I have a variety of rifles to shoot pigeons with. The least powerful is a Diana 35 that is shooting 625 with 8.4 grain pellets. My shots are 35 yards. Should I leave this one at home?
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Impact velocity on pigeons?
- Thread starter brent375hh
- Start date
i've shot pigeons, starlings, and sparrows out to 50 yards with my s510 dial down to 12 FPE at the muzzle with is about 553 FPS with a 15.89 grain JSB.
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It would be ok on head shots and maybe between the shoulders facing away. From the side forget it.
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I've dropped pigeons with .177 caliber pellets, but they were typically faster and/or heavier than your Diana numbers. I would opt for the most accurate rifle for that range in your cabinet.
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I use a R7, pushing a .177 cal. 8.4 wad cutter while shooting pigeons inside a metal barn. Most shots are within 25 yards while spotlighting the pest at night. My preferred point of aim is the head, but the little R7 has dropped many a pigeon with a well placed chest shot.
Shot placement is everything.
Shot placement is everything.
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The minimum used on my last hunt was my HW35 shooting a 7.87 JSB @ 827 average. Most shots were at 30 yards. There were no pellets that failed to penetrate the 10 bagged birds from any angle. A gusting 15 mph wind was the biggest problem.
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Exactly. And at 35 yards the pellet still carries about 5fpe of energy. If the shot is accurate, that is more than enough to drop any pigeon.
R
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It kinda depends on where and how it hits. Hit the wing joint, and you'll break his wing and help hop off after trying to take off a couple times.
The neck is tricky, because of how they curve.
Breast bone can also deflect a pellet. But if you hit the meat, spine, or head, you're golden.
I dropped a pigeon the other day with my HW30S, .177, 6 FPE to the chest. It just fell over, dead on the spot. 10 yards. Entered through the upper chest, through the body cavity, and out the belly.
Higher power is a good bet becAuse even a breast bone hit will mean lights-out. You just don't have to be so careful.
The neck is tricky, because of how they curve.
Breast bone can also deflect a pellet. But if you hit the meat, spine, or head, you're golden.
I dropped a pigeon the other day with my HW30S, .177, 6 FPE to the chest. It just fell over, dead on the spot. 10 yards. Entered through the upper chest, through the body cavity, and out the belly.
Higher power is a good bet becAuse even a breast bone hit will mean lights-out. You just don't have to be so careful.
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I have shot them at night in a barn. I did use the Diana on that. I emptied the barn of them in 5 minutes flat, it was more like pest control than hunting. The place I have now has a silo with a steel cover 30 yards from the barn that they like to land on, then fly in and perch on the upper rim. I take them when they first land on the silo. I find it more like hunting than pure eradication. I have a friend that like to eat them so it's good all the way around.
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