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Hi

I went rabbit shooting 2 times now and im using a [ cometa fenix 400 .177 ] with 3-9x40 ags sapphire and ive shot at 2 rabbits in the rigth place at both times and the rabbits run straigth of and they were both headshots behind the eye and under the ear. Ive been using 177 bisley pest control pellets and geco match flat head pellets can any1 help ??

thanks

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That's one of the problems, imo, with a .177 mate, they don't have the ' Impact Shock ' that a .22 has, and unless you are virtually ' spot on ' with your aiming, the pellet may well pass straight through the prey, which will probably make it to the hedge bottom, or it's warren, and die there. :D

 

However the velocity and flat trajectory of a .177 is usually an excellent bunny stopper in general.

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Trust me i have fired many shots and i have set the gun to hit a circle the size of a 5p and all my shots hit the circle. But that was using geco match pellets but when i use bisley pestconrol in my air rifle the shots seem to varie.

and thanks for ur replys

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if you connect with a rabbits head be it with a 177, 20, 22, or 25 you should kill it, maybe not dead, but it will certainly not run or walk in the normal fashion, head shots can sometimes result on a spectacular fete of backflips and front rolls, but ive never shot one in the head and have it get lost.

 

i would say (and i may be wrong) that you took on a rabbit that was further than you thought it was, you aimed straight at it and youve missed low, hitting the chest or missing completely.

 

if this is the case, then a few hours on a range with targets at every 5 or 10 yards will do you lots of good.

 

best of luck :D

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how old is the rifle?

 

how many shots has it had through? has it had enough pellets to bed everything in?

 

has the rifle been checked opver a chrono? (have seen brand new cometas doing 8F/Lbs straight out the box)

 

what range did you zero your rifle in? have you tried any other pellets? have you been shooting at variouse ranges?

 

have you shot at variouse distances to work out the pellets trajectory?

 

should point out that the bis pest control because of the hollow head on them would be thrown all over the place at long distance (25-35 yards) they are ok for close range. Same applies to the flat head match pellets you have, try a decent domed pellet either: AIR ARMS FIELD JSB EXACTS (REBRANDED AS DAYSTATE FT AND WEBLEY LAZADOMES) OR CROSSMAN ACCUPELL.

 

It could be a probelm with one or all of the above, some of them are easily sorted others will take time asnd practisebest way to check for how the pellet ois affected by range would be:

 

1. set targets up every 5 paces (roughly 5 yards) out to about 45 paces wright on the targets the distance they are placed at. (best to use A4 paper with two aim points drawn on them side by side. dots or crosses the choice is yours)

 

2. set scope to 6x mag (wont be able to see close targets otherwise)

 

3. five shots aiming dead centre of each target.

 

4. look at each taget and make a mental not of where the x hair/mill dot should be placed on the target. (you could even make notes about how much the pellet has droped on the scope)

 

5. using the aim point on scope use hold over/under and take 5 shots at each target.

 

ALWAYS USE THE POSITION YOU USE MOST IN THE FIELD WHEN ZEROING YOUR RIFLE!!!! (though this is not so important when using a pcp rifle) as a varying hold on the rifle will affect the way the rifle recoils which can have a great affect on the pellet leaving the barrel.

 

the reason i said use 6x mag is that 1. it reduces any shakes you might have, thus installing slightly more confidence in the shot. 2. if it makes the taget too small to be able to hit, it probably is too small to be able to hit!

 

would recomend you join an airgun club in your area though as they are a great place for learning aabout anything airguns. Not to mention trying out all the nice rifles out there :D

 

ROB :/

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ive shot at 2 rabbits in the rigth place at both times and the rabbits run straigth of and they were both headshots behind the eye and under the ear.

If they ran off how do you know where you hit them? You are using a recoiling rifle so the chances of you seeing the pellet in flight are slim to zero. Even with a TX your chances of watching the strike are poor so the Cometta is going to be worse. I use .177 and if you hit the spot they die. You often get the spasms out of them but they are just going on the last instruction their brain had and are definately dead.

Why use different pellets? Find a pellet that your gun likes and stick to it. The quarry won't give a stuff what type it is. You do not need hollowpoints for hunting - accuracy is far more important.

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Try chronoing your gun. A mate of mine was bragging about his new purchase of a TX200 years ago and i had what he refered to as a **** Innova.

 

He took a rabbit with a head shot at 35 yards and the rabbit lifted from the floor and we heard a wizz past US. The rabbit subsequently hopped to it's feet and scarpered off.

 

I swear that pellet bounced off the rabbit. The next rabbit was again about 35 yards with my Innove and THAT never got back up :D

 

Like i say try a chrono you may be under powered a tad. I found Crosman premiers were ace in my .177 and had a bit more weight than some other pellets 10.6grain i think they were???

 

Another word of caution. ONCE you set up your scope with one type of pellet try and stick to it as the BC is different between pellets and poor fitting or poor finish of the pellet can also affect accuracy etc.

 

Hope you get sorted and out ridding us all of this bunny plague

 

Lord Geordie

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ok ty for help

the only thing dont domed pellets over penertrate

No domed pellets dont lead to over pentration. The pointed pellets will but the dome helps cause MORE trauma than a pointed. The pointed pellet will just push flesh and organs aside etc where the dome will obliterate it.

 

Buy a lump of candle wax or soap and do a balistic review of your pointed then a dome and look how different the result is. The pointed will hold more of it's shape while the dome will mushroom effectivley making the head WIDER causing more trauma to the Rabbit.

 

At close range i find HOLLOW points do a good job but i don't use em out further than 30 yards due to accuracy issues.

 

Lord Geordie

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At close range i find HOLLOW points do a good job but i don't use em out further than 30 yards due to accuracy issues.

I am having to go over to hollow points when taking ferals in the cow shed. The domed seem to go straight through and knock a hole in the roof!

Happened once (didn't show because you can see all the holes someone else has made) but don't want to get the blame for any more :D

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If you are going to shoot live quarry you really must have a decent gun that has the ability to kill cleanly, never going to suffer from "over penetration" with an air rifle and domed pellets are about the best for accuracy at hunting ranges.

 

You also need plenty of practice, particularly with a recoiling springer, pcp's are better in many ways for a novice as they pack a good punch and also tend to shoot very tight groups.

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Hi,

 

Only hunt with the pellets that you have zeroed with as these will be the only accurate ones. Also flatheads are only good for very close range hunting.

 

Good luck :D

 

FM :/

I hear what you are saying and agree.

However I only use the flats at VERY close range (10 yds). It is only to stop it making a hole in the roof! The zero does not seem to move at that range (I have checked!!)

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