Air pistol for pest control

Infanteer90

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My dad uses a CO2 air pistol to control the squirrel population at his place. Problem is that the CO2 leaks between uses and sometimes (like today) when he went to take a shot there was no gas left in the pistol and he was very disappointed/frustrated. Can someone recommend a pistol that can be used for pest control and that my dad won't have to worry about the pistol not be ready at a moments notice? Also, one that won't require a new CO2 cartridge to be loaded in order to fire 2 or 3 shots every week or two?
 
I initially said the 1322, but it is out of production, apparently.

Crosman still offers the 1377 and the .22 Benjamin pump pistol. I'd suggest either of these.

1377
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.22 Benjamin pump
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http://www.crosman.com/airguns/pistols
 
Parts can still be got to change a 1377 over to 22 cal, too. Much higher energy in the larger pellet, at legal velocities.

crosman.com has download parts lists and manuals that will show the part numbers of the various guns' parts.
For the 1377, it would require a 22 cal barrel, and a 22 cal bolt, plus about 30 minutes of mechanic work.

If you wanted to go that way, anyways.

Cheers
Trev
 
I used to have mice in an old apartment that chewed in through the walls. I learned a few things:

A) Mice will NOT let you see them to shoot them. Good luck, the second they hear you coming they are GONE. Unless you want to build a blind in your kitchen and wait it out all night long.
B) TRAPS are way easier.
C) 495fps .177cal is not going to do it w/o a head shot. I had a few caught in glue traps and I gave one 4-5 rounds before hucking it in the trash, since they are permanently stuck at that point and will die anyways. Still kicking. Tried this with a few little mice, the .177 barely penetrates enough to do any real damage. 4-5 rounds is probably what is needed short of sticking the muzzle in its face to actually kill a little mouse.
D) Bait traps suck.

Use glue traps. They work the best. You just gotta deal with the live critter being stuck forever. Either smack it with something heavy or what have you or just huck it away to starve to death. Don't try to remove it once its on there, you'll rip its legs off. Trust me.
 
The 2289 is a direct descendant of the Crosman 1322 series.

Many of the parts interchange. Easy to modify into whatever you want it to be, from easy shooting target gun, to quite powerful a hunting arm.

For all intents and purposes, it is the same gun as the 1322, dressed up a little differently.

Most CO2 pistols should hold gas almost indefinitely. Or nearly so.

The pump pneumatics, like the 2289, are good for what you are looking for. 10 pumps takes not very long, and then you are set to go. The stock makes for easier shooting accuracy, too.

Cheers
Trev
 
Usually the weepy seal is the actual valve itself. Some of the revolvers have other leak points as well, so do the single shot's.

It pretty much boils down to tracking down the make and model, and in some cases, the variant of that model, and ordering a reseal kit and going through the whole thing from top to bottom.

You can dig around online and find seals for most airguns, or info on making them.

Cheers
Trev
 
Deer hunting has nothing on this.

I used to have mice in an old apartment that chewed in through the walls. I learned a few things:

A) Mice will NOT let you see them to shoot them. Good luck, the second they hear you coming they are GONE. Unless you want to build a blind in your kitchen and wait it out all night long.
B) TRAPS are way easier.
C) 495fps .177cal is not going to do it w/o a head shot. I had a few caught in glue traps and I gave one 4-5 rounds before hucking it in the trash, since they are permanently stuck at that point and will die anyways. Still kicking. Tried this with a few little mice, the .177 barely penetrates enough to do any real damage. 4-5 rounds is probably what is needed short of sticking the muzzle in its face to actually kill a little mouse.
D) Bait traps suck.

Use glue traps. They work the best. You just gotta deal with the live critter being stuck forever. Either smack it with something heavy or what have you or just huck it away to starve to death. Don't try to remove it once its on there, you'll rip its legs off. Trust me.

If one is going to have to sit, still and silent, for seemingly endless minutes of boredom while waiting for his quarry, it might as well be in a heated building as a windy tree stand. "And now, the wait."

It's over before it began.

(The 1322's .22 kills them deader than a doornail.) Graveyard dead.

“There is no hunting like the hunting of mice, and those who have hunted insurgent mice long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.”
 
And if you want to euthanize something that is permanently stuck on a glue trap, just drown it.
 
Its still not giong to be as amusing or exciting as you thought mouse hunting could ever be. THey are small, fast, run vertically up everything and know when your there.
Plus sitting 6 hours to kill a mouse that has 100 more buddies that will not come out is not fun. Of course if mouse hunting is as exciting as I thought it would be having richochets fly around and bounce off yoru fridge and pots and pans...then sure go for it. It will be fun for 1 night.

.22 might do the trick, .177 from my experience is useless.

I still say go for the glue traps. They worked better than anything. Just huck em in a plastic bag and smack it on the floor to knock it out. Its quite amusing, they scream like all high heaven when they're stuck and you come walking along and pick it up and stare em in the eye.
 
I dunno, I've heard that too, but like I've said, I've shot quite a few tiny little mice with a 495fps .177 with pointed pellets and not a single one died quickly.

Many took multiple shots...4-5 before they stopped squirming, and that was pretty much point blank at that point to put them out of their misery.
 
A good pest pistol should be in .22 and for me includes a Co2 cartridge. A crosman 2240 or Benjamin Sheridan EB22 will take out, in close proximity, any pests humanely with good shot placement. I just bought a silver Crosman 357 converted to .22 so just incase I make a poor shot I can follow up quickly with the next one. Pump guns are ok and springers are good one you get the feel for them (I love my HW45) but Co2 pistols tend to smaller and more shooter friendly especially when aiming at smaller quick moving targets.
 
177 low powered air pistols definately kill mice. We had some mice in my mom's house, so I see up a backstop of a piece of plywood where I knew they often ran across, sat and watched tv. Sure enough, a mouse ran out and across. I nailed it and the mouse spun like a Smartcar hit by a semi. Came to rest dead as a doornail. I did shoot a squirrel at the back door, near point blank. Unless I missed him or some vitals, he didn't die on the spot. Squirrels have much tougher skin and more to penetrate. I think I hit him square but he ran off despite it. I used to shoot pigeons that landed on my apartment balcony. They usually fluttered down to ground to die. No instant death either.
 
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