Thread: Does a new air rifle get more accurate with use?

shot thousands of rats with air rifles years ago...... flat pellets were best of all,domed were nearly as good,pointed not so good....the pointed ones went straight through wereas the others POPPED the little huas..... cheap waisted air rifle pellets are the bizo in my reasonably powerful airgun and were the same in a workmates he couldnt get to shoot with lightweight ones..... recoil is real,you NEED to hang on to a springer.... shop around,local sports shop/hardware store "couldnt get any in" the other one down the road had them in stock,couple of different shapes and cheap..really cheap...starlings and blackbirds on back lawn at 5-15 yards in big trouble with open sights.

Yeah I'm finding the domed pellets, even the H&N Barracuda heavier, flatter pellets are going right through the rats. But..it's killing them. Must do a fair whack of damage in the chest. Got one head on the other night, poor bugger took a second shot to kill, can't figure that one out. The pellets are going through a paint tin then through a sheet of galv iron as well so seem to have reasonable power for a gas ram.
So, does anyone know if rats will eat, or remove a shot rat? Also tried the Peanut butter and nothing..but chuck a slice of fresh bread out and they go crazy over that, have to put small mesh over it or the little buggers run off with it.
Think I've found my new obsession...lol..now to try and get the red light setup just right so the don't see it...

flat pellets are the go.... the frontal area creates the shock.
we used to sit on ground behind a chair...like school chair with light turned off as we reloaded (diana side lever or wairach break open) when loaded would rest rifle across back of rifle and turn on torch,shoot rat,turn off light and repeat...over n over again.

bluebird rashuns should suck them in even faster...try hanging them just out of reach.....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

flat pellets are the go.... the frontal area creates the shock.
we used to sit on ground behind a chair...like school chair with light turned off as we reloaded (diana side lever or wairach break open) when loaded would rest rifle across back of rifle and turn on torch,shoot rat,turn off light and repeat...over n over again.

Even better, turn the pellets round so they fly skirt first. SLAP!!! Maximum pellet energy drop into target. And still surprisingly accurate, they are very short so the rifling stabilises them just fine.

Originally Posted by altair

Cheers guys for all that info, makes me feel better about it.
Gets a pretty good review, and yep I hate the trigger, if it was smoother it would help, but I'm a novice with guns so wouldn't be brave enough to pull it apart to replace it.

Yeah I'll be looking round at scopes I think, just looked at the Stoeger I gave my brother, that came with a 3-9X40 AO scope which I loved, will try to get something like that.
Scopeuout website has a few, plus I'll look at Outdoor Supplies.
I want to kill the rats as humanely as possible so want accuracy, I know they are scum but I despise cruelty.

Will have to invest in a "borestring" thing to clean out the bore, should I spray WD40 etc BEFORE I clean it, or don't add anything?
Thanks again guys, appreciate your advice on this, feel dumb being a novice, but hey...everyone starts somewhere!

Nothing dumb in asking questions mate.