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I am after an air rifle (.22) to shoot some rabits and other vermin with. Whats the most powerul (legal) rifle that you can buy in the UK and what is a good supplier to get it from?
theres a company called theoben that make pretty decent guns. all their rifles come with a gas ram as opposed to a spring. the gas ram is similar to a shock absorber within the piston cylinder, there is a valve at the back end of the gun that you can attach a special foot pump to and increase the pressure within the gas ram. dont get this confused with "pump up guns" as once the air is in the ram it stays there. I owned a theoben scirocco in .177, and had this up to about 15ftlbs ( legal limit 12). I also had a weirauch HW90, which is bassically a spring gun with a factory fitted theoben gas ram, this was the better of the two. that put out approx 18 ftilbs in .22 and was a bit of an animal.
you could buy a pre-charged pneumatic and fettle valves/springs /weights to improve power but this is trickier, a mate of mine at a club i used to shoot at had a .22 at about 24ftlbs. the advantage of these is no recoil and consistency, but you will need a divers bottle to charge the gun up. each charge gives app 70-80 shots@12ftlbs, less if the gun is modified.
with normal spring powered rifles the old " stick in a big spring " and hope for the best is not the way to go, as they are generally inconsistent ( no accuracy) and will over time loose power.
also, make sure that you use decent pellets when shooting over 12ftlbs, as cheaper versions will just deform on the way out of the barrel.
unless you have a full firearms cert you cannot get an air rifle over the 12ftlbs limit. If I got another gun for bunnybashing I would spend money on the HW90 and a decent scope. you can pick up the pump for about £60 IIRC, its the pump that will take you over the 12 limit.
Thanks for yourn reply. Many years ago I had a BSA Airsporter with scope. This was a very heavy gun, and would only kill the bunnies with a decent headshot. A bodyshot might just kill the little criters, but sometimes they woud just run off. Will the weirauch HW90 do a good job on a bodyshot, or is it back to the head again?
What scope do you recommend?
Thanks for your help so far, I feel one step nearer to skriking back against the monstrous number of furry *******s that are making my life a bit of a misery.
Could lend you my cats for a bit...as long as you don't shoot them. They are the best bunny-killers I know.... We used to be overrun with wild rabbits, but with my cats, the foxes that live at the back of the field and myxymatosis, they don't really stand a chance.
I have a theoben rapid 7 and hw77 and also owned a hw 90 in the past and all i can say is that the theoben is in a league of its own,you can diy them to 15/16ft/lbs no probs and they'll take rabbits out at 50/60m,you dont have to worry about body shots as they are so accurate you never miss the head.The hw's are so heavy as well but like mj says they are cheap to pick up.
I think someone made a copy of the theoben a couple of years ago that was about half the price might be worth trying to find it,bsa or webley maybe.
you should get yourself the diana my uncle has. he had it fitted with a 28lb spring - thru a bunnys' head at 80 yards anyone?!
suprised no-ones flamed this thread with anti-animal killing comments? won't be me though, i'm a cund'ry boy!
weava
Theoben do make some powerful FAC-rated rifles like the Eliminator and Crow Magnum (30ft/lbs +). These are an overkill for what you need though as most legal air rifles will easily take out rats, rabbits, pigeons etc at 30 yards. Accuracy is more important than power. As others have said Weihrauch and Theoben seem to be the best for the money and are well built. The difference between my old Webley Tracker and my brothers HW90k (carbine) is nothing short of amazing - the two stage trigger makes a big difference.
For smaller pests use larger cal pellets e.g. .20, .22, .25 (.22 being the most common). Use decent quality pellets. Hollow points are good for close range small targets like rats as they have plenty of stopping power.
May want to invest in a silencer - it will sound like your gun is louder which it will be as the silencer spreads the sound to the sides so it doesnt follow the pellet towards your intended target.
I keep meaning to get a Theoben rifle, especially as they are located just down the road from me in Cambridge.
Get yourself a Sharp ACE from a second hand shop
My bro and his mate still have these from about 10years ago
22 and you pump them up to whatever power you require.Theres a trick which you do to the insides of them which stops the safety device cutting in and stops you pumping anymore.With the trick you can pump them until you cant force the pump thing back(needs 2 of you to force it back )and hey presto a Fox killer
Bet you can get em for about £40 down the second hand shops
Fair point. But are there more humane way to prevent this?
Quote:
Cats = kill all other wildlife. Dont keep rabbits down that well, therefore are useless.
LMAO. Kill all other wildlife? What, like Foxes, Stags, Badgers, Otters, Fish, Birds...? Man, you must have some fierce cats up your part of the country. Perhaps you are talking about big cats. You know, Lions and Tigers .
So, their sole purpose in life is to reduce Rabbit numbers?
Don't bother mucking about with an air rifle, get a Shotgun instead. I am currently looking at getting certified to have shotguns myself. Although my wife would probably argue that I have been certifiable for years any way.
I have shotguns that I mainly use for clay shooting, however I do the odd rough shoot, and I agree with the post above, its a case of BANG.... then a long wait for all the wildlife to come back again....
nimbus,
more humane like myxamatosis? trust me shooting them is the most humene way - with no natural predators other than foxes, which largely occupy towns, aswell as the countryside (another problem), and are too few in numbers to have an impact on the rabbit population. we are then left as the only natural predator.
weava
