Airgun for squirrel?

A

Auto5

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My brother has a squirrel problem. Twice now, he has had to eradicate the furry pests from his attic and repair the roof and eaves where they got in. He lives in an unicorporated area of the suburbs, so there are no local ordinances against discharging an air rifle. Hunting is legal with an airgun on private property, but he doesn't want to upset the neighbors.

Leaning toward the RWS Diana 34 in .22, but looking for suggestions. Want to keep it relatively quiet, so subsonic is ok. Any recommendations from personal experience?
 
I killed one with a scoped RWS R1 in .177, one shot to the head with wadcutter pellet.

He was about 15 yards on my birdfeeder.

Make sure the shot doesn't cause trouble going into a neighbor's window or something. I make sure the shot is angling down into the ground but there is a chance of a ricochet. Ergo, I might prefer .177 as it might shed power faster with distance and be less likely to cause damage downrange.
 
He'll do a lot better by tossing a handful of moth balls into his attic.

Keeps skunks from going beneath the house, also.
 
Auto5 said:
My brother has a squirrel problem. Twice now, he has had to eradicate the furry pests from his attic and repair the roof and eaves where they got in. He lives in an unicorporated area of the suburbs, so there are no local ordinances against discharging an air rifle. Hunting is legal with an airgun on private property, but he doesn't want to upset the neighbors.

Leaning toward the RWS Diana 34 in .22, but looking for suggestions. Want to keep it relatively quiet, so subsonic is ok. Any recommendations from personal experience?
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Go with a big bore blow dart gun...much more satisfying kill. Lol I shoot squirrel all the time with darts.

Not me but. Same dart gun I got. check it out
https://youtu.be/rperPaQNKKM
 
^^^
Blowguns are definitely quiet.
Just remember not to inhale.
Slingshots are good, too, without the above mentioned risk.
As for airguns, the spring powered ones are not especially quiet.
The more expensive and complicated precharged ones are better in that regard.
What ever the choice just be sure the dead ones are retrievable, especially if he's hunting them in the attic.
They can really cause a stink.
 
Airgun for squirrel

I've shot them with a Sheridan .20 cal air rifle. I still have some the old Sheridan hunting pellets that really penetrate.
Lots, of people, hunt squirrels with air rifles.
i prefer the little Browning lever action with BB caps. Almost as quiet but might still offer more penetration, than wanted around the house.
 
My main squirrel gun is a .22 RWS 350 Magnum. I use RWS Super Point pellets, 14.7 gr if I remember correctly. Very accurate, quite powerful. I shoot iron sights, 30 yards it kills em dead.
Might be a bit loud, but not that bad. It is subsonic.
 
I tried it with a GAMO .177 once. Unpleasant experience to say the least. It started with a headshot ricocheting off the quirrels head knocking it temporarily unconscious(leaving a laceration, so I know it hit), then going downhill quickly from that already low point. I wouldn't try it again with a springer or a .177. I traded the GAMO for an old craftsman miter saw I will probably eventually buy a .25 Marauder PCP rifle and try it on squirrels.

Pellets of a given caliber generally weigh half or less what their rimfire counterparts do. So, even though the more powerful air rifles match the velocity of their rimfire counterparts, they are generally much less powerful.
 
Perhaps a .177 springer isn't enough for squirrels, my .22 works very well. Head shot or body, they die quickly.
PCP guns are certainly powerful, but the magnum spring guns are not weak by any means.
 
Where I used to live I had the only pecan tree for several hundred yards in any direction as far as I know. I had a squirrel, Bluejay and rat problem because of that tree and a fig tree in my yard. I killed over 200 squirrels over an 18 year period. I stopped counting at 200. Same with the rats. Way over 200 killed. I killed squirrels by day and rats by night and bluejays anytime I saw them. That was the only way I was able to get any pecans off that tree.

I was telling the guys at the gunshop about my rat hunts and they started calling me Tom The Ratshooter. Thats how I got my screen name.

The gun I used the most for my rat and squirrel shooting was a Benjimen 22 pump. Four or five pumps was all it took. It was very quiet. I also used CB 22s. From a long barreled rifle they were quiet. But not as quiet as the pump rifle.

I had a chow dog that would tree the rats and then had a funny high pitched bark when he treed a rat. It would wake me from a dead sleep. I would sit up and say "Choppers got a rat". I kept a pair of shorts, a flashlight and slip on shoes by the bed so I could be out quik. Me and that old dog had a lot of good hunts. After he was gone I got a female chow and damned if she didn't like to hunt too. I really miss those two dogs. They were some of the best friends I ever had.
 
Perhaps a .177 springer isn't enough for squirrels,
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Not all spring powered air rifles are equal.
Some are much more powerful than others.
Just get one that does the job.
My two vary in f/s quite a bit.
One is mid 500s and the other is over 800 with the same pellets.
Both are as advertised or close to it.
 
Both are as advertised or close to it.
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Manufacturers usually use very expensive and very light pure copper "match" pellets to gauge their FPS. These pellets are generally not reputed to be great for hunting. They disclose that in the small print.
I'd love to get chrono. First I'll work on a private range I can use it with my powder burners on though.

Poachers successfully take deer with 22lr regularly. Many hunt them with 223. There is no point in using just enough when plenty enough is so readily available.
 
Silenced Stogger from archers air rifles in .22, silenced, get the trigger upgrade. Or a whistle will cover the sound of a .22 short.
 
I agree with Ratshooter-22 cal Benjamin-quiet and multipump
IMG_1846_zps7hdubzxj.jpg

Very accurate with a good set of peep sights.
 
With all due respect to Art, please do not use mothballs. It is illegal under federal law to use a pesticide in a way not consistent with the label instructions. It also doesn't work for squirrels or skunks. I've been doing nuisance wildlife work for more than 15 years and virtually everyone tries mothballs before they call me. If they worked, they wouldn't need to call me. Live traps can work outdoors but they do not work in an attic. Snare poles work great but they aren't legal in all areas and can upset the neighbors.

I would use a suppressed .22 but that's only because I already have one.
 
I used to kill a crap load of squirrels in my back yard when I was a kid with an airgun.
BSA meteor .22 600 fps and wadcutter (flat) pellets.
If you have a rifle with specs above those of my humble BSA, then you should be fine.

As an aside, my dad picked up an RWS in .177 and chased squirrels and chipmunks after I went to college. Apparently, it worked, but I don't know the specs for that rifle.
 
I also used a pump gun with pellets and shot many of squirrel that were tearing up my garden. Dan things even ate the gas cap off of my sons 4 wheeler. I would get a pine cone and put some peanut butter on it and tie it to the tree and they would come running!
 
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