Backyard pesting/ hunting gun choice

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GoldenFrog

GoldenFrog

Member
Feb 3, 2020
167
66
Echo Park, United States
Hello everyone, this is my first post on AGN. I live on a 12k sf lot in the city. We have ten chickens, six rabbits, and a bunch of doves that live in the rabbit hutch. Rats have become a problem. I bought a RWS 34 but it’s too loud to shoot even in the day time unless there’s a lot of construction going on. I want to get something quieter to deal with the rats, skunks, and occasional raccoons. I’d also like to go small game hunting with it. I’ll be mountainbiking into the hills so it needs to be light weight and compact. My final request is that it’s not an overly complex gun, I’d like to be able to service and do mods on it myself. The guns on the top of my list are;

EDgun Leyla 

JSAR Mini Raptor 

Benjamin Marauder Pistol (P-ROD)

I love how light weight the P-ROD is but I woul need to add a Sumo moderator, adapter, Hogue but stock, and by the time I’m done I’m creeping up to the price range of the other two choices. Also, since there’s raccoons (and occasional coyote) to deal with, I might need to step it up to .25 cal. 
Anyway, nice to be a part of this community and any tips or advice on what to get for my first PCP would be much appreciated. Thanks


 
Welcome to the club!

My first thought when reading your requirements was the EDgun Lelya  Leshiy. Reading further, I see you have the Lelya on your list. I have never owned either the Lelya or Leshiy, so I have no input to contribute.

I do have an FX Wildcat mk1 .25 caliber that I have taken squirrels, chipmunks and raccoons with. My Wildcat is lightweight, approximately 35 inches 39 inches long ergonomic and very accurate-------> 45 fpe. The FX Warcat (aka Wildcat .25 cal. in compact length and added standard features) measures 30 inches with the shroud.

Good luck and have fun experimenting with the various PCPs.
 
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Of the air rifles I have owned, I can recommend the Taipan Veteran. It's short, simple, robust, great trigger, very accurate, and very quiet. The only potential issue is weight. Mine is the Standard, laminate stock, and with scope it weighs over 10 pounds. The Compact would be even shorter, and with standard wood stock, a bit lighter. Mine also has a heavy, 30mm scope. So, assuming a Compact, standard wood stock and a lighter scope, I expect you could save at least a pound of weight, maybe more. I live in an urban environment with close neighbors also. With the additional suppressor, it is whisper quiet. Also, it feeds perfectly from a non-spring magazine, with anti-double feed feature, which is a real asset when moving around with it. Just decock it with a pellet in the chamber, and it's perfectly safe, and can be re-cocked without double feeding. 
 
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Out of the guns you listed I would lean towards the edgun. The jsar raptor mini is still basically the size of a full length rifle, so mountain biking with it would still be a nuisance. Seeing that you already have the leyla on the list, I would go ahead with that. The leshiy is a great gun, I own one and its my most used gun. The leyla and leshiy are along the same lines, except that the leyla has a multishot capability, and can likely reach out a bit further. However, in order to get the multishot feature you give up some of the robustness compared to the leshiy. Still, edguns as a whole are more robust than most other airguns. Edguns are known to be simple to work on and fix should anything ever arise. The last thing, the leyla is probably an easier gun to shoot accurately. Being that the leshiy is so small and compact it can get a little jumpy when firing, it takes some time to get used to. The leyla has a firing cycle similar to other bullpups so it would be easier to achieve repeatable accuracy with. 
 
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Edgun lelya all the way or uragan compact!
1580829064_20198924945e39898866c761.96458921_2985.jpeg

 
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Thanks for the recommendations you guys. At first I was looking at the Leshiy as my best option. Then I started worrying about it being a single shot. I felt like as soon as I bought it the Leshiy 3.0 would come out with multi shots. I love the look of it and the light weight. I noticed some used ones up for sale on AGN. One has the Steven Brown grip and is set up a lot like I would want to do. 
I looked at the Taipan Veteran short. It seems great, but its a little heavy, and the cocking lever is in the back. I also looked at the Zbroia FC 450. Same issues as the Taipan. 
As for the long wait for a JSAR mini Raptor…I do have a catch and release cage that I’ve trapped a skunk in before and managed to not get sprayed. 
And the FX Wildcat looks great too. So many great options!
 
