Jump to content

Wildcat


Hamster
 Share

Recommended Posts

Once every few months I test the pellets I have to hand to reacquaint and familiarise myself with their respective accuracy. As always this rifle brings a smile to your face and rarely fails to impress, the pellet of choice being the 15.89 gr Exacts, the ragged hole was the result of 7 shots (the 1st went awry having just filled the rifle to max, the Bisley Magnums perform superbly as well), wish the same could be said for their Pest control which is a hollow point but as you can see from the pic they appear to be tumbling in flight, the segmented Baracuda are actually surprisingly good as the 8 shot group could just about be covered with a pound coin which isn't too shabby for 34 yards, I have body shot and killed rats with the latter but remain unsure whether they're any different to a std pellet for body shots, any ideas and experiences ?

The reason I wanted something hollow point or segmented is that the farm I shoot rats on has a gem of a rat bank where I often sit and snipe a dozen or two over a few hours (in day light), the range is only about 35 yards or so but they don't stand still often enough for head shots so I tend to actually fire at less than half of what I spot. I tried to load a pic of the bank but keep getting a nocando message so will try to post one in another post in a minute. 

ps. the Exacts group is bottom centre, 1st shot flier and the rest of the magazine in one ragged hole. 

pellet groups.jpg

Edited by Hamster
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Extreems are great pellets very accurate ..though i dont have any experience of them in .22 .

The problem i see is that at 19 grns in sub 12  they are too slow and heavy to expand on contact .and will not really perform any better than a round head .

For body shots to the front end (to stop rats in there tracks ) a .177 extreem is a much better choice..its  heavy enough to retain good energy at 35 yds but  hits hard like a flat head  (close in ) and expands dumping a lot of energy .

Perfect for fast moving rattus 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the look of your rat bank, brilliant back stop and never a dull moment I imagine.

I do like pest control but haven't tried them over 20 meters, are you shooting sub 12?

Some nice groups which ever pellet you go with, have you tried bisley superfield? Lighter than the others your using but still a good hollow point.

Have you got anything you could shoot to see what kind of holes the different pellets give? I do like the idea of the barracudas but think they will be too heavy and I would loose accuracy at sub 12.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Extreems are great pellets very accurate ..though i dont have any experience of them in .22 .

The problem i see is that at 19 grns in sub 12  they are too slow and heavy to expand on contact .and will not really perform any better than a round head .

For body shots to the front end (to stop rats in there tracks ) a .177 extreem is a much better choice..its  heavy enough to retain good energy at 35 yds but  hits hard like a flat head  (close in ) and expands dumping a lot of energy .

Perfect for fast moving rattus 

Sorry should have said the Wildcat is FAC at 32 ft lbs.

 

7 hours ago, Mice! said:

I like the look of your rat bank, brilliant back stop and never a dull moment I imagine.

I do like pest control but haven't tried them over 20 meters, are you shooting sub 12?

Some nice groups which ever pellet you go with, have you tried bisley superfield? Lighter than the others your using but still a good hollow point.

Have you got anything you could shoot to see what kind of holes the different pellets give? I do like the idea of the barracudas but think they will be too heavy and I would loose accuracy at sub 12.

I have been trying to get hold of some Superfields as I liked them a lot in my sub 12 guns.

That bank is not even the half of it, this is another picture of the scene to the left :) two acres of drying cow dung which the crows feast on but to get those I'd have to build a proper hide and take the rimmie.

If you look carefully there's a dead crow near the top right of the pic which I got with the Wildcat at 70 odd yards as I was approaching the area.

goddards2.jpg

Edited by Hamster
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know..choices choices.  I started with Exact and still do shoot the 10.3 in my 177 TX200 but I tried the Webley Mosquito 14.35 in my AA S200 and found them accurate and will punch through the ribs of a tree rat at 20yrds and exit.  Body shots you can never expect and instant on the spot kill, same with deer, some will drop on the spot others will run a short distance and then run out of fuel. I had a tree rat hit square through the ribs with a 22RF last week which ran 15ft and climbed a pine tree before finally dying hung across two small branches.

The Mosquitos work well in my rifle

That place looks awesome.

Edited by Walker570
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Mice! said:

what fps are you getting then? Is it possible your going to quick? I would think that the barracudas and bisley mags make a great mess of the rats though at 32fp

 

1 hour ago, Ultrastu said:

Then if your at 30 fpe area .the extreems should be perfect .if your not getting clean kills with those pellets at that energy .then your accuracy is the problem .Failing that get a hush .410 

And load with  7.5 shot and shoot  out to around 25 yds .

Sorry should have made it clearer, I am not having any trouble whatsoever with clean kills as they're all being head shot, the accuracy is so incredible that I can spot them inside holes sometimes and kill them there, I shot one as it was just about disappearing into a hole and it barely made a twitch as the pellet must have travelled right through from the back into the head anyway. What I am trying to do is see whether it's possible to use something like a hollow point which is accurate enough to allow rapid shooting at near enough moving rats, as I mentioned earlier I prolly see 3-4 times as many as I kill because they dart in and out of holes and so have to pick my shots rather carefully, still a mega place though as it rarely fails to produce less than a dozen and have often gone well over that number. 

I put a full clip of segmented Baracuda through once and deliberately body shot a few which did die but not in the manner of a head or neck shot obviously hence I just don't know whether in real life there is any difference drilling through them with a 15.89 Exact or say a hollow point Superfield !? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Id say .not enough difference to notice .

As you are finding .

What would be required is a projectile that fragments on impact .but i doubt really that even a .17 hmr is gonna do that in the shallow depth of a rat ..

