.22 shooting in back yards

[searley]

And the feo will usually have zero shooting experience, that's the funny bit.

In my case the FEO has done lots of shooting for many years, shoots a lot of rabbit, fox, deer and anything that can go in the pot, he is also one of only 25 licensees that are allowed to shoot on the newforest

[-ben-]

When they clear land they have to look at it through someone who is inexperienced it could still be safe for a experienced shot but they have to cover their back and clear it for what they think is suitable for someone with little experience

[JonathanL]

 

What is wrong before doesn't become right after.

 

Not the point I was making. Doing it is not wrong per-se, but shooting in your garden on a very occasional basis would be highly unlikely to constiute the required 'good reason' needed to obtain an FAC. If you already have one there is nothing to stop you doing it as long as you do it in a lawful manner.

 

J.

[Dunkield]

 

Not the point I was making. Doing it is not wrong per-se, but shooting in your garden on a very occasional basis would be highly unlikely to constiute the required 'good reason' needed to obtain an FAC. If you already have one there is nothing to stop you doing it as long as you do it in a lawful manner.

 

J.

 

My mate had his .22 rimfire FAC issued for shooting in his back garden only - it was good enough reason for him

[Hamster]

 

My mate had his .22 rimfire FAC issued for shooting in his back garden only - it was good enough reason for him

 

There must be a tiny bit more to this story though surely ? Apply for a rimfire licence in a normal garden in a normal setting and you would be locked up as insane at her Majesties pleasure.

[HDAV]

Can someone explain how a 30ft/lb FAC air rifle is safer than the 30ft/lb rimfire load? Is it the construction of the projectile rather than the method of propulsion

[Hamster]

Can someone explain how a 30ft/lb FAC air rifle is safer than the 30ft/lb rimfire load? Is it the construction of the projectile rather than the method of propulsion

 

Firstly there is the pellet weight which tends to be between 14 - 21 grains, the standard rimfire round is 40 grains. Fac air guns almost always have a power adjuster and will shoot a variety of ammo very very accurately, rimmies are rarely accurate with shorts, some won't chamber them plus you can't actually get hold of so called gallery ammo in the first place (more of a talking point to pass the time on forums).

 

Anyone who has shot a .22 LR will know the horrendous ricochet risks, air guns are far less susceptible. A 40 grain rimfire can easily punch through the body of a fox and exit the other end still carrying some power, Fac air gun tuned down to 17 or so ft lbs will deal with small birds and be relatively safe.

 

Also you can choose to shoot a sub 12 ft lbs air gun in the first place, it doesn't have to be Fac.

 

One other point is the POI, we all tend to zero our LR .22's for around 50 yards, unless you really know what you're doing and actually bother practicing at 15 yards which is the range urban foxes are presumably shot, then you're going to cause some mega wounding probably to the jaw area as the round will impact low. I leave it to your imagination what it would be like chasing down such a fox leaping and howling trying to jump the fence over into next door neighbours garden. The ensuing conversation with either them or the police is just one of the reasons I remain gobsmacked that some would even entertain it.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Hamster

[PAULT]

Dog time to get that daystate no bother then.

[deputy dog]

Dog time to get that daystate no bother then.

Paul i didn't even go through with the shoot butt. I'm a bit gutted that i asked for advice in a way whether i was legal to shoot with an open ticket in my fathers back garden.

Seems to have stirred up an hornets nest and i bet some even think im a plonker for even thinking about shooting in fathers back garden in the first place.

Although you have been shooting with me many a time and know im safe as houses while using my rifles or shotgun. But i will never even think about using my rim fire in my fathers back yard again for fear of being thought of as another numpty with a gun.

 

Wont be long getting that Daystate butt. Soon start thinning those crows out. The air is thick with them up in the back gardens up here.

 

DD

Edited July 25, 2013 by deputy dog

[al4x]

 

One other point is the POI, we all tend to zero our LR .22's for around 50 yards, unless you really know what you're doing and actually bother practicing at 15 yards which is the range urban foxes are presumably shot, then you're going to cause some mega wounding probably to the jaw area as the round will impact low. I leave it to your imagination what it would be like chasing down such a fox leaping and howling trying to jump the fence over into next door neighbours garden. The ensuing conversation with either them or the police is just one of the reasons I remain gobsmacked that some would even entertain it.

 

 

I'd be really interested if anyone has heard a fox leap and howl as I never have in 20 years of shooting them, hell I've not heard one make much noise when hit by my GWP and certainly nothing which just confirms what I was thinking

[LEE243]

 

Paul i didn't even go through with the shoot butt. I'm a bit gutted that i asked for advice in a way whether i was legal to shoot with an open ticket in my fathers back garden.

Seems to have stirred up an hornets nest and i bet some even think im a plonker for even thinking about shooting in fathers back garden in the first place.

