Hawkeye75 Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 (edited) Hey. I have recently ordered a lovely BSA Supersport Carbine .25 from my local rifle dealer. Firstly, what type of scope do you reckon i should fit on this? I was thinking of a AGS 3-9x40 with mildot repticle, for 50 quid.(from Uttings ) What do you think? I have a budget on the scope for around 60 quid, but they come with mounts. Next, i would like your opinions on pellets in the .25 brand. I will be using it for hunting quarry and i am capable of good long range groups. Maybe 4" from 35-40 yrds with my past rifle (sniff) Sharps Innova .22. As i will be hunting quarry such as Pidgeons, Starlings, Crows and Magpies i was thinking of hollow points. Those .25 are beasts, i saw them in the shop. In comparison with .22's im quite sure it will make more humane kills. What do you think? Lastly, What type of equipment of equipment do you think i should buy. I already have combats, but i think a combat hat would be a good purchase. I am thinking of buying decoys like : 1owl 2Crows 2Pidgeons. I could combine the decoys to inact an Owl fight. Or just go for simple pidgeon decoys on tree's and ground level. What are your thoughts? What callers do you think would be best? Crow callers? Pidgeon Callers? Thanks, Hawkeye75 NB. It's an 18 foot pound rifle, that i carry a licence for. (Just for scope and range purposes) Edited March 1, 2005 by Hawkeye75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNAKEBITE Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 If you are going for anything in trees I have heard that one of those veils or camoflauge head covers B) is needed. Somthing to stop ypu "flashing the pink" when you look skywards. With the owl decoy I have heard it is best to put it on a fence post. Make sure it has BIG beady yellow eyes, as this is what pokes 'em up Disclaimer All the above info is what I have read before in other posts and magazines, I'm not really that experienced yet :*) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 3-9 X 50 Paralax adjustable with illuminated reticule falls into your price range. Have a look here http://www.airshooter.co.uk/acatalog/Airshooter_Scopes.html Great little place Lord Geordie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbivvy Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 As i will be hunting quarry such as Pidgeons, Starlings, Crows and Magpies , starlings?? not anymore you wont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye75 Posted March 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 how come? are they not classed as vermin? Im only just renewing my licence now, but a year ago, they were classed as vermin. Hawkeye75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 There was talk of removing them from the list due to dwindling numbers. I am unsure if they have been removed just yet!!!!! Lord Geordie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 of 5 Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 18 ft/lb from a supersport even in .25 is somewhat optimistic. I had one in that calibre at 11 ft/lb and frankly there wasn't much scope left in it at that. .25 pellets are ALL poor ballistically. Mosquitoes / FTT are the only semi-decent ones. Anything else will loose energy fast downrange. .25 hollowpoints aren't going to open up at the sort of power the SS will put out. BSA .25 barrels are a tad undersized and although you can get some pellets that fit (Pylarm I believe being the most common example) most require a serious shove to get into the barrel. This tight fit doesn't help power. The AGS is almost certainly the best scope in your budget. Sorry but a 4 inch group at 35-40 yds won't cut it. You should limit your range to whatever range you can hit a 1 inch group. The killzones on your quarry are approx that size. Shooting 40 yds as per your Sharp with a .25 even at an alleged 18 ft/lb is akin skill wise to shooting a 12 ft/lb .22 around 50 yds in terms of drop. I never took my SS beyond 25 yds as being two yds out beyond that equalled a miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shootist Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Tiny bit over budget but a Hawke Reflex 3~10x44 is totally bomb proof on a springer. Not bad optically too and mil dot. It stands out compared to other Hawkes of a similar price as much better than the rest. JSR £69 post free I have two of em ... excellent for the money. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye75 Posted March 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 The Shootist, i would be very interested in your scope. I will email you about that tommorow. About the 4" grouping.. im not exactly great with numerics and things. I think 4" may be a tad big. If any of you UK shooters out there attend Bisley Full Bore Annual Competition, i came 99th in the Times shoot Im in the Ireland .22 Smallbore team, but i never exactly tested my groupings with sharps, the range i gave was a bit of an estimate. The 18f/p. THe guy in the shop said, as long as your putting it on your licence, you can exceed 12f/p in the power comming out of the barrel. The actual rifle name on my licence is a BSA Supersport .25 @ 18f/p. Im not sure 18f/p is the pellet hitting its mark if you know what i mean, i think its more what the rifle's spring is measured at. I had no choice in the matter. The guy just said, this is a powerful rifle, its 18 foot pounds. Its great in comparison to the BSA airsporter that lay beside it. Ill just have to see power wise what is like at the time, but ill keep those pellets in mind. Thank you 1 of 5. Lord Geordie, that scope you mentioned. It didnt say anything about fog-proof in the blurb, but it did mention it was waterproof, what do you make of this? Quality? Thanks again, Hawkeye75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_whitson Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Yeah, as of march starlings and sparrows are no longer on general license, but Canada geese (!) are. DEFRA are lunatics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul in North Lincs. Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Hawkeye...... From what I gather, 2.5 calibre isnt the greatest hunting calibre in the world. 18 ft lb supersport..........................very interesting. Just a little confused however, as to what license you have/ or are renewing? Without wanting to sound patronising, I get the impression from you initial post, that you have very limited knowedge about shooting, and wonder how you managed to obtain a Fire Arms Certificate, which is required for any rifle over the statutory 12ft.lb limit. Paul in North Lincs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Yeah, as of march starlings and sparrows are no longer on general license, but Canada geese (!) are. DEFRA are lunatics! Sorry mate I dont agree... Starling and Sparrow numbers are down dramatically and the decline is continuing. The reason they were on the general list in the first place is not necessarily because of crop predation but because of their huge numbers. Starlings basically are insectivores whose diet is made up of 75% leather jackets or crane fly lavae. And Sparrows normally are only interested in grain at stubble time unless they have the opportunity to feed on badly stored or siloed grain. Please dont shoot either of them in the name