What can you hunt with a sub 12 ft air rifle at close range?

[DeanB]

Here we go.
a 14.3 grain .22 pellet will have more energy Spread than a .177 8.4 any day all day.
I see Very little use for hunting with 12 ft lb and under guns as your run off rate is much higher unless you are “you”. And all the other sub 12 ft lb snipers who never miss .. even at 70 yards.

Hunting with a pcp at 12 ftlbs is plain dumb in my opinion. Especially when recoil has no Effect on the same gun shooting 18 ft lbs t 20. Ft lbs. You increase your kill rate with more energy and have less run offs.

opinions vary. They are like azz hos , every one has one and at times they all stink.

I have killed a couple hundred squirrels in real hunting situations not off bird feeders with 13ftlb springers in .22 cal and you do not have anymore run offs then you do with a 30ftlb pcp if you can hit what your aiming at. You will have run offs with most anything if your a bad shot, in that case you shouldnt be hunting period.
Ive killed squirrels that had 10-15 buckshot under their hide and in skin so whoever shot at them didnt miss just shot at them too far away where pellets didnt have enough energy to penetrate, knowing what you are doing as far as hunting/shooting goes a long way.
Just because you say you go hunting doesnt make you a hunter same as shooting stuff off feeders or bait stations in yards isnt hunting and in a lot of cases not really pest control.
12ftlbs is plenty off energy to kill rabbits, squirrels, starlings,pigeons and other small pests.
I had a 12ftlb Falcon pcp back in the early 2000s and I literally killed thousands of pigeons, starlings/sparrows with it and it was a .177 shooting the old brown box Crosman Heavies. If a pigeon flew off it would just make a 100 yd semi circle and crash dead as a door nail in hog lot and the big ole sows would grab it up and it would be gone in one big gulp. Everything I say is from experience not opinion. One thing I agree with you on is some opinions do stink.
Im all for using as much ftlbs as you can but to say its dumb is just dumb.. learn to use what your allowed to use where ever you live.

 

[A.G.R]

I have killed a couple hundred squirrels in real hunting situations not off bird feeders with 13ftlb springers in .22 cal and you do not have anymore run offs then you do with a 30ftlb pcp if you can hit what your aiming at. You will have run offs with most anything if your a bad shot, in that case you shouldnt be hunting period.
Ive killed squirrels that had 10-15 buckshot under their hide and in skin so whoever shot at them didnt miss just shot at them too far away where pellets didnt have enough energy to penetrate, knowing what you are doing as far as hunting/shooting goes a long way.
Just because you say you go hunting doesnt make you a hunter same as shooting stuff off feeders or bait stations in yards isnt hunting and in a lot of cases not really pest control.
12ftlbs is plenty off energy to kill rabbits, squirrels, starlings,pigeons and other small pests.
I had a 12ftlb Falcon pcp back in the early 2000s and I literally killed thousands of pigeons, starlings/sparrows with it and it was a .177 shooting the old brown box Crosman Heavies. If a pigeon flew off it would just make a 100 yd semi circle and crash dead as a door nail in hog lot and the big ole sows would grab it up and it would be gone in one big gulp. Everything I say is from experience not opinion. One thing I agree with you on is some opinions do stink.
Im all for using as much ftlbs as you can but to say its dumb is just dumb.. learn to use what your allowed to use where ever you live.

couple of hundred. Big hunter. …….

one Of them Chris Kyle type.

Nothing fires up the pellet gun world more than telling a 12 ft lb and under group that they don’t have enough power.

Shot away there with what ever you want. I never said you can’t kill with 12 ft lbs .. Read the first post by me.
Or do you just answer to disprove and prove your 200 squirrels ..

 

[DeanB]

couple of hundred. Big hunter. …….

one Of them Chris Kyle type.

Nothing fires up the pellet gun world more than telling a 12 ft lb and under group that they don’t have enough power.

Shot away there with what ever you want. I never said you can’t kill with 12 ft lbs .. Read the first post by me.
Or do you just answer to disprove and prove your 200 squirrels ..

Not going to engage in name calling or going to try to prove anything to you dont need to. Been hunting/fishing all my life, hunting with airguns exclusively for last 25 yrs or so but on off my whole life. You have a good day sir and shoot straight if you can.