Although you have been shooting with me many a time and know im safe as houses while using my rifles or shotgun. But i will never even think about using my rim fire in my fathers back yard again for fear of being thought of as another numpty with a gun.

 

Wont be long getting that Daystate butt. Soon start thinning those crows out. The air is thick with them up in the back gardens up here.

 

DD

DD

I dont think youve done anything wrong mate all you asked for is advise al4x, charlieT,NJC110381 HAVE ALL GAVE YOU THE CORRECT IMFORMATION IT IS LEGAL END OF.Firearm usage is all about confidence if you deem it safe and it can only be you crack on and use your rimmey like you said in a earlier post you may want to shoot a fox there

Atb Lee

[PAULT]

If i could drive you could use my falcon i now you are safe with a shotgun because my jeep is usually parked on it.

[deputy dog]

 

DD

I dont think youve done anything wrong mate all you asked for is advise al4x, charlieT,NJC110381 HAVE ALL GAVE YOU THE CORRECT IMFORMATION IT IS LEGAL END OF.Firearm usage is all about confidence if you deem it safe and it can only be you crack on and use your rimmey like you said in a earlier post you may want to shoot a fox there

Atb Lee

Cheers Lee mate, but after reading some of these posts, its put me right off the idea now. Just use an air rifle for the winged pests and pray charlie doesn't come sniffing about the coup. Aint seen any yet but a fox could have been about there already.

May phone my FEO later just to clarify if im legal or not. Then what ever he says will put my mind at ease. Perhaps i should have just phoned him first instead of stiring an hornets nest on here

 

DD

[CharlieT]

Can someone explain how a 30ft/lb FAC air rifle is safer than the 30ft/lb rimfire load? Is it the construction of the projectile rather than the method of propulsion

 

You see, you simply don't understand the special powers of the 22lr.

 

 

Firstly there is the pellet weight which tends to be between 14 - 21 grains, the standard rimfire round is 40 grains. Fac air guns almost always have a power adjuster and will shoot a variety of ammo very very accurately, rimmies are rarely accurate with shorts, some won't chamber them plus you can't actually get hold of so called gallery ammo in the first place (more of a talking point to pass the time on forums).

 

Anyone who has shot a .22 LR will know the horrendous ricochet risks, air guns are far less susceptible. A 40 grain rimfire can easily punch through the body of a fox and exit the other end still carrying some power, Fac air gun tuned down to 17 or so ft lbs will deal with small birds and be relatively safe.

 

 

[deputy dog]

If i could drive you could use my falcon i now you are safe with a shotgun because my jeep is usually parked on it.

Lol i had a funny feeling you would mention that haha.Lucky though that grass was deep or i would have been costly on a bent barrel lol.

Edited July 25, 2013 by deputy dog

[Hamster]

Paul i didn't even go through with the shoot butt. I'm a bit gutted that i asked for advice in a way whether i was legal to shoot with an open ticket in my fathers back garden.

Seems to have stirred up an hornets nest and i bet some even think im a plonker for even thinking about shooting in fathers back garden in the first place.

Although you have been shooting with me many a time and know im safe as houses while using my rifles or shotgun. But i will never even think about using my rim fire in my fathers back yard again for fear of being thought of as another numpty with a gun.

 

Wont be long getting that Daystate butt. Soon start thinning those crows out. The air is thick with them up in the back gardens up here.

 

DD

 

Just to be sure DD, I respect people like yourself who bother to ask a question where they're unsure and you happen to have made a decision based on the overall answers.

[Hamster]

 

 

I'd be really interested if anyone has heard a fox leap and howl as I never have in 20 years of shooting them, hell I've not heard one make much noise when hit by my GWP and certainly nothing which just confirms what I was thinking

 

I think you're being deliberately pedantic. It won't howl maybe but the gist of my post was to make people aware that it ain't as straightforward as some make out. True if you are truly in tune with your rifle and POI at some unusually short ranges and able to make uber judgements of background suitability and potential exit points of bullet etc etc, then it is possible to safely use a LR .22 in some gardens whilst also being discreet. The reality is that it is a pretty bad idea and bad advice on the internet to promote the practice, there are simply better and safer ways around vermin problems most of the time.

 

It is entirely possible to wound a fox in these circumstances and not beyond the realms of possibility that it would make it next door to be greeted by their chasing dog thus creating a scene anything but discreet. Some professional vermin controllers do this sort of thing regularly, but that still doesn't make it right for the average rimfire owner.

