Crows, magpies etc with an air rifle

I have killed both crows and magpies with a 177, single pump pellet gun which was officially under the 500 fps, one time registration class.
I have chronographed it and it is almost exactly just a hair under 500.
30 yards is pretty maximum, but in my case thirty yards was about the crow distance, so I carefully set the sights for that distance and killed two crows with one shot each.
 
H4831 said:
I have killed both crows and magpies with a 177, single pump pellet gun which was officially under the 500 fps, one time registration class.
I have chronographed it and it is almost exactly just a hair under 500.
30 yards is pretty maximum, but in my case thirty yards was about the crow distance, so I carefully set the sights for that distance and killed two crows with one shot each.
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Head shots?
 
Yes, I have a Gamo Hunter 440 in 177 and it runs 1000fps and it drops them with a body shot. (Rabbits to, but I go with headshots on them... Yummy rabbit pie!!!)

Cheers
Jay
 
skhunter said:
Is a .177 cal at 1000 fps good for clean kills on crows, magpies, squirrels etc at 30 yards? Looking at buying a Stoeger X 20 for some pest control.
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I just bought that exact model in the hardwood stock with 3-9x40 scope and a few hundred alloy pellets that supposedly give that model a 1200 fps rating vs 1000 fps with lead pellets. It's still in the box in the closet waiting to be sighted in. Three weeks now. I better get on it on my next days off if I want to zap a few gophers before they have gone under for the year.
 
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I bought the x20 earlier this year, and I've bagged about a dozen squirrels with it. For a pellet gun it certainly packs a punch. I prefer the heavier lead pellets since they seem to hit harder than the alloys. Most of my shots are from under 20 yards, and the stoeger knocks the squirrels clean off the tree. I'd assume they die almost instantly, but I wouldn't know for sure since my dogs like to catch them before they hit the ground.
 
The larger the frontal surface area of a pellet, the faster energy is transferred, .22 thumps.

I use a .25 out to 125 yards on gophers but need a scuba tank for 2700 PSI fills.



And my buddy's 9mm air gun!
 
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In hindsight, I wish I had bought my x20 in .22 cal instead of .177. I researched the hell out of air rifles before I bought mine and learnt .22 was a better all around choice for shooting vermin. But then Cabelas had the .177 on sale for $160 and that made up my mind for me. Either way you go, you will have plenty of killing power from short range. My .177 blows holes in squirrels and takes a nice chunk out of magpies too.
 
Clean kills, no problem. I have a Stoeger x20 with the wood stock and im very happy with it. The gun did shoot high right on the factory sights and no amount of adjustment could correct it. Either way, I installed a scope on it so sights arent needed. One thing to note is that if you buy the scopeless model and plan to install a scope, you'll need 11mm scope rings. The Stoeger is milled with an 11mm dove tail, not 3/8". And because the receiver is round, you cant use weaver rings fitted with dovetail adaptors. Believe me, i tried and the result wasnt pretty
 
Had about 20 or more magpies in my backyard and front yards for months making a racket all day. Dug out my old Slavia 624 .177 that I had when I was a kid in the 70's. Bowed one over at 10 yards and it climbed into my neighbours tree. I filled it with 3 in 1 oil to expand the seal. Winged another one the next day at 15 yards. Over the next few days they all packed up and got the hell out of Dodge. Neighbourhood has been quiet for a month now. Not one magpie anywhere.
 
I shot quite a few crows many years ago with a .177 pellet rifle that was probably in the 700 - 800 fps range. Frontal shots must penetrate all the way through the breast muscle and breast bone to the heat/lungs, so limit shots to 30 yds or less. Round head pellets penetrate much better than flat head. You can take magpies or pigeons at any angle out to 40 yds with that set up.
 
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