i got the henry 22 lever for under 500 it was on sale 99 off. digging thru my stuff i found an old red field 3x9 scope LOL still looks clear as a bell.
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N/A old man that is newby to air guns
- Thread starter banjopicker
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ok good 4 you ,one shot kills.when you want a good springer get the R-9.....for fun and shooting smaller stuff.
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GTA stalwart Mark611 has bagged dozens of groundhogs out to 70 yards or so with his Diana 460 Mag .22 cal. That would be my choice for the job, as well, being one of the most accurate as well as most powerful coilspring guns around.
I think you could score a used 460 Mag for 300 USD.
I think you could score a used 460 Mag for 300 USD.
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Am I reading your profile right? You are 123 years young? Way to go and still shooting, I'm impressed!I too are an OLD MAN and just the thought of a hand pump increases my pain !
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no just feel like it most days,,,since i retired the timing worked out where my MOL got covid and double pneumonia at the same time.. she almost died
and after 3 weeks in the hospital she could not look after herself anymore. so we moved her in with us and my wife still works full time in the health care business so i am my MOL caregiver .. not much time for any of my fun stuff now . and its made me old . 68 going on 98 somedays. but not 123 LOL. BY THE WAY,, I UPDATED MY PROFILE
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A break barrel will be too loud and not powerful enough for many situations.
A suppressed subsonic 22LR would be my choice can the suppressor will be the most expensive item.
High powered PCP Airguns can do the job but not as cheap or easy as the rimfire.
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He also claims to shoot as well as Si Pittaway
. I've killed dozens of them too. Most of them on my friend's cattle ranch and a couple here. The closest was here at the house at 18 yards with a 15 fpe 22 cal Hw95. Head shot, DRT. So it is possible. The furthest was here at 320 yards with a 223. Centermass and still crawled a bit. I've shot them anywhere in between those distances with 22lr, 17 hmr and 223. Under 50 yards a 22lr will work ok, 50-100 yards a 17 HMR will do. 100+ yards, a 223 or better. Counting on making every head shot on a small live animal at any distance past 30 or 40 yards with a pellet gun is irresponsible. That goes for longer distances with heavier equipment as well. You can't always cherry pick your environmental conditions, live animals can move at any time and us regular humans are subject to making any number of errors.
Whatever weapon you choose it has to be capable of passing through or quickly damaging the vitals. Diehard varmint shooters use hi speed fragmenting bullets and take body shots. They basically grenade the internals. Believing you're making every head shot on a small animal at 50 plus yards (with anything) is delusional. At least it is for us regular human beings. Especially with piston airguns
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Heads, or more accurately brains, are a tiny target, and also a fast-moving one. A jaw hit, or a nose hit, will be nothing short of torture for the game animal.
Luckily, there is no need for brain shots when you use enough of a gun and pellet. A 20 - 30 fpe, .22 or .25 cal springer will take even large small game cleanly with body shots, where the target is both much larger as well as slower moving. A usual reaction to such a hit is a short run and quick expiration without much ado. There is zero chance of surviving a pencil-sized hole straight through the heart/lungs area. That has been my experience over the years, out to 60 yards.
Luckily, there is no need for brain shots when you use enough of a gun and pellet. A 20 - 30 fpe, .22 or .25 cal springer will take even large small game cleanly with body shots, where the target is both much larger as well as slower moving. A usual reaction to such a hit is a short run and quick expiration without much ado. There is zero chance of surviving a pencil-sized hole straight through the heart/lungs area. That has been my experience over the years, out to 60 yards.
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Sorry for the double post, but I feel the need to stress that a R9 / HW95 or similar-spec gun cannot clear the situational bar presented in my previous post. Shooting at a 20 lb.+ animal with winter fur on, at 20 yards on up, a 14 - 15 fpe ME .22 cal pellet will be dragged down by the fur, which encases the pellet as it enters the body, sometimes dropping penetration to only two inches or so. At 20 fpe and up, this issue evaporates, and the pellets fly through the winter fur and ribs on both sides, making reliable, quick kills.
