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jeager106 · Member

I have NEVER killed a ground hog with any of my air guns.
M-48/.22 cal
M-52/.117 cal.
Benjamin pump 9 to 10 pumps, .177 cal.
850 airmagnum in .22, never even tried, pellet too slow.
Have dispatched couple of crows. Tough birds to sneak up one.
My m-48 is getting old, maybe 11 years, and is due for a rebuild.
Will the rebuild up the pellet speed and retore accuracy?
Migh have to 850 converted to the larger tank but will I get the speed up to where it needs to be for quick killes? I'm guessing a .22 should shoot minimum 850 f.p.s. for quick kills.
I'm thinking the .177 hasn't enough lead mass for game kills other than chipmonks.
Your thoughts and experiences appreciated.
Quick story here might help.
I live trapped a possum. Shot it point blank in the side of the head with the old M-48 in .22 using Premiers. It just looked at me.
I stuck the barrel on its head, shot and got penetration but it flopped around a good bit making me a little ick.
Hate to see suffering animals.
Head shot again and put it away. Shot the body several times with Premiers, then got a sharp knife, rubber gloves, did a post mortum.
The side of head shot did NOT penetrate the skull. The barrel on top of the head did but barely hit the brain carrying a lot of that wooly hair with it.
Body shots were samo. Lots of hair draged into the wound limiting penetration. Would pointed pellets, if accurate, be a better choice?
Brands??????
I really want the Remington gas piston rifle for reasons:
I can afford it.
You can leave them cocked a long time. They are reported to give 850 f.p.s. with .22 pellet.
Will it really?
I have an oheler P 35 chrono to verify speed.
PCP might be the very best way to go but I figure with rifle/scope/pump/scuba tank I'm looking at a grand in money and I can't do it, much as I'd love too I can't spend the bucks right now.
In a few months I'll get a couple grand windfall and can go the PCP route but that's at least 4 months down the road.
Will the Remmie gasser piston give the power in .22 cal I need for small game?

tjiscooler · Member

I have a remmington NPSS and i love it! I put the CBT trigger on it and it is a very nice rifle. I took out a squirrel today with it, my first with this gun. Have not tried to shoot raccoon yet but ill let ya know if i do. Those guys are tough! If you need penetration why not try a non lead pellet? I have .22 skenco green monsters that go to page 805 (pradators go 675) in a phone book and can pass through 3/4 inch plywood with a good shot, that would make it into the skull no problem. They dont deform though so less damage but at point blank itll do the job.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

I believe the 'rule of thumb' is 1 fpe for every pound the prey weighs.

So, in the case of a 30 pound groundhog- you need a ballpark of 30fpe.

To get an idea of what this means, use the calculator, here: http://www.airgunhome.com/pages/calculators.html

assume you use a 14.3gr .22 pellet in your AirMagnum shooting at 675fps, and you have 14.47fpe- not enough for the groundhog.

Of course, with precision shot placement, anything is possible- but unless you are an Olympic-class marksman, this may not be viable.

Lipoly · Veteran Member

tjiscooler · Member

Wow six shots! Thanks for letting me know, will not try that at home.

sniper · Silver Status Member

leaving out detail here.... shot a coon 25+lbs at near point blank...
between the eyes with .22 LR... it ran 20 feet, did the fish, died.

time elapsed..1 minute. Neutral

Mark5043 · Silver Status Member

fritz · Silver Status Member

Let's just say that an associate of mine happened to come across a malfunctioning groundhog whilst walking the dog in the woods near a soybean field.

Said groundhog's hind legs were non-functioning. He got the .22 Super Streak and CPH. About 25 yards, the pellet entered the skull 1/4" below the right eye, at 20* off right (moving towards left side), and about 20* downward. Said groundhog spoke no more.

EDIT: the post-mortem examination revealed the pellet lodged just off the back of the skull. It looked like the pellet had taken out the UPPER brain stem, and stopped right before the skull.

Lipoly · Veteran Member

Just thought I'd say that by "point blank" I mean like within one foot from the coons head, so shot placement was not an issue. Unless this guy was Lou Ferrigno, 20fpe is not nearly enough for an adult coon no matter how great a shot you are. It would've eventually died from the first shot b/c blood was gushing from his head, but it would not have been a humane kill by any stretch.

fritz · Silver Status Member

You might also need a new arm or leg, or both.

Pissed off 'coons are known to be very savage and merciless.

Lipoly · Veteran Member

Yeah, I have heard of coons ripping coon dogs a new one from my grandpa. The coon in question was dying from the first hit (immobile, on its side...quite alive but in massive pain), but did not seem to by dying fast. I started to feel like sh!t for not having a quick kill and just kept pumping pellets until he stopped moving...took ~five more directly to the side of the skull...probably 2min elapsed time.

My point is that I would now be HIGHLY skeptical of anyone claiming a humane one-shot kill on an adult raccoon with anything less than a high powered PCP. This guy had 100% of the 20fpe from my 350 Mag to the side of the head 5.75 times before letting go...and I'm not talking about "I'm dead but still moving" twitches.

tjiscooler · Member

Holy crap! Maybe that was a mutant coon that escaped from a lab or something, it may have had an adamantium skull Shocked

haha (sweet nerdy reference there) Im glad you said all that, ill definitely keep my scope off of the raccoons in the future.

What pellets were you using BTW?

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Young racoons are smaller and die alot easier. Giant Grin

Maybe their skulls haven't hardened up yet or something...

Lipoly · Veteran Member

jeager106 · Member

I posted this here someplace. I chrono'd the 850 magnum with Crosman Premiers and got at best mid 500 f.p.s. That is NOT enough speed to bring the fpe up enough. I think I need 800 + f.p.s. with the C/P pellets for quicker kills.
The Gamo with 10.5 Premiers gave about 870 f.p.s. and has the speed for penetration. Killed a cat with one shot to the brain and it dropped like hit by a brick.
Maybe the .177 that is much faster than the .22 is more an indicator of penetration. If the pellet won't get where it belongs f.p.e. means nothing.
I've read the Gamo today is a much improved rifle but still has that sucky trigger which can be fixed using one of Charlies better triggers.\My cheap $99 buck Shadow still shoots the 10.5 C/P at over 870 and penetrates very well. I wish they would loose that horrible trigger though.