready to fire instantly. Gas rams are slightly snappier and smoother recoil but a polished springer can be very smooth too.

7- Check out the Cometa Fenix 400 or Fusion rifles. These are very good quality rifles at very good prices, great lookers, great adjustable 2 stage trigger, plenty of power, great build quality. They are almost the quality of the expensive German stuff but at Gamo prices. Ive shots hundreds of possums, rabbits, turkeys etc with a Fenix 400.

8- Make sure you get a springer rated scope and a one piece mount (done up real tight and using recoil stop screws). Most scopes that come with airguns are rubbish and don't last long, Get something from Hawke, Leapers or some of the Nikko range are springer rated. make sure it has parallax adjustment and it can go down to close range. The recoil is both forwards and backwards and a lot of scopes/mounts cant handle that.

9- Co2 rifles dont need a licence and can be quite fun, I have had them up around 16fpe which is enough for possums but you will get more power from a grunty springer. The fun thing about the bolt action Co2 rifles is that you can modify and silence them etc and end up with something that feels like a rimfire to shoot.

10- PCP is great fun but expensive to set up the filling gear and any PCP rifle needs a FAL, PCP pistols don't need a licence and can still pack some serious power (Ive shot 50 cal PCP pistols that are running 300ish FPE) and they are the only legal way to hunt with pistols in NZ! I have seen pics of a Red Deer taken in NZ with a PCP pistol.

11- Strip, clean and polish the rifle that you get. Manufacturing processes generally don't leave good finishes inside and with all the heavy moving metal you can get a fairly harsh shooting cycle. Spring ends, mating surfaces, spring guides, cocking lever channels, trigger sears etc should all get a good polish to get it to run at its best. On reassembly there are specific lubes that should be used in different areas, there shouldn't be anything combustible inside the compression tube otherwise you will get dieseling which will wreck seals.

12- Don't dry fire it, or buy it from a salesperson that suggests you do. The piston needs the back pressure from a pellet in the barrel to slow it down, if fired without a pellet in the barrel the piston just slams against the end of the compression tube which will bugger it.

13- Most importantly make sure you get something that fits you. Handle it, Fondle it, Shoot it if you can before buying. Some of the airguns on the market are youth sized and some are giant sized, no point buying a Hatsan 130 if you are only 5ft.

Backed up every thing I said and some

My old man is into his air rifles. Has a Weirauch HW80 in .22 and a Webley Patriot in .25. Both have heaps of smack down. The Weirauch is a pretty rifle, and is accurate and reliable, although is heavy. The Webley is nice too although the older ones before production moved to Turkey are the ones to get.
He uses Hawke air rifle scopes and likes them, they hold zero even on the big .25.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

I have a Crossman 1000 177 cal and have taken rabbits, possums, a few wallabies, magpies, etc. Some rabbits out to 50 odd yards but I think possums maybe a bit harder at that range, they can be pretty tough especially if you don't get a good head shot in first shot. I would limit the range to about 25 -30 yards especially on the tougher critters.
My rifle only cost $200 new ( few years back now) and put a Gamo 4x scope (air rifle scope) on it and it has been an accurate and reliable gun.

I have one too. They are a Chinese made copy of the Gamo. Mine has had many 1000's of pellets through it and is now sporting an American spring after the original eventually broke. It has accounted for a few rabbits, possums and a cat.

The multi pumps are pretty good too. I have one that I bought from Youngs and it is really nice to use and plenty accurate. Would be my favourite at the moment.

When I was young my brother and I had a sharp innova air rifle.
It was pump up in .177 with a tiny little bolt action.
10-12 pumps resulted in around 1000fps.
We shot dozens of rabbits, hares and magpies with that rifle all with open sights.
A good number of possums also fell to it with head shots while clearing trap lines or ones that had been bailed by our foxy.
They are tough buggers.
Being pump up it focused our accuracy as pumping it back up was challenging while chasing a wounded rabbit across the paddock.



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Mintie posted some expert information. I'm an airrifle shooter and have the following extra info.
It's all about shot placement with airrifles. If you are talking rabbit and possum and regular power springers (12-20 fpe) a head shot is the only way to go for a humane kill. Place your pellet between the eye and the base of the ear and your good. 4 fpe at the target on a rabbit will do the business, a possum would likely need a bit more, but i think 8-10 fpe at the target would be enough. 177 or 22, both are OK as long as you hit the right spot. An advantage of 177 version of the same gun is, it usually is flatter shooting because of the higher pellet speed. Flatter shooting means range estimation and correction is less critical and you are more likely to hit the brain.
A scoped airrifle shooting a 240 m/s and zeroed at 28m will keep all your shots within 2cm from between 13-31m, so you can aim center cross hairs and hit the kill zone. Be aware of wind though. At 30m your pellet cab drift by several centimeters.
Also, do some research into the artillery hold. The reproducible, light holding of a springer is key to accurately shooting one.