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Hello everyone, this is my first post on AGN. I live on a 12k sf lot in the city. We have ten chickens, six rabbits, and a bunch of doves that live in the rabbit hutch. Rats have become a problem. I bought a RWS 34 but it’s too loud to shoot even in the day time unless there’s a lot of construction going on. I want to get something quieter to deal with the rats, skunks, and occasional raccoons. I’d also like to go small game hunting with it. I’ll be mountainbiking into the hills so it needs to be light weight and compact. My final request is that it’s not an overly complex gun, I’d like to be able to service and do mods on it myself. The guns on the top of my list are;

EDgun Leyla 

JSAR Mini Raptor 

Benjamin Marauder Pistol (P-ROD)

I love how light weight the P-ROD is but I woul need to add a Sumo moderator, adapter, Hogue but stock, and by the time I’m done I’m creeping up to the price range of the other two choices. Also, since there’s raccoons (and occasional coyote) to deal with, I might need to step it up to .25 cal. 
Anyway, nice to be a part of this community and any tips or advice on what to get for my first PCP would be much appreciated. Thanks

Click to expand...

I have similar needs as you. I get to hike several times per week plus I have pest issues ranging from birds up to coyotes. I had a P-Rod but decided it would be longer than I wanted with a moderator and a folding stock adapter. Too close in size to a compact bullpup. Plus I wasn't going to take a shot a coyote with the P-Rod.

So for me it came down to a compact bullpup in 25 or a Leshiy. 

I went with the Leshiy because of how light it is and especially how compact it is when folded. Plus I can target shoot and do most of my pesting with 177 or 22 and have larger caliber barrels available in case that coyote starts coming around again.

I don't have a moderator or a hammer de-pinger for my P-Rod so I can't make a fair comparison in sound levels. I don't question that both choices could be great backyard rat guns.

My main hesitation in recommending a Leshiy for your needs is if you have frequent backyard issues with skunks and raccoons. I have only dabbled with my Leshiy at higher power levels and I just don't know how backyard friendly it could be at the power required for those pests. Other posters are going to have to cover that issue.
 
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You're looking for a gun that will be quiet enough to shoot rats in the city and powerful enough to shoot yotes in the wild, and backpack friendly. That's a tall order. I would get 2 guns. You're going to buy another gun sooner later anyway 😉, so I would get something for the rats first, and then look at one for mountain biking. If you live in a warm climate, I'd go with a CO2 powered 2400KT from the custom shop. With a TKO it will be quiet and with the L/W barrel it will be accurate. 7 fpe will be plenty for rats without pass throughs destroying your cages or injuring livestock. If you are in a cold climate, the Leshiy can be tuned for all your needs and you can swap between calibers when needed.



note: a CO2 rifle can also be used in the winter when shooting from inside a heated area. i use mine all winter in northern illinois shooting out of windows.



Good luck!
 
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Like mentioned in the post above I would consider two guns. I will only comment on the backyard rat gun. For that I would think lower power, as little noise as possible and accurate. There are lots of lower price options for that. Prod, 1720T, pp700 even cmp Daisy rifles with the smallest of ldc would work.


I actually have one the cmp rifles with an ldc from an old BAM50. Other than the pump noise the gun I silent. Because it’s a $100 rifle I just leave it by the backdoor just in case an opportunity shows up.

Then for the second gun for bigger game go crazy. 


 
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I'd also recommend the Leshiy. The .22 will put down rats like nothing. I'd go with the .25 or larger for skunks and raccoons. 

I live in a fairly urban area on a 10K sq/ft lot and worry about the neighbors. I found mine to be a little loud at stock settings, so I tuned it down to around 630 fps and it's very quiet now. I did end up getting the 350mm barrel and the DonnyFL baffle and extension.

Its a very simple gun, easy to tune and work on, and very well built.
 
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Well I pulled the trigger and bought a lightly used P-Rod Woods Walker. It comes with a de-pinger, bigger spring, and bigger inlet port. I know it’s not as sexy as any of the other guns we were talking about but I think it will do the job and be a good intro into PCP world for me. Now I need a moderator…I’m thinking the DonnyFL Sumo. Any opinions?
 
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Well I pulled the trigger and bought a lightly used P-Rod Woods Walker. It comes with a de-pinger, bigger spring, and bigger inlet port. I know it’s not as sexy as any of the other guns we were talking about but I think it will do the job and be a good intro into PCP world for me. Now I need a moderator…I’m thinking the DonnyFL Sumo. Any opinions?
Click to expand...


The P-Rod is a good pesting rifle for squirrels and rats. I own several in .22 along with other higher price rifles (Taipan Veteran, EdGun R5M, Uragan). The P-rod is my favorite short range and quiet pesting. Donny suggests going with a .25 version for .22 to avoid moderator clipping. 
 
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