Any airgun hunters?

[Dukslayr]

So I’ve been contemplating purchasing a big bore air rifle for use during alternative methods deer season here in Missouri. In Missouri air rifles .40 and larger are legal for alternative methods. I recently got in pre-charged pneumatic air rifles for use around my house in the city to control small game that wreak havoc on our house and garden. I’ve been thoroughly impressed with what these rifles can do and know that a properly setup big bore is more than capable of taking down whitetails. My coworker routinely takes a couple of deer per year with his .50. Anyone on here use an air rifle for deer or other medium/large size game? If so, what are you shooting and what are your pros and cons versus a muzzleloader? For me the The PCP ease of use, noise reduction, minimum maintenance/cleaning versus black powder and availability of a quicker follow up shot are all what’s got me very interested in giving it a shot. Probably the biggest limitation I can see would be a more limited rage (~120 yards) versus modern inline muzzleloaders.

 

[SWIFFY]

I’ve never heard of such a thing?!? I though air rifles were for sparrows and ted squirrels??? I couldn’t see a reason not to use a shotgun or rifle, but interested to hear more about these.

 

[Dukslayr]

I’ve never heard of such a thing?!? I though air rifles were for sparrows and ted squirrels??? I couldn’t see a reason not to use a shotgun or rifle, but interested to hear more about these.

Oh yeah. It’s a thing. Not cheap but you can sling a heavy hollow point .40-.50 cal slug at ~1,000 FPS. You can check out the “production” guns on this site, filtered by caliber. There are many custom guns being built too.

https://www.airgundepot.com/airforce-texan-air-rifle.html#U2045

 

[Native Hunter]

I laughed out loud when I read the review from Chris on December 25, 2018. And he was a verified purchaser. Copied from web site below:

I bought my texan 45 refurbished for 850.00 I'm impressed with the power of the rifle but I wanted to put a warning out their dont leave it loaded in your gun case I was sitting down stairs and my texan released all its air shooting into my wall with a 405 grain bullet.lets just say I'm confused on how this took place but better to be safe than accidently somebody getting shot....for be to fill the Texan I have to loosen the spinlock on the tank and be extremely careful tightening the tank because it will release its air

Pros
Powerful

Cons
Gun discharges for no reason in my gun safe blowing a huge hole in the wall

 

[Dukslayr]

I laughed out loud when I read the review from Chris on December 25, 2018. And he was a verified purchaser. Copied from web site below:

I bought my texan 45 refurbished for 850.00 I'm impressed with the power of the rifle but I wanted to put a warning out their dont leave it loaded in your gun case I was sitting down stairs and my texan released all its air shooting into my wall with a 405 grain bullet.lets just say I'm confused on how this took place but better to be safe than accidently somebody getting shot....for be to fill the Texan I have to loosen the spinlock on the tank and be extremely careful tightening the tank because it will release its air

Pros
Powerful

Cons
Gun discharges for no reason in my gun safe blowing a huge hole in the wall

Probably one of those people that shouldn’t own guns in general.

 

[swat1018]

I don't gun hunt anymore, but think I'd just stick to my smokeless ML.

 

[Dukslayr]

I don't gun hunt anymore, but think I'd just stick to my smokeless ML.

My guess is most would. Just curious if anyone has personal experience.

 

[crowskee]

I hunt with a 45cal Seneca 909s ,shooting 340 grain 45-70 bullets cast from a Lee mold. You might get 100 yards with say around a 200 grain bullet but 60 to 70 yards is all I feel comfortable shooting with the heavy bullets I'm shooting. 120 yards would be pushing it even with a light bullet, Big bore air rifles charged to around 3000psi which is all I have experience with have a range between archery and muzzleloaders. But you can get some that charge to 4500psi that will get you out to 150 yards or maybe more but you would most likely need a scuba tank set up as opposed to a hand pump to fill the gun. I will say this out of 4 mature bucks with the 909s three dropped dead in their tracks and the 4th made it about 25 yards.

 

[Dukslayr]

I hunt with a 45cal Seneca 909s ,shooting 340 grain 45-70 bullets cast from a Lee mold. You might get 100 yards with say around a 200 grain bullet but 60 to 70 yards is all I feel comfortable shooting with the heavy bullets I'm shooting. 120 yards would be pushing it even with a light bullet, Big bore air rifles charged to around 3000psi which is all I have experience with have a range between archery and muzzleloaders. But you can get some that charge to 4500psi that will get you out to 150 yards or maybe more but you would most likely need a scuba tank set up as opposed to a hand pump to fill the gun. I will say this out of 4 mature bucks with the 909s three dropped dead in their tracks and the 4th made it about 25 yards.