 

[Will74]

This is a delicate topic obviously and sometimes people just get the wrong idea. Sharing this type of video about a definite professional shouldn't be taken as guideline. Dude seems legit though and not so much bragging about it. No matter what he shoots at that distance when there's so heavy wind, You have to respect that.
I personally haven't shot at anything with less than 50fpe. I wouldn't know if it was for subconscious moral or just my go big or go home -mentality.

On this part of the world We are wondering why would anyone shoot hogs with an air rifle.

There You have it.

 

[Struckat]

For me the gun I use is dictated by the environment. Home, low fpe and noise. Fine for rabbits and chippies.

 

[c_m_shooter]

Here we go.
a 14.3 grain .22 pellet will have more energy Spread than a .177 8.4 any day all day.
I see Very little use for hunting with 12 ft lb and under guns as your run off rate is much higher unless you are “you”. And all the other sub 12 ft lb snipers who never miss .. even at 70 yards.

Hunting with a pcp at 12 ftlbs is plain dumb in my opinion. Especially when recoil has no Effect on the same gun shooting 18 ft lbs t 20. Ft lbs. You increase your kill rate with more energy and have less run offs.

opinions vary. They are like azz hos , every one has one and at times they all stink.

A faster miss is still a miss. They have been hunting rabbits and birds in the UK with 12 ft lbs as long as there have been 12 ft lb rifles.

 

[beerthief]

Given that Britain is mostly confined to that limit, and they are taking down all kinds of critters, I'd say the question is moot.
We were stuck at that power level and less before the "more is better" mentality kicked in and gave us the guns we can shoot now.

America ,the land of glut ! if it can be made bigger /faster/more powerful, it must be better .

 

[A.G.R]

A faster miss is still a miss. They have been hunting rabbits and birds in the UK with 12 ft lbs as long as there have been 12 ft lb rifles.

I’d rather miss fast than wound slow.

 

[Frank in Fairfield]

Thanks to Airgun Depot:

 

[DeanB]

I’d rather miss fast than wound slow.

you wont wound if you hit what/where your aiming at, a bad hit is still a bad hit. Maybe we should all use 400 ftlb@900fps airguns to hunt rabbits/squirrels or whatever small critter, still if you make a bad hit and shoot their leg off what do you have, a bad hit thats gonna run off.

 

[Ricklin]

Only accurate guns are interesting. 12 FPE is enough gun with well placed head shots on small critters. Vermin eradication should be bang flop or pop flop? with our air guns, not much of a bang, if any. Always use enough gun.

 

[A.G.R]

you wont wound if you hit what/where your aiming at, a bad hit is still a bad hit. Maybe we should all use 400 ftlb@900fps airguns to hunt rabbits/squirrels or whatever small critter, still if you make a bad hit and shoot their leg off what do you have, a bad hit thats gonna run off.

This is the final post against , as I stated before If you have read the whole thread

“shot placement is KEY. HEAD SHOTS ARE MANDATORY. BODY SHOTS WILL BE DEAD RUN OFFS

I would keep it under 25 yards ,, . ”


As good as a shot as many claim to be , WE ALL MISS AND MISS HIT AT TIMES. .. A MISS HIT WITH A BIGGER GUN / bigger pellet has more potential to do enough damage to better kill game than a miss hit with 12 ft lbs and under. No ONE PLANS ON MISSING , BUT IT HAPPENS. THEY CAN JUMP a sub 12 ft lb gun possibly , I know it may be hard to believe ,but they are wild animals with extreemly great survival instincts.

shoot them with whatever you choose. This is a free country now and forever.

 

[Panzerfaust]

What can you take down with a sub 12ft air rifle at close range? Up to 15 yards? There is mixed opinion and morale police everywhere saying should not shoot with a sub 12ft air rifle yet there's others who say you can do

What about a rabbit at 25 yards away with a .22 sub 12 PCP air rifle?

