Crosman 2250 - Hunting?

[Kabazz 0]

My Dad has bought a Crosman 2250 (ratcatcher), I was wondering which a close range <20 yard head shot, what vermin can be dispatched with it? I'm thinking rats and pigeon should be fine, unsure about squirrel and rabbit. Technically, with a .22 only 380fps is required for a rabbit and 300 for squirrel and pigeon (unsure if this is for head shots or body shots) and the muzzle velocity of the gun is meant to be 550 fps, obviously during flight it looses power, but how much?

If it's going to be underpowered i don't want to cause unnecessary pain to the animal.

 

It comes with a (poor) 15 x 15 scope, would it be worth buying a 4x20 scope as they are only around £6-£7? Any other improvements I can make to this gun?

May upgrade in a few months, want to get some practice in first though.

Cheers!

 

EDIT: Also, any recommended books on air rifle hunting?

Edited May 10, 2009 by Kabazz

[aaronpigeonplucker 32]

it will be fine for rats, feral pigeons and squirrels but i think rabbits and woodys might be pushing it a bit. get a 4x40 or a 6x40 scope should do you fine, although they'll be about 10-15 quid. john darling does good airgun hunting books. 'total airgun hunting' is good.

[lapin2008 1,587]

My Dad has bought a Crosman 2250 (ratcatcher), I was wondering which a close range <20 yard head shot, what vermin can be dispatched with it? I'm thinking rats and pigeon should be fine, unsure about squirrel and rabbit. Technically, with a .22 only 380fps is required for a rabbit and 300 for squirrel and pigeon (unsure if this is for head shots or body shots) and the muzzle velocity of the gun is meant to be 550 fps, obviously during flight it looses power, but how much?

If it's going to be underpowered i don't want to cause unnecessary pain to the animal.

 

It comes with a (poor) 15 x 15 scope, would it be worth buying a 4x20 scope as they are only around £6-£7? Any other improvements I can make to this gun?

May upgrade in a few months, want to get some practice in first though.

Cheers!

 

EDIT: Also, any recommended books on air rifle hunting?

 

I used mine as my main rifle for a period of time about 8 years ago when they first came out for rabbtis, squirrel, rats, crows etc. It could cope fine as long as you are realistic about the range. as you said 20-25 yard head shot only

 

I now use it rarely but with an old night vision scope I have which doesnt allow you to see very far. The two go fairly well togerther as they both have a similar effective range.

atb

Edited May 10, 2009 by lapin2008

[lapin2008 1,587]

My Dad has bought a Crosman 2250 (ratcatcher), I was wondering which a close range <20 yard head shot, what vermin can be dispatched with it? I'm thinking rats and pigeon should be fine, unsure about squirrel and rabbit. Technically, with a .22 only 380fps is required for a rabbit and 300 for squirrel and pigeon (unsure if this is for head shots or body shots) and the muzzle velocity of the gun is meant to be 550 fps, obviously during flight it looses power, but how much?

If it's going to be underpowered i don't want to cause unnecessary pain to the animal.

 

It comes with a (poor) 15 x 15 scope, would it be worth buying a 4x20 scope as they are only around £6-£7? Any other improvements I can make to this gun?

May upgrade in a few months, want to get some practice in first though.

Cheers!

 

EDIT: Also, any recommended books on air rifle hunting?

 

I used mine as my main rifle for a period of time about 8 years ago when they first came out for rabbtis, squirrel, rats, crows etc. It could cope fine as long as you are realistic about the range. as you said 20-25 yard head shot only

 

I now use it rarely but with an old night vision scope I have which doesnt allow you to see very far. The two go fairly well togerther as they both have a similar effective range.

atb

as for the scope I just used the little rubbish one it came with as the ranges were always so small up untill it broke completly. I would get a bigger one and pay a tad more as i seem to remember it being a right pain an filling up with water etc when it rained

[Kabazz 0]

Ahh cheers that reassuring. That I'll start homing my skills on pigeons before I move onto rabbits. Now i just need to find somewhere to hunt...