All good points and appreciate the input; that’s what kind of info I’m looking for. I don’t have a scuba tank nor do I plan to get one. I do have my own 4500 psi compressor though so filling isn’t an issue. That being said I would be looking at a 4K psi carbon fiber tank on a rifle you could exchange tanks on (my carrying a second charged tank). I have heard great things about those Seneca rifles. That’s a huge piece of lead you’re moving but glad to see you’re putting them down no problem. I would ultimately like to be very confident out to 100 yards with the right setup.

 

[crowskee]

Well if you have a compressor then Extreme rifles shooting 200 grain bullets should have around 14 inches of drop at 200 yards and hit 5 inches low at 50 yards if sighted in at 100 yards.

 

[roymunson]

This thread needs to be stopped. Otherwise i'm bound to go buy one of these.

I knew there were some bad boys out there in the airgun dept, but never knew it was like this. Interesting read and interesting to snoop around the website

 

[Telemark]

I have hunted small game with .177 and .22 air rifles. I don't like it. It's just another expensive, time-consuming hobby that I don't need to be involved in. That said, I did it because of the increased hunting opportunities (mostly noise concerns), so I would probably get more involved in it if it offered me increased hunting opportunities.

 

[Dukslayr]

Well if you have a compressor then Extreme rifles shooting 200 grain bullets should have around 14 inches of drop at 200 yards and hit 5 inches low at 50 yards if sighted in at 100 yards.

Do you mean 5” high at 50 yards when sighted in at 100 yards?

 

[Dukslayr]

This thread needs to be stopped. Otherwise i'm bound to go buy one of these.

I knew there were some bad boys out there in the airgun dept, but never knew it was like this. Interesting read and interesting to snoop around the website

Don’t start looking at what the custom builds can do.....

 

[Dukslayr]

I have hunted small game with .177 and .22 air rifles. I don't like it. It's just another expensive, time-consuming hobby that I don't need to be involved in. That said, I did it because of the increased hunting opportunities (mostly noise concerns), so I would probably get more involved in it if it offered me increased hunting opportunities.

Interesting perspective. I enjoy shooting so don’t consider it anymore time consuming that other shooting activities. You’re right on the expensive comment if you’re talking about PCP rifles, which I am thoroughly sold on. I have gotten into it because I needed something that kills like a .22 but without any noise. I don’t have a suppressed .22 but ultimately that might have been an option too. Nor that I have the equipment to shoot and fill I’m considering what other options I might have. I can absolutely see myself squirrel hunting with this setup though. With a charged cylinder I get 40+ shots before even considering a refill and it’s more accurate/consistent than nearly all my .22 and without the noise. This was my group shooting off my deck sighting in at 40 yards (shooting off the railing).

 

[H20fwler]

My youngest bought a really nice suppressed GAMO Predator a few years back and had some fun with it on squirrels and bunnies using the solid brass conical pellets in it. It was claimed to be 1200-1400 fps and that it would kill hogs/yotes, for good accuracy I still say fifty yards was stretching it and bigger game had to be very iffy. The noise level sounded about like a nail gun to me. He never touches it anymore, for the same money he could have bought a decent tack driving 22 or 17.

I know that there are a couple European air gun makers that are way more accurate and hold their money better than any GAMO type or similar.

 

[Rubee]

As a kid many decades ago, I had a 20 mm Sheridan pump that was awesome. Wish I still had it. A few years ago I bought a ruger .177 springer. It was so fast it sounded like a 22 rimfire and weighed more than 10 pounds. I got rid of it and just stick with my old rimfire.

 

[Dukslayr]

As a kid many decades ago, I had a 20 mm Sheridan pump that was awesome. Wish I still had it. A few years ago I bought a ruger .177 springer. It was so fast it sounded like a 22 rimfire and weighed more than 10 pounds. I got rid of it and just stick with my old rimfire.

I bought a springer before I got the PCP. It definitely wasn’t for me. I still love my rim fire rifles but have been really impressed with this Hatsan Flash QE PCP rifle. I’ll never sell my rim fires but enjoy trying new things too...especially if it allows me to keep my yard free of pests in the city :)

 

[35-acre]

Thanks for giving me something else to search for and gawk at on the internet! lol!

 

[crowskee]

Do you mean 5” high at 50 yards when sighted in at 100 yards?

No I mean low at 50. Every projectile follows an arc no matter if it comes from a quarterbacks hand or the barrel of a gun. Say the same 200 grain bullet was sighted in at 50 yards instead of 100 yards shooting from the same Extreme Big Bore, which should shoot around 1100fps. Then it would be 6 inches low at 100 yards, 20 inches low at 150 yards and 42 inches low at 200 yards. That bullet still has well over 400 foot pounds of energy at 200 yards no matter what distance you sight it in at. Technically that set up has the ability to take deer at 1000 yards its just dealing with the 150 feet of hold over to hit the vitals lol.