Best instant kill shot placement for small rats?

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Puppadore

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Jul 5, 2022
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Due to my reasons, I must ONLY use pointed, alloy, light-weight .177 pellets for shooting rats in my backyard. This has caused an issue. With normal lead pellets, i had no issues before.

With these fast, hard pointed alloy pellets, there is no deformation. It just zips right through a rat. And the rat drops dead after about 5 to 10 seconds of running. The fact that I have a small backyard in a populated metropolitan city, this is not good. They and hide in a place where i can’t reach and die.

Given that i do not want to, and cant change my ammo. Where would be the most optimal shot placement on a rat, with a pointy, piercing, non-hard hitting, non-deforming, tiny alloy pellet?
 
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If you are capable of making head shots, then go that way. If not, always go for the heart. Study the pics and diagrams (rat biology) online carefully so you can hit the heart on a rat from any angle.

If going for the head shot, study exactly where you will hit the brain.

Accuracy/precision is everything with the small pests!

Too bad you are stuck with those pellets. Never have ANY luck with accuracy from pointed pellets... especially very light pellets of any kind.

Good luck! (smile)
 
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For everyone asking “why don’t you use xxxxxx pellet?”

As stated before, i can’t. I am shooting through chicken mesh. Any non-pointed pellets hit the mesh and damage it. The chickens have eaten lead pellets and died from them as well.

No was cutter, no destroyers, no lead. I want and need to use these exact ammos because they have been the best at not damaging the chicken wires im shooting through with minimal loss of accuracy if it grazes against the wire.

It is a long explanation, i hoped to avoid…
 
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pdxFrank said:
why won't/can't you change ammo? cheap Crosman hollow-points will probably do the job just fine.
in my experience, pointed pellets are more a gimmick.

PS, have you considered getting some rat-traps instead?
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Long explanation in thread. But i would like to not change the ammo. I ONLY want to use pointed alloy pellets. Rat traps dont work anymore
 
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Puppadore said:
For everyone asking “why don’t you use xxxxxx pellet?”

As stated before, i can’t. I am shooting through chicken mesh. Any non-pointed pellets hit the mesh and damage it. The chickens have eaten lead pellets and died from them as well.

No was cutter, no destroyers, no lead. I want and need to use these exact ammos because they have been the best at not damaging the chicken wires im shooting through with minimal loss of accuracy if it grazes against the wire.

It is a long explanation, i hoped to avoid…
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Thanks for the explanation. Most of the time it is better to give these details up front so as not to get the obvious answers you don't want.

In any case, good luck. If you are stuck using very light non-lead pellets then you will always have a problem IMHO. (smile)

My only suggestion, and this is not something I have tried, is to reduce your fps if possible. That *might* give you the accuracy you need and still have enough FPE for a clean kill. Then again, maybe not. You are stuck between a rock and a hard place. (smile)

p.s.

If you can find (and are willing to pay what I am sure is a much higher price) heavier non-lead pellets, then you *might* see better results without lowering the fps/fpe. Stick to the domes if possible for accuracy/precision.
 
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L.Leon said:
Why not simply go back to the pellets you were using before? I don’t believe that its possible for a pellet to deform from hitting a rat. Pass throughs are the norm. You have gotten good suggestions, ditch those pointy gimmick pellets.
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Im not using it because of some gimmick. I must use lead free, pointed pellets. Long explanation given in thread. I just want to know where to place my shots… not aakong for which other ammo to use.
 
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Shooting through chicken mesh will be tricky regardless of pellet composition or type. Why not bait the rats to a more suitable area? To maybe avoid having to shoot through the mesh? I also pest in a high traffic environment with chickens, ducks, etc. I bait known locations to suit my shooting lanes. Good luck finding what you need.
 
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BackStop said:
Thanks for the explanation. Most of the time it is better to give these details up front so as not to get the obvious answers you don't want.

In any case, good luck. If you are stuck using very light non-lead pellets then you will always have a problem IMHO. (smile)

My only suggestion, and this is not something I have tried, is to reduce your fps if possible. That *might* give you the accuracy you need and still have enough FPE for a clean kill. Then again, maybe not. You are stuck between a rock and a hard place. (smile)

p.s.

If you can find (and are willing to pay what I am sure is a much higher price) heavier non-lead pellets, then you *might* see better results without lowering the fps/fpe. Stick to the domes if possible for accuracy/precision.
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I have no issues with accuracy. I just dont know where to hit
 
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ah the internet forums. I only wanted answers on shot placement on rats using a piercing small pellets, for a quick drop dead shots.

I do not need any advice chicken wires, construction of building chicken coops, different ammo types, and especially killing rats in other means, such as traps or baiting. This is because i am liking what i am doing now, and do not want to change anything except shot placement.

I literally just need advice on shot placement.
 
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Puppadore said:
I have no issues with accuracy. I just dont know where to hit
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Then, as I already suggested, study the biology of your target/pest and go from there. Head shots are harder to make well. I usually go for a heart shot and study my quarry with that in mind no matter what angle at which I have a shot, I am going for the heart.

Stop the pump/heart and you will have a clean kill. Even with a good head shot, you will see the brain death dance.

Good luck!
 
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Puppadore said:
ah the internet forums. I only wanted answers on shot placement on rats using a piercing small pellets, for a quick drop dead shots.

I do not need any advice chicken wires, construction of building chicken coops, different ammo types, and especially killing rats in other means, such as traps or baiting. This is because i am liking what i am doing now, and do not want to change anything except shot placement.

I literally just need advice on shot placement.
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Then do your homework before you ask this type of question on a forum. All of the information offered is valid, but you have decided that you can't change anything. So accept what is offered or JUST DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Lots of us here have done ours and offered our suggestions in good faith. You can't accept that? Well... (chuckle)
 
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You'll need to have some pinpoint accuracy but here you go. I want to say those KZs are probably 1/4" or so

20221009_221106.jpg
 
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