Grouse with an air pistol

bibatoad said:
Check with your provincial regulations, here in B.C they view it as handgun hunting and is prohibited, also co2 pistols are very weak power wise and even head shots wouldn't work well. If I was to take a grouse with a air pistol the best choice would be the pump up Crossman 1377 or .22 counterpart. They would have the power and accuracy to pull off effective head shots.
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We have shot HUNDREDS of grouse and hares with CO2 and Pneumatic pellet pistols in .177, .20 and .22 cals… they are neither "weak" nor ineffective.
 
Yep . I've been carrying a Tempest for 30 years and have taken truckloads of grouse and many rabbits . The best shot on grouse is straight in the back as those fine feathers won't even slow a pellet down and the upper back offers a larger target than the head . Just about anywhere in the skull of a rabbit will do as a rabbits skull is like an egg shell . I prefer springers over co2 'cause when the temp drops co2 will lose velocity and power and depending upon how cold it gets that can be a lot .
 
This thread makes me sad I cant use a pellet gun for grouse in BC... I've heard a sling shot is legal in BC, but I haven't explored that. Been thinking about the game getter, haven't bought one yet though.

Also, all the people saying big bore sub 500fps pellet guns are the answer, I do believe that pellet guns become firearms above a certain energy threshold.
 
Suther said:
This thread makes me sad I cant use a pellet gun for grouse in BC... I've heard a sling shot is legal in BC, but I haven't explored that. Been thinking about the game getter, haven't bought one yet though.

Also, all the people saying big bore sub 500fps pellet guns are the answer, I do believe that pellet guns become firearms above a certain energy threshold.
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in BC, for hunting, a pistol is defined as a less than 12" barrel
if you can find an old Crosman backpacker you can hunt (it's an older version of the 1322, sold as a rifle with a stock and 14" barrel)
Crosman.ca has Backpacker tubes to "replace" a damaged one :)
 
legi0n said:
in BC, for hunting, a pistol is defined as a less than 12" barrel
if you can find an old Crosman backpacker you can hunt (it's an older version of the 1322, sold as a rifle with a stock and 14" barrel)
Crosman.ca has Backpacker tubes to "replace" a damaged one :)
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Yeah but at that point I might as well just carry a 22...
 
Jaaska said:
Yep . I've been carrying a Tempest for 30 years and have taken truckloads of grouse and many rabbits . The best shot on grouse is straight in the back as those fine feathers won't even slow a pellet down and the upper back offers a larger target than the head . Just about anywhere in the skull of a rabbit will do as a rabbits skull is like an egg shell . I prefer springers over co2 'cause when the temp drops co2 will lose velocity and power and depending upon how cold it gets that can be a lot .
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Thx for your input. Is it .177 or .22 caliber?
And did you prefer a specific brand of pellet?
 
Suther said:
Also, all the people saying big bore sub 500fps pellet guns are the answer, I do believe that pellet guns become firearms above a certain energy threshold.
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That is incorrect, the law is specifically worded:

1. Air guns that are firearms for purposes of both the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code.

These are air guns with both a high muzzle velocity (greater than 152.4 meters or 500 feet per second) and a high muzzle energy (greater than 5.7 joules or 4.2 foot-pounds). The “muzzle velocity” is the speed of a projectile at the instant it leaves the muzzle of a gun, normally expressed in metres per second or feet per second. The “muzzle energy” is the energy of a projectile at the instant it leaves the muzzle of a gun, expressed in joules or foot-pounds. Air guns need to meet both standards to be classified as firearms for purposes of the Firearms Act.
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Emphasis not mine.

This means you can have a 0.69" bore air pistol firing a 480 grain round ball at 450 feet per second with a muzzle energy of just over 250 ft lbs and still have it be classified in the same way in the eyes of the law as a 7 ft lbs 0.22" Crosman.
 
jackssmirkingrevenge said:
That is incorrect, the law is specifically worded:



Emphasis not mine.

This means you can have a 0.69" bore air pistol firing a 480 grain round ball at 450 feet per second with a muzzle energy of just over 250 ft lbs and still have it be classified in the same way in the eyes of the law as a 7 ft lbs 0.22" Crosman.
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I stand corrected. Thanks for posting that. I knew there was something about it on the books...
 
Would anyone recommend Webley Junior?
The fact that it's smoothbore and in .177 only kind of keeps me away from commitment.
Curious because I have little experience beyond plopping gophers with Crossman pump up .22 "handgun" many moons ago.
 
Shot 17 grouse the past couple weeks with a 2240 while scouting for moose... if a .22 cal CO2 pistol can do it easily, pretty much anything can.
 
Brutus said:
Would anyone recommend Webley Junior?
The fact that it's smoothbore and in .177 only kind of keeps me away from commitment.
Curious because I have little experience beyond plopping gophers with Crossman pump up .22 "handgun" many moons ago.
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I've tried a Webley Senior in .22" on a dead squirrel, testing for penetration. My senior is considerably more powerful than my Junior, both shooting close to original factory specifications. A JSB 14gr round nose pellet made a dent in the fur at the ribs and rolled off. Comparing that to all my plinking with each pistol on various objects such as pine cones, bottle caps, chunks of dried clay, I'd suggest a Junior will be even less suitable for critters. By a significant margin. These are great plinkers but nothing more.
 
I have a newer Turkish made Webley Tempest 22 cal and its quite powerful and very accurate after testing out different pellets and finding what it liked. Haven't used it for and hunting but I wouldn't hesitate to try a headshot

Patrick
 
Sure, the Tempest is a significant bit more potent, even the slightly less powerful British made ones. Here's some results from my own trio of Webley several years ago, after thoroughly overhauling them including new mainsprings and seals:

Webley Junior - 310fps using H&N Finale Match .177" 7.56gr

Webley Senior - 300fps using RWS Hobby .22" 11.9gr

Webley Tempest - 375fps using RWS Hobby .22" 11.9gr

Obviously the more powerful at about 3.7fpe, the Tempest is still rather weak for anything one might call hunting. I'd not use it for that anyway. But sure, if you're a good enough shot with the weird forward-and-down recoil of a Webley pistol to reliably make head shots on smaller game birds, I suppose it might be suitable. I competed for several years in 10 metre air pistol and could usually keep pellets at that distance inside the 9 ring, averaging 548/600 scores in competition in my last year with three high scores of 553. That's essentially groups the size of a quarter. Best I ever managed with my Tempest at 10 metres was a group slightly larger than a Twoonie. Not what I'd consider good enough for head shots on birds. Maybe at 5 metres? But I'd still hesitate, as a sounding shot is not desirable.
 
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