of crop control it just isnt necessary !!! FM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_whitson Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Hehehe. No, i meant the opposite; they're lunatics for putting canadas ON the list, not taking sparrows and starlings off it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Hehehe. No, i meant the opposite; they're lunatics for putting canadas ON the list, not taking sparrows and starlings off it! Ahhh so.... me now see what u meen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye75 Posted March 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Paul in North Lincs, I may not have a full knowledge in hunting in general, but i do have a good knowledge of full bore 7.62 and small bore .22 shooting. I think the licence question may be a misunderstanding. I live in Northern Ireland, where air guns over the power of 1 joule are illegal. This would even include a small pellet gun such as a G10. I have been cleared for my licence because i have been shooting for a number of years and attended many competitions. Therefore i could obtain high authority people to sign my referee list (not even sure if that mattered), and had no criminal convictions. Those are the northern ireland fire arms licence terms, and i meet the criteria. The more powerful version of the supersport was available to me because i live in Belfast and the Belfast air rifle retailer anticipates that any customer will be using a full licence. It is not the type of rifle that i would purchase from an internet site or an england retailer, which would only have the limitation of 12f/p. I do not however have a vast knowledge of hunting. In the past i have gone on shoots merely for fun. The reason i posted this topic was to learn about it with reference to the caliber i am using and the rifle i use. For what reasons is the .25 caliber bad for shooting? Firing with a powerful version of the supersport, even with a weighty pellet, i would have thought that the pellet would have both the velocity and the power to ensure a humane kill. I would like to stress that i am not a regular hunter, i am purchasing my air rifle only because i have an interest in the sport. I want to know more about hunting in the field with this caliber and the specification of the scope i should use relating to the caliber. Thanks again, Hawkeye75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 of 5 Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 .25 is great for hunting but at Supersport powers it's a short range option only. The pellet drop is huge making range estimation critical. Shooting one much over 25 yds with sufficient accuracy to hit the killzone will take the skills of a marksman. .25 isn't a particularly great choice though even if you've got 50 ft/lb as pellet choice is poor when compared to .22. For a cheap(ish) spring powered FAC airgun I'd suggest the HW80 in .22 as this is truely designed to run at 18 ft/lb or so and can be coaxed a little higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Above 12ft/lbs I'd agree with 1 of 5, a .22 is the way to go. At 12ft/lbs(for a non FAC holder in mainland UK) .177 is the better calibre. I'm suprised if you are in the Ireland .22 team that you don't know about group sizing? When I was in the North I had a BSA meteor on my FAC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye75 Posted March 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Ok.. but i have already put my deposit down on the rifle I might go with it for a while, as i would mainly be decoy shooting, so that should be at a close enough range. I liked the look of the supersport, nice and light, nice design. Im not sure i want to change rifle, i will inquire about other ones though. Another rifle he had was a webley tempest, it was a 32f/p rifle. Quite nice, but heavy and quite pricey. .22's i shoot are centerpoint bullet ammuntion, dont do groups all that much. Im **** with estimations of distance too. Hawkeye75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 i have a theoben mark2 putting out 26ft lbs and i use magnum pellets .22 with that seen to go ok but i still will not take shots out to more than 45yds even thought it is capable of more but i know my limits. the scope i have on that is a simmons Whittail classic 3.5- 10 x40 and this is superb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Hawke eye!!! I purchased the 6-18 x 50s and i have to say i am really impressed with the quality of the scope in general and the optics are much clearer than my Tasco 3-9X40s. On the whole i am really pleased with the quality. I guess it all depepnds on what you want from a scope. I use mine on my Webley Raider and i can hit a 4mm target at 25 yards with every shot. I am actually going to purchase the 3-9x50s that i pointed you toward myself also to replace the scope on my other rifle to try and eliminate any range miscalculation durin shooting. As i say i find them good value for what i payed. There was no name i could make out but they are VERY much like tasco scopes i beleive. They say you get what you pay for!!! I say i robbed someone as mine are excellent for my needs. Lord Geordie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye75 Posted March 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Yeah, very good value, I think i will probably go with that scope, although i am wary of the quality ill probably just take the risk. If it lives up to the decription it will be a decent enough scope at a very good price. Thanks for pointer by the way Hawkeye75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 of 5 Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 A Webley Tempest is an air pistol not a rifle and will never see much more than 3-4 ft/lb and looks like this http://www.airsportdirect.com/acatalog/WebleyTempest.html The only Webley that springs (excuse the pun) to mind in the 30ft/lb bracket is the Patriot . I've never owned one of these but by most accounts I've read are rather nasty when compared to it's competitors. http://www.webley.co.uk/patriot.php3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 of 5 Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 (edited) Im **** with estimations of distance too. Hawkeye75 Then you want either a far more powerful gun or a much smaller calibre to flatten the trajectory. The alternative is to improve your judgment or try a high mounted laser as a rangefinding devise. Using a laser with birds though is a certain way to scare them off. Rabbits are a different story. Edited March 2, 2005 by 1 of 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye75 Posted March 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 My mistake, i meant the patriot, although it is very heavy. Also i meant im **** at estimating the distance that i could fire at in my initial post, not when it comes to the shooting itself. Hawkeye75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nashty Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 It's good to see some people are up to date with the changes made to the general licence issued by DEFRA Could any of you point out whether or not they have removed the general use of decoys/ caged decoys for magpies? I did'nt understand that bit! :*) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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