[al4x]

you keep mentioning right rather than legal, so we have accepted you have been dishing out moral advice rather than correct factual. Further its foxes being mentioned now not corvids as per the original discussion so having dropped safety you are now onto caliber choice etc. The fundamental is in the right situation it is fine but the wrong one a seriously bad idea and only experience can tell you which. Here with neighbours if I had a fox I wouldn't use my HMR I'd get the .243 every time as then it wouldn't run. Still legal, still fine safety wise and it would be a single shot so really no different to someone letting a banger off

[JonathanL]

 

My mate had his .22 rimfire FAC issued for shooting in his back garden only - it was good enough reason for him

 

Not saying that it wouldn't happen, just that it's somewhat unlikely. Very unlikely in most cases. As Hamster says, it very much comes down to the particular circumstances. Very, very few people who made an application for the grant of an FAC and gave the use of a .22rf in an ordinary domestic garden as their sole good reason would be successful.

 

J.

[al4x]

the only thing to say is there are back gardens and there are back gardens. In well heeled bucks it could be 10 acres making up the back garden. Hell I've shot driven muntjac and fox in a garden and had loads of fun shooting over the years but that back garden is 100 acres

[Hamster]

you keep mentioning right rather than legal, so we have accepted you have been dishing out moral advice rather than correct factual. Further its foxes being mentioned now not corvids as per the original discussion so having dropped safety you are now onto caliber choice etc. The fundamental is in the right situation it is fine but the wrong one a seriously bad idea and only experience can tell you which. Here with neighbours if I had a fox I wouldn't use my HMR I'd get the .243 every time as then it wouldn't run. Still legal, still fine safety wise and it would be a single shot so really no different to someone letting a banger off

 

Moral advice? Rimfire rounds ricochet, that much is factual as is the fact the vast majority of gardens are small by gun standards and the only reason I mentioned foxes was because others had within the same thread.

[HDAV]

 

Firstly there is the pellet weight which tends to be between 14 - 21 grains, the standard rimfire round is 40 grains. Fac air guns almost always have a power adjuster and will shoot a variety of ammo very very accurately, rimmies are rarely accurate with shorts, some won't chamber them plus you can't actually get hold of so called gallery ammo in the first place (more of a talking point to pass the time on forums).

 

Anyone who has shot a .22 LR will know the horrendous ricochet risks, air guns are far less susceptible. A 40 grain rimfire can easily punch through the body of a fox and exit the other end still carrying some power, Fac air gun tuned down to 17 or so ft lbs will deal with small birds and be relatively safe.

 

Also you can choose to shoot a sub 12 ft lbs air gun in the first place, it doesn't have to be Fac.

 

One other point is the POI, we all tend to zero our LR .22's for around 50 yards, unless you really know what you're doing and actually bother practicing at 15 yards which is the range urban foxes are presumably shot, then you're going to cause some mega wounding probably to the jaw area as the round will impact low. I leave it to your imagination what it would be like chasing down such a fox leaping and howling trying to jump the fence over into next door neighbours garden. The ensuing conversation with either them or the police is just one of the reasons I remain gobsmacked that some would even entertain it.

 

All very interesting but doesn't explain how a 30ft/lb air rifle is safer than a rimfire round with same energy..................

[dadioles]

Hamster I think you are being overly cautious if not positively scaremongering. It is up to the shooter to decide what is appropriate and what is safe. I am currently having sleepless nights waiting to try and shoot a fox in my very small front garden next to the road in the middle of a reasonably well populated area.

I am an experienced shooter, I have an open licence and I own the land. I deem it to be perfectly safe and shall use the moderated .22lr with night vision very discreetly. Distance is between 10 yards and 20 yards aiming 2" high at 10 yards and 1" high at 20 yards determined by test shots at a target at the location. The backdrop is a log pile backed by a wooden shed (full of wood) and behind that a substantial brick wall. Distance is determined, obviously, by wherever the fox chooses to stand.

This is not rocket science so please stop talking nonsense about "... uber judgements...".

If you have the appropriate experience and confidence and are within the law it is your choice.

I do agree, however, that for short range shooting against birds in a domestic garden, the air rifle is more appropriate. Always choose the right tool for the right job.

[Fisheruk]

All sounds fine...except for the shorts! In my experience they have been useless. Between 3 of us and 5 rifles we have never been able to get any sort of grouping and eventually gave up trying.

I got a sub 12 ftlb air rifle and a mate had his rapid tuned to fac. Good tools for the job we had to do.

I am sure others will have had more success with .22 shorts though.

Edd

I agree, have tried them and found them useless at any distance.

They are suitable for humane dispatch of trapped critters and that is about as far as I will trust them. IMHO

[Hamster]

 

All very interesting but doesn't explain how a 30ft/lb air rifle is safer than a rimfire round with same energy..................

 

Sometimes you have to read between the lines, it was meant to convey the fact that there is no useable 30 ft lbs rimfire round. Yes yes I now someone is going to turn up telling us his BSA match rifle shoots gallery rounds into the same hole at 40 yards off hand, produces 26 ft lbs and his local haberdashery always carries stock - but in real life it is very difficult to arrive at such a combo with powder rifles, which is the exact opposite to FAC air guns which are easy to shoot accurately at reduced power levels.