Looking for a ratting gun (for residential area)

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I use a Vixen 177 shooting 10 grain pellets at about 750 ft per second. Probably can use the lighter pellet for less penetration as well. At this power level to get a clean kill will take a headshot on bigger rats. Effective up to over 30 yards.

I think I'll try the baking soda corn mix method you use as well. I shoot rats occasionally for sport but don't have the patience to wait around for them to show up and they're always skittish and difficult to hit because they don't sit still for too long.

Here's what a 177 does at 30 yards.

Rat down using bait box with bird seeds.

I shot this rat using a 0.177 Vixen short at about 30 yards. Placing bird seed inside a rat bait box made for poison baits (they don't eat poison bait) and a Harbor Freight driveway sensor. The bait box stops birds and squirrels from eating all the seeds. When edited the video I could see blood...
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com
 
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BlackICE said:
I use a Vixen 177 shooting 10 grain pellets at about 750 ft per second. Probably can use the lighter pellet for Less penetration as well. At this power level to get a clean kill will take a headshot on bigger rats. Effective up to over 30 yards.

I think I'll try the baking soda corn mix method you use as well. I shoot rats occasionally for sport but don't have the patience to wait around for them to show up and they're always skittish and difficult to hit because it all sit still for too long.
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Get the corn bread mix with the honey added into it. I've found the best success with that one. 1:1 ratio mix:soda. I just just toss some in a tupperware container, add 3-4 tbsp of each into it, pop a lid on, shake it up, then set it out without the lid on. Refill/replace a few days later.
 
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My favorite suggestion for you so far has been the umarex notos and the crossman lol. not to powerful but very effective and almost disposable if anything went sideways for you in that very restrictive environment. JMO lol. I would even consider one of the very nice sling shots or a cold steel blowgun for stealth haha. Have fun with it ;) .
 
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swNCsw said:
what about a 1377 or 1322 pumper for less than 80.00 with the add on stock ?? for a test lol.
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Unless you are shooting in the daytime and the distance is short <15 yards those guns may not have the accuracy needed for a clean kill.

airgunlaws.com

Crosman 1377 and 1322 American Classic – In Depth Review - AirgunLaws.com

While I really enjoy shooting air rifles, sometimes I really want a small air gun I can easily hide from the eyes of others. Something small that won't draw much attention, yet powerful enough to do some small game hunting. A gun I can picture myself throwing into a backpack and heading out to the
airgunlaws.com airgunlaws.com

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BlackICE said:
Unless you are shooting in the daytime and the distance is short <15 yards those guns may not have the accuracy needed for a clean kill.

airgunlaws.com

Crosman 1377 and 1322 American Classic – In Depth Review - AirgunLaws.com

While I really enjoy shooting air rifles, sometimes I really want a small air gun I can easily hide from the eyes of others. Something small that won't draw much attention, yet powerful enough to do some small game hunting. A gun I can picture myself throwing into a backpack and heading out to the
airgunlaws.com airgunlaws.com

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duckwater said:
Rats have taken up near my duck coop, I drowned out their nest (that they setup under the concrete slab of my shed next to the coop) but there are still a good amount in the shed itself. Been baiting with baking soda and corn bread mix with decent success but I would like to have a some sort of airgun to dispatch them when I see them. Usually if I enter the coop I will see a dozen or so run up the back of the coop and out through the top, so within 10 feet of the door and there would be plenty of time to hit them as they can only fit through the opening there one at a time. My main concern is that I live in an area which is zoned Commerical-Residential, so I have neighbors. The back of my coop has 3 feet of space behind it before it reaches a fence, then on the other side of the fence is a neighbors yard with ~50 feet before the back of their house, but they also have a shed offset from my coop towards the left side (which has a window) and is also 3 feet off the fenceline (wooden picket fence).

Ideally what I am looking for is something with enough power to kill a rat (Common brown rats) but that also isn't going to blow through 3/8th inch plywood and 1/2 inch picket fence and damage my neighbor's property. I have shooting experience (grew up hunting. fishing) but am pretty ignorant about the technical verbology such as fps, mass, etc and how it would correlate to things like wood penetration. I don't think I need a rifle type airgun because as I said, it would be for when I walk up to the coop and open the door, something to pick off the slow ones and ideally without also having to pump to prime multiple times as well.
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BlackIce ===if you look at the op's original post where I underlined He stated within 10 feet . Also I mean no offense towards you at all Sir. but in my mind there does not exists such a thing as a humane kill on a rodent or a rat haha;). snap traps , poison , and other means are viable items on disease carrying livestock killing (the baby ducklings ) rats . lol It is just my own personal opinion and you are more than welcome to disagree I am fine with that haha. I will kill them with a blunt stick stomp or and other means available myself as humane does not apply in this instance for Me. I hope I have not bothered you to much and have worded my response politely enough .;)
 
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Steel Storm BB Gun. 6 BB's @ 450 or so FPS each trigger pull should put them down at 10 feet.
The BB's will bounce off the wood so wear glasses!
Then you can use a magnet to collect the spent BB's if you don't want the ducks to eat them.
At 10 yards? The Steel Storm dents my metal shed! So I know it can cut up Rats!
Fixed with the bulk CO2 adapter and a Red Dot Lazer? I cut down Chip Monks at 10 yards.
 
