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Sensibly priced FAC air rifle...advise


Walker570
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One of my shoots is a dairy farm and the yard is now expanding way beyond the great ability of the AA S200 and it is too noisy to use the HMR it just echos around the buildings, therefore I am out looking for an FAC which will do the job on magpies etc getting into the feed areas, silgae pits etc.  I have prupose built box high seats already in place and the max distance is 70yrds but you have guessed it, the maggie will always land about that point and taunt me.  Any thoughts?

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https://www.mcavoyguns.co.uk/contents/en-uk/p12284_160206_006_.22_Titan_19_FAC.html

The second section for Mcavoys isn't great or updated so you would need to phone and ask, but £250 is pretty hard to beat, even with Rfd transfer. 

https://www.mcavoyguns.co.uk/contents/en-uk/p72207_190827_001-.22-Theoben-Rapid-7.html

Also this one at £500

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Consider how many shots you are likely to need in a day, if 40 is enough then look for an AA S410/510 but the later regged version, the "xtra" model has a power wheel on the side so you can go from around 9 ftlb up to 28 ish, there is a way of making the unregged version work better but that's another story. I paid £250 for the one below but I've had a Lane Reg fitted which was another£140 all in. You will need to experiment with pellets as well, FAC guns can be fickle when you are asking for 70 yard kill shots. The above is regarding AA guns, UltraStu will most likely be along shortly and he's a mine of info regarding FAC guns.

1902824775_lance(2).jpg.69417c4fe9ff590ac8ecfc76bd4b676e.jpg

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Cheers bruno .

I do remember us considering whether nevs gamo boxer in. 177 can be tuned to fac level and if it would be capable of 70 yds shots on magpies.  If I remember right walker was concerned about using a .22 rimmy  due to backstop issues beyond the 70 yd wall .?? 

A .22 fac air running around 25 - 30 fpe with a quality  jsb would do the job without carrying  excessive risk down range  .

If wind is an issue , I've found that the higher the bc of a pellet /slug the better the wind bucking.   But a .177 jsb exact heavy has a very high bc for a .177 and can compete  with the very best of the .22 pellets  .all for less air usage and energy .I think if I was in walkers position  I'd look at a .177 with a long barrel (bull pup ) and a bottle supply .

That way I could launch jsb heavies at 950 - 1000 fps  or 13 grn slugs  around 900 fps .for a decent shot count .

Maybe one of the new agt uragans  .? 

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19 hours ago, jall25 said:

.22 RF ?

Would that not be far cheaper and easier i wonder ?

Concrete surfaces everywhere so serious chance of a rico and with a couple of million quids worth of four legged beef creatures in the vicinity I do not want that.

I estimate that a 22 rifle FAC would be ideal four what I require. The idea of a 177 was because I already had one and considered upgrading it but the specialists said it would not work on that rifle.

Edited by Walker570
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35 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

TBH, looking at your reason for needing such a gun, I think that the Magpies will soon cotton on and stop coming after a very short while 🤔.

They already have.  Maybe because that is because they never went away. Initially some years ago the farm asked me to sort them out as they were all in the concentrates and feedstuffs and I killed close to 300 in 18 months. Now we see maybe a dozen at one time in the spring and now six or seven in a morning.  The farm sits alongside about 1000 acres of forestry and then a large town on the other side so a constant incoming.  The problem was such that I have two purpose built raised shooting  box blinds for the job.  I just require that extra reach and impact to do a tidy job and as said the HMR has filled in but is too noisy and the 22RF too dangerous, hence the choice of an FAC air rifle.

One spin off of the magpie control is the increase in song birds and wagtails about the place. 

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13 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Concrete surfaces everywhere so serious chance of a rico and with a couple of million quids worth of four legged beef creatures in the vicinity I do not want that.

I estimate that a 22 rifle FAC would be ideal four what I require. The idea of a 177 was because I already had one and considered upgrading it but the specialists said it would not work on that rifle.

