Rabbits with a .177 !!!

[THE GRIFF 8]

After not owning a airgun for about 10 years i have recently got the bug again.

I have done alot of reading and read lots of posts and bought myself a .177 airarms 510.

In the past i have always used a .22 springer, but thought i would give the 510 in .177 a bash as i really liked the feel of the gun and find it to be very accurate.

I went shooting last night and the first 4 rabbits i hit in the head ended up running about 6 yards into bushes after pellets had been put in them, and i never sore them again. I was starting to question my aiming and wether my gun was working properly until the 5th one i shot was in a more open area. After i shot it i ran over and chassed it round in circles for a minute or 2 before i could eventually grab it and ring its neck. I had shot it perfectly in the head, so why did it keep running all over for a couple of minutes and not die. This happened another 7 times last night and i hit them all in the head, but had to chase them around to ring there necks. I hit about another 10 in total that ran into the bushes never to be seen again.

All of these shots were from about 20 yards so there was enough power behind the shots.

Should i have bought a .22 for killing rabbits, would a .22 kill them quicker? or is my experiance with the .177 normal and i will just have to not shoot rabbits within 10 yars of bushes? Or should i be aiming for somewhere else, and not the head to kill them ?

My gun is new and running at about 11.5lbs

[hughes_jh 0]

Hi Mate,

I've always shot with a .22 and whilst you do get the occasional incident where you don't get a direct kill, I would say it happens very rarely. Usually when it does happen there will be a simple explanation (e.g. pellet hitting a twig before the target, blustery wind, target getting spooked at the very instant you pull the trigger) but I can't think of a single incident where I've hit my intended quarry cleanly and not killed it (and I've killed a few hundred rabbits and a few hundred more pigeons!)

 

However, I can't imagine that a .177 would be any worse at killing than a .22. There will be plenty of people here who will verify that!

 

You have a decent gun, and you seem quite competent at using it. Head shots are ideal for rabbits. There must be something else which is causing the issue here?

 

Are you sure you're getting the full 11.5 ft/lbs when you shot the rabbits? Was there a chance that your air pressure was a tad low?

 

Also, what pellets were you using?

[mick the fish 9]

After not owning a airgun for about 10 years i have recently got the bug again.

I have done alot of reading and read lots of posts and bought myself a .177 airarms 510.

In the past i have always used a .22 springer, but thought i would give the 510 in .177 a bash as i really liked the feel of the gun and find it to be very accurate.

I went shooting last night and the first 4 rabbits i hit in the head ended up running about 6 yards into bushes after pellets had been put in them, and i never sore them again. I was starting to question my aiming and wether my gun was working properly until the 5th one i shot was in a more open area. After i shot it i ran over and chassed it round in circles for a minute or 2 before i could eventually grab it and ring its neck. I had shot it perfectly in the head, so why did it keep running all over for a couple of minutes and not die. This happened another 7 times last night and i hit them all in the head, but had to chase them around to ring there necks. I hit about another 10 in total that ran into the bushes never to be seen again.

All of these shots were from about 20 yards so there was enough power behind the shots.

Should i have bought a .22 for killing rabbits, would a .22 kill them quicker? or is my experiance with the .177 normal and i will just have to not shoot rabbits within 10 yars of bushes? Or should i be aiming for somewhere else, and not the head to kill them ?

My gun is new and running at about 11.5lbs

not sure if this answers your question but from my own exp with air arms pre charged i found that max velocity is at about 150bar not full fill to 190bar. rabbits drop easily then with head shots.can be 30% down on power with full charge.

Edited August 4, 2009 by mick the fish

[8shot 191]

either caliber

should be head shot dead

i would get a chrono if i was you... and check the power

should be nailing them at 50 yards

[THE GRIFF 8]

I had just filled my gun before shooting and it was at 190 bar. Come to think of it - as the presure dropped to about 140ish towards the end of the session the rabbits were stopping dead with a head shot or dropping and not moving very far.

All of the head shots looked as though they were penatrating quite deep or is it the amount of power behind the impact that kills them.

I was using RWS superdomes, would using flat heads or pointed pellets make much differance do you think??

[mick the fish 9]

I had just filled my gun before shooting and it was at 190 bar. Come to think of it - as the presure dropped to about 140ish towards the end of the session the rabbits were stopping dead with a head shot or dropping and not moving very far.

All of the head shots looked as though they were penatrating quite deep or is it the amount of power behind the impact that kills them.

I was using RWS superdomes, would using flat heads or pointed pellets make much differance do you think??

i allways use a heavy diablo type pellet in 177 form,0.7g.seems to do the trick.

Edited August 4, 2009 by mick the fish

[hughes_jh 0]

I had just filled my gun before shooting and it was at 190 bar. Come to think of it - as the presure dropped to about 140ish towards the end of the session the rabbits were stopping dead with a head shot or dropping and not moving very far.

