Bradders Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Ok folks, I have done a search and had no luck finding the information I need so over to you all. What is the effective range of a standard 22 air rifle for taking rabbits cleanly and effectivly. I have not taken shots because I judge the rabbits to be out of range and I don't wish to experiment by "trial and error". I can effectivly put shot on shot (ok 1p size grouping) out to about 35 yards but hold back from taking rabbits which are over 25 yards away as I am not sure the kill would be clean above that distance. I'm using a .22 BSA Hornet which is on the legal limit. So what is the reasonable maximum range that I should consider taking rabbits and still be sure of an effective clean kill. Can I push out to 30 or even 35 yards..... I'm not looking for record breakers here, just some practical advice..... Thanks..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss12 Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 You should only shoot at distances where you get groupings of less than an inch but i try to keep it below 35/40 yards. As for the maximum distance it's possible to shoot rabbits at 60 yards with a 12ftlb but you would have to be a VERY VERY good shot with ideal conditions to achive this. ss12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 They will kill cleanly out to 40 yards or more if you can keep your shots in that 1p sized area. Usually it's the accuracy that gives way before the power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavman Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 UUM firstly congrats on your approach, second I have been running at 36ft/lbs on an FAC for about 8 months and in the field is not the same as target no matter what some may say, I found 50 yards the max to take a clean shot and at 12 lbs would reduce this to 30/ and not much more for a head shot, one main problem i came across was how close you can get and best results i found was to "lay in wait" under scrim let 3 or 4 come out and pick them off, all the better if a little wind in my face to blow the sent away and add a little noise to cover my movement, some may well tosh this and there may well be some who can clean a kill at longer range,,,,,,,but not too many and good luck to he who can on a cold windy night when you are wet from grass and have cramp all things add up to conspire and make the job harder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madpup Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 The effective range of a standard 22 air rifle is about two foot , grab the barrel and swing at the rabbits head, the pellet coming out of the rifle is a bit more.... sorry couldn't help myself, i will get my coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 (edited) Depends on a lot of variables. Angle of the shot, weather conditions, postion of the quarry and how confident you are of getting a shot in the kill zone. Do not take the shot if you suspect the quarry is to far away or weather conditions are not ideal. By the sounds of your post you are getting good groupings out to 35 yards, so maybe limit yourself to 30 yards max for now. Practice makes perfect, however I find it difficult to replecate the challenge / excitement of dispatching live quarry while shooting at knockovers / paper targets etc Edited March 26, 2008 by Disco Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
col s10 Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 The effective range of a standard 22 air rifle is about two foot , grab the barrel and swing at the rabbits head,the pellet coming out of the rifle is a bit more.... sorry couldn't help myself, i will get my coat. heres your hat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyjaimz Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 A 12 fl/lb air rifle will kill a rabbit at 30-40 yrds regardless of calibre (.22 or .177) provided you can put the pellet in the kill zone. I have witnessed a 45-50 yrd clean head shot kill from a .177 BSA Superten (no it wasnt me, but I was there). The thing with your rifle is that because you are shooting .22 you have to be absolutley certain of your range finding ability in order to place the shot correctly (at 40 yrds you may be using several milldots if you zeroed at 30). If you are getting 1p sized groups at 35 yards consistantly then you should be fine. Why not place some targets up at various ranges to see the diferance in you POA? Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterS410 Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 (edited) A 12 fl/lb air rifle will kill a rabbit at 30-40 yrds regardless of calibre (.22 or .177) provided you can put the pellet in the kill zone.I have witnessed a 45-50 yrd clean head shot kill from a .177 BSA Superten (no it wasnt me, but I was there). The thing with your rifle is that because you are shooting .22 you have to be absolutley certain of your range finding ability in order to place the shot correctly (at 40 yrds you may be using several milldots if you zeroed at 30). If you are getting 1p sized groups at 35 yards consistantly then you should be fine. Why not place some targets up at various ranges to see the diferance in you POA? Hope this helps i get 1p groupings @ 45yards with my s410 22 Edited March 26, 2008 by VIRMIN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradders Posted March 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 (edited) Thanks folks for the replies, I am fairly comfortable with the groupings I have been getting at 35 yards, I think I will zero at 30 yards (currently 25) then shoot at 20/25/35 to see where the point of impact is. I have a couple of places where I can sit in ambush and where the cover is good. I will place some kind of marker/stick into the ground at the various distances so that I can be sure of the right degree of hold over/under (I'm using a mildot so that will make life easier). For now I will limit myself to 30 yards. It's good to know that if the shot placement is spot on the Hornet will kill cleanly at that range......I wasn't sure of its effective range but now I have a much better idea. Thanks..... Edited March 26, 2008 by Bradders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snipper Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 download chairgun from here http://www.chairgun.com/ its a Pellet Trajectory Calculator and more basicly put in what pellet your using ect ect and it will the flight path of pellets ect and loads of othe stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterS410 Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 download chairgun from here http://www.chairgun.com/ its a Pellet Trajectory Calculator and more basicly put in what pellet your using ect ect and it will the flight path of pellets ect and loads of othe stuff its coming up that you have 2 pay :S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyjaimz Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Just a thought, might be an idea to put your gun through a chrono, to see exactly what ft/lb's it's running at. You will need that info to calculate a trajectory chart also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterS410 Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 (edited) Just a thought, might be an idea to put your gun through a chrono, to see exactly what ft/lb's it's running at.You will need that info to calculate a trajectory chart also Whos Edited March 26, 2008 by VIRMIN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurcherboy Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Bradders, I limit myself to 35-40 yards although I can shoot fairly accurately further out than that I am not confident in getting a kill. There is nothing worse than the quarry being wounded and suffering a slow death underground There are plenty of hotshot airgunners that can and do make me look silly and I envy the time they have been able to put in to their craft LB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradders Posted March 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 Bradders, I limit myself to 35-40 yards although I can shoot fairly accurately further out than that I am not confident in getting a kill. There is nothing worse than the quarry being wounded and suffering a slow death underground :blink: LB LB, I agree with your point completly. I can get good groupings out to 35 yards, I have not tried further than that. I just want to be sure at what range I can expect the air rifle to be lethal (subject to hitting a kill spot). I was not sure and didn't want to experiment. It appears that the general opinion is 35 yards is the mximum I should consider although I appreciate that some people have had kills at ranges further than this. Thanks everone for your input, very much appreciated......Bradders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Sam Posted March 27, 2008 Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 Since I got the shotties I have to say that I am a little dissapointed in the power of them. Once you get to 30 yards, #6 shot seems to have very little energy, far less than an air rifle at that range. I was shooting at a metal plate which the air rifle went through fine, and about 20% of the shotgun pellets failed to go through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snipper Posted March 27, 2008 Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 download chairgun from here http://www.chairgun.com/ its a Pellet Trajectory Calculator and more basicly put in what pellet your using ect ect and it will the flight path of pellets ect and loads of othe stuff its coming up that you have 2 pay :S theres a free download http://www.chairgun.com/download/ChairGun2_Setup.exe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyjaimz Posted March 27, 2008 Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 Cheers Andy mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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