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WHAT DISTANCE


evo
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for years , well since I was a lad, I have always stated that I would not attempt to shoot live quarry at a distance further than 40yrds and that's with a springer(hw80) or a pcp,

 

now since owning daystates and in particular an Airwolf MCT .177 I have now stretched this boundary out to 60yrds and with excellent success,

 

my confidence with these new so called super rifles is sky high, I must say all rabbits are shot via headshots and conditions at this distance must be near perfect but is it the rifle or the shooter ???

 

surely it has got to be a bit of both but as some will say air rifles have not really changed ??? . I nailed a rabbit last week which was paced out at 61 paces using a barracuda match 10g pellet, the rabbit dropped dead instantly, on inspection the pellet had struck the rabbit right between the eye and ear and on examining the other side of the head there was bits of broken skull protruding out of the exit wound, the pellet had certainly done its job,

 

don't get me wrong I,m not telling anyone to go out and shoot rabbits to 60yrds because I spend a lot of hours in the field getting to know my rifles capabilities and also how the pellet reacts at different distances , I am also out in all weathers and at all hours of the day practising distance shots and these new rifles certainly help,

 

what distances do you limit yourself to and why ???

 

looking forward to hearing the replies

 

cheers Evo

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I try to limit myself to 40, but in reality I will push that out further if I'm feeling good and my eye is in.

 

I think the limiting factor is definitely me and not the rifle as even my 20 year old falcons are more than capable of producing rabbit brain-sized groups at 50 yards. It's easy to forget that a pellet spends quite a bit of time travelling through the barrel so any movement in the time between pulling the trigger and the pellet leaving can send it off to the wrong place. I would guess a HMR will be much more forgiving in that respect.

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Two parts to the equation: Striking energy and accuracy. With air rifles particularly, both vary a lot depending on pellet match, wind, and shooter. Striking energy to cleanly dispatch a rabbit is said to be around 5ft-lbs minimum. In 22 calibre with a 14 grain pellet, muzzle energy at 12 ft-lbs, velocity is approximately 600fps. This drops off rapidly (depending on pellet) to about 400fps by around 45 yds which equates to around 5ft-lbs, therefore I would not attempt to shoot live quarry with a 12ft-lb .22 air rifle beyond this distance as I consider that inhumane.

 

With .177, the better ballistics coefficient means more velocity retained. An 8.5 grain pellet in .177 gives about 800fps at the legal limit at the muzzle and around 525fps at 50 yds which equates roughly to around 5ft-lbs, so I would personally limit rabbit shots to about 50yds and no more with 0.177. This of course is a bit rough and ready but the 12ft-lbs limit restricts velocity and striking energy with air rifles so there's no way I would shoot rabbit beyond 50 yds.

 

22 rimfire subs, I'd take rabbit at 100yds every day of the week with accurate placement.

 

If you want to shoot longer ranges, use a suitable tool for the job and an air rifle is not a suitable tool for longer distance work at 12 ft-lbs imho.

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I don't stretch it unless it's to fix a mistake

Not saying it can't be done just there is too much room for mishap. Tiny breeze bad pellet movement in quarry shooter error

Get a rimfire if you need or want to shoot at 60 yards and appreciate the fun of airguns is mainly in their limitations

I have made the mistake in the past of stretching them they haven't the terminal reserves so stick to targets on long stuff now

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I proved to my mate once it's possible to shoot bunny at 65 yards with my .22 hw90 by shooting 5 in a row all head shot. I knew that rifle inside out and the fields I was shooting.

I shot ft for ten + years and was confident to shot a bunny every time up to 60 yards but I used my ft gun in the field . Boy it was heavy

 

 

I just limit my self to 30 yards around buildings now and use the rimfire . I feel happier in my self of clean kills

Edited by team tractor
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I proved to my mate once it's possible to shoot bunny at 65 yards with my .22 hw90 by shooting 5 in a row all head shot. I knew that rifle inside out and the fields I was shooting.

I shot ft for ten + years and was confident to shot a bunny every time up to 60 yards but I used my ft gun in the field . Boy it was heavy

 

 

I just limit my self to 30 yards around buildings now and use the rimfire . I feel happier in my self of clean kills

Yet at 55 yards max on a 45mm kill zone it's not even possible for top level shots to guarantee a clear round. If it was then reducers would be used the very fact reducers were not allowed normally beyond 45 when I competed says a lot

Airgun quarry has a lot smaller kill zone than 45mm - just under half that mostly

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Yet at 55 yards max on a 45mm kill zone it's not even possible for top level shots to guarantee a clear round. If it was then reducers would be used the very fact reducers were not allowed normally beyond 45 when I competed says a lot

Airgun quarry has a lot smaller kill zone than 45mm - just under half that mostly

I've cleared courses and regulary managed 27/30 on a course . Confidence is the key.

