Pellet Rifle?
 

I know of two calibers in pellet rifles, .177 and .22. Which one would work better for light pest control out to over 100 ft.? I have no experience with the larger caliber in pellet.

IMHO, the .177 is the way to go.

The .177 is normally the caliber of the competition air rifles, and seems to be more universally available, as far as I know.

I suspect that the rifle would be more significant for pest control than the caliber.

What rifle are you using? Have you considered a .22 rimfire rifle with low velocity loads, like the BB Caps, CB Longs, or Aguila?

TR

The Aguila is more lethal and quieter than a Pellet Rifle. I've shot coons out of a tree with kids standing at the School Bus Stop not 30 meters from me and they hadn't a clue. That was with Winchester CB Caps, but the Aguila Colibri or an equivalent Zero Propellant round will work just fine.

Take Care.
Martin

I've never heard of the Aguila. Will do homework. Yes i've been considering a new .22 rifle too.

You may want to check out Benjamin Sheridan pellet rifles in .20 caliber. Both AM and myself have shot enough small critters with this caliber to fill an average size house. It offers a higher velocity than .22, and a heavier bullet than a .177

will check out. Thanks! I was thinking of building an air rifle like Lewis and Clark carried. Any history buffs know about that?

In UK 177 is a headshot only for rabbits. Most UK hunter prefer 22 as an allround caliber. 25 is great for shorter ranges.

Swede- I have heard of pellet rifles of larger than .22 caliber, but here in the U.S. pellets are difficult to damn near impossible to find. Especially at a decent price.
My .02

Yes.

TR

I think there was a write up in Guns & Ammo or one of those Rags recently about one of those old air rifles.

Think of the possibility, scuba air tanks with big CFM flow valve, we could be shooting .50 cal out of an air rifle, wouldn't weigh much more either.

Someone is making a modern .30 caliber air rifle and people have killed deer with them. It uses compressed air and I've heard that they will shoot out to 100 yds accurately.

Bill there are several good pellet rifles in larger calibers. There is the career 707 which is basically a 9mm PCP (pre charged pneumatic) which people have used to kill feral hogs with. Very powerfull.

if you are looking to hit smaller game, get either a .22 or a .25. .22 has the edge on finding pellets and it's almost surpassed the .177 in "Field" rifles.

The sheridan .20's are amazingly powerfull though not as good a choice as a spring piston .22. I have killed several racoons with my cheap chinese .22 running around 750 fps in .22. It's WAAY more powerful than my RWS M48 running a little over 1000 fps with .17. It's nght and day.

If you are really wanting some stopping power and a quiet round, get the aguila SUPER colibri. Not the normal colibris which won't reliably fire in a rifle length barrel or may plug the barrel. The super colibri is a little faster and hits a lot harder.

One of the coolest new guns on the market is the Talon by Air Force, or the newer, faster one I can't remember the name of right now. If you have access to scuba quality air supply it's one of the better PCP's around. If you have no access to scuba supply, get a good quality Spring Piston in .22. I have several and really like them.

I can send you an article from the Shotgun news about older air rifles. The jist of the article was how we've come full circle in the air rifle game. The first rifles were PCP's and now we're back to them again although in a significantly improved form.

talk at ya' later.

CrashBurnRepeat

CrashBurnRepeat! Great to read you here Sir! Thanks for all the info from all you guys, will be doing lots of homework now. Boy will my wife be impressed with my new, uh I mean, her Anniversary present! Reaper says he can whup you arm wrestling.

Welcome CBR.

I said nothing of the sort, Mr. Harsey, but if I had to arm wrestle him, I would find a way to win (though some might call it cheating).

Shouldn't you be making steel into smoke and sparks?

TR