I’m new to air rifles but not new to shooting/hunting however raccoons are giving me a hell of a problem. I got the Benjamin trail np xl in 25 cal at the suggestion of air gun depot and am shooting jsb exact king heavy pellets at 33gr. I’ve cleanly dropped 2 possums with vital shots but raccoons are giving me some trouble. The first coon I took a clean shot to its lungs from about 20 yds and it dropped instantly, after about 5 seconds it got life back in it and scooted away faster than I could reload and take a follow on shot. I’m confident it’s dead but I’d prefer a clean kill… so I decided head shots only from now on. I had a coon tonight inside of 20 yds, put a clean shot at the top of its head (shooting down on it) and it didn’t even drop, just grunted and scurried into a bamboo thicket. Is there a sweet spot to hit on raccoons OR should I look to swap out pellets or to a different rifle?
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Raccoon- Benjamin Trail NP XL
- Thread starter Pesterblaster3000
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Subjective as in saying “make sure you have good shot placement” isn’t really a helpful term. Describing the location that is considered good shot placement is helpful and not subjective…so LDP’s post helped out with that.
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I think it the case of too much animal and not enough gun. I had the Remington version of the Trail XL in .25. Accuracy was poor and the reverse recoil made it worse, especially when in a hurry. Racoons do not sit still like a paper target. You need something in the 40 fpe+ range and a PCP for tough animals at any distance like a raccoon, preferably a .25 or at least a heavy .22 minimum. That is an opinion based on my experiences both with PBs and air rifles over a lifetime. Racoons do not go down easy sometimes. A spring/gas piston rifle just does not have the thump for that job.
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Get the popcorn ready...
While having 40, 50, 60+ FPE is useful for taking larger critters, you really don't need that much gun. If more power is the case everyone makes, just get a cheap rimfire. I suggested maybe a Recluse in my last posting if wanting a flexible airgun, but in reality you could have a decent powder burner set up for the same money. Folks have been taking raccoons with ~14FPE to 18FPE springers in .177 and .22 before these higher powered pcp's were common. It's been pointed out that it does take more skill to be accurate with a break barrel and pcp's can be more powerful. Why has no one really focused on the projectiles? JSB pellets are great, but they are also darn near dead soft which makes them less than ideal for high penetration at lower-for-caliber power output. Essentially, if you're going to "punch above your weight" with a particular airgun, you need to find a projectile that offers high penetration and accuracy. Going back about a decade and a half ago a ~16fpe .22 was "enough gun" if the shooter kept ranges within 20 yards and got the pellet into the brainpan. I mostly went to a school way out in the sticks, so forgive me if my maths are off a tad, but the equivalent of a .22 @ 16fpe for a .25cal would be abouts 24FPE, which the Trail XL can potentially make and then some. I'll stand by my recommendation of trying out different pellets, something lighter and harder than those heavy and soft JSB's. And if these raccoons really are troublesome fatherless-son's-of-ugly-dog-gone wild beasts, who cares if you poke 'em in the ribs and they go crawl in a hole somewhere. At least you don't have to dig a hole.
While having 40, 50, 60+ FPE is useful for taking larger critters, you really don't need that much gun. If more power is the case everyone makes, just get a cheap rimfire. I suggested maybe a Recluse in my last posting if wanting a flexible airgun, but in reality you could have a decent powder burner set up for the same money. Folks have been taking raccoons with ~14FPE to 18FPE springers in .177 and .22 before these higher powered pcp's were common. It's been pointed out that it does take more skill to be accurate with a break barrel and pcp's can be more powerful. Why has no one really focused on the projectiles? JSB pellets are great, but they are also darn near dead soft which makes them less than ideal for high penetration at lower-for-caliber power output. Essentially, if you're going to "punch above your weight" with a particular airgun, you need to find a projectile that offers high penetration and accuracy. Going back about a decade and a half ago a ~16fpe .22 was "enough gun" if the shooter kept ranges within 20 yards and got the pellet into the brainpan. I mostly went to a school way out in the sticks, so forgive me if my maths are off a tad, but the equivalent of a .22 @ 16fpe for a .25cal would be abouts 24FPE, which the Trail XL can potentially make and then some. I'll stand by my recommendation of trying out different pellets, something lighter and harder than those heavy and soft JSB's. And if these raccoons really are troublesome fatherless-son's-of-ugly-dog-gone wild beasts, who cares if you poke 'em in the ribs and they go crawl in a hole somewhere. At least you don't have to dig a hole.
