OK, I guess I'll edit what I'm looking for here. At this point I'll say that I'm just looking for the quietest option possible. Be it spring loaded, C02, whatever. And I'll settle for a rifle if need be.
For those that are uninitiated: Yes, it's totally legal (if it wasn't, why the hell would I ask here?). Yes, a sub 500fps air gun can easily dispatch a squirrel (within 20 yards or so.)
This is going to bring me down a long rabbit hole of practicing to become efficient (when I get into something, I GET INTO SOMETHING.) Not sure I want to dedicate my time to this but it's certainly something to consider, if anything, just to bring to the cottage or something.
Yeah, I get what you mean for sure. But for noise and an air gun, I really think you’ve already got just about the quietest action out there. I don’t think there’s an action quieter than nitro piston that I’m aware of, though I’m sure I’ll be corrected if not.
The noise comes from 2 places. The movement of the action (not just during firing, but also consider the sound produced while loading), and the “cork pop” as the pellet leaves the barrel. There’s not a whole lot you can do about the “cork pop” as it’s directly related to the performance of the gun. More lethal, means more energy, means more speed, means higher pressure pushing the pellet out the barrel, means more “bang”. The only real way around that would be to trade speed for weight. Going up to something like a 25cal or even one of the big bores up to 50cal (but tuned way down for your noise requirements)
The other thing is the action, and the only thing quieter than your nitro piston would be CO2 (unreliable/inaccurate due to temp fluctuations) or PCP (bulky, expensive, and overkill for sub500fps)
The Gamo Whisper Cat was supposedly a pretty quiet gun, but achieved it with a suppressor of sorts, and I’m pretty sure you’d the rcmp frowny face for having one. Also, I’ve heard they weren’t actually that much quieter.
Anyway, are you bow hunting? Rifle hunting? Or shotgun hunting?
If bow, maybe just get some small game heads and cheap arrows.
If rifle, look into the Hammond game getter, or if you’re a reloader, you could look at some mouse fart loads. These two options CAN be pretty quiet... maybe even a tad quieter than the air gun option once you’ve tweaked it.
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1335340-Mouse-fart-recipes?highlight=Mouse+fart
If shotgun, look at sub-caliber inserts. You could have an insert in your shotgun that fires a small 22cb through your barrel, which acts a little like a suppressor and will taper the noise down to almost nothing. Accuracy might be the issue with those. You’d have to see.
The benefit to these ^ is you’re not bringing a whole extra gun with you.