To get as close as you can to that . .your gonna need as light as possible pellet  with the fastest speed and the flattest /hollowest point .

Problem then is accuracy .falls off ..

You could try the predator polymags ? 

But remember fast and fragile is the key .a .177  rws hobby at 1000 fps .might do it ..

But  accuracy ?????? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be testing the accuracy of various pellets (which you have already started doing) then moving on to the terminal performance in some sort of medium.
Ballistic jell , meat, or my favourite , old potatoes (boil or microwave them first for a more realistic compo).
Try some different things, plasticine or even flavoured jelly, try and get an idea of whats happening when the pellet impacts.
You have plenty of power at 30 ft lbs at that  range, accuracy shouldnt be an issue.

I would have thought the softer composition of the exacts would have been the best all rounder if Im honest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Hamster said:

I often shoot the various pellets into cow dung of varying vintage ? including the soft, wet stuff but if I'm honest the splat effect doesn't appear widely different !

Lol , a more scientific method may be called for !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I shot a rat at 30 yds with my .25 cal 45 fpe .using 25 gr kings .aimed in the front half .but might of hit the middle. Of the body .i had a huge squeel and a bounce  but he disappeared  down a hole .

So really .the pellet weight and energy wont make up for bad shot placement .

By contrast .ive shot hundereds of rats with a small crosman pistol doing 5.5 fpe and flat heads around 10 yds with head and neck shots  .to totally polax them and stop them in their tracks .

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, figgy said:

Used to use paper punching flat head target pellets when younger for rats not many ran away after being hit. Granted i wasn't shooting at 34 Yards probs no more that twenty yards.

I need to get hold of some .22 wadcutters, trouble is the Hobby are about the only ones you regularly see on the shelves and they'd be too light for FAC power levels. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best way I have found to test penetration on the cheap is wet newsprint....like my 8x57 with 160gr TTSX took 18 inches of solid well soaked news print at 50yrds newsprint to stop it.

I have not done any similar tests on air rifle pellets but it would be interesting to see the outcome. I just double fold newspapers stacked edge on in a box and run the tap in to the box.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

The best way I have found to test penetration on the cheap is wet newsprint....like my 8x57 with 160gr TTSX took 18 inches of solid well soaked news print at 50yrds newsprint to stop it.

I have not done any similar tests on air rifle pellets but it would be interesting to see the outcome. I just double fold newspapers stacked edge on in a box and run the tap in to the box.

Thats good for testing penetration, but from what I can gather, he wants to see if body shots are going to stop them dead.
I would have thought 30 odd ft lbs at 30 yards with a 16 -20 g pellet would blow its guts out the other side on a small to medium rat.
Ive only ever took them with sub 12 ft lbs at no more than 20 yards, and the smaller ones 'popped'  whilst the bigger ones needed a head or neck shot to stop them running.
At a guess hes still got a good 20 ft lb at 35 yards, so I cant see them getting far with a frontal body shot, unless they are great big things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

have a look on the bay for the pellet samples you can get, I can't see you having problems with chest shots looking at your accuracy. Those bisley mags will probably go in at the chest and out the back end some place. They might flip about but they are going to be dead.

I was shown some pics a while ago of rats shot with a .17 hmr and they had big nasty holes in them despite the rats being small soft targets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, Mice! said:

Another thought hamster, have you tried baiting the rats to a spot that suits you? You could get yourself a fishing catapult and load an area up with sweet corn or casters, might give you more chance of shots?

I mix half a tin of peanut butter with hot water to get it gooey enough to throw around just below the top edge and spread the other half on fresh or stale bread  I might have to hand, these I carefully throw about the place although many end up sliding down into the slurry which is incidentally where most of the dead rats end up in. 

In truth the reason that patch is so productive is because it's in a permanent state of being baited anyway, the cows feed is constantly being trickled down the bank so I have no idea whether these new smells actually contribute, I have only ever seen one rat stop and feed on the breads but one time the cows became mighty interested in trying to see what the smell was. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

You know. A .410 hushpower is your solution? Dont you. 

Great excuse for another gun .

As I said it's a rare day that doesn't produce a good few satisfying shots, I'm not trying to wipe them out in one go, I'm sure you could gas them if that was the intention ? just don't think I'd enjoy the .410 as much and pretty certain the noise would soon put them on the alert, at the moment they simply don't even know I'm there as the outings are spaced out. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 20/06/2018 at 16:47, Mice! said:

have a look on the bay for the pellet samples you can get, I can't see you having problems with chest shots looking at your accuracy. Those bisley mags will probably go in at the chest and out the back end some place. They might flip about but they are going to be dead.

I was shown some pics a while ago of rats shot with a .17 hmr and they had big nasty holes in them despite the rats being small soft targets.

I've just had some various samples back to test in my FAC S410. looking forward to seeing the results. At the moment, I'm using Accupells.

On 21/06/2018 at 14:18, Hamster said:

I mix half a tin of peanut butter with hot water to get it gooey enough to throw around just below the top edge and spread the other half on fresh or stale bread  I might have to hand, these I carefully throw about the place although many end up sliding down into the slurry which is incidentally where most of the dead rats end up in. 

In truth the reason that patch is so productive is because it's in a permanent state of being baited anyway, the cows feed is constantly being trickled down the bank so I have no idea whether these new smells actually contribute, I have only ever seen one rat stop and feed on the breads but one time the cows became mighty interested in trying to see what the smell was. 

Melted cooking chocolate mixed with a small amount of cooking oil, to stop it re-setting, works well. I usually let the first few rats have a taste.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...