I had a passion for FT for a long time.

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I've cleared courses and regulary managed 27/30 on a course . Confidence is the key.

I had a passion for FT for a long time.

certainly agree that confidence has a lot to do with it,

 

knowing your rifle and also knowing what pellet to use is defo half the battle with longer shots,

 

yesterday I was out on one of my perms on the rabbits and took three bunnies, one was a measured 57yrds ( with a range finder ), one was 32 yrds and the last bunnie was 52 yrds, all where killed instantly with head shots, the key to more accurate shooting with me is defo testing(practising) with the pellets of my rifles choice, it is so important to get as tight a group at distances further than I expect to shoot live quarry, ie if i,m out shooting rabbits to 40yrds approx. then I will test how the rifle and pellets perform out to 50 yrds and so on,the reason I do this is because on this certain perm they only pop out in a few areas so we can guarantee to lay in wait and expect a few to pop out, I will know approx. what distance to put myself away from where they will appear,this also helps with these longer shots because the rabbits will appear from x to x yards,

 

simple thing is ,,no matter how good you think you are , it pays to spend as much time out in hunting conditions paper punching in all wind conditions which will help you acclimatise to your rifle,pellets and conditions but also your scope

 

when they do

Edited by evo
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would love to know. What is the longest shot you have ever managed. There was a guy on here the other day in the videos section just missed a crow by a couple inches at 630 yards with a .260!

Also expecting something like a 400 yard 22lr shot from underdog! :lol:

Link to video: http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/topic/313934-some-crow-protection-with-my-260/?hl=crow

Edited by Marksman1997
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would love to know. What is the longest shot you have ever managed. There was a guy on here the other day in the videos section just missed a crow by a couple inches at 630 yards with a .260!

Also expecting something like a 400 yard 22lr shot from underdog! :lol:

Link to video: http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/topic/313934-some-crow-protection-with-my-260/?hl=crow

Not 400 but there was a 300 ish and hole bunch of 200 yarders with lr. I always thought that's what lr stood for!

 

Not seen many long shots, 455 my 308, 400, fox,my 222.

555 rabbit, mates 270. 650 rabbit mates 222. 400 squirrel mates 222.

Oh and a 1200yard football, my 308.

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I've cleared courses and regulary managed 27/30 on a course . Confidence is the key.

I had a passion for FT for a long time.

Confidence on targets is key your right realism is key on live quarry that can move unexpectedly and need to be shot fromvthe stance you have and mostly the sight settings

And they most certainly don't come with 40mm marked kill zones.

I have yet to meet the man that can hit a 5 pence first shot unranged at ranges much beyond 35 yards and include a lot of ft champions in that

It's very different on quarry though most of us have pulled of lucky prayer shots we should never have tried

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Confidence on targets is key your right realism is key on live quarry that can move unexpectedly and need to be shot fromvthe stance you have and mostly the sight settings

And they most certainly don't come with 40mm marked kill zones.

I have yet to meet the man that can hit a 5 pence first shot unranged at ranges much beyond 35 yards and include a lot of ft champions in that

It's very different on quarry though most of us have pulled of lucky prayer shots we should never have tried

Which is why some of us carry laser range finders and have scopes that have been checked with a BC program and the magnification worked out to give precise hold over!

Those markings are not there to remind you about Christmas you know.

Speaking of which that is just over 4 months away!

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Not 400 but there was a 300 ish and hole bunch of 200 yarders with lr. I always thought that's what lr stood for!

 

Not seen many long shots, 455 my 308, 400, fox,my 222.

555 rabbit, mates 270. 650 rabbit mates 222. 400 squirrel mates 222.

Oh and a 1200yard football, my 308.

Impressive Underdog! You must know your bullet drop well or else just really lucky. lol. Can take stuff with 22lr up to about 100 yards comfortably. But one day my dad was at the kitchen window with the 22lr aiming up the field at a greyback crow standing a bit off a lamb that he just lambed and he said he was trying to scare it away because it would pick the eyes. He then told me to take the shot as he didn't want to hit the lamb. The crow was a good 5 yards away from the lamb so safe enough. Had a good idea of the holdover as i was shooting targets the day before at 200 yards and at 12x zoom the bullet hit at the very bottom of my scope so i aimed a bit extra as it was 235 yards (i used range finder) then took the shot only expecting to scare it away but i hit it square in the chest and down he fell. My dad was as shocked as i was. But apart from that my longest is 140 yards so not even close! As for air rifle i keep under 40 max as it's sub 12 .22 springer but a accurate one at that TX200!

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