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Rat pellets


welshwarrior
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I’ve a few rats about and looking to use my sons BSA Ultra JSR 12 Ft Lb 22 air rifle to shoot some what pellets do guys find best heavy magnums or light fast.  Current got SMK Spitefires that have been fine and accurate on targets but don’t give great results on the rats.  

What do you guys recommend air guns haven’t been my thing for quite awhile so don’t know what’s out there 

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Put the pellet in the right place and it really doesn't matter what type it is ;) Rats are amazingly tough and body shots simply are not going to drop them on the spot. You need to 'switch them off' with a good head shot. 'Lead through brain' will terminate the problem every time and it won't matter what shape the lead is when it's there. If your current pellets are giving good accuracy then stick with them and put the hole where the hole needs to be.

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You say the SMK are accurate, so what sort of grouping are you getting at 15-20 yards? Some of the test I have seen with them you would be lucky to group them in a 50p.

Any pellet will kill with a head or body shot (rib area) its my guess that because of the poor accuracy of the SMK, some, if not all are hitting the rat in the rear end (belly shot) Get a tin of Air Arms diablo field pellets.

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A friend recommended me some H&N Baracuda Hunter Extremes for rats. They’re hollow point so should hit hard but apparently still fly well at moderate range. 

Have some on order so curious to see if they are much different in practice to diablos.  Seem to get good reviews online tho. 

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15 hours ago, manthing said:

Agreed.

When you say it's accurate, how big is a 5 shot group at the distance you're shooting the rats at? Ideally you need to be sub 5p size with 5 shots each and every time. I find the best place is between the eyes if head on or slightly behind the eye side on.

I dont fully agree with this, if the rat is still I'll happily take the head shot, but I'm just as happy taking a chest shot when there mooching about, they might jump or flip into cover or down a hole, but your still going to have a dead rat, i normally find shooting them with accupell the pellet punches clean through which is why i like the pest control for rats.

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Just now, Mice! said:

I dont fully agree with this, if the rat is still I'll happily take the head shot, but I'm just as happy taking a chest shot when there mooching about, they might jump or flip into cover or down a hole, but your still going to have a dead rat, i normally find shooting them with accupell the pellet punches clean through which is why i like the pest control for rats.

I do agree with you there mice .

Ratting is usually about killing as many  rats as poss .and to that end .an effective pellet to the front end is better than waiting and losing oppotunites waiting for it to stop and present a perfect shot .Its usually goes .

" ooh rat. "Lift gun, aim front end and pop .! Fast as poss. Also if they are say sub 12 yds .the hold over becomes very critical .too much sometimes for a 10mm brain shot .but the hl area is bigger and just as effective with the right pellet. 

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I use peanut butter with a goodly dose of mixed birdseed/chopped peanuts mixed in it and then pressed into the holes in a brick. I do this as a comeon maybe a week before shooting so they find it and get used to it being there.  I did have one problem in that when I went to shoot it, as dusk came on the farm cat came and sat next to the bricks it had obviously found that rats used the bricks frequently.

The 22 Webley Mossies do the job on both rats and tree rats no problem.

Edited by Walker570
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Hi, we haven't shot rats for many years now but my brother and I using Mercury's and Airsporters in .22 all we used at the time were Hobbies wadcutters and rarely had a rat that didn't stay dead where shot.  The range across the river we calculated was between 25 and 32 yds from us, this was the area around the sewer outfall into the river.  We tried only to take them out from the upper belly upwards towards the head to which we did quite well.  As mention earlier most pellets will do the job they just have to hit right.

MM

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16 minutes ago, manthing said:

Sorry chaps but if I can't ensure a quick clean kill even on a rat I personally won't take the shot.

Wounding an animal and leaving it to die down a hole is not my thing. 

Not being funny that's just my way, you have yours. 

If you use a shotgun do you apply the same rules?

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8 minutes ago, manthing said:

I always do all I can to ensure whatever I shoot at comes to a quick end. 

Quote,

“Sorry chaps but if I can't ensure a quick clean kill even on a rat I personally won't take the shot”

So you do take the shot then with the  uncertainty of a clean kill with a shotgun, does not make sense to me, but as you say you have your way and I mine, a pellets placed in the upper body (heart, lungs area) will result in a dead rat, it might take a little longer for it to stop jumping about but it will be dead.
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5 hours ago, manthing said:

Sorry chaps but if I can't ensure a quick clean kill even on a rat I personally won't take the shot.

Wounding an animal and leaving it to die down a hole is not my thing. 

Not being funny that's just my way, you have yours. 

Then realistically you should never pull the trigger, if I'm shooting a rat in the chest at 25 metres, normally less its going to die, it might flip about sometimes but its job done.

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I'm afraid if you do enough for long enough you will wound something whatever shot you take. Big thing these days for head shooting deer but I wonder if those who do had seen a fallow doe still alive with maggots crawling out of her tongue and broken bottom jaw would still do it.  I have and have shot too many in similar circumstances to want to take that shot ever myself.

Same with tree rats, as much as I hate them. I have to be confident the pellet will go where I intend or I do not shoot.   I was on a duck shoot recently and one gun who I had clocked earlier as being a novice to the game was shooting at ducks close to if not exceeding 100yrds and one or two other guns commented.

If your going to kill anything, then do it precisely, and with cold efficiency to ensure as fast a demise as possible.

Personally on my tree rat set ups I am between 10 to 12 yrds from the target area and my rifle is zeroed for that distance. I just wait patiently until the target area presents itself and to be honest at that range I do not believe the tree rat will know the difference in make or weight of the pellet. Accuracy is what I am looking for.

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Sorry I don't agree, its impossible to be sure of a clean kill before you have pulled the trigger with an air rifle, when its left the barrel its in the lap of the gods and then you hope its prime on target an animal can move in the time the trigger is being pulled, my experience has shown me its never 100% right.

Hi W570, excuse me for asking but are you using a scope to shoot TR's  just 10yds away.

MM

 

Edited by madmax666
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  • 3 months later...

I use a AA S200 .22  12ft lb rifle fitted with a Hawke Airmax 3-12 x 50 scope.  I know precisely where the zero is on the scope out to 40 yrds in still conditions.  At 10yrds I hold on the second 'pip' down because the rifle will shoot low at that range.  I shot over 200 tree rats last year with Webley Mosquito' pellets. The tree rats are baited onto a flip top feeder and I wait until they are settled and nibbling a nut and their head is the right angle.  With the same sight setting today I shot two barn pigeons at just over 35yrds, direct hits, dead pigeons. Aim point on scope was center cross hairs because that is the range I set zero at.  It is imperative that shooting an air rifle you take the time to set a series of targets out and learn/memorise the settings for your rifle.

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Edited by Walker570
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On 28/09/2018 at 19:23, Dougy said:

Save up your mashed spuds from sunday dinners, mix in some drinking chocolate powder and place in your favourite spot. They love it. 

Waste not  want not.👍

Mix drinking choc' powder  with a helping of runny porridge.just as effective as Duggy's recipe,and you can make it any day of the week.

I've seen wood pigeons fall wounded, as the result of being hit by shotgun pellets, and left to die from their injuries.

luckily for the pigeons I came along when i did, to end their suffering.😉

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