.22 hunting question

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Thatdarncat

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Apr 3, 2021
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SC, United States
I have an area with a feral cat and raccon problem. I have been using a .25 armada at factory tune with good results. However, I was wanting to get a hatsan blitz to toy around with but would also like to use it out to 50 yards max. I would like to get the blitz in .22 to keep the pellet cost down on that hungry machine.

I know .25 would be a better choice but would I be asking too much out of a .22 at that distance? I could dedicate a few tins of pellets as to my go too hunting pellets and set the scope for that and use the cheaper off the shelf crosman pellets for toying around with.
 
There is very little margin for error but if you can get dime-sized groups at 50 yards, it will work fine. I removed scads of raccoons with a 25fpe PCP in .22 cal, most at 40 - 50 yards with JSB 18.1gr. Nothing else came close to matching their accuracy.


The pellet has enough flight time that I got into the habit of giving a lip squeak to entice them to look my way and hold still for a moment to place the shot precisely. That puts the shot against the sloped part of the forehead which carries a risk of deflection but the JSBs had no trouble penetrating, ever, even at such a modest velocity.

Nowadays I still use a .22 in the 28-33fpe range.
 
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Coons are a tough critter to take down. I've taken them with a 22 maurader. Shot placement was key though. 1 shot to the back of the neck where the head meets and it was over.

I've had coons take 2 or 3 25 cal pellets to the chest and they walk off. Got to get them in the head behind the ear.

Last coon I took got a 25 cal jsb right in the ear hole... was a big 25lbs male. Thst 1 hit was lights out. 
 
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Thanks guys, it looks like the .22 will do it with optimum shot placement. 

I once hit one with an H&R revolver at about 20 feet....it actually went through the eye, it acted stunned it for about a second and a half then turned to run off when I emptied the 9 shot .22 or revolver into it. I have taken 2 with the armada, slip on the rubber gloves and drag them into the woods for coyotes and buzzards to eat...a veterinarian friend warned me to be careful in handling them, not only for rabies but they carry some kind of parasite in thier poop which is potentially lethal to humans....so I'm extra careful in handling them
 
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the blitz is a beast and sends .22 out very hard .. it will tear up a coon sized animal at 50 no problem, accuracy will be in the 2" range at 50 'on full auto' .. better on semi .. in other words you can dump an entire 21 rnd clip into something at over 30fpe in about 1.5 seconds lol ...that said the trigger sucks and needs work and the gun is bulky and unweildy ..so thats the full picture ...
 
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Thanks I have used those live traps before for the cats.....some are no fun trying to get them out of those traps when they are growling and raising cain... I use to catch them and take them down the road another 5 miles away and let them out. I'm sure some wander out of the countryside to end up being someone else's problem...that's what's happening to me...someone dumping cats out on the rural road I live on...we adopt some, shelter some at a rescue place and some are just pure gone wild.. As to the raccoons, I use to trap them in one of those larger harbor freight live traps and some have tore it all to heck...its actually not an under built trap but those coons are strong and I have seen where there is blood and fur all over the place as they tore the trap up getting out. The ones I could catch I took down the road and rehomed them in new countryside surroundings..but after my veterinarian friend warned me about how they can be leathal... I said the heck with it all. If a coon is determined to get out of a live trap he will! The next morning it will be bent and twisted up. Now if you could weld one up out of rebar etc, then you might have a decent trap.

Some coons sit there with thier head down in the trap , looking docile, while others when you approach them are worse than a wild cat...those are no fun trying to release either!
 
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Raccoon taken w/ Beeman R9: .177 7.9 gr CPL; @ 20 yards ... any questions?

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PelletGun.1622991691.jpg



 
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The Hatsan should have no problem dispatching either in 22. I use a 22 for yard work and have dispatched several raccoons. and opossums. The arrogant little ring tails have sat there and dared me to make a run at them. All with a break barrel Nitro Piston shooting 14.3 @~850. I keep those type shots to under 15 yards so far. I shoot CPHP, and have and good results. Accurate and great penetration. Not much for expansion, I guess, but they work.

The Hatsen shooting a heavier pellet, even at the same speed should do just fine.


 
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Cats and racoons are tough. I think the PCP you are talking about has plenty of juice and will do that job quite well even at that range as long as you place the shot (or as someone else suggested "machine gun" them). There is an old rule of thumb which I've heard from people who have been shooting these guns for a long time. You need to put 2 foot pounds of energy on target for each 1 pound of critter. What is most important is always getting that pill into the right orifice.

1571095275_12428948705da502eb45d603.98937151_Racoon.JPG


Took this one last fall. Fifteen foot pound rifle at only ten yards or so Beautiful coat.


 
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Shot a feral cat in the forehead at 20 yards with a .22 Cal - 21.14 Kodiak at 26FPE and it ended up suffering till I could get another shot off as it went under my car. I felt terrible and never shot another cat and never will again. It was pissing in my garage and beating up my other domesticated cats and need to go. No matter, wasn't worth it, should have known my rifle and FPE wasn't the right choice. Shame on me. 

