Thread: BACK YARD RABBITS

Springers over 200yds,pellets must be flying.

I have an ongoing problem with lawn diggers so decided to try an air rifle - a Guy I knew sold me a near new Norica .22 for $100 - I put a lovely Gamo scope on it from a forum member - but I soon realised why it was so cheap - the trigger was shocking and it was very noisy - so I moved it on to a Guy down the road who also has a rabbit problem - he has put a low electric wire around his 4000m section - but they jump over that.
I wandered into H&F about six months back and they were doing a special on a Stoeger RX20 - .22, silenced and scoped for $299 - so I bought it - it is quite silent, the scope is good and the trigger is adjustable and reasonable - it is a bitch of a thing to crack open and takes all my strength to load it. I have been using 21.14 gn Baracuda Power copper plated pellets. I have had a few rabbits flop over and kick - but most seem to run off and disappear. I guess they wont come back digging in my lawn - but the dog is a bit disappointed when she cant find them. I hit a magpie a few days back at about 5m and it flew away - minus a few feathers. Are these sharp pointed pellets the best to use on rabbits in the 25m type range?

Originally Posted by time out

I have an ongoing problem with lawn diggers so decided to try an air rifle - a Guy I knew sold me a near new Norica .22 for $100 - I put a lovely Gamo scope on it from a forum member - but I soon realised why it was so cheap - the trigger was shocking and it was very noisy - so I moved it on to a Guy down the road who also has a rabbit problem - he has put a low electric wire around his 4000m section - but they jump over that.
I wandered into H&F about six months back and they were doing a special on a Stoeger RX20 - .22, silenced and scoped for $299 - so I bought it - it is quite silent, the scope is good and the trigger is adjustable and reasonable - it is a bitch of a thing to crack open and takes all my strength to load it. I have been using 21.14 gn Baracuda Power copper plated pellets. I have had a few rabbits flop over and kick - but most seem to run off and disappear. I guess they wont come back digging in my lawn - but the dog is a bit disappointed when she cant find them. I hit a magpie a few days back at about 5m and it flew away - minus a few feathers. Are these sharp pointed pellets the best to use on rabbits in the 25m type range?

I mainly use dome type pellets on animals, they are far more accurate. Shot placement is absolutely key with airgun hunting.

Just went out the back of the house,shot one more rabbit,neighbor shot one with my gun.Then he shot a rabbit with his stoeger slug gun.Another 10 rabbits scatted down the back track.Just another 10000 out in the forest.
Pellets that came with rifle are RedStar=square face,flat nose.

trout....for what its worth,I suggest STRONGLY you go and buy some elcheapho waisted air rifle pellets,like you used as a kid....$15 for 500 or there abouts...the domed ones hit harder than the pointed ones,funny as it seems...the pointy ones zip through and definately penertrate more but domed or betterstill flat ones deliver the little bit of energy they have...on rubbish dump rats the difference was HUGE....
most of the expensive top label pellets are lighter than old school....
DEFINATELY hold that foreend tightly...and see if it makes a difference...havent looked into this artillary hold,looked into bottom of bottle of atillery port though,highly recommended....
workmate gave me springer he couldnt get to group...cheap pellets and firm hold sorted it pronto.
them rabbits will get hurry up and you will feel better if pellets arent gold plated (I shit you not,they are out there) expensive fast ones.

These Red Star are 3.5mm flat across the front.Theres very little recoil with this,so called muzzel break seems to work ok.Nice to shoot,not a bouncy canon.Thanks for info MD.

Originally Posted by time out

I have an ongoing problem with lawn diggers so decided to try an air rifle - a Guy I knew sold me a near new Norica .22 for $100 - I put a lovely Gamo scope on it from a forum member - but I soon realised why it was so cheap - the trigger was shocking and it was very noisy - so I moved it on to a Guy down the road who also has a rabbit problem - he has put a low electric wire around his 4000m section - but they jump over that.
I wandered into H&F about six months back and they were doing a special on a Stoeger RX20 - .22, silenced and scoped for $299 - so I bought it - it is quite silent, the scope is good and the trigger is adjustable and reasonable - it is a bitch of a thing to crack open and takes all my strength to load it. I have been using 21.14 gn Baracuda Power copper plated pellets. I have had a few rabbits flop over and kick - but most seem to run off and disappear. I guess they wont come back digging in my lawn - but the dog is a bit disappointed when she cant find them. I hit a magpie a few days back at about 5m and it flew away - minus a few feathers. Are these sharp pointed pellets the best to use on rabbits in the 25m type range?

