compo90 Posted May 9, 2015 Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 I have a cheap old air rifle, it isn't the most powerful air weapon in the world but has killed its fair share of small vermin. Question is I need an air weapon for shooting up close vermin and will be using my old air rifle. A colleague said an air pistol would suffice for up close vermin. Is it legal to use an air pistol for rats a few yards away and feral pigeons within the same distance? Can air pistols be used on live quarry? It may be cheaper/better to buy a decent air pistol than a second rate air rifle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaxiDriver Posted May 9, 2015 Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 Isn't the legal power limit only 6ft/lb ? Guess you'd have to be pretty up close and personal, the other issue might be accuracy ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruity Posted May 9, 2015 Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 Just my opinion, an air pistol (6ftlb ) is not really suitable for using on live quarry at distance , rats are tough old things and a sensible powered air rifle would be better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sha Bu Le Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 I too would favour an air rifle over a pistol, More power and greater accuracy but I am pretty useless with a pistol, cows bum and banjo situation. With my rifle I can cut a playing card at 25 metres, if I can do that then a scaly tail or scem's head is not much of a problem. Also consider all of your potential targets will not be within a few yards, in fact unless you are totally overrun with rats and ferals I wonder if you could get within a few yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo90 Posted May 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 So no one knows the legality? All sound suggestions/advice......... I will stick with my old air rifle for the accuracy and as I already have it over a pistol and will save/look for another air rifle to take over with. I am on about vermin actually trapped in doors but I thought it was illegal to shoot any live animal with an air pistol, a rifle is best and will be more useful it was the legality I was trying to establish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 So no one knows the legality? All sound suggestions/advice......... I will stick with my old air rifle for the accuracy and as I already have it over a pistol and will save/look for another air rifle to take over with. I am on about vermin actually trapped in doors but I thought it was illegal to shoot any live animal with an air pistol, a rifle is best and will be more useful it was the legality I was trying to establish Your shooting organisation will be able to advise you correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetter Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Legal wise its would be the usual not causing suffering to the animal concerned as far as I know there is no legislation specifically concerned with not using air pistols on live quarry its that you do cause suffering to the animal. The topic of air pistols on live quarry has been round the houses a lot on the air gun forums with the general view that a rifle in 99% of cases being the preferred choice as pistols are much more difficult to shoot accurately and a carbine rifle can do the job just as well while bringing a bit more power to the job. However there are several pistols that generate close to the 6ft/lb limit such as the Crossman 2250 and they have as far as I know have been used for despatch purposes by pest control companies on trapped pests such as caged rats and squirels. This is more of a situation where they are useful as accuracy is not really an issue and the quarry is getting the full energy of the shot with 6 ft/lb being plenty to dispatch small vermin with a head shot. Also they are a lot easier to manoeuvre in such situations than a rifle and can be more discreet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo90 Posted May 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Legal wise its would be the usual not causing suffering to the animal concerned as far as I know there is no legislation specifically concerned with not using air pistols on live quarry its that you do cause suffering to the animal. The topic of air pistols on live quarry has been round the houses a lot on the air gun forums with the general view that a rifle in 99% of cases being the preferred choice as pistols are much more difficult to shoot accurately and a carbine rifle can do the job just as well while bringing a bit more power to the job. However there are several pistols that generate close to the 6ft/lb limit such as the Crossman 2250 and they have as far as I know have been used for despatch purposes by pest control companies on trapped pests such as caged rats and squirels. This is more of a situation where they are useful as accuracy is not really an issue and the quarry is getting the full energy of the shot with 6 ft/lb being plenty to dispatch small vermin with a head shot. Also they are a lot easier to manoeuvre in such situations than a rifle and can be more discreet. Ah the crosman ratcatcher would be a compromise type gun. Your answer sort of answered my question the best, so no absolute legal bar on pistols we know of just the humanity aspect of a rifle being more powerful and accurate, I am aware I didn't really explain myself very well. I have a friend with a cronograph, going to get my old air rifle tested see what power that throws out, which will help with my decision making. I did have a crosman ratcatcher with shoulder stock and telescopic sight a few years ago, had problems with the gas bulb pipe! Otherwise would still have that, a lot have used them for rats in sheds/hen runs etc.... Will stick with this old break barrel