Thread: Do cheap air rifles actually work well for rats etc?

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Originally Posted by 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)

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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

Here's a better video.

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.