My winter mission (set by my wife nonetheless) has been to craft a device for the elimination of rats that emerge in substantial numbers from a creek behind our house and terrorize our chickens, which live in an enclosure 80 yards from the back of the house. In the spirit of full disclosure, I can and have dispatched them with my M3 shooting Javelin 22s but my wife balks at the noise, fearing the effect that it may have on the neighbors, one of whom bears a striking similarity (both in looks and manner) to Nancy Pelosi. Although air guns are legal to use in my yard, I’m also not keen to launch bullets at 50-60fpe from our raised porch. So, this led to the green light to craft a more subtle 177 slug shooter, which I figured would be in the ball park of 20-24fpe…
My first attempt involved the purchase of a 177 compact barrel for my Wildcat BT, along with several slugs from Nielsen, Daystate, JSB and Zan. I’m pretty good at tuning the FX platforms but couldn’t get the Wildcat to shoot better than a 2 inch group at 50y. A far cry from my M3 in 22, which is cloverleaf at that range. I then tried the barrel in the M3 (after adding a shorter shroud), but the result was the same. Borrowed a friends Marauder but it wasn’t any better. Dug out the old TalonP and picked up a 177 barrel. That was a little better but still not acceptable (humane) and besides, I can’t hack the hammer noise. Last chance (which I figured was least likely to work) was the Leshiy Classic. You know, the old adage that slugs don’t shoot well from short barrels (in this case 350mm).
Some details on this unlikely winner: Stock 177 350mm barrel with extender and STO moderator. DIY two stage trigger mod, fore grip, fixed 10x scope and Huma reg. Tuned at 96% velocity for each slug weight tested. I’ll cut to the chase and state that JSB knockouts, Daystate Howlers and NSA 12.5s didn’t make the cut. However, the Zan 13s showed a lot of promise, with the caveat that the LC gets notably jumpy in excess of 20fpe. I then managed to get hold of Zan 10 grain, courtesy of AGD and lo and behold, that was the magic bullet! 118 reg pressure and 17 CCW clicks on the hammer gave 930 fps (~19fpe) and a sedate and accurate shooting cycle. I’ve always balked at the term “mouse fart quiet” but this is as close as I’ve gotten. 71dB on my meter 1ft from the middle of the gun, compared to my slug shooting M3 with Tanto at 84dB. I’m not able to fill past 260bar right now, but that gives me about 20 shots before it drops off the reg.
Here’s a pics of groups at 50, 75 and 110 yards. I clicked to correct sighting after the 50 yard group and there was no more than 4mph wind. The 110 yard group involved a duct seal target stuck to a tree. This enables inspection of the slugs, which you can see in the second pic, all fly true to 110 yards and have full expansion. In that pic, one is removed to show the side profile, along with an Intact slug… Remarkably, the 110 yard group is only 1.75 inches. I’m no Ted Bier and I’d be pretty happy with that from my M3. FWIW, around 1mil drop from a 50y zero at 4800ft elevation.
Apologies for the length. Pretty excited. Hope it’s useful.
Happy to answer questions.
My first attempt involved the purchase of a 177 compact barrel for my Wildcat BT, along with several slugs from Nielsen, Daystate, JSB and Zan. I’m pretty good at tuning the FX platforms but couldn’t get the Wildcat to shoot better than a 2 inch group at 50y. A far cry from my M3 in 22, which is cloverleaf at that range. I then tried the barrel in the M3 (after adding a shorter shroud), but the result was the same. Borrowed a friends Marauder but it wasn’t any better. Dug out the old TalonP and picked up a 177 barrel. That was a little better but still not acceptable (humane) and besides, I can’t hack the hammer noise. Last chance (which I figured was least likely to work) was the Leshiy Classic. You know, the old adage that slugs don’t shoot well from short barrels (in this case 350mm).
Some details on this unlikely winner: Stock 177 350mm barrel with extender and STO moderator. DIY two stage trigger mod, fore grip, fixed 10x scope and Huma reg. Tuned at 96% velocity for each slug weight tested. I’ll cut to the chase and state that JSB knockouts, Daystate Howlers and NSA 12.5s didn’t make the cut. However, the Zan 13s showed a lot of promise, with the caveat that the LC gets notably jumpy in excess of 20fpe. I then managed to get hold of Zan 10 grain, courtesy of AGD and lo and behold, that was the magic bullet! 118 reg pressure and 17 CCW clicks on the hammer gave 930 fps (~19fpe) and a sedate and accurate shooting cycle. I’ve always balked at the term “mouse fart quiet” but this is as close as I’ve gotten. 71dB on my meter 1ft from the middle of the gun, compared to my slug shooting M3 with Tanto at 84dB. I’m not able to fill past 260bar right now, but that gives me about 20 shots before it drops off the reg.
Here’s a pics of groups at 50, 75 and 110 yards. I clicked to correct sighting after the 50 yard group and there was no more than 4mph wind. The 110 yard group involved a duct seal target stuck to a tree. This enables inspection of the slugs, which you can see in the second pic, all fly true to 110 yards and have full expansion. In that pic, one is removed to show the side profile, along with an Intact slug… Remarkably, the 110 yard group is only 1.75 inches. I’m no Ted Bier and I’d be pretty happy with that from my M3. FWIW, around 1mil drop from a 50y zero at 4800ft elevation.
Apologies for the length. Pretty excited. Hope it’s useful.