All of the head shots looked as though they were penatrating quite deep or is it the amount of power behind the impact that kills them.

I was using RWS superdomes, would using flat heads or pointed pellets make much differance do you think??

 

Stick with the superdomes.

 

I would definietly check the output of the gun with a chrono.

 

Just as an additional note.... Rabbits don't often stop dead when you shoot them... theres a fair old bit of nerves left in them and they will usually end up lying on their back with a hind leg shaking about

[foxon 0]

The Regs on most Airarms I service/tune are pretty poor, I find under full pressure & or when refilled they run at about 7 ftlbs after 20 shots they start to settle @ 11 ftlbs, this makes it very difficult to set reg as once the sweet spot is on, you could find the rifle shooting @ the 11 ftlbs + then on the sweet spot (power curve) 14 ftlbs +, this is due to the increased back pressure working against the main body valve, once the pressure drops the valve opens with less force for a longer period on hammer strike, more free flow of air is produced allowing increased ftlbs, the way round this is to fill your rifle at the sweet point or take to a Gunsmith & fit improved Reg.

foxon.

 

Also check for weak Hammer Spring or out of Adjustment, transfer port distorted allowing wash, found a few now that have not been seated correctly at factory.

Edited August 4, 2009 by foxon

[stealthy1 3,964]

Yo Griff, is it a new gun, if so you may need to fire a few pellets through the gun before you get the best out of it, with a new gun I reckon to fire 1500 before a new gun settles properly

[Big bald beautiful 1,231]

my hw95 in .177 is running at 11.4 and i still get the odd runner if there hit in the head, the pellet passes through.

 

i wouldnt get many but i have had 3 in a row do it, this is only my second .177, always shot .22 and i never got a runner with head shots.

[THE GRIFF 8]

I am going to check it on a chrono this week, the more i think about it the more i am thinking it could have been not shooting as well when the pressure was full, most of the rabbits were dropping after about 20 or 30 shots had been fired.

Thanks for your thoughts and advise, i will post the results on this thread when i have tested it.

[donnyc 1,203]

The Regs on most Airarms I service/tune are pretty poor, I find under full pressure & or when refilled they run at about 7 ftlbs after 20 shots they start to settle @ 11 ftlbs, this makes it very difficult to set reg as once the sweet spot is on, you could find the rifle shooting @ the 11 ftlbs + then on the sweet spot (power curve) 14 ftlbs +, this is due to the increased back pressure working against the main body valve, once the pressure drops the valve opens with less force for a longer period on hammer strike, more free flow of air is produced allowing increased ftlbs, the way round this is to fill your rifle at the sweet point or take to a Gunsmith & fit improved Reg.

foxon.

 

Also check for weak Hammer Spring or out of Adjustment, transfer port distorted allowing wash, found a few now that have not been seated correctly at factory.

No regs in Air arms

[foxon 0]

The Regs on most Airarms I service/tune are pretty poor, I find under full pressure & or when refilled they run at about 7 ftlbs after 20 shots they start to settle @ 11 ftlbs, this makes it very difficult to set reg as once the sweet spot is on, you could find the rifle shooting @ the 11 ftlbs + then on the sweet spot (power curve) 14 ftlbs +, this is due to the increased back pressure working against the main body valve, once the pressure drops the valve opens with less force for a longer period on hammer strike, more free flow of air is produced allowing increased ftlbs, the way round this is to fill your rifle at the sweet point or take to a Gunsmith & fit improved Reg.

foxon.

 

Also check for weak Hammer Spring or out of Adjustment, transfer port distorted allowing wash, found a few now that have not been seated correctly at factory.

No regs in Air arms

Hi Donnyc,

The sprung loaded brass adjustable main body inlet valve that regulates the airflow, I call the reg used on both pre anti tamper & anti tamper.

foxon.

[donnyc 1,203]

I knew what you meant mate..There are some AA about with aftermarket regs mostly taylor ones .As advertised to give better shot count,however found most running at @ 9.5FTLBS no wonder you get more shots ..IMHO a waste of money as the air arms are a nice consistant gun with out the need for a reg as long as you find the sweet spot and fill to that..

[foxon 0]

I knew what you meant mate..There are some AA about with aftermarket regs mostly taylor ones .As advertised to give better shot count,however found most running at @ 9.5FTLBS no wonder you get more shots ..IMHO a waste of money as the air arms are a nice consistant gun with out the need for a reg as long as you find the sweet spot and fill to that..

Hi Donnyc,

Did not want you thinking I was talking cr#p, but your right they are not a Reg like the Taylor's or Abbott's aftermarkets, just while we are on the subject have any of you scientists at AWT made one for the AAs yet, I made a simple prototype with spring & floating bearing but cannot get below the 100 bar with power above 10 ftlbs, been pulling my hair out, reduce pressure on one & gain far too much on the other, been able to keep under the sub but still too little power at the lower fill pressure end.

Regards, Glynn.