Wabbits are absolutely tearing up the yard, eating the bushes, everything. I've had it.

I live on a couple acres and would like to start taking them out, so I'm looking for suggestions.

Give me some opinions on what rifle/caliber/charging systems I should be looking at. I don't need a bazillion-dollar target rifle but I'm not against spending money on something good that I can do some informal target shooting with either.

FYI, I'm a SCUBA diver and have lots of cylinders, so I can go PCP if they're some good options there. Owning a 22 Sparrow I could use that as well to quiet things down if necessary. These are not requirements, I'm just putting them out there for some data points to help with the suggestions.

Distance: Not far, 20-50 feet.

O2

Ps. I have an air rifle shop somewhat nearby; if they have anything that I should be looking at, that'd be a plus: http://www.rlairgunsupply.com/

For rabbit sized pests you may want a 22 or larger caliber.

I can highly recommend the Benjamin Marauder based on the 177 I own which is suppressed and mouse fart quiet.

The Marauder comes in 177, 22 and 25

One source http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/BenjaminPCP.htm

Also forgot to mention it uses a 10 round magazine.

Other than that you'd need to go with a springer gun to keep things relatively quiet but it won't save you much money to buy a good springer.

I also recommend the Benjamin Marauder. It doesn't take much to kill a rabbit, but if the ranges are long, a .22 would be better.

mbogo

Why not use a silenced 22? Most decent cans are quieter than pellet gun.

Well, so much for that, I had heard that pellet guns were legal in city limits...

http://www.springsgov.com/Page.aspx?NavID=809

9.7.104: DISCHARGE OF WEAPON:
A. It is unlawful for any person to wrongfully fire or discharge any cannon, gun, pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, air gun, BB gun, gas operated gun, spring gun, or firearm within the City. The discharge of firearms using only blank ammunition by the members of any military company when on parade or when engaged in an official ceremony, done in accord with the command of the commanding officers, shall not be deemed a violation, nor shall the discharge of firearms at shooting galleries as a licensed business, or as part of a business licensed or permitted to operate within the City be deemed a violation.

66427vette wrote:Why not use a silenced 22? Most decent cans are quieter than pellet gun.

Because up until about 30 seconds ago I thought pellet guns were legal in city limits, and I was trying to stay legal.

You're right though, when my friend was shooting my T/C SBR in .22, 22 Sparrow suppressor and CCI Quiets, on his first shot I thought the gun hadn't gone off (only the sound of the hammer dropping), except the hole that appeared in the target told me otherwise.

O2

Ps. Of course my recent research has given me a pellet gun itch

O2HeN2 wrote:Well, so much for that, I had heard that pellet guns were legal in city limits...
...

Never have been in any city I've ever lived.

For that matter there are usually county laws that prohibit firing anything within certain distances of neighboring buildings/property.

Just answering your question, not providing moral guidance.

O2HeN2 wrote:...
Ps. Of course my recent research has given me a pellet gun itch

The Beeman line of spring air guns also provides some great choices.

Of course there are many other brands but those are my favorites.

This guy has a really quiet method for hunting wabbits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wynx1ukwdVA#!&t=193

shoot shovel shut up.

shhh

Tree squirrels have launched a Jihad against my backyard and keep bringing in walnuts, which my dogs bring in the house and chew, creating foot hazards even more perilous than the dreaded Leggo! My Beeman .177 Caliber springer pellet gun is VERY loud, so I bought a Stoeger X20, which has a nice integral suppressor, and I can get away with a few shots before my neighbors catch on. I have threaded the Beeman to 1/2-28, but have not built a can, since I will have to weld it on ( I live in the People's Republic of California) to keep from going to prison for the rest of my natural (or otherwise) life. The Stoeger still has light oil oozing out of hidden places, so I think it will quiet down as it stops dieseling. In the mean time, I found a 29 inch ( yes, that's right, 29 inch) Ruger 10-22 barrel, as well as a .22 short 10-22 magazine. Firing the .22 with Aguila Colibris is hollywood quiet; It does not even make the neighbors dog bark, my gold-standard! Naturally, I have to hand cycle it, but the squirrels have moved on to safer yards. FYI, none of the oft-warned barrel plugs has happened yet, and they have plenty of energy to take a squirrel within my 15 yard field of fire. I plan on moving the kitchen table into the house and take my shots from cover next spring when the squirrels get uppity again, even though the Aguila rounds stink awfully when fired.

