Best Punch for Short Range Lethality

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GiveEmLead

Member
Jun 20, 2019
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Florida
I'm always looking for ways to further my work ridding South Florida of the invasive, destructive iguana population. With my two long guns I've done more than my fair share of damage. Now I'm thinking of trying a new technique to sweep the canal banks. I've been driving to locations I know have lots of iguanas in areas I can shoot, but there are too many not accessible with that method. I'm thinking of trying to approach them from a boat in the canal. I've seen guys on YouTube snatching them with nooses on fishing poles, and that's a possibility too.

So here's the question for the Air Pistols group. What's the best (reasonably priced) air pistol I can use that will effect a kill from say, 10-15 feet away? Now remember I'm trying to penetrate tough iguana hide. I've seen that they effectively ignore boaters, so I might get even closer than that.

Thanks for the info folks.
 
I saw the same video but they said someone got hit buy a stray pellet so rethink and use caution when killing them they did not specifically state they were banning the practice. It was also stated that one should not kill the indigenous iguanas just the green pest variety. The Crosman 2240 a co2 pistol would be one of the best low budget higher power guns on the market. Stock gun runs $70 you can put a 10 or 14 inch barrel on for a big increase in performance and a metal breech for longevity in the custom shop now a $90 gun. Install an aftermarket moderator and you are good to go. You now have a 30-50 yard gun. Tuesdays are reduced shipping day.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-green-iguanas-killing-whenever-possible

https://www.crosman.com/airguns








 
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I saw the same video but they said someone got hit buy a stray pellet so rethink and use caution when killing them they did not specifically state they were banning the practice. It was also stated that one should not kill the indigenous iguanas just the green pest variety. The Crosman 2240 a co2 pistol would be one of the best low budget higher power guns on the market. Stock gun runs $70 you can put a 10 or 14 inch barrel on for a big increase in performance and a metal breech for longevity in the custom shop now a $90 gun. Install an aftermarket moderator and you are good to go. You now have a 30-50 yard gun. Tuesdays are reduced shipping day.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-green-iguanas-killing-whenever-possible

https://www.crosman.com/airguns







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Thanks! And correct on the Fox article. Seems like there have been some "incidents". I've been called while shooting near a bike path on by someone that said there was a man with a "sniper rifle". The cops came quick, I handled it, and they left. The issue is not doing stupid stuff. I'm retired three years, and have spent my entire adult working life in armed service. No one is ever going to be able to credibly accuse me of doing anything unsafe with a gun of any kind. See my post "Safe Urban Hunting" in the Hunting forum.
 
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Though an authority on air pistols, having no experience with iguanas, all I know about them is what I've seen on this forum. From what I gather, they can grow to six feet in length, have tough hides, and you want to hunt them with a CHEAP air pistol capable of 6 foot-pounds of muzzle energy (maybe 7 to 8 if you soup it up). Really?

I can state from experience that 6 foot-pounds of .22 pellet can sometimes achieve full-penetration on cottontail rabbits, and occasionally even jackrabbit; both decidedly 'thin-skinned'. But when working with such meager pellet energies, I worry about that tough iguana hide... "tough" being the relative term it is.

Just like there is a huge difference in firearms excellent for 'thin-skinned' game and those capable for 'thick-skinned' game, I'll speculate the 2240 might be enough for small iguana, but will prove somewhere between iffy and utterly inadequate as lizard size increases.




 
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Though an authority on air pistols, having no experience with iguanas, all I know about them is what I've seen on this forum. From what I gather, they can grow to six feet in length, have tough hides, and you want to hunt them with a CHEAP air pistol capable of 6 foot-pounds of muzzle energy (maybe 7 to 8 if you soup it up). Really?

I can state from experience that 6 foot-pounds of .22 pellet can sometimes achieve full-penetration on cottontail rabbits, and occasionally even jackrabbit; both decidedly 'thin-skinned'. But when working with such meager pellet energies, I worry about that tough iguana hide... "tough" being the relative term it is.

Just like there is a huge difference in firearms excellent for 'thin-skinned' game and those capable for 'thick-skinned' game, I'll speculate the 2240 might be enough for small iguana, but will prove somewhere between iffy and utterly inadequate as lizard size increases.



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Good analysis. We will see. The key is that I expect to get up close to them.


 
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if you get that close why not just "stick them",Like with a frog gig or shot them with a pistol crossbow?
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They're not going to allow me that close. I see guys snaring them with a loop at the end of a fishing pole. I'm surprised they can get even that close. I can see a bigger Iguana getting shot and going in the water and me losing my bolt. Nope. Pellets be cheap. Thanks for the idea though. 
 
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Sorry, cross bow pistols are powerful in the movies. Fantastic for kill'n zombies. LOL, however,in reality, they are very under powered and for amusement only. 



If they were powerful, a stray pellet would be fantastic compared to a bolt! Many of the lizards are killed in the trees, high up. Not where you want to launch an arrow of any kind. Weak or not.



I owned an archery shop for years. Refused to sell them. I did however carry true Cross Bows.



the Browning 800 is a .177 firing an 8 gr pellet at 700 fps. That is apx. 8.7 fpe. Far too weak ot reliabely kill the lizards. Very inhumane. the Crosman offering can easily be modded to 12 to 14 fpe,in .22. The pp700 to 20. fpe. 

Some how the fallacy of fps is power in an ag. it isn't ,. It sells and that is all. 





KnifeMaker
 
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Ok, let's update.

I purchased a 2240 and just ordered the steel breech from Pyramid Air. I will experiment with various sights, as the plastic sh*t on the stock plastic beech is beyond useless. Certainly after that I'm going to do what I can to crank up the punch.

Given that I already have the 2240, I'm not entertaining any other ideas of other models at this point. In the future? Oh, hell yeah. This is a damned addictive hobby. Now if you guys or gals want to go on debating what's best, go right ahead. Don't bother me none.

The point of the exercise is to shoot iguana up close, less than ten yards, on canal banks, mostly. If they are in the trees, that's what my Hatsan Flash QE is for.

Thanks all for your input. Good thread. 
 
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