Air Gun Home :: View topic - Searching for a quiet .22 pest control rifle

GnuDonkey · New Member

Hi, I have a Crosman 1077, which is quiet and loads of fun but, as far as I can tell, can't be relied on to cleanly and quickly kill the ground squirrels digging up my yard. I'd like to step up to a .22, a spring-piston preferrably. Can someone recommend a .22 break barrel that's accurate, quiet and has enough power for one-shot kills of squirrel-sized pests?

The real selling point is noise. ... I figure almost any .22 caliber will shoot straight and punch through a ground squirrel. The trick is, I need to shoot without bothering my suburban neighbors.

(I'm pretty new to air guns, so if you're responding, assume I don't know a whole lot.)

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Well Crosman Quest 800s are decent break-barrels, .22 and do around 650fps with 14.3gr pellets. However, they are hard to come by these days and may take a number of phone calls to find someone with one on the shelf or the willingness to try and get one from Crosman.

There's also the Russian MP512, which is around 600fps with 14.3gr pellets.

As for others in breakbarrel and .22 cal- anything 800fps and over will start to sound like a regular .22 firearm (i.e. too loud)- and I'm not thinking of anything else right now.

If you want to think Co² there gets to be more choices; Crosman 2260, QB78, etc. that will remain under 800fps.

These guns, by the way, are all less than $100- if you're thinking higher-end, that will change the list a bit.

GnuDonkey · New Member

Thanks for the tip on keeping under 800 fps. I've seen a couple places selling the Quest 800X online. You say that heavier pellets will cut down its advertised 800 fps muzzle velocity. I might try to buy one.

As for price point, I'm not thinking high end, but I'm willing to consider the $100-$200 range. Does that add anything worth considering?

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Not really for lower-powered break-barrels- the RWS/Diana 34 maybe- but it does open up a bunch of Co² guns if you want to go that way.

johncedarhill · Member

In my opinion a break barrel or any springer giving 800 fps is going to be mechanically more noisy than the pellet. Out of the box springers are loud unless tuned by a third party. Co2 or PCPs can be less noisy but PCPs require much more equipment for charging them. Take a look at Archer Air Guns to get information on the QB78.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

GnuDonkey · New Member

First, thanks for all the information.

I've nearly made up my mind, but I could use a little more expert advice on this.

So it sounds like (1) any spring-piston I purchase will be relatively noisy on account of the mechanism; however, (2) unless I'm willing to pay $250-$500 on a quality CO2 or PCP rifle, a spring-piston is the only mechanism that'll accelerate a .22 pellet to speeds of at least 650 fps (my arbitary minimum requirement for .22 squirrel hunting). Lastly, in order to reduce noise, I can (4) buy heavier pellets, slowing the muzzle velocity down and thereby reducing or eliminating pellet noise.

I'm leaning toward an inexpensive 800 fps break barrel, one that I can load with heavier pellets like 16 gr. predators to cut pellet noise. I'm considering the Crosman Quest 800X, but I've read more than a few negative comments regarding quality control, spring life and the bundled scope, even worse when you consider that the Crosman has only a one year warranty.

Therefore, it sounds like it might be better to go with a slightly more expensive gun with a scope I'm willing to keep (AO is important to me) and a lifetime warranty. The Beeman .22 SS1000H sounds good. Anyone got an opinion on this gun or something in the same price range (Cheaper than Dirt sells it for $137)? I'd like to pick up a rifle, AO scope (if not bundled) and some ammo for under $200, the further under the better.

And one more thing: If I shoot from inside my house, aiming out a window, I'm guessing most of the gun noise will remain in the house, yes?

Thanks again.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

If you keep the muzzle of the gun inside the house- most of the noise will stay in the house.

Beeman SS series guns are all Made in China specials. They cannot be tuned, generally speaking, and you cannot buy parts for them if you break something and don't want to pay Beeman Service to fix it. They are more likely to be accurate straight out of the box than a Crosman of similar characteristics- and that's about the only reason they can get a higher price premium on them (the warranty too- but I don't know how Beeman is running the warranties on the Chinese-made guns they re-label). In my opinion, none of the SS-series Beemans being made today are worth the money- but that's just me.

If you're looking at up to $250- maybe a Co² gun in the form of a Umarex/Hammerli AirMagnum 850 would work in .22 caliber. See the "deals" forum here for a link to refurbished units direct from Umarex (about $160 with shipping to your door) Brand new they are around $230 from online vendors. It shoots more in the range of 650fps using .22 pellets.

As for pellet weight- most common off-the-shelf WalMart variety stuff is in the 14.3gr range- 16gr is not particularly "heavy" as things go, so this shouldn't be much of an issue in respect to what gun you choose- it'll all be in the same ballpark unless you go to the extreme end and use something like an Eun Jin pellet at 29gr. See here: http://www.airgunhome.com/pages/pelletspecs.html

I may have mislead you slightly on noise comparisons- muzzle report will be affected somewhat by pellet "speed" (as long as we stay below the sound barrier)- so when I stated anything over 800fps as a guideline- this should not have been the only index mark and I perhaps should have added that anything over approximately 12ft lbs (fpe) of muzzle energy will tend to be louder- so a 14.3gr .22 pellet going 650fps will still be outputting 13.42fpe. It would be quieter than a 7.9gr .177 cal pellet in a gun outputting 13.42fpe as that pellet would travel at 875fps. It's a bit of a balancing act, really.