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I pretty much agree with most everything you said. Woodchucks are usually a problem and hunted here as nuisance animals in summer. They're seldom over 20lbs but they're tough critters. I'd still personally prefer a firearm over a piston gun for them. I know you're not in the US. Out of curiosity, what type of small game are you hunting that's 20 plus pounds with winter fur?
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There's little "Pittawaying" necessary with a 460 Mag. They push midweight .22 cal pellets just shy of 900 fps, meaning pretty flat trajectories, as well as a handy same POI at 20 and 50 yards.
The again, I used to make one-shot kills out to 60 yards with a .22 cal springer and open sights, at just 700 fps. Not all of us are terrible at ranging.
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Your right. Just shy 900fps is plenty flat. That's better than almost all my 177 guns. Any faster than that pellets get squirrelly anyway. Still there's a big difference in trajectory between 900 and 700 fps. Especially on the far end.
I had a 22 Hw50 a low 600fps gun and a low 700fps Hw30 with the same peep sights. I had no problem with spinners and small silhouettes out to 50 yards with the Hw30 where as I would start missing with the 100 fps slower Hw50 past 35 yards. Every 100fps makes a big difference at the far end.
BTW I'm not great at ranging but I'm not abnormally bad either. I think of a person scopes a loopy gun with a good reticle and learns the hold overs well can do amazing things with it. The problem I have and probably a lot of people here have is they use too many guns to learn their hold overs. Even each gun hold overs can change with pellet and magnification (second focal plane scopes) changes.
I still find it hard to believe Si's dozens of 70 yard woodchucks. Even with A460. I've hit them square at that distance with a HV 22lr and had them run off. They might have died later but certainly not a quick clean kill. I can't imagine a 460 of the same caliber and a quarter of the energy making a clean woodchuck kill at 70 yards unless you head shoot it. And that would require Pittaway accuracy that's out of reach for most humans.
BTW One shot 60 yard kills on what animals Duke? I ask because some animals are tougher than others. My ~11 fpe 177 Hw50 has no problem cleanly killing rabbits at 50 yards, but not squirrels. At that distance the 177 sometimes passes through the squirrel if it hits the hide against something hard like the head or shoulder. Other times I just hear a thud and they run off fine. Where as rabbits die if you look at them crooked. My point is some animals are tougher than others. And chucks are tough.
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I faced the same situation as the OP: too many groundhogs and close neighbors. Experience hunting groundhogs in my youth with a 22LR taught me that they are tough to kill cleanly unless head shot, otherwise they will run off and die elsewhere - not good if they make it to adjacent property.
For this purpose I ended up buying a Benjamin Marauder PCP in 25 caliber. It is tuned to 45 FPE and has been effective on groundhogs to 55 yards (longest yet). It is very accurate, easy to shoot well, and quiet with factory "barrel baffle". It is quieter than my HW95 with moderator. The Marauder is an established platform and there is a lot of knowledge and accessories available. Downside is that it is very heavy and in total expensive.
In parallel with the Marauder I also use a Havahart single door live trap baited with cantaloupe or watermelon. Make sure to stake it in ground or they will turn it sideways and escape (don't ask me how I know). Most springers can dispatch them once trapped. In this way you can buy a springer that's fun to shoot, is within budget, and effective on trapped groundhogs.
For this purpose I ended up buying a Benjamin Marauder PCP in 25 caliber. It is tuned to 45 FPE and has been effective on groundhogs to 55 yards (longest yet). It is very accurate, easy to shoot well, and quiet with factory "barrel baffle". It is quieter than my HW95 with moderator. The Marauder is an established platform and there is a lot of knowledge and accessories available. Downside is that it is very heavy and in total expensive.
In parallel with the Marauder I also use a Havahart single door live trap baited with cantaloupe or watermelon. Make sure to stake it in ground or they will turn it sideways and escape (don't ask me how I know). Most springers can dispatch them once trapped. In this way you can buy a springer that's fun to shoot, is within budget, and effective on trapped groundhogs.
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