for a while then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetter Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 I had a ratty for my eldest to shoot when she first became interested. When she moved on it went to one of the lads at the club who as far as I know still uses it for rat bashing up the fishery with a red dot sight. They throw out about 8ft/lb with the longer barrel and no one would disagree that they are an ideal shot range rat bashing tool up to 15 yards the stock provides that extra stability on aim that the pistol version lacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longspoon Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Just as a matter of interest, what air rifle do you have at the moment ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ordnance Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 (edited) It wouldn't be an issue here air pistols are club only. You would need to go through the same procedures to get an air pistol as a .357 magnum pistol. Edited May 10, 2015 by ordnance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo90 Posted May 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Just as a matter of interest, what air rifle do you have at the moment ? An old chinese break barrel...... Its like 20 years old and I don't know what power it throws out, will be getting it chrono'd for my interest. If the long barrelled ratcatcher is 8 fl/lb , if my old springer is that or above I will persever with that as what is described above is all it would be getting used for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Legal wise its would be the usual not causing suffering to the animal concerned as far as I know there is no legislation specifically concerned with not using air pistols on live quarry its that you do cause suffering to the animal. The topic of air pistols on live quarry has been round the houses a lot on the air gun forums with the general view that a rifle in 99% of cases being the preferred choice as pistols are much more difficult to shoot accurately and a carbine rifle can do the job just as well while bringing a bit more power to the job. However there are several pistols that generate close to the 6ft/lb limit such as the Crossman 2250 and they have as far as I know have been used for despatch purposes by pest control companies on trapped pests such as caged rats and squirels. This is more of a situation where they are useful as accuracy is not really an issue and the quarry is getting the full energy of the shot with 6 ft/lb being plenty to dispatch small vermin with a head shot. Also they are a lot easier to manoeuvre in such situations than a rifle and can be more discreet. Spot on above, the GWCT advises using a high power air pistol for dispatching Mink in mink traps althou sets a few conditions (must use combs to move/trap minks head in trap and Promethues? pellets those expensive 1's, steel? with the plastic skirt, think mink have a stronger skull than most small vermin hence the pellets seemingly lead pellets won't always penetrate even at point blank range ) know a few folk the use them and say fine for stuff stuck in a trap. Like most other probably more practicl to use an air rifle for accuracy, the powerful air pistols are quite dear buy decent air rifle for a lot less Really accuracy will be more mportant than power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo90 Posted May 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 I have asked my mate who owns a chronograph and I'm taking my old air rifle to his tomorrow...... See what the power is like and will probably just keep using that if sufficient powerful Even if its lost power I reckon a poor air rifle is better than a brilliant pistol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo90 Posted May 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 I know it isn't an official test, but just had it out and fired at a cereal box 15 yards away leant on a wheelie bin, hit just south of where I aimed and went through the box and left a welt mark half a centremetre deep on the bin! I think at that range it would have killed small vermin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manthing Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 My ethos. If your going looking for it use a rifle. If it's caught in a trap the hw45 is ok as the scope on the hw97k dunt focus at 3feet... I must point out that the hw45 is pushing 5.5fpe with AADF's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manthing Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 (edited) Just remembered a tv program that was about a few years ago, showed a council pest controller dispatching a rat caught in a household bin with an air pistol. If it got passed by a city council H&S/Legal dept then it's probably legal. Edited May 25, 2015 by manthing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisheruk Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 I have a Crosman 2240, fine for plinking in the garden, but not powerful enough for serious free range vermin. It is running just under the 6ft/lb mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbaz Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hi allI think folk ae underestimating what a pistol is capable of, I know 6ft lbs doesn't sound much but when I broke the cardinal rule of not pointing a gun at anything that I didn't want to kill, it bit me in the ****! (In the finger actually!) I bought a cheap Crosman 338 BB gun, I got it home, put a cart in and shot a few shots, the pistol then leaked out all the rest of the gas so I put another cart in and shot a very few more, I then tipped the BBs out and put the gun away to see if it all leaked out again (I thought it would have actually)..A week later I got the gun out and was just going to squeeze the trigger to see if there was gas in but remembering that