I used suppressed PCP pistols, converted to carbines. Both in .22", with JSB Exact 15.89gr round nosed pellets having proved optimal for both low flight noise and shock delivery, with almost never an exit hole while leaving the muzzle at over 600fps. The Predator Polymag was brilliant for expansion on grey squirrels but whistled very audibly on the way to the target - not acceptable in a densely populated area with at least 2 squirrel lovers near us. We've got a large walnut tree, and like to eat from it, but of course the squirrels visit by the dozens every year from April to November. Buds, everything in our little garden, potted porch plants, then nuts, it's all fair game for the tree rats. A couple of years ago I just got sick of it. The mess they left on the porch especially. Every damn day. So I started building suppressors and modifying a pistol into a compact carbine. Squirrels don't get to destroy much before I hear them or my wife or kid reports one to me if I'm at the other end of the house. The neighbours have no idea, except for one couple who had been live trapping then drowning them. They're glad not to have to do that any more to protect their garden.

If some ponce hadn't introduced Eastern Grey squirrels to our region 90 years ago none of us would have this problem. But apparently they were thought to be decorative and harmless. Yeah, right. Like rabbits in Australia, eh? As for the bylaw... well, bylaw be damned. So long as I pick only safe sight lines and never take the slightest risk of harming anything but a squirrel, they can stick their bylaw where the sun don't shine.

Something else to consider, the PCP air rifle that converts to a bolt gun. Legal in some cities where pellets are not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QynWlT2hqA0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIb56PQwIfE

Ill be honest, I didnt read your link, but I'd look into your local Govt's definition of discharge.

Where I reside, discharge means to fire with intent to cause harm or at or near someone in a threatening manner. It doesnt mean to simply pull the trigger. You also need a small game license and to follow the regulations for firing distances from dwellings.

Some municipalities have seperate lines to rule "within the city".

But, no one's the wiser

I have a supressed Talon SS.. PCP.. I shoot it around town killing pigeons.. you never hear it.. only the click of the hammer.. and the thud of the pigeon hitting the ground.. a .177 will take out a rabbit no problem with a crosman cp pellet... its like everything.. shot placement.. hit them in the rear end and they run off..hit them in the brains and they never move..

A 22 CB long out of a bolt, lever, pump or single shot will make less noise than any air rifle.

Using a pellet gun may be a violation of the city's codes but doing the same with a 22 short will get you put in jail where the pellet gun is less likely to. For whatever reason, even when the law clearly states that a firearm and a pellet gun are the same in the eye's of the municipality; they are not the same. I'm not just talking about the federal law, I'm talking about the perception of anybody who sees, police included. If you discharge a pellet gun and get caught, you may or may not be in any trouble. If you get caught shooting a powder burner you WILL be guilty of a "gun crime" and there will be no "aww, shucks, I didn't know"-ing your way out of it. Air guns are just not treated as seriously. Now, all of the possible consequences depend on you getting caught, which I strongly advise against. A Marauder pellet rifle or the pistol version with a stock (available cheap without hassles) shot from someplace where no one sees you is as discreet as it gets.

I'm not advising anybody to break their local laws, it's just a hypothetical point that getting caught with a pellet gun isn't the same as getting caught doing the same thing with a real firearm. The fact that a 22 with the right ammo through a good can is quieter than most pellet guns doesn't make it a better idea to use a NFA device in town on a target that you could easily kill with a pellet.

jmorris wrote:A 22 CB long out of a bolt, lever, pump or single shot will make less noise than any air rifle.