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@Just Zack 2 you are correct. The statement of needing 40+ fpe is incorrect. A few years ago I got a call one night from my son that he had multiple coons in his tree and they had been heckling his cats. So I grabbed my AA S510 carbine .22 and drove the 3 miles to his house. It was about 10 oclock at night so it was dark. I had a good flash light that I had him use to light up the coons eyes so I could shoot. I setup about 20 yds away and we started cleaning out his tree
I dropped 5 coons from the tree in a time frame of about 2 min with the AA S510. All 5 coons dropped dead to a single shot to the brain. My S510 was tuned to 18 fpe with 18 gr. JSB. One of the coons was a very large boar and his mate who was a good sized female as well. The other three were the youngsters but were about 7 months old or so and getting close to being on their own. If you put the projectile where it needs to be 15 fpe will cleanly kill a coon with a shot to the brain. They have skulls shaped in a way that projectiles can be deflected if the shots not in the right spot or angle.
I dropped 5 coons from the tree in a time frame of about 2 min with the AA S510. All 5 coons dropped dead to a single shot to the brain. My S510 was tuned to 18 fpe with 18 gr. JSB. One of the coons was a very large boar and his mate who was a good sized female as well. The other three were the youngsters but were about 7 months old or so and getting close to being on their own. If you put the projectile where it needs to be 15 fpe will cleanly kill a coon with a shot to the brain. They have skulls shaped in a way that projectiles can be deflected if the shots not in the right spot or angle. Upvote 0
People can have their opinions based on their tolerance for odds, ugly outcomes and their consideration of what is ethical. For me it is that spring guns in general are not sufficiently accurate and lack the needed energy to ensure kills when shots turn out not perfect. Only on air gun forums are all shots placed perfectly and elephants fall dead right there to 12 fpe spring guns with all manner of anecdotal proof. Do what you feel comfortable with in your conscious. I am not comfortable with any spring gun on a raccoon size animal. Even with good shots and plenty of energy things occasionally get ugly, just the chances of such are reduced with sufficient rifle in hand. Every hunter will need to make that choice but when asking on an open forum, be prepared to accept that not everyone is going to agree on what is ethical.
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And that is the key, location and angle.@Just Zack 2 you are correct. The statement of needing 40+ fpe is incorrect. A few years ago I got a call one night from my son that he had multiple coons in his tree and they had been heckling his cats. So I grabbed my AA S510 carbine .22 and drove the 3 miles to his house. It was about 10 oclock at night so it was dark. I had a good flash light that I had him use to light up the coons eyes so I could shoot. I setup about 20 yds away and we started cleaning out his tree
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I had a Trail NP XL, ended up tuning putting a Walther talon seal in it, grt3 trigger and for life of me couldn't get it to be accurate. Come to find out the Centerpoint scope it came with the crosshairs was floating and turned out to be a common issue in that model just something to keep in mind, once that was corrected it was a pretty accurate shooter for a springer/piston if you get the artillery hold down. Although it had the power knowing what I know now pcp would be my first option, especially for pesting where recoil management is not the baine of your existence.
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Switched to the H&N hornet in 22 grain, no chrono but can notice a speed difference from the JSBs. Accuracy hasn’t been an issue and with the guidance on where to place a shot with my caliber, I found success with 1 well placed shot in the 20-25 yard range.
