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

Hey something else I just thought of that you might need to be aware of - I don't know the circumstances of your FAL being a few years off but if you have been denied or had it revoked then you may also be banned from owning or using airguns as well, sometimes the Arms officers are not particularly clear about that so definitely worth checking out!

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.

What a helpful post! Nice one.

Originally Posted by Mintie

Hey something else I just thought of that you might need to be aware of - I don't know the circumstances of your FAL being a few years off but if you have been denied or had it revoked then you may also be banned from owning or using airguns as well, sometimes the Arms officers are not particularly clear about that so definitely worth checking out!

Is that true in general, or is it for criminals who have a special kind of court order made against them? Anyone know?

I read somewhere that if you surrender your FAL it is no drama, but if it is revoked you are not allowed to use firearms even under the supervision of someone with a FAL. I don't know if it has effect on airgun use.

Thanks @Cigar

Arms Act 1983 No 44 (as at 01 October 2018), Public Act 27 Revocation and surrender of firearms licence – New Zealand Legislation

27 Revocation and surrender of firearms licence
(1)
Where, in the opinion of a commissioned officer of Police,—
(a)
any person who has been issued with a firearms licence is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm or airgun; or
(b)
access to any firearm or airgun in the possession of the person to whom a firearms licence has been issued is reasonably likely to be obtained by any person—
(i)
whose application for a firearms licence or for a permit under section 7 of the Arms Act 1958, or for a certificate of registration under section 9 of the Arms Act 1958 has been refused on the ground that he is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm or airgun; or
(ii)
whose certificate of registration as the owner of a firearm has been refused under section 10 of the Arms Act 1958 on the ground that he is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm; or
(iii)
whose firearms licence has been revoked on the ground that he is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm or airgun; or
(iv)
who, in the opinion of a commissioned officer of Police, is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm or airgun—
the commissioned officer of Police may, by notice in writing under his hand, revoke the firearms licence, and the person to whom that firearms licence has been issued shall upon demand surrender the licence to a member of the Police.

(2)
Any person may at any time surrender a firearms licence held by him.
(3)
Where a licence is revoked under subsection (1) or surrendered under subsection (2), the person to whom the licence has been issued shall cease to be licensed to possess firearms, airguns, pistols, or restricted weapons by virtue of that licence or any endorsement on it.
Compare: 1958 No 21 s 10(2); 1976 No 151 s 6

As I read it it applies to REVOCATION of a FAL, and it applies to a LICENSE to use firearms/airguns (not a refusal of license, but result is the same - no license held - it does not ear mark you for special troubles beyond the hassle of not having a FAL).

Specifically, it does not forbid the person who had a revocation of FAL from using airgun types which do not require a license. E.g. non-PCP air rifles, PCP air pistols, pump/springer rifles/pistols.

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong piece of legislation. ? @systolic ?

Originally Posted by Cordite

Thanks @Cigar

Arms Act 1983 No 44 (as at 01 October 2018), Public Act 27 Revocation and surrender of firearms licence – New Zealand Legislation

27 Revocation and surrender of firearms licence
(1)
Where, in the opinion of a commissioned officer of Police,—
(a)
any person who has been issued with a firearms licence is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm or airgun; or
(b)
access to any firearm or airgun in the possession of the person to whom a firearms licence has been issued is reasonably likely to be obtained by any person—
(i)
whose application for a firearms licence or for a permit under section 7 of the Arms Act 1958, or for a certificate of registration under section 9 of the Arms Act 1958 has been refused on the ground that he is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm or airgun; or
(ii)
whose certificate of registration as the owner of a firearm has been refused under section 10 of the Arms Act 1958 on the ground that he is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm; or
(iii)
whose firearms licence has been revoked on the ground that he is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm or airgun; or
(iv)
who, in the opinion of a commissioned officer of Police, is not a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm or airgun—
the commissioned officer of Police may, by notice in writing under his hand, revoke the firearms licence, and the person to whom that firearms licence has been issued shall upon demand surrender the licence to a member of the Police.

(2)
Any person may at any time surrender a firearms licence held by him.
(3)
Where a licence is revoked under subsection (1) or surrendered under subsection (2), the person to whom the licence has been issued shall cease to be licensed to possess firearms, airguns, pistols, or restricted weapons by virtue of that licence or any endorsement on it.
Compare: 1958 No 21 s 10(2); 1976 No 151 s 6

As I read it it applies to REVOCATION of a FAL, and it applies to a LICENSE to use firearms/airguns (not a refusal of license, but result is the same - no license held - it does not ear mark you for special troubles beyond the hassle of not having a FAL).

Specifically, it does not forbid the person who had a revocation of FAL from using airgun types which do not require a license. E.g. non-PCP air rifles, PCP air pistols, pump/springer rifles/pistols.

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong piece of legislation. ? @systolic ?

Right legislation, wrong section. If your licence is revoked, you can't legally possess an airgun, even if a firearms licence is not normally needed to own one.

Arms Act 1983

Section 49A Unlawful possession of firearm or airgun after revocation of firearms licence

Every person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year or to a fine not exceeding $4,000 or to both who, being a person whose firearms licence has been revoked, is in possession of a firearm or airgun at a time when that person is not the holder of a firearms licence, and is not a person authorised, expressly or by implication, by or pursuant to this Act, to be in possession of that firearm or airgun.

Originally Posted by systolic

Right legislation, wrong section. If your licence is revoked, you can't legally possess an airgun, even if a firearms licence is not normally needed to own one.

Arms Act 1983

Section 49A Unlawful possession of firearm or airgun after revocation of firearms licence

Every person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year or to a fine not exceeding $4,000 or to both who, being a person whose firearms licence has been revoked, is in possession of a firearm or airgun at a time when that person is not the holder of a firearms licence, and is not a person authorised, expressly or by implication, by or pursuant to this Act, to be in possession of that firearm or airgun.

So... if you have had no license REVOKED, but AO for some reason has declined to issue you one in the first place, then that restriction on having airguns does not apply to you. OK.

I was denied on my application due to a history of depression i couldn't sufficiently prove was not a problem (my fault, should have gone in with doctors notes, oh well)
I don't think it would be an issue seeing as nothing was revoked or anything.

You could reapply and wear a skirt at the interview.
"I was depressed cos I was in the closet, no probs since I came out.".
The LGBTQ card trumps anything...

But joking aside, I had to get a letter from my GP to the AO as I'd gone theough a stressful time and had had Prozac. I asked my GP to write what he thought to the AO directly, and that he could speak freely with the AO. I think that was as important as what my GP actually said to the AO.

You could reapply and wear a pink tutu at the interview.
"I was depressed cos I was in the closet, no probs since I came out.".
The LGBTQ card trumps anything...

But joking aside, I had to get a letter from my GP to the AO as I'd gone theough a stressful time and had had Prozac. I asked my GP to write what he thought to the AO directly, and that he could speak freely with the AO. I think that was as important as what my GP actually said to the AO.

Brocock Compatto .22 with JSB Jumbo 1,03gram shoots through 25mm pine at 24 fpe (32J). Plenty for possum skull.