BB gun/Air rifle to kill chipmunks

In My Humble Opinion
41

Not sure if Biathlon is going to PCP air rifles, as you have a limited number of shots without a re-charge. I get about 20 accurate shots. I was just looking at accurate rifles that would be quiet. Just poking around.

This is the gun I purchased - Benjamin Marauder in .22

Note: your standard construction compressor will not charge this to it’s needed 2000-3000 psi. I bought a special compressor from the same above site for that purpose. It was about an additional $500. We are talking scuba tank pressures.

I’ve been very happy with the purchase. If anyone where to buy one, make sure you get high quality pellets. They are not expensive at all, but as I said up thread, you are not going to find them at a typical store that may sell bb guns.

Also, there are plenty off youtube vids about this sport.

After the initial investment, it’s cheap.

42

Get a pellet gun with laser sight.

The laser puts a Dot on what you want to hit. Still need a little practice. Learn to hold the gun steady as you gently pull the trigger.

They aren’t expensive. Here’s an example of a varmint pellet gun with laser sight.

Check around. I’d buy local rather than by mail.

You do need to confirm the laser sight is adjusted correctly. You should easily hit the center of a Coke can at 30 ft.

43

Can’t the critter see the dot bouncing around?

Also, and this is really apparent at airgun velocities, the laser sight is only going to be zeroed for two exact ranges. At the most. Everything else is going to require some elevation adjustment. 5 yards is going to have a different point of impact than 15. Never mind the challenges that shooting uphill or downhill bring. And then there are wind calls.

The point is, the laser dot is likely not going to be where the pellet/BB hits. Holding the dot off the desired point of impact is likely going to make the dot apparent to the critter, which will get startled, and take off.

44

:thinking: I’m not sure if a rodent would notice a laser or not. Would they think it’s just a harmless glare?

It would be interesting to try. See what happens.

I have seen video of cats chasing a laser. That’s a learned skill like getting a dog to chase a ball.

There’s no getting around practice. You have to learn the limitations of a pellet gun.

45

That would be my worry. Even the more powerful commercially available (i.e. sporting goods stores) air rifles don’t really hold a candle to a .22 long rifle (firearm cartridge) in terms of power, so there’s a lot bigger chance that if you don’t hit the animals just right, you may wing them and then have to go dispatch them by hand. Which is not pleasant, let me assure you.

What you describe is the same for any sight- they’re only truly on-target at one range. I don’t know if varmints care about the lasers though; a laser pointer might be a good dry run for that.

46

If it’s not dawn or dusk or night, I think that the laser is going to be very hard for the shooter to see outside.

47

Yep. While I don’t shoot anything but paper, you really want to do it right.

48

Also, consider what to do about the remains.

There’s an entire hobby (industry?) of people shooting rats with pellet guns in barns and chicken houses while filming. You may want to watch to get a feel for what you’ll see after the trigger’s pulled. It’s not very bloody but also not too pretty. ‘Helicopter tail’ is a term you hear in some of these vids.

Usually, they do it in darkness using night vision equipment but here’s one during the daytime. The shooting starts about 4 mins in and it’s probably NSFW enough to apply the spoiler tag:

The Airgun Show – Hectic daytime rat shoot, PLUS top night hunting shots with Nite Site… - YouTube

49

I used to work in a medical lab where I decapitated mice and rats in a little guillotine. I regularly find “leftovers” from hawk kills on the lawn – lots of rabbit guts strewn across the grass. I used have have a cat who killed a lot of chipmunks and only ate the head, or ripped open the belly but didn’t bother to eat it. I think i can handle picking up a dead chipmunk (wearing a rubber glove) and tossing it in the compost. And if I have to finish the kill, first, I can do that – although that is certainly unpleasant.

50

Huh… small world! My close friend’s little brother did that too in graduate school (the rat decapitation part). We used to give him a hard time about it.

Anyway, yeah I once shot a squirrel who was messing with my tomato plants with a pellet gun, and I apparently hit him just wrong and stunned him without killing him, and had to go kill him by hand, which is more grisly and harder to do than you might think. I decided that the squirrels could have their share after that.

51

Sounds like you’re well prepared. Good luck with the chipmunks.

52

The ballistics of the Sheridan I am working on are a 14.3 gr. pellet at 537 to 562 fps. as measured on my chronograph over a 5 shot string. Lower than I was expecting but the gun may not have been shot enough to break it in and then stashed in a closet for years with no lubrication. Long story. A big muskrat is about the mass of a scrawny adult cat.