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H&N Hornets at 22 grain did the trick. Accuracy has never been an issue while plinking and wasn’t when it needed to count. I haven’t gone past 40 yds with plinking and don’t really have the need to as the spotlight I’m using give me visibility to MAYBE 40 yds. Now that I’ve found the right pellet the pest population should dwindle…
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Good shooting! Those H&N Hornets are a little pricy but far cheaper than a new gun. Glad to see things working out for you. Best wishes in your future endeavors.
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For brain shots, I am not sure the type of pellet or brand makes much difference. I test penetration of my airguns two major ways. I test in wet paper. I used to use newspapers but those have gotten rare so I use magazines now. I think that simulates muscle tissue. I also test penetration of man made wood products. My favorate is a little block I made up of 1/4 inch thick pieces of MDF spaced about half an inch apart. It is fairly easy to see how many 1/4 inch layers the projectile goes through. But I also use plywood scraps sometimes. Plywood delaminates, however, and has greater variation than MDF. These tests I think correlate to penetration of skulls. For MDF or plywood penetration I do not see a difference in the type or brand of pellet. Metalmags, H&N domed, Crossman domed or hollow points, and JSBs of similar weight shot at similar velocities penetrate about the same. Regardless of the manufacturer and shape of lead, they all distort a bunch when you shoot them at a hard surface like this. I think that is why their penetration does not vary a lot. Penetration in wet paper does vary a lot by shape of pellet but I do not find that H&N or Crosman penetrate better than JSBs in wet paper when they are all domed pellets (or Crosman hollow points which do not expand in my tests). If the pellet expands, it penetrates much less. So metal mags do not penetrate as far but make a wider hole.
I've also tested a few hollow point slugs and they seem to behave the same. Penetration in MDF or plywood is about the same as a pellet of similar weight at similar velocity. Penetration in wet paper is less because they expand (or if they expand).
I'm not trying to argue somebody who likes Hornets or any other pellet and gets good results with it should try something else. But I do think that somebody who has a gun that likes JSBs or any other reasonable pellet is not going to gain a lot of killing ability to switching to a different pellet for brain shots. For body shots I think it makes a difference but when using a 25 or smaller caliber for a relatively large animal like a raccoon I think we should use a projectile which will give us the most penetration and in my experience that is a domed pellet. But I have not tested all brands and types.
I've also tested a few hollow point slugs and they seem to behave the same. Penetration in MDF or plywood is about the same as a pellet of similar weight at similar velocity. Penetration in wet paper is less because they expand (or if they expand).
I'm not trying to argue somebody who likes Hornets or any other pellet and gets good results with it should try something else. But I do think that somebody who has a gun that likes JSBs or any other reasonable pellet is not going to gain a lot of killing ability to switching to a different pellet for brain shots. For body shots I think it makes a difference but when using a 25 or smaller caliber for a relatively large animal like a raccoon I think we should use a projectile which will give us the most penetration and in my experience that is a domed pellet. But I have not tested all brands and types.
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It doesnt. What makes a difference is accuracy, shot placement and enough FPE to get thru the skull. I know from experience it only takes 18 FPE @ 20 yds to easily kill coons. Pick the most accurate pellet or slug and stick to the distance appropriate for the power level you are shooting at and you wont have any problems taking large raccoons down.
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As well as all that one of the most important things about brain shots is to take the shot where the part of the skull it's square to the impact,.....a shot aimed at the right place but the animal is positioned in a way that the skull is at an angle most likely will translate in failure.
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Wow... I'm quite surprised, especially by the fact the advice given you by AGD regarding the rifle/caliber doesn't seem to have been on point. I shop at Pyramyd Air almost exclusively for my airgun hobby needs, which seems to be either the same or a very closely associated venture with AGD, but the advice given me there (could be the same persons (?)) always has been spot on when I reached out for advice -- even to the point of being advised against a purchase (that very rifle and caliber, in fact), because a one-shot, ethical kill was an important consideration for my taking out the animals I named.
