Which airgun and rat bait station ...

[Lloyd90]

Right two questions in 1 topic! 

1) recently had my renewed and asked for FAC air rifle ... I want to buy a precharged air rifle anyways (have an AA prosport in 177 already), is it worth getting a FAC air rifle and what’s a good one to get? 

Love my mates HW100 but have ready lots of posts saying they have accuracy issues over 12 ft/lb. 

 

2) my mate has chickens in an acre wood of Christmas trees, the rats take food from the chicken feeder and are well fed all day. Often we shoof a few but after 1/2 they ****** off for hours. 

We wondered if stacking 5-6 pallets and putting the chicken feeder on top would mean they have to climb up to get food and would be easier to shoot when up like that? 

At present there are a lot of nettles and bushes by the feeder and they disappear into cover within a few steps in any direction. Making them difficult to shoot each time. 

Most times I go up I shoot 2-4 but then don’t see anymore. There are loads about though and he sees loads even in daytime, they’re eating through a large amount of chicken food every week! 

[chrisjpainter]

Evening sir,

I reckon the FAC Air does have a place in the cabinet, though a lot of .22LR users would disagree. If you're firing into the air - squirrels or pigeons at range, then you're far better off doing that with an FAC air than a 22lr! It does give you a bit more range over a sub12 gun (but it's not an equal ratio: double the power doesn't equal double the range) but its real advantage is knock down power. 

Yes, the HW100 FAC is a law unto itself. For some reason it's a wonderful rifle at sub12 - and a pig over it! There are a very few good ones out there, but I'd look elsewhere. Rapids are always worth looking at, and the AA S410 XTRA. Perhaps the BSA R10 too - lovely gun and has a good number of shots, even at FAC. 

 

As to your chicken issue. Would the birds be feeding up on the pallets? if so, you'd have to make sure that no food could drop down, as that'd really stuff you up! Also, it might work in the future, but don't expect overnight miracles. rats are neophobic - they don't like new things in their environment. It'll take a bit of time for them to be satisfied that things are fine and that the food they know is up there is worth adapting their behaviour for. I'd just clear the nettles back a bit in strategic places to start with. If not, then look at more radical options.

[Ultrastu]

This sounds like you want to shoot at a fair range and hit the rats hard with solid body shots. Possibly taking a fair few shots from a static position,  so a high shot count would be nice .

As far as pellet goes .the best option on rats is a fast light pellet that stops fast and dumps a lot of energy .

Id reccomend  for that either a .177 or light .22  but not a .25 cal (although a fac .25 would be fast its generally too heavy for rats (being small and soft ) to stop the pellet and deform it . (I shot a rat last week with my fac .25 and it went right through  it and it run off .)

So a fast energy dumping light pellet  will do the job .

I think id go with a falcon accuracy plus  at 13.4 grns in .22 set around 24 fpe 

From a bullpup  .so either a fx or 

A bsa r10  /air arms extra (a bit long though ) 

 

 

Also A .177 fac would be a very effective .shooting 8.4 grn jsb s around 16 fpe .

Should be able to shoot them out to around 60 yds on the front half of the  body .

My .177  bsa scorpion gives 35 shots set up like this. 

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, a sub 12 ft llb is best for rats, and .22 pellets, i use a FX verminator, cut the stingers down? clear under bushes, set a hide up within range in daylight, but night time always best for me, make a cheap DIY night vision, 

Edited May 16, 2018 by oldypigeonpopper

[bruno22rf]

FAC to shoot Rats? bit of an overkill 99% of the time - what you need is a moderated PCP, night vision and a little practice getting closer to them - sub 12ft/lb is ample. If you are hooked on a power quest then, as you are shooting Rats on the ground, a moderated .22lr firing subs will give you twice the range and a suitable gun, say a zkm452 can be bought for less than £200 fully loaded. 

[Lloyd90]

The HW100 I used last night is 177, I had 2 and my mate had 2, I had one in the side of the head and he didn’t move at all, the second was facing me, the pellet hit it in the face just below the eye and went through the full length of the body, even producing an exit hole near the back leg, these were big rats too. That rat was hit and ran about a foot but was dead once we went over. 

 

[Mice!]

