Help with choice for pest control

[Dave]

I have been away from here for awhile, as I have become busy with work and school. I still use my maurader for pest control and need to upgrade a little.

I am looking for a airgun to take groundhog size game at no more than 45 yards that can be filled by a hand pump. I want to keep the cost low due to the cost of schooling, which I am still doing. It has to be quiet enough for backyard, as this is where I am pesting. I don't need a huge shot count as I normally only take one or two shots at a time and can be weeks before I shoot again.



I am thinking about either the airforce TalonP with a DonnyFL moderator or a escape ss. If anyone has experience with these or sound level of these two let me know what you think. Any advice on other possibilities I should look at would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Teep]

For groundhogs out to 45 yards I think a Condor would be a better choice. I have a TalonSS in .22 and have take foxes at 35 yards but it requires precise shot placement, groundhogs are a little tougher to kill. The longer barrel in the Condor or CondorSS really is a good power jump.

 

[intenseaty22]

I have never had a Marauder, But.... I'm reading your post and, from everything I have ever read about the Marauder, it fits your needs to a T. So, do you Need to upgrade? or Want to upgrade? and why? Inside of 45 yards for Pesting there will be a few guns that will meed your requirements. 

Unless there was a specific need in your particular situation, I may keep going with the MRod, finish school, save some dough, and upgrade then.

 

[Guest]

I have never had a Marauder, But.... I'm reading your post and, from everything I have ever read about the Marauder, it fits your needs to a T. So, do you Need to upgrade? or Want to upgrade? and why? Inside of 45 yards for Pesting there will be a few guns that will meed your requirements. 

Unless there was a specific need in your particular situation, I may keep going with the MRod, finish school, save some dough, and upgrade then.

Tough love, haha...I love it. 

 

[JimNM]

Yet he may have just a .177 Marauder... While a .25 Mrod will do the job he described



We won't know until he tells us more. .My .25 marauder is a shooting beam of pure target killing laser accurate machine. I know that does not make a bit of sense, but it is all true.



IMHO, spend the money on air and lead. But sometimes you just want a new gun. I understand that, too.

 

[PerkyVal]

 









Might be overkill, but you never know

But seriously, any .25 at those distances would guarantee a kill. Theses a bunch of lower cost guns that are quite pumpable.

 

[intenseaty22]

Val, I don’t think that one will meet his “quiet” parameters. 

Jim, good point, but we don’t know. Still, even a .177 MRod will take care of business if the accuracy is there. 

 

[Dave]

unfortunately, I don't trust my .22mrod that far. I spent a lot of time and effort in chrony work and tuning and was unable to get adequate accuracy I am comfortable with at longer range. I have given up on this rifle and want to replace it with something compact with better accuracy. 

I had a streamline .25 with a Donnyfl moderator, but it was a pain to take back and forth to my parents house to take care of pest. 



I am wondering which is quieter the talonP with the Donnyfl or the escape ss. 

 

[davelarson]

The Talon P will have a pretty heavy trigger, that makes it harder to shoot than the Marauder in my opinion. I had both, and the .25 Marauder was much easier to be accurate with. I even had the trigger parts of the Talon P polished to make it break cleaner. It worked very well, but the trigger still wasn’t as good as the Marauder trigger. Just my opinion. 

 

[jps2486]

Groundhogs (woodchucks) are pretty tough animals. IMO, a .25 caliber is a minimum choice.

 

[Diamondback]

I have dropped many raccoons with my Mrods. One is a Greg Davis Gen 1 22 cal Mrod that wears a Lothar Walther barrel. 

I bought a second Gen 1 Mrod in 22 because it was so inexpensive I couldn’t pass it up. The previous owner had installed a Jim Gaska hammer forged barrel in it and it was very accurate. He pulled the barrel to use in another Mrod build, so he bought 5 Crosman factory barrels and went thru them one by one until he found the most accurate barrel, then he sold off the rest of the barrels he no longer needed. He said the best Crosman factory barrel rivaled the Gaska hammer forged barrel for accuracy so he never replaced it with another Gaska barrel.

Both my Mrods put out about 28 foot pounds in 22 and have dropped large raccoons out at 35 to 40 yards with no problem with shots to the side of the head, or neck.

This factory Crosman barrel rivals my LW barrel at 48 yards with ragged one hole 5 shot groups being the norm. Sometimes the groups are slightly larger than a pellet.