I’m not even exaggerating a bit , I once threw a rock about 1/3 the size of a golf ball at a rabbit never thinking it would actually hit it. It was a bad throw and would have missed by 2 feet except the act of throwing it made the rabbit take off and it literally ran right into the path of that small rock and got hit in the back of the head and instantly killed it. I’m telling all that because as it is a good example of how weak rabbits are in the neck and head area. The slightest impact specifically to the rear part of their heads kills them quickly. 12 lbs would be plenty if your talking head or neck shots I’m quite certain. I’ve never did much actual rabbit hunting proper so I can’t speak on vitals other than a head or neck shot though.

 

[Panzerfaust]

you wont wound if you hit what/where your aiming at, a bad hit is still a bad hit. Maybe we should all use 400 ftlb@900fps airguns to hunt rabbits/squirrels or whatever small critter, still if you make a bad hit and shoot their leg off what do you have, a bad hit thats gonna run off.

You make an excellent point! There will always be risk and where there is risk sooner or later stuff goes sideways and the result you didn’t want is the one you get.

 

[Ricklin]

Back in the day we had jack rabbit derbies. The local fruit packer would dump huge piles of peach pits on their lot. The jackrabbit population exploded and their food source soon runs out. The only way was semi auto .22 or shotgun. A .22 LR would only take them out with a head shot, they will absorb some lead, tough critters. Greatly improved my "wingshooting" with those rabbits, mostly running shots we did not get much opportunity for head shots.

 

[Bandito]

While hunting with shotty one time, decades ago, I kicked a rabbit to make him move so I could shoot. He died. Shot at a rabbit with a slingshot, a small lead ball, and hit it in the head. You guessed it, fried rabbit that night. But my buddy in Arizona has no airguns in spite of my urgings. He shoots jackrabbits with his 458 Win Mag in the desert. They die. Have personally used CO², springers, and PCPs. On rabbits and squirrels they all die easily. Shot placement. Did I mention shot placement? Works every time. Be Well Brothers, dito.

 

[DeanB]

W

I’m not even exaggerating a bit , I once threw a rock about 1/3 the size of a golf ball at a rabbit never thinking it would actually hit it. It was a bad throw and would have missed by 2 feet except the act of throwing it made the rabbit take off and it literally ran right into the path of that small rock and got hit in the back of the head and instantly killed it. I’m telling all that because as it is a good example of how weak rabbits are in the neck and head area. The slightest impact specifically to the rear part of their heads kills them quickly. 12 lbs would be plenty if your talking head or neck shots I’m quite certain. I’ve never did much actual rabbit hunting proper so I can’t speak on vitals other than a head or neck shot though.

when I was a teenager 12/13 I used to kill rabbits with a Benjamin 347 .177 pump air rifle hunting with my beagle.. body or head shots would anchor them as long as it was in vitals..rabbits are very thin skinned. Killed one by accident in my Grandmas yard with my cousins Crosman 760 .177 pumper from about 25-30 yds, didnt intend to even hit it just pointed it at it and shot hit right in the ear. My Grandma had just told us not to shoot her rabbit, needless to say we flung it in the woods and never said a word about it.

 

[beerthief]

Thanks to Airgun Depot:

View attachment 513782

but Airgun Depot is trying to get you to buy more guns, so of course the have this list . AND what do they consider large birds ? crow or turkey ?

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

While hunting with shotty one time, decades ago, I kicked a rabbit to make him move so I could shoot. He died. Shot at a rabbit with a slingshot, a small lead ball, and hit it in the head. You guessed it, fried rabbit that night. But my buddy in Arizona has no airguns in spite of my urgings. He shoots jackrabbits with his 458 Win Mag in the desert. They die. Have personally used CO², springers, and PCPs. On rabbits and squirrels they all die easily. Shot placement. Did I mention shot placement? Works every time. Be Well Brothers, dito.

Shot placement has nothing to do with it.... when using a 458!

 

[coastal drifter]

While hunting with shotty one time, decades ago, I kicked a rabbit to make him move so I could shoot. He died. Shot at a rabbit with a slingshot, a small lead ball, and hit it in the head. You guessed it, fried rabbit that night. But my buddy in Arizona has no airguns in spite of my urgings. He shoots jackrabbits with his 458 Win Mag in the desert. They die. Have personally used CO², springers, and PCPs. On rabbits and squirrels they all die easily. Shot placement. Did I mention shot placement? Works every time. Be Well Brothers, dito.

Yeah they are like those goats that faint lol