[Big bald beautiful 1,231]

the silencers are crap as well

[RustyG 0]

ive taken down afew rabbits with mine (quite close range tho), i sawed the barrel down a bit, i use mine for barn work and ocasionaly a vehicule gun. in my opinion probably the best mod you can do for it is to buy a new breach block with dovetails on it, cos the pro blocks that come with it are shite, i had quite a large scope on mine and it was always getting knocked off the zero where the pro blocks moved around. there are loads of other mods you can do, google crooked barn.com they have loads of stuff. they sell a valve that does a co2 cilinder in about 10 shots, my mate had one in a rat blaster, and f**k me it kicked like a 9mm! of course we put the origional valve back in, because we wouldnt want to break the law now would we! oh yeah a lazer and lamp combo is always good for the quick target aquisition for the old rats!

 

ATB mate

Rusty

[Kabazz 0]

What effect does sawing down the barrel have, i was under the impression longer is better..

At 16, will farmer grant me permission to shoot on their land?

[lapin2008 1,587]

What effect does sawing down the barrel have, i was under the impression longer is better..

At 16, will farmer grant me permission to shoot on their land?

should do if you get and see him in person, as long as your not dressed in camo and look smartish and are polite, I used to get a good few permissions when i was 16 and younger. you may be better though going through everyone you know and your parents know checking who might have land themselves. You may be suprised at who knows who and it will stand you in better stead if there is someone that knows of you through someone else and help them trust you more then if a random 16 yo turns up on doorstep.

 

Shortening the barrel will make the gun easaier to handle mostly but as it is a tiny and light gun its pretty dam easy to shoot and manouver anyway and if you try to do this yourself you could just wreck the gun. I wouldn't bother doing anything to it other then putting a slightly better scope on it, if that.

atb

[Malt 379]

Shortening the barrel will make the gun easaier to handle mostly

atb

I'll also considerably drop the power....

 

I use mine for close range stuff only. Feral pigeons in barns, etc. I've had umpteen crows & maggies when they occasionally stray into range, as well as two rabbits I've managed to surprise over a hedge on the way back to the car!

[lapin2008 1,587]

Shortening the barrel will make the gun easaier to handle mostly

atb

I'll also considerably drop the power....

 

I use mine for close range stuff only. Feral pigeons in barns, etc. I've had umpteen crows & maggies when they occasionally stray into range, as well as two rabbits I've managed to surprise over a hedge on the way back to the car!

I wasn't recommending it. just trying to find a possible justification with why someone might have done it as the lad was asking and someone had mentioned it in an earlier post.

cheers

Edited May 11, 2009 by lapin2008

[andyfr1968 772]

Shortening the barrel will make the gun easaier to handle mostly

atb

I'll also considerably drop the power....

 

I use mine for close range stuff only. Feral pigeons in barns, etc. I've had umpteen crows & maggies when they occasionally stray into range, as well as two rabbits I've managed to surprise over a hedge on the way back to the car!

Yep. CO2 and short barrels don't mix.

 

You'll ruin it.

 

Cheers.

[Kabazz 0]

Okay cheers, I reckon my hairdresser might know someone, if not theres like 10 farms within walking distance I could try but there mostly hay fields or sheep cows ponys etc. so i'm not really sure if vermin are a problem to them? I'd like pigeon / magpie / rats to be my main quarry atm.

There's a golf course aswell thinking about it.. The only other problem is my anti-hunting family which is very annoying to say the least haha

 

Cheers for all the help so far, much appreciated!

[RustyG 0]

What effect does sawing down the barrel have, i was under the impression longer is better..

At 16, will farmer grant me permission to shoot on their land?

 

it decreases the range, but is smaller and easier to manouver in confined spaces, and i only use it for barn work and ocasionaly very close vehicule work (its zeroed to about 8yrds), so its better for me to have a stubby little gun with a shorter efective range. i have an s410 for the long shots!

 

you may find it a bit harder with the farmers being younger, it helps if u r insured n a member of BASC, n dont wear camo, or tracckie bottoms tucked in socks n a tn cap!

Edited May 12, 2009 by RustyG

[Guest Scuba1]

This could be one of the very few occasions in life, where a burbury cap could come in handy :D

Edited May 13, 2009 by Scuba1