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Just a suggestion, but you could get a couple of Rhode island reds to keep in the coop. They will kill any rats/mice and generally eat them. I've seen them run snakes down and destroy them. Kind of like a guard for when you aren't around.

If you use 2x12's to reinforce your coop, use green oak. It will last a little longer and usually costs less than the seasoned stuff. Definitely will need shooting glasses and/or a face shield because ricochets are a given. Wadcutters or polymags in .177 should work just fine. A sig M17 with the reddot would give you 30 shots in a magazine. I can get roughly 2 mags on a CO² cart. Wadcutters are spot on to approx. 25ft. For colder weather, I don't have a good suggestion. If the rats are really that bad, a mag fed gun would be the way to go.
 
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swNCsw said:
.... but in my mind there does not exists such a thing as a humane kill on a rodent or a rat haha;). snap traps , poison , and other means are viable items on disease carrying livestock killing (the baby ducklings ) rats ...;)
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Brought up a vivid memory from 1972. I was 11 and on a 6 week summer vacation with the family in europe, split between visiting family in Germany, Austria and Switzerland that never met me and my sisters and sightseeing in between. We were at my grandmother's farm and rats were starting to eat feed in her barn, time to solve that problem for a couple months. She live trapped a couple big rats overnight, then set a giant cast iron pot in the barn over a burner. Drop trap with live rats in boiling water. You wouldn't believe how loud they scream as they are boiled alive. Drives all the rats out and they don't return for a long time. I killed and cleaned my first dinner on her farm, two chickens. It didn't work to well with my grandmother trying to teach me. She spoke no english and I didn't know german. My mom told me later she was scolded by her mother for not teaching me how to clean and prep animals for the table.
 
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duckwater said:
I actually just started looking into those because of your thread on it, it looks like a really reliable and accurate piece. The only weird thing I seen was that it's bolt is on the left hand side.
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I have a Notos and have found that having the cocking lever on the left is very handy and was was very easy to get used to. The gun is a great value at $290.00 or they’re about. Good luck on the rats.
 
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For every rat you see there are at least 10 more you don't. If a dozen leave when you enter the shed think about that. With two of every gun mentioned you won't be able to make a dent because they multiply ya know like rats! You kill them with baking soda but feel poision is too cruel? You are dealing with a infestation of disease delivering vermin with out equal on this planet. The threat they pose to you your dog and neighbors is far beyond a poision used responsibly. If you don't know how, hire a pest control company. No need to worry about something eating a poisoned rat and dieing from it with the products avaliable today that is not a reasonable concern. Disease from infestations of rats have killed more people than all the wars combined. The damage they cause to property is in the billions every year. You seem to be concerned with trying to be a good neighbor and not damaging their property with a pellet gun. But oblivious to the threat caused by allowing a infestation to occur. Come on man step up be a good neighbor get Profesional help with your current problem and a gun to help with not letting it happen again. Sorry if this offends but what the hell it needs to be said.
 
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fuznut said:
For every rat you see there are at least 10 more you don't. If a dozen leave when you enter the shed think about that. With two of every gun mentioned you won't be able to make a dent because they multiply ya know like rats! You kill them with baking soda but feel poision is too cruel? You are dealing with a infestation of disease delivering vermin with out equal on this planet. The threat they pose to you your dog and neighbors is far beyond a poision used responsibly. If you don't know how, hire a pest control company. No need to worry about something eating a poisoned rat and dieing from it with the products avaliable today that is not a reasonable concern. Disease from infestations of rats have killed more people than all the wars combined. The damage they cause to property is in the billions every year. You seem to be concerned with trying to be a good neighbor and not damaging their property with a pellet gun. But oblivious to the threat caused by allowing a infestation to occur. Come on man step up be a good neighbor get Profesional help with your current problem and a gun to help with not letting it happen again. Sorry if this offends but what the hell it needs to be said.
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I mean, a good roller trap and a few weeks of mild effort and it'd be handled.

Or you can pay for it. I guess that's valid too. I just don't see any need to pay for such basic stuff. (Then again, I grew up on horse ranches, and poor, so I guess I just think different sometimes about these things)
 
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