Building a new pest rig. Which gun and scope?

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Patrol881

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Oct 16, 2021
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Georgia, United States
I'm new to airgunning in the past year. I keep the chipmunk, squirrel, and rat population in check on the farm. I've done a lot of work to secure the chicken feed, which immediately reduced the brazen appearances of the pests. I started with a Marauder with the Centerpoint 4x-16x scope that came with it as a kit. I have developed so many skills and really love the airgunning hobby. I'm ready to up my game and build a dedicated pest setup catered to how I work, because buying more toys is part of the fun!

I have been paying a lot of attention to what I would change about my current rig. The Marauder is way too long and heavy for my style, which is a lot of offhand or improvised rest shooting. I want to build a setup that is light, short, and lets me react quickly as I move around the farm. The vast majority of my shots are taken anywhere from 7 yards to 40 yards. I think I've decided on a bullpup for the gun type. I'm looking at the Uragan Compact, or maybe the Wildcat MkIII Compact. I like their simplicity compared to a spaceship like an Impact. (I'll grow into an Impact later.) I think I want the cocking lever up front instead of in back. Since nothing is in stock anywhere, this is all kind of a daydream anyway. Any others you'd recommend? I'd like to keep it under $1800 or so.

I hand pump currently, happily. I just don't pull the trigger enough to get grumpy about pumping yet. It seems that at some point, the hobby becomes high pressure air management with a dash of shooting just to make it fun.

I am overwhelmed by the scope market. I've been doing my research but I am not close to picking scope. I think I want:

  • Side focus (my current Centerpoint has an AO shroud, and reaching out front to adjust it is a pain)
  • Focus down to 10 yards or less.
  • I like the 4x to 16x power range and I use all of it. I don't find myself needing less than 4x. 16x power seems fine for the top end, but this scope's picture goes to trash at full power.
  • I don't know if I have an opinion on SFP vs FFP, since I don't have a lot of experience. My current scope has no ranging marks on the reticle, so I have not practiced the skill of using them. I have simply learned where to aim based on experience, which works about 75% of the time lol. If I did FFP, its more important that the reticle be visible on the low power end as opposed to not being too big on the high power end.
  • Good low light performance. I do a lot of work in the evening and shadows.
  • It doesn't have to be cheap, but I can't justify a $1500 hunting beauty. I think I want to stay under roughly $600.

Any scopes sound like they match up?

I'm excited to build out a more agile platform. I laugh now when I run to grab the Marauder since its like a musket with a brick attached.
 
Uragan Compact and Wildcat MkIII Compact are both great choices if thats the way you are leaning. If you decide to go the Uragan direction, I suggest calling Charlie Frear at Georgia Airguns, hes a great guy. I have no affiliation, just a satisfied customer.

If you like using low power end, FFP may not be for you. All my pest areas I have scouted first, so I know distances. I like adjusting the scope turret, not really using holdovers, so SFP works for me.

Have a look at the Element Helix line
 
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I'm new to airgunning in the past year. I keep the chipmunk, squirrel, and rat population in check on the farm. I've done a lot of work to secure the chicken feed, which immediately reduced the brazen appearances of the pests. I started with a Marauder with the Centerpoint 4x-16x scope that came with it as a kit. I have developed so many skills and really love the airgunning hobby. I'm ready to up my game and build a dedicated pest setup catered to how I work, because buying more toys is part of the fun!

I have been paying a lot of attention to what I would change about my current rig. The Marauder is way too long and heavy for my style, which is a lot of offhand or improvised rest shooting. I want to build a setup that is light, short, and lets me react quickly as I move around the farm. The vast majority of my shots are taken anywhere from 7 yards to 40 yards.  I think I've decided on a bullpup for the gun type. I'm looking at the Uragan Compact, or maybe the Wildcat MkIII Compact. I like their simplicity compared to a spaceship like an Impact. (I'll grow into an Impact later.) I think I want the cocking lever up front instead of in back. Since nothing is in stock anywhere, this is all kind of a daydream anyway. Any others you'd recommend? I'd like to keep it under $1800 or so.

I hand pump currently, happily. I just don't pull the trigger enough to get grumpy about pumping yet. It seems that at some point, the hobby becomes high pressure air management with a dash of shooting just to make it fun.

I am overwhelmed by the scope market. I've been doing my research but I am not close to picking scope. I think I want:

  • Side focus (my current Centerpoint has an AO shroud, and reaching out front to adjust it is a pain)
  • Focus down to 10 yards or less.
  • I like the 4x to 16x power range and I use all of it. I don't find myself needing less than 4x. 16x power seems fine for the top end, but this scope's picture goes to trash at full power.
  • I don't know if I have an opinion on SFP vs FFP, since I don't have a lot of experience.  My current scope has no ranging marks on the reticle, so I have not practiced the skill of using them. I have simply learned where to aim based on experience, which works about 75% of the time lol. If I did FFP, its more important that the reticle be visible on the low power end as opposed to not being too big on the high power end.
  • Good low light performance. I do a lot of work in the evening and shadows.
  • It doesn't have to be cheap, but I can't justify a $1500 hunting beauty. I think I want to stay under roughly $600.

Any scopes sound like they match up?

I'm excited to build out a more agile platform. I laugh now when I run to grab the Marauder since its like a musket with a brick attached.
Click to expand...

I have a lot of close shots at my new place and while I don't have a bullpup I do have a Classic Leshiy that typically requires a high scope over bore position like a bullpup will.

What I've found is that I prefer a SFP scope so I have visible holdover points at low power. However, I don't have any shots at my new place longer than my PBR so I don't need to know a second set of holdover points for longer distances. If I did I might prefer a FFP scope and dial the elevation for closer shots.