The best pellets for accuracy and knock down power are the round nosed diabolos. Usually Air Arms, JSB or H&N are best in most barrels.

Please ignore any advice you receive regarding a "firm hold" on your rifle's stock. A firm hold will never give you the best accuracy with a Springer! Never ever! The Artillery Hold is the way to go... Youtube has many videos on this and once you practice it, watch your groups shrink!!!

Got some Cometa 10.34grains,dome head,recommended by JSB.exact Heavey.Seems to shoot well.Allready dropped a couple of bunnys last night with it.Bang flop thru the shoulders about 25yrds away.This group i shot at 30yds yesterday morning after pellets arrived.Woow i thort,this rifle on form now.This what rabbits do to yr front garden every night.Thanks for yr info guys.

That's starting to look really good Trout! Well done!

Now add the Artillery Hold to that and I bet you'll be singing and dancing again!!!!

Yeh thats definitely looking more like the usual Cometa results, Well done! The Cometa pellets are just rebranded JSB, they knew they worked well in their rifles so did a deal with JSB.

Glad to see it all sorted

Took the 10mm travel out of the trigger,now just touch and slightly squeeze,bang.Meant to be a 2 stage trigger,i didnt like that.Cocked the rifle,gave it a good thump on the lawn,nothing, so all good.

I assume the scope is OK and all the bolts are tight. Add some loktite if they regularly loosen.
The barrel pivot bolt shouldn't be too tight or too loose. If it is one of either you will usually get vertical stringing.
Clean the barrel. Check whether your barrel crown is not damaged. If it is only shot with airstripper it is probably unlikely. Also test your grouping without the stripper.
Damaged breech seal or piston seal could also be a reason. If you have a chrony shoot a shotstring and check muzzle velocity spread. Should be like within plusminus 4-5 m/s, otherwise there is a problem.
Study the artillery hold like mentioned previously. Never support your springer on a hard surface and always support it consistently.
If all is OK, start with some JSB pellets. They are usually among the best grouping pellets in most air rifles.
Set your scope parallax at the testing distance to avoid parallax error when determining accuracy.
All this should cover most causes for inaccuracy of your airrifle.

PS your last results are really good!

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

Is that a muzzle brake on an air gun?...*shakes head*

More like a thread protector!

I couldn’t find any slugs that were suggested in Tauranga or Hamilton – so I went for some hollow points from GC in Ham
The Stoeger X20 was about 50mm low and left using the sharp pointed Stoeger slugs - after I had gone to a lot of trouble to get it accurate – it looks like the shock involved in breaking it open is shifting something in the scope – but I cant open it without a slight bump on the barrel
So I now have the new slugs accurate at 20m – but the rabbits see the spotlight and run for their lives – I have had aa couple of shots at about 30m but free standing and missed
So I give up on the air rifle and yesterday resorted to an old favourite – a Fenn 6 – they don’t run past the end of the chain with this – 2 pieces of 150mm tube with a gap in the middle for the Fenn – they love running through culverts and pipes
Dog is enjoying something to carry

Originally Posted by time out

I couldn’t find any slugs that were suggested in Tauranga or Hamilton – so I went for some hollow points from GC in Ham
The Stoeger X20 was about 50mm low and left using the sharp pointed Stoeger slugs - after I had gone to a lot of trouble to get it accurate – it looks like the shock involved in breaking it open is shifting something in the scope – but I cant open it without a slight bump on the barrel
So I now have the new slugs accurate at 20m – but the rabbits see the spotlight and run for their lives – I have had aa couple of shots at about 30m but free standing and missed
So I give up on the air rifle and yesterday resorted to an old favourite – a Fenn 6 – they don’t run past the end of the chain with this – 2 pieces of 150mm tube with a gap in the middle for the Fenn – they love running through culverts and pipes
Dog is enjoying something to carry

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Thats a good trick with the Fenn, will have to try that one!