Naturally, there still should be at least a few more powerful gas-piston or springer air rifles you could consider for this purpose, if you're at all interested in something else. You probably will get a number of specific recommendations for what worked for others right here on the 'site, if you're willing to go that route. Keep in mind (on the off chance you don't know already): Raccoons are some especially tough critters for their size, and as a result (if I recall correctly), are considered medium-sized game animals rather than small game, which might help you in your search for something capable of producing the appropriate FPE.
All of this very well may be known to you already, but I thought I'd toss it out there just in case. Personally, while I choose not to go in that direction with my own airgun hobbying (too gimped up to hunt and can't afford it anyway), getting a single PCP rifle and hand pump (even a basic, more affordable model, as long as you're healthy enough for the prodigious manual pumping required if you don't want a compressor and such) almost certainly would serve the purpose, and it also would open up the possibility of taking other medium (or larger) game animals, depending on the model, caliber and your budget. Whatever you choose, good luck on your quest! Those raccoons don't stand a chance.
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If you've dealing with larger adults (20lbs+), the chart below (from the Pyramyd Air website) recommends not only choosing a PCP powered airgun, but one cable of FIFTY foot pounds of energy, to get one-shot kills on 'coons and similarly sized predators. Oh yeah, that definitely should do it!!! I'm very surprised though, since it also says up TO twenty pounders should need no more than something with just 10FPE (heck, my .177 Winchester pumper can do that!). Personally, I wouldn't even try it with an airgun shooting only 10FPE (especially in .177 caliber), unless maybe the raccoon was practically an infant (and I'm not sure I could shoot an infant racoon, anyhow). Of course, luck can be a factor (the proverbial "golden BB") in these situations, but it's certainly not something to count on. As mentioned before, those 'coons can be some pretty tough customers ... but still, FIFTY foot pounds? I have just about zero doubt it would get the job done, but it seems just the least little bit inflated to me! Shucks, maybe a .22 firearm would be your best bet, if you're somewhere that wouldn't be a problem. Whatever your decision, again, best of luck!
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I just double checked, and around here, it seems like the average size of even an adult raccoon rarely reaches a full twenty pounds (just about, but not quite)! Ten or fifteen pounds is just about median. In that case, going by the chart I posted, TEN FPE should be enough to get the job done, and I for one don't think that's nearly enough. My apologies for muddying the water.
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Here's some advice I found at one of the many online websites dedicated to airgun hunting that might help with defining a more specific POI to shoot for (sorry <grin>):
"If you put a bullet in the chest cavity, you have to wait for it to die. Sometimes it can take longer than you’d expect. It takes longer, and we don’t like to see an animal suffering more than necessary. A bullet to the brain is pretty much instant. They fall down right away. That’s what I like.
If you are a good enough shot, or the raccoon is close enough, go for the brain. To shoot the brain, put the bullet directly between the eyes from the front, or just on the back side of the ear canal, from the side. Those are the money shots. They always work."
From my admittedly minimal research, most of the writers of these articles also seem to be using air rifles producing far less than fifty foot pounds of energy -- from the lowest end of ten FPE (at least a few said that was all they needed!) to about thirty-five FPE. Some also claimed a good .177 caliber air rifle will do the job, but most recommended a bigger caliber: at least .22, with .25 being the most common and at least some recommending .30 caliber. Hopefully, if you can get an inside thirty yards or so front-on shot between the eyes, or a broadside hit just behind the ear, using no more than your spankin' new Benjamin .25 caliber breaker, you'll be knockin' 'em down like ten-pins. Hey, it's possible!
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The suggestion you should in between the eyes isn't always valid and in many times isn't. Many times the coons head is facing downwards so a shot between the eye will miss the brain completely. If the Coon is facing directly at you with a nose held high in the air that shot would be perfect. Other than it may graze off the slope of the skull. If the coons head is pointed downwards and it's facing right towards you you should shoot maybe an inch above the eyes. Actually that's a very good shot location as the shot will be more perpendicular to the skull.
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