So, if I were you and considering your situation & what you already have, I’d:

1. Use the foot pump to refill the rifle sooner when shooting, so you don’t have to pump so much. Maybe refill with every magazine, just to keep it topped off? Would be like pumping up a tiny tubed pcp, like a Prod.

2. Maybe buy a LW barrel, or a Gaska hammer forged barrel?

3. Maybe order several factory barrels and keep the most accurate one? I understand they are very inexpensive.

4. Maybe add a good LDC to make it whisper quiet?

All this should make good use of what you have, really improve it’s performance, and cost less than a new airgun, which I don’t think you need for this job...but I understand need has little to do with it sometimes.

Note: The accuracy of my factory barreled Mrod went away and I thought about getting rid of it. Turned out the muzzle cap had loosened so the shroud inserts were loose. I tightened it up nice and tight and accuracy returned.

These raccoons fell to a 22 cal Mrod at about 35 yards.

Rats fell to a Prod carbine I built.

 

[Dave]

I have dropped many raccoons with my Mrods. One is a Greg Davis Gen 1 22 cal Mrod that wears a Lothar Walther barrel. 

I bought a second Gen 1 Mrod in 22 because it was so inexpensive I couldn’t pass it up. The previous owner had installed a Jim Gaska hammer forged barrel in it and it was very accurate. He pulled the barrel to use in another Mrod build, so he bought 5 Crosman factory barrels and went thru them one by one until he found the most accurate barrel, then he sold off the rest of the barrels he no longer needed. He said the best Crosman factory barrel rivaled the Gaska hammer forged barrel for accuracy so he never replaced it with another Gaska barrel.

Both my Mrods put out about 28 foot pounds in 22 and have dropped large raccoons out at 35 to 40 yards with no problem with shots to the side of the head, or neck.

This factory Crosman barrel rivals my LW barrel at 48 yards with ragged one hole 5 shot groups being the norm. Sometimes the groups are slightly larger than a pellet.

So, if I were you and considering your situation & what you already have, I’d:

1. Use the foot pump to refill the rifle sooner when shooting, so you don’t have to pump so much. Maybe refill with every magazine, just to keep it topped off? Would be like pumping up a tiny tubed pcp, like a Prod.

2. Maybe buy a LW barrel, or a Gaska hammer forged barrel?

3. Maybe order several factory barrels and keep the most accurate one? I understand they are very inexpensive.

4. Maybe add a good LDC to make it whisper quiet?

All this should make good use of what you have, really improve it’s performance, and cost less than a new airgun, which I don’t think you need for this job...but I understand need has little to do with it sometimes.

Note: The accuracy of my factory barreled Mrod went away and I thought about getting rid of it. Turned out the muzzle cap had loosened so the shroud inserts were loose. I tightened it up nice and tight and accuracy returned.

These raccoons fell to a 22 cal Mrod at about 35 yards.

Rats fell to a Prod carbine I built.

Great info and suggestions! Also nice collection of critters. 

I looked at some of the barrels in the past, but was so frustrated with my mrod that I left it alone. I was tempted to give it away here at one point and was thinking of having AJshoots do his magic on it some time ago. 

I also went through a 30cal Bobcat and .25cal streamline, which both were excellent rifles, but just big for my purposes. I kept the mrod, because I just couldn't in good conscious sell it to someone. although, it has been great on squirrels and a few close in groundhogs. 

I complete my Associate's degree this friday and move on to my Bachelor's next week, so I wanted to get a little something to celebrate this achievement. I am lucky that it happens to be the same time as our bonus at work. So I thought I would get something compact in 25cal to use for pesting. I just am not in the market to pay the wildcat Mk2 compact price at the moment. I want one though!!!

Val

I built a 300blkout that would have no problem preforming the function, although the neighbors wouldn't approve. 

 

[Flintsack]

Email me. I will give you a great deal on a almost silent 25 SS Condor. Shoots sub 1”at 100 yds...in the eye at 45. 

[email protected]. 

Mike

 

[Dave]

Email me. I will give you a great deal on a almost silent 25 SS Condor. Shoots sub 1”at 100 yds...in the eye at 45. 

[email protected]. 

Mike

Thanks for the offer.

I ended up purchasing the TalonP and set up as a carbine with the Donnyfl Ronin. I love the compactness of this setup, which makes it super easy to transport to my parent's house to do pest control of groundhogs. The 47ft-lbs it is generating with the JSB's will do the trick.