I assume any bullpup will have a higher scope over bore position than your Marauder so you will likely require more hold over at close distances. 

To me that suggests SFP as I don't want to dial a turret when I have a pest 7 yards from me.

Unfortunately I haven't found the perfect SFP scope yet. Well the March 1.5-15x42 is pretty close but not a great fit for me on a Classic Leshiy.




 
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I just got a Leshiy 2 and love it for walking and off hand shooting compared to the 50" plus length of my Avenger.

I had the Uragan compact on my list too, what I like with the Uragan is that there aren't a lot of protrusions to snag on things or to bang into things. It's a well "protected" design for the controls for knocking around walking and stalking.

A lesson learned in my case is the Leshiy 2 in 350mm is short enough I can single point sling it on my side as I walk around. I didn't prioritize the auto indexing, but it sure is nice for followup shots as well. The narrow profile and lack of protruding things to snag or smack into things has worked well for me with this one. I also like that it's really quick to open the breech and see how many pellets remain and also quick to have it open pop the cover and just drop pellets into the magazine.

Easy tuning ability is pretty nice to have so you can vary pellet weights or use slugs if you like.

A few others to look at.

RTI Prophet compact

Ataman BP-17 - also one that seems well protected in the housing design.

FX Wildcat

Kalibrgun has a few compact models

For scope I have a UTG 3-12x44 AO that is pretty ok and has an illuminated reticle which is very handy when shooting in dim lighting

I have a Vector Veyron 3-12x44 that has nicer glass and turrets than the UTG but no illumination

Edgun West just got some Vector Veyron scopes in now with illuminated reticle that I would consider.

I find 6-8x zoom range to be about optimal for <50yds for me shooting mostly chipmunks here. It's enough to pick shot placement on them but enough FOV to still be able to find them for a quick sight picture on target.
 
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get what you want lol ..nothing is more effective than a prod pesting around the home .. nothing .. nada .. zilcho .. ive been shooting for going on near 45 years had a couple of guns 'since' that time and done all kinds of stuff .. i can safely say that the prod ive had for 12 or so years has more kills under its belt than anything else ive ever ownd by a large margin .. but if you want a fancy smanshy gun by all means knock yourself out lol .. i 'know' it wont be better than a prod for pesting for multiple reasons .. itl look good though lol ..
 
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Hello there are many good bullpups out there, the Uragan may work well for you with its size and shot count. As for an optic I have 2 Meopta Optic 6 scopes a 1-6 sfp and a 3-18 sfp with the bdc reticle and illuminated center dot with is daylight bright. I am very happy with both very clear glass But they are on the heavy side. I wish you good luck with your new purchase, and enjoy Eric
 
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If you want something light and easy to maneuver, I would go with a P rod or a Daystate Huntsman Revere. The Daystate has a forward cocking lever and is very light . If you haven’t already shot a bull pup, it might not be comfortable to you. And some of them aren’t as light as they look. But everybody has their preferences.And if you’re shooting as close as 7 yards sometimes I would go with a 3 to 9 power scope.Just a Hawke vantage scope would be good enough.
 
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Taipan Veteran Compact .22 (easy to hand pump) with Athlon Helos BTR 3-12x44 FFP.
Click to expand...

That makes excellent sense!
Click to expand...

Ha! Guess who I thought of when I pierced that combo together!?
1f917.svg
Click to expand...

Cool. Winners.
 
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7-40 yards isn't very far so you probably want to stay away from high powered guns. Something compact with short barrel like PRod or 1720T or BSA Ultra SE or AA S200 or a dreamline compact or katran compact would do great. If you really want a bull pup then a wildcat compact is damn hard to beat in every way, accurate, compact, lights, easy to tune up and down or even on the fly. Probably should be looking into 177 caliber pellets at no more than 700FPS if you shoot in doors. 



When it comes to scope I would pick a 2-8 or 3-9 max with 50 yard fix parallax so you don't need to mess with focus, it's really fast to find your target compared to a scope that need focusing. If you shoot at 7-10 yards a lot then go with a LPVO 1-6 or 1-8 and mount as low as possible. Problem with bullpup is it's hard to mount the scope really low for close up shots. BSA, AA and Katran have the mags completely out of the way which is awesome for mount close almost touching the barrel which is great for closer shots. 
 
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I recently purchased an impact m3 compact and I also had a hard time choosing a scope. I was interested in the same price range scopes you're are looking at and I had a terrible time deciding on one for the same reasons you mentioned in your opening post. I ended up going with a 4-16x50 sfp Hawke sidewinder. The glass seems to be pretty good, way better than the cheap scopes I have on most of my .22lr guns. I would say it is very similar to my nikon scopes as far as clarity goes. Reticle is good and it has illuminated reticle, it is not broad daylight bright but overcast days or lower light conditions it works. Some of the other scopes that received pretty decent reviews in the price range you mentioned when I was looking were the Arken and Athlon, might be worth looking at. There is a lot of info in this forum concerning these. Also the reason I went with the sf over the ffp is most of my hunting situations will be similar to what you mentioned in your post and the ffp scopes turned down to low magnification just didn't give me the cross hair I wanted. 

I have no opinions on the guns you mentioned, I just got started myself with the air rifle hobby. Good luck. 
 
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I guess that I will contribute my "2 cents" to this topic. I have a couple of Veterans, a Wildcat, and a Vulcan that I use exclusively for pesting. All are great, accurate guns but I favor the Veterans. I like the compact size of bulllpups especially for shooting from a vehicle. I'm shooting from 10 to 100+ yards. I change my scope magnification depending on distance that I am shooting. I prefer using a "holdover" verses "clicking" because it is faster. With a FFP scope the holdover is always the same no matter what scope magnification that you choose.
 
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