i'd emptied the mag I put my hand in front to feel the slightest bit of gas!!BANG!! it was full of gas and I'd forgotten that guns that take steel BBs have a magnetic breech to stop the undersized BBs from rolling down the barrel! The gun had held the gas!! I had a perfectly round hole in my ring finger and there was blood all over the bedroom Strange thing was that there was no pain!!I ended up having minor surgery to remove the BB, It had entered the fleshy pad nad travelled around the bone coming to rest between the nail and bone!! Bear in mind that BB pistols aren't as powerful as many other types of handguns I put a pic on another shooting forum and of course, got no sympathy for my stupidity!! (I didn't add the eyes!! ) John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Lol, sorry but am I allowed to laugh, not at you but the picture? Are you healed now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbaz Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Lol, sorry but am I allowed to laugh, not at you but the picture? Are you healed now? Ha ha!! Pleas lol as loud as you like- it was a pretty dumpling sort of thing to do!!!! It's all healed now but strangely there was absolutely no pain at any stage of it!! It could be due to a sleding accident when I was a kid which opened up both my middle and ring fingers and left them with a good scar on each!! I think it looks funnier closer up!! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evo Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Ha ha!! Pleas lol as loud as you like- it was a pretty dumpling sort of thing to do!!!! It's all healed now but strangely there was absolutely no pain at any stage of it!! It could be due to a sleding accident when I was a kid which opened up both my middle and ring fingers and left them with a good scar on each!! I think it looks funnier closer up!! <script pagespeed_no_defer="">//=d.offsetWidth&&0>=d.offsetHeight)a=!1;else{c=d.getBoundingClientRect();var f=document.body;a=c.top+("pageYOffset"in window?window.pageYOffset:(document.documentElement||f.parentNode||f).scrollTop);c=c.left+("pageXOffset"in window?window.pageXOffset:(document.documentElement||f.parentNode||f).scrollLeft);f=a.toString()+","+c;b.b.hasOwnProperty(f)?a=!1:(b.b[f]=!0,a=a<=b.e.height&&c<=b.e.width)}a&&(b.a.push(e),b.d[e]=!0)};p.prototype.checkImageForCriticality=function(b){b.getBoundingClientRect&&q(this,b)};h("pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality",function(b){n.checkImageForCriticality(b)});h("pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkCriticalImages",function(){r(n)});var r=function(b){b.b={};for(var d=["IMG","INPUT"],a=[],c=0;c=a.length+e.length&&(a+=e)}b.g&&(e="&rd="+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(s())),131072>=a.length+e.length&&(a+=e),d=!0);t=a;if(d){c=b.f;b=b.h;var f;if(window.XMLHttpRequest)f=new XMLHttpRequest;else if(window.ActiveXObject)try{f=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP")}catch(k){try{f=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")}catch(u){}}f&&(f.open("POST",c+(-1==c.indexOf("?")?"?":"&")+"url="+encodeURIComponent(b)),f.setRequestHeader("Content-Type","application/x-www-form-urlencoded"),f.send(a))}}},s=function(){var b={},d=document.getElementsByTagName("IMG");if(0==d.length)return{};var a=d[0];if(!("naturalWidth"in a&&"naturalHeight"in a))return{};for(var c=0;a=d[c];++c){var e=a.getAttribute("pagespeed_url_hash");e&&(!(e in b)&&0=b[e].k&&a.height>=b[e].j)&&(b[e]={rw:a.width,rh:a.height,ow:a.naturalWidth,oh:a.naturalHeight})}return b},t="";h("pagespeed.CriticalImages.getBeaconData",function(){return t});h("pagespeed.CriticalImages.Run",function(b,d,a,c,e,f){var k=new p(b,d,a,e,f);n=k;c&&m(function(){window.setTimeout(function(){r(k)},0)})});})();pagespeed.CriticalImages.Run('/mod_pagespeed_beacon','http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/index.php?s=b85bb7d73640cde47397d10c3a1243f9&app=forums&module=ajax§ion=topics&do=quote&t=312080&p=2833796&md5check=71b31ed1b5c39b1d4e0a3a25f5777c31&isRte=1,l8PuqRhht8,true,false,oY-HWsdqXq8');//]]></script> &&0 John crickey, that was a dumb thing to do,,,,it looks really sore also,but at least your finger became a good singer :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonwolf444 Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 I had a Co2 air pistol and i shot hundreds of mice and a good number of rats with it. Had a problem with the cat bringing them in and releasing them, at one point ( just seemed to loose interest in them ) and they started breeding in the house so while i was having lunch i used to put the air pistol on the kitchen table and shoot the mice when they ran along the skirting board approx 2 yards away. The rats were all just shot as a coup de grace when the cat had left wounded ones hobbling about. If you are putting down rats in a trap or anything that's caught or a steady target at a yard to two yards away an air pistol is ample. if you are shooting things at 10 yards or more your air rifle will kill them BUT Whether it is a rat or a deer as a shooting sportsman you have an absolute duty to ensure as far as is practical that the things you are shooting have a quick and clean death as such if you are under any doubt that your kit is not up to scratch buy something new. Irrelevant of whether or not its vermin you owe it to your intended quarry. Technically a high quality air pistol in good hands will achieve the job, but is it the best tool for the job, in most cases, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbaz Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Excellent advice by Demonwolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deany1987 Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 I would favor my rifle any day over my Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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