In my opinion a statement such as this has more to do with lack of experience with quiet airguns such as the Talon SS mentioned by blkcloud. I had the opportunity to tune and test a Talon SS this past winter and was rather impressed with how quietly it shot at around the 15fpe level. That's more than enough power for squirrels and rabbits out to 40 metres or so provided one is a decent shot. I was impressed with how quiet it was, once tuned to not waste air after the pellet left the short barrel, using the stock 'film can' type baffles. Once I'd made 5 Delrin K baffles for it I was astounded at how quietly it fired. A bit of good porting to make better use of the volume, along with opening out the vent holes in the Delrin barrel spacer to take advantage of all that huge over-the-barrel volume between valve and muzzle, and the thing just went *clunk* - so quiet no urban neighbour would ever notice. About the same volume as tapping a small nail into a large live tree, lightly. There's a world of difference between an unsuppressed and poorly tuned airgun and a well tuned suppressed airgun. One of mine shoots at about 20fpe, is pinpoint accurate, and my neighbours aren't aware of the sound when I shoot out a window, including a fellow grey squirrel hater who is often on his porch 30 feet to one side with nothing but open air between us when I shoot one. He's startled when he sees me coming out to collect a squirrel for the trash, having heard nothing. And he's got good hearing being a chamber musician.

I've fired CB Longs, CCI Quiet, and several other low-powered rounds out of a very well suppressed pistol. The sound was never close to painful, always an innocent sort of sound, but always louder than any suppressed airgun I shoot. While a CB Long might be quieter than some suppressed air rifles out of an unsuppressed rifle, I'd like to see the numbers before allowing that any such example is quieter than a well suppressed and properly adjusted air rifle which isn't dumping a bunch of high pressure air long after the shot.

In my opinion a statement such as this has more to do with lack of experience with quiet airguns

I've fired CB Longs, CCI Quiet, and several other low-powered rounds out of a very well suppressed pistol. The sound was never close to painful, always an innocent sort of sound, but always louder than any suppressed airgun I shoot.

Sounds like it was not "very well suppressed" then or you might try a rifle.

This is a side by side with a Marauder and a 77/22, the video shows how I formed my "opinion". Sounds about the same if you dry fire it, except for the absence of the sound from the bullet impact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srXMYpYFZ8c

The suppressed Ruger is impressively quiet. The Marauder sounds like it could use some better-designed baffles, as relative to the firearm, and from what I can make out in the video sound in an absolute sense, it sounds a bit loud. I'd guess it's got a few washer/spacer type baffles in front of the muzzle, perhaps those plastic or metal 'film can with a hole in the bottom' type? Not very good suppression.

The Marauder is a " choked and internally shrouded barrel" uses cone style baffles.

http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2013/12/ ... ck-part-2/

It is a lot quieter than the Discovery and the discovery operates at a lower pressure, 2000 psi max compared to 3000 psi max for the marauder (in the video above it was at 2000 psi).


The Ruger had a K baffle can I build on a form 1, on it.

Bit of apples and oranges still, isn't it? Cone baffles on a PCP are not going to be very efficient compared to K baffles, and there's no mention of what .22LR round is being used in the firearm but from the fact that the shot-to-target sound is virtually identically timed with both rifles it seems likely to be a slow subsonic, something like CCI quiet. That's going to be inherently quiet out of a rifle (remember, I was mentioning a suppressed pistol earlier as a point of reference, not a .22LR rifle with very low-powered ammunition). Try putting K baffles of a decent design into that air rifle and you will hear a significant improvement in suppression. Tune it properly and you'll get the noise down even further, without losing significant power, as most stock air rifles waste a lot of air due to poor tuning, the valve staying open too long etc.

I agree it is not the same thing at all. Just posted a video of a 22 rifle that makes less noise than a "suppressed" air rifle, just so you didn't think I was talking out of my ass.

There could be things to make the air rifle make less noise as well as make the .22 louder.

The 177 Marauder is a bit quieter than the 22 but I will say it sounds like more than plunger noise coming from that Marauder. Sounds like the whole outer tube is vibrating.

Maybe the 177 has been updated but the "baffles" in my 177 aren't cones they're just the plastic cups a-canoodlin was talking about somewhere.

The one in the video is the latest from them (.22 cal), sent from factory and came out of the box about an hour before the video.