I reckon your right. The .22 pellet is readily available and easy to handle. I had a air ranger at 35lb and it was good to 80yds. Sold it for £400. 22rf is just too bouncy if there is anything hard around.

 

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I run an AA S510 in .22 which I run at 26 ft lbs as this seems to be the sweet spot and what a great bit of kit it is. After much testing AA diabolo field gave me the best groups and knocks over rabbits and corvids out to 70 yards without a problem. It is an essential tool around the farm when needing quietness and is more accurate than my .22lr with sub ammo at 70 yards.

 

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5 hours ago, 243deer said:

I run an AA S510 in .22 which I run at 26 ft lbs as this seems to be the sweet spot and what a great bit of kit it is. After much testing AA diabolo field gave me the best groups and knocks over rabbits and corvids out to 70 yards without a problem. It is an essential tool around the farm when needing quietness and is more accurate than my .22lr with sub ammo at 70 yards.

 

 

3 hours ago, arjimlad said:

I also enjoy using AA DF in my Bowkett-tuned BSA Super10 at a similar power level. 

Been pellet testing my S510 xtra (FAC) for nearly a week now, tried JSB Exact, Exact Heavies, FX and H&N but none are particularly impressive, scanning this thread earlier and came to the 2 posts above then remembered that I have a half tin of AA Diablo Field tucked away somewhere, dug them out, 35 yards (still conditions) 10 shots, happy days.

962557298_s510target.jpg.16266ca0468377355ad3896b3f8803fe.jpg 

Edited by bruno22rf
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I just changed to some different pellets and at my flip top distances of 15yrds then little difference in groups but will see tomorrow if the tree rats enjoy them more.

I appreciate all the incoming comments on an FAC for farm yard use.  Way back when farms catered for milking 28 cows,  ours did and it was considered a big herd back then choice of 'machinery' for vermin control was limited to a 12 or 16 gauge shotgun and a BSA air rifle but not a thought about safety.  Today with upwards of 800 or more very expensive four legged creatures walking about, then safety is nO1 consideration in my book.

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14 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

Even if the worst should happen and you hit a cow side on at say 100 yds .I doubt that a .22 pellet doing 12.5 fpe is gonna be too bad on a tough cow hide .certainly  not a good idea but again with some careful explanation  and apologies  not the end of the world .

Same could not be said for a 17 hmr or .22 lr .or even a heavy airgun slug ,  I think a heavy (33 grn ) .25 pellet would be a problem also . Again  light 8.5 or 10.3 grn .177  could be even less of an issue .

Just a thought  

 

Yep, fully agree and that is why I have the two purpose built elevated box hides.  Of course I also have to be aware of the humans walking and working the area, usually three or four at any one time.   Of course   background background background at all times it is just I need to be able to reach out some 25yrds further than normal now and be sure of a clean kill.

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33 minutes ago, London Best said:

Can you not move one box 25 yds closer?  Or build another hide of some sort?

Not on I'm afraid. Both spots are out of the way of farm traffic...at the moment...   The one also covers a good foxing field for night work and the other also doubles a a good tree rat eradication site with a flip top feeder just 25yrds away. 

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"Even if the worst should happen and you hit a cow side on at say 100 yds .I doubt that a .22 pellet doing 12.5 fpe is gonna be too bad on a tough cow hide .certainly  not a good idea but again with some careful explanation  and apologies  not the end of the world ."

 

I really wouldn't recommend this 'advice' !!! Just think about that, and if you need an explanation, well,,,, 🤔

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3 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Even if the worst should happen and you hit a cow side on at say 100 yds .I doubt that a .22 pellet doing 12.5 fpe is gonna be too bad on a tough cow hide .certainly  not a good idea but again with some careful explanation  and apologies  not the end of the world .

Same could not be said for a 17 hmr or .22 lr .or even a heavy airgun slug ,  I think a heavy (33 grn ) .25 pellet would be a problem also . Again  light 8.5 or 10.3 grn .177  could be even less of an issue .

Just a thought  

 

What??? Have you thought this through?

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