53

It seems as if some people in this thread are thinking of a ricochet as the projectile coming back at the shooter. Possible and I have experienced this. I’m thinking of a ricochet as hitting a rock and continuing on in the general direction as it was fired as in hitting a rock at a 45 degree down angle and continuing on at a 45 degree up angle. Not sure if I’m being clear but best if the backstop stops the projectile completely. Trust me, lead pellets can ricochet .

54

Have you thought about sticking it on a pike and posting them around your garden? Seemed to work for medieval despots.

55

I’ve been exactly there with the lost-in-a-closet thing. I hope it’s at least easy and/or possible to fix. Related, I’ve discovered I hate cold blueing receivers and barrels…

Anyway, I think I’ve posted this before, but these guys compiled a database of ballistic coefficients for many different airgun pellets. Plug that in to something like JBM’s ballistics freeware, and see what trajectories you get. It honestly sounds on the light side for something as big as a small house cat, but if shot placement is good enough, the head and brain aren’t that tough.

Otherwise…I agree with the above posters that it’s no fun having to finish off wounded game with something like a shovel. (I had a tiny stray cat that hung around, and somehow she managed to cripple a ground squirrel bigger than she was. “Yorrrwllll! Yorrllll!” Human! Finish this off so I may drag it to you!" Neat cat. Stupid landlord…)

56

Not sure if you’ve already tried something similar, but when I lived in the woods, we killed many rodents with a simple rolling stick bucket trap, some peanut butter, and water. They fall in and drown overnight. Endlessly reusable, if heartless.

57

I have a pump air rifle that might do the trick. I’m mostly afraid of a ricochet popping a hole in a someone’s window, possibly my own. I also think I’d get seriously tired of pumping that thing multiple times for every shot…CO2 please.

Was there a drum roll, final words, etc.?

58

I did this with a Crow once, and it completely ended the problem with that Murder. Egg theivin’ Bitches!

59

To weigh in on this rather late in the game - I just killed 4 red ground squirrels at our cottage over the last week. We’re on an island and the squirrels migrate over the spring ice.

We originally were “live and let live” until they got in one winter and did thousand’s of dollars damage. Now we’re “live and let die” (cue trumpets) with a standing order to terminate squirrels with extreme prejudice.

To answer your OP - my son’s Red Rider BB gun from Cabela’s wasn’t capable of killing them from any distance more that about 5 yds. At best it knocks them out of the tree and you have to run over and hope to do a point blank head shot before they scamper away.

A friend loaned me his high powered pellet gun. Sorry, I don’t know the brand. It’s exactly at the legal limit of muzzle velocity before it becomes regulated (in Canada) as a rifle. The pellet gun is pretty much a kill shot anywhere in the top half of the squirrels body up to maybe +30 yds.

Bottom line - definitely get a pellet gun vs a BB gun.

Lastly - to reiterate what others have mentioned, you need to check with your municipality on whether you can fire any gun at all.

Obligatory story: When I was in university my roommate and I were doing target practice at our rental house. We were responsible and didn’t want ricochets to hit anything so we set up cans deep in the garage. We sat in the driveway drinking beers and passing his BB gun back and forth.

After about 15 minutes two local SWAT team vans pulled up to the house and maybe 12 guys jumped out in full body armour carrying M16’s and shotguns. A neighbour called 911 to report “gun shots”. While they jumped out, we shit our pants.

Luckily the cops weren’t too aggressive about things (no screaming at us to “get down”, no guns pointed etc.) After we handed over the gun, by the barrel as instructed, they explained that it was illegal to discharge any firearm in the city limits, even BB guns. They did comment that it was good thinking to set the target up in the garage.They gave us back the BB gun and left us with a stern warning never to do it again.

There were lots of students living in the area and we found out the next day that squad cars had completely sealed off a two block radius around our house while the SWAT team moved in. “Holy shit, did you see all the cops cars blocking the streets yesterday. WTF was that all about?” :blush:

60

Already done that – and I was astonished to learn that it’s legal. But… I’d like something quiet enough that the SWAT team isn’t called.

A friend suggested that I try getting a havaheart trap, and then shoot them at point blank after trapping them. (he’s been doing this because he had trouble with squirrels in the attic and chipmunks chewing his landscaping. Oh, and he says he has a lot of hunting experience, and is a pretty good shot, but his yard is heavily built up, and even a ricocheted BB is likely to make a mark on the pool or something.) This strikes me as a promising idea. My yard has lots of “dirt” to absorb BBs, but I have very little experience firing guns, and I’m sure it’s easier to hit the beast if it’s in a little trap.