I'd say if you want an fac air rifle then go for it, I'm sure the further away you can get then the less your going to disturb them, i shoot in a similar ish position to you, food on the ground and lots of ground cover now the nettles are up.

rather than raising up the feeders can you not position a high seat in the wood somewhere, maybe with room for you and your mate, day or night i imagine you'll get some good shooting then.

As for rifle? Quite a few good threads on this, probably depends on what you can get as much as anything, rifle might be dear initially but pellets ain't that pricey compared with real ammo.

[Walker570]

You need..as suggested above.... to clear a killing zone.  Then either a handful of mixed corn or whole maize each day.  As said, an elevated position overlooking this killing zone will be an advantage and a 22RF with mod would be ideal there.   I bait up using a couple of bricks..the type with three holes in ...I fill the holes with peanut butter mixed with maize and muxed corn and some bird feed which has aniseed in.

It does take them a few days even a week to get used to the bait site.   I have a Mk1  AA S200 in .22 with a moderator and it is very quiet and whacks rats out at 25yrds no problem but I usually set up at about 15yrds. Fortunately the farm yard is partially lit so I can see the bait without aid although I have a red lamp mounted as well.

Preparation and patience are the two main items to bear in mind.  A legal 12ft/lb rifle is more than adequate.

 

Edited May 16, 2018 by Walker570

[Ultrastu]

I have to echo the sentiments above .sub 12 should be more than enough .

I like the .177 cal .should easily be able to sit 35 yds away  (which is miles for rat shooting ) and snipe them .

Having said that .

After my posts above, ive thought more about .what i would do if i were in your position and wanted a fac air. 

Id buy a nice condition (new or s/h ) 

Bsa scorpion se In .22 cal .sub 12 

Test it out for shot count and feel and find its fabe pellet at this energy . (Try it on your rats and see how it goes. ) 

Then if you want it fac..convert it  

Either have it done by a smith or tune it your self. Obviously  once its been put on ticket  .that way you can find the best energy level to suit your prefered pellet and shot count.  (Ive. Done this twice now with previously sub 12 bsa pcps. ) 

And found that if the gun likes a pellet at 11 fpe it will like it at fac too.  (Within reason ) 

The advantage to this route is that if you dont like it as a sub 12  you can sell it much easier than a gun on ticket. 

Ps id say a bsa scorpion  se .22 should give you 35 _40 shots around 25 fpe with falcons or 27 fpe with 16 grn jsbs .

You would be easily able to turn it up or down 20 - 30 fpe as you feel best. 

 

[bruno22rf]

In my experience pellets that are superb at below 12ft/lb can become totally useless at higher power due to deforming under higher pressure. Splash out £100 and pick up a CZ/BRNO mod 2 - probably get a scope and mod for that price if you shop around - cheap as chips to feed, no worries about running out of Air and .22lr's make an incredibly addictive sound when they hit a Rat. 

Edited May 16, 2018 by bruno22rf

[cervusman]

What you really need are bait stations that are regularly topped up with poison. As said rats are shy of anything new so any bait stations you put out might not be touched for 3 weeks. Bait stations must be under cover so only rats can get to them and once the rats start to feed in them they must not be allowed to run empty as the rats will become immune to the bait.

[Walker570]

6 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

In my experience pellets that are superb at below 12ft/lb can become totally useless at higher power due to deforming under higher pressure. Splash out £100 and pick up a CZ/BRNO mod 2 - probably get a scope and mod for that price if you shop around - cheap as chips to feed, no worries about running out of Air and .22lr's make an incredibly addictive sound when they hit a Rat. 

Plus one and I am addicted to that THUNK!! whatever they hit.  

What happened to our old 'smileys'.  Hate this new garbage.

1 hour ago, cervusman said:

What you really need are bait stations that are regularly topped up with poison. As said rats are shy of anything new so any bait stations you put out might not be touched for 3 weeks. Bait stations must be under cover so only rats can get to them and once the rats start to feed in them they must not be allowed to run empty as the rats will become immune to the bait.

Might work on the example but in one of my farms, the farmer will not allow poisons of any kind as he has a number of cats and two dogs about and is concerned about them picking up a dead rat.   ................................ and ??????  Where's the pleasure in that ????????   No THUNK!!!!!