Really, I'm not trying to confuse the issue here- but with the different considerations in this decision, it gets a bit funky.

If you want my "specific gun" choices if you were I with the same criteria (price, noise, power, accuracy and caliber):

Break Barrel, Diana (RWS) Model 34: http://www.pyramydair.com/p/rws-34-air-rifle.shtml

Co², Umarex/Hammerli AirMagnum 850: http://www.pyramydair.com/p/rws-850-AirMagnum-air-rifle.shtml

But you have to live with what you buy- so don't just buy something based on any one specific person's recommendation- we all have our own tastes.

Jim McArthur · Veteran Member

23ib0d0n · Moderator

Spring noise is minimal. The .177 Diana 38 shooting about 16fpe is a rifle I used for a pest control job a few years back. After I rolled the pest the guy I was working for asked me what happened, because he said all he heard was a low thud and thought I had bumped into the bookshelves.

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

Co2 guns are just about the noisiest apart from powder burners you can get, as a general rule springers power for power are a lot quieter, thats why in Europe most Co2 and PCP users fit silencers, but don't bother with springers.

Al

under500fps · Veteran Member

GnuDonkey · New Member

From what I'm reading, both CO2 guns and springers make their fair share of noise. It's all a question of where the noise goes. I tried shooting my Crosman 1077 today from inside my house. With the barrel protruding from an open sliding door, I fired a shot and thought I had a bum powerlet: I heard none of the noise associated with firing other than the gun's internal mechanism, no louder than a stapler. It was only after taking a second shot that I noticed two holes in my target.

So, to generalize, is it true that a CO2 gun primarily generates noise forward of the gun (from rapidly expanding gas), whereas a springer generates noise in all directions (from the motion of its internal components)? If that's the case, a springer fired from a house with the barrel out a window would sound loud as heck to the shooter but nearly silent to anyone outside. Meanwhile, a CO2 gun fired in the same manner would produce the reverse: noise outside, quiet inside. As for what's inherently more noisy, a springer or CO2 gun, I gather that no one's in agreement, and no one's gone to the trouble of conducting comparative SPL tests (though I did find this today on springers: http://www.straightshooters.com/documents/decibelrating.html).

It sounds like I should get a springer if I'm willing to use it only from an indoor position. If I want to fire outside, I should get a CO2 gun and a muzzle brake, thereby channeling all the sound along a slim single vector.

You've recommended the Diana RWS 34. Is the Diana RWS 34 Panther mechanically the same gun, just with a different stock? (It's the springer I'm leaning toward.) And having used only pneumatic pump and CO2 guns, am I going to have to relearn how to shoot?

As for the Airmagnum 850, I like what I've read ... sounds like a solid piece of engineering, sounds fun to shoot, and has the advantage of quick follow-up shots when targeting pests. Can anyone comment on the noise it generates on the muzzle end?

Thanks for all the input.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Noise out the barrel really comes down to the volume of gas/unexpanded being pushed out. This can also be affected by the pellet being fired.

Co² is more inclined to be noisy from a muzzle perspective because oftentimes unexpanded Co² finds its way out to the end of the muzzle where it then expands very rapidly, creating alot of noise. The reason I might speculate that Co² guns are more prone to this is because of the effect temperature has on expansion characteristics- i.e. colder conditions- slower expansion, warmer conditions- faster expansion. Thus, a constantly changing rate (and thus location- in the barrel or out of it) of gas expansion allows for alot of 'slop' and expansion outside the barrel, creating more noise.

Pellet 'fit' in the barrel also affects noise- a tight fitting pellet gives the propellant (air or Co²) the ability to expand behind the pellet as it travels up the barrel- whereas a loose pellet allows gas blow-by which would tend to make for more noise during the entire firing event but quite possibly lower the muzzle exit volume as more air came out ahead of the pellet already expanded rather than behind it. This blow-by would also lower the ultimate potential velocity of the pellet.

For some ideas on sound/it's interaction in an airgun, look at the Muzzlebrake and Silencer page- some stuff is buried in there:

http://www.airgunhome.com/pages/silencers.html

As for the Diana 34 "Phantom"- yes, same guts as a 'regular' 34 (being a newer version, it's always possible some minor improvements have been implemented since the last version- but it will be essentially identical).

And in respect to the idea of relearning to shoot- maybe a little bit- springers (the more powerful, the more prevalent this is) have a dual recoil, forward and backward. It is not a harsh recoil like on a larger-caliber firearm- but it is different. Following the shot through (on the optics) allows for the best accuracy- especially when compared to pump, PCP or Co² guns. Many people have argued that shooting with a higher powered springer improves shooting ability that translates into better shooting with all other types of gun; air and firearm. I don't know for a fact that this is true- but it certainly sounds appealing.

JGTC-spec · New Member

You can get a shroud to really reduce the muzzle noise of a 850 AirMagnum. Check out this clip.

850 shroud project