I know guys are getting amazing shots with low FPE and getting nice humane kills, but doesn't mean YOU will every time. And everyone should be 100% sure every time. More power for a bigger animal (cat or raccoon) is the right choice. It allows for some error in shot placement, which we could all use. Just my humble opinion. 
 
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Shot a feral cat in the forehead at 20 yards with a .22 Cal - 21.14 Kodiak at 26FPE and it ended up suffering till I could get another shot off as it went under my car. I felt terrible and never shot another cat and never will again. It was pissing in my garage and beating up my other domesticated cats and need to go. No matter, wasn't worth it, should have known my rifle and FPE wasn't the right choice. Shame on me. 

I know guys are getting amazing shots with low FPE and getting nice humane kills, but doesn't mean YOU will every time. And everyone should be 100% sure every time. More power for a bigger animal (cat or raccoon) is the right choice. It allows for some error in shot placement, which we could all use. Just my humble opinion.
Click to expand...

Good advice 👍
 
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During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army did a study on shrapnel to determine what minimum size piece of shrapnel could deliver a lethal wound. It was determined that a projectile weighing a minimum of 10 grains striking at a minimum of 10 fpe ... if it hit in the right place, could deliver a lethal wound. 

The intended targets of said shrapnel being Vietnamese soldiers, you understand....aka VC / NVA. The average Vietnamese standing 5:4 and weighing 120 lbs ... those guys being somewhat larger than the feral cats or raccoons intended as the targets of this thread.

10 grains ... 10 fpe ... WOW! Sounds just like air rifle pellets, doesn't it?

One of my favorite threads at the 'other' air gun forum ... the one that starts w/ a 'G' deals w/ this very topic. 

What's the best pellet for coons?

The pic I posted above isn't mine, btw. It came from a member of that 'G' forum. He REALLY likes the Beeman .177 R9 using Crosman 7.9 CPL's for varmints; but, I digress.

The guys that hunt coons favor .22's (or heavy weight .177's) and the criteria is the same or a tad better than the U.S. Army study described above.... .22 /.177 with a minimum muzzle energy of 15 fpe w/ a minimum of 10 fpe at the intended hunting range.

There's a BIG catch though. We're talking head shots here, preferably between the eye and the ear. One HAS TO shoot within an inch and shooting within a half an inch is a lot better. If a person can shoot a 1 inch group at 25 yards, then that is your max range for coons. If one can only do a 1 inch group at 10 yards, then one is going to have to get CLOSE (aka 10 yards) to shoot coons.

The fpe of my .22 Crosman NP2 Summit Ranger doesn't drop to 10 fpe until about 75 yards. But, I can shoot 1 inch groups w/ it at 25-30 yards. That is my max range on coons w/ that particular air rifle. I prefer 20 yards max though. Closer is always better.

My Benji 392 w/ Crosman 14.3 domes delivers 10 fpe at 25 yards and I can shoot 1 inch groups w/ it at that range. My Crosman .177 Optimus using Jsb 10.34 shoots into an inch at 25 yards and has 12.5 fpe at that range. Any of these 3 air rifles can be adequate coon guns if I do my part.
 
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Thanks for the info. The.25 Armada has been successful on 2 so far and a few cats. The armada I can keep within a 3/4 inch circle with Benjamin domes at 50 yards. I have tested it on a Yellow pine board at about 35 yards, 3/4 inch thick and it punches through....the pellets seem a little hard. almost like what Lyman called #2 lead...I dont have a brinell hardness tester but I wonder if Benjamin is using surplus wheel weights? I ve shot a lot of wheel weights out of Lyman molds and they do just fine.

I see and hear that the blitz is a 2inch group rifle at 100 yards on semi and naturally the group gets larger while using the garden hose method. Im sure a .25 Blitz would would do its job at 50 yards with a 1/2 second burst but availability and cost of .25 pellets is pushing me towards the .22...I can find the Crosman HP domes at wally world for 500 for around 7 bucks.

I guess the .22 blitz will do the job at 50 yards with a "hang on till its empty" mentality on Raccoons and wild cats but its lacking the accuracy I might need.

Does anybody have an idea on what the FPE at 50 yards would be from a 14.3 crosman dome...I have no idea what they would chrony at 50 yards. Hatsan claims 1050 fps ( Im assuming thats at the muzzle)
 
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Does anybody have an idea on what the FPE at 50 yards would be from a 14.3 crosman dome...I have no idea what they would chrony at 50 yards. Hatsan claims 1050 fps ( Im assuming thats at the muzzle)
Click to expand...

You can use Chairgun software to tell you that. Download it. Install it. Use it. It's the best little helper you'll ever have,

Hawke ChairGun Pro 1.0

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