Can An Air Rifle Bring Down A Whitetail?

[bwframe]

Can an Air Rifle Bring Down a Whitetail?

Any kid who's ever had a pellet gun and an unsupervised Saturday knows that air rifles can take down small game. But what about whitetails? These days, companies offer .35, .45, and .50-caliber air rifles that are more than capable of bringing down deer-sized animals. It’s safe to say that...

www.themeateater.com

 

[BigRed]

An air rifle can indeed.

If you look into the history of Lewis and Clark, you may find this is not new.

 

[Jaybird1980]

They have some very impressive air guns these days.

 

[Mgderf]

www.quackenbushairguns.com

These will.

 

[baranjhn]

Yes, there are numerous large bore air rifles that can effectively and humanely take a deer. There are several states that allow the use of airguns on big game.

 

[bwframe]

IIRC, doesn't the bigger the bore mean the less shot, until filling?

I was fairly seriously thinking about one of the .357 bullpups, but only 10-11 shots until fill needed kind of shied me off?


.

 

[baranjhn]

IIRC, doesn't the bigger the bore mean the less shot, until filling?

I was fairly seriously thinking about one of the .357 bullpups, but only 10-11 shots until fill needed kind of shied me off?


.

How many shots do you need when deer hunting? You can buy a small "buddy" bottle (air tank) to top off. They are made of carbon fiber and are compact enough to fit easily in a back pack.

 

[bwframe]

How many shots do you need when deer hunting? You can buy a small "buddy" bottle (air tank) to top off. They are made of carbon fiber and are compact enough to fit easily in a back pack.

Load testing. Sighting in. Becoming familiar with the rifle. It seems like noticeable down time and effort to get refilled for ten more shots?

I hand pump my Mrod. Sounds like that is all but out on the bigger calibers?


.

 

[baranjhn]

Load testing. Sighting in. Becoming familiar with the rifle. It seems like noticeable down time and effort to get refilled for ten more shots?

I hand pump my Mrod. Sounds like that is all but out on the bigger calibers?


.

Yeah the big bores need a lot more air. Get a portable compressor like a Nomad II and take it to the range with you.

 

[bwframe]

Yeah the big bores need a lot more air. Get a portable compressor like a Nomad II and take it to the range with you.

Or just save the money, time and trouble when sticking with the deer killing options I already have?

Point I'm trying to make is that there is a worth decision to be made, unless the whole idea is "because I can."

.

 

[Thor]

Even a magnum springer in .177 can do the job...surprised the heck out of me when I was only intending to scare one off.

 

[baranjhn]

Or just save the money, time and trouble when sticking with the deer killing options I already have?

Point I'm trying to make is that there is a worth decision to be made, unless the whole idea is "because I can."

.

A single shot 12 gauge shotgun can do it for $125 and a box of slugs.

People who hunt large game with airguns are usually dedicated airgunners. I wouldn’t jump into big bores right off the bat.

 

[Twangbanger]

Or just save the money, time and trouble when sticking with the deer killing options I already have?

Point I'm trying to make is that there is a worth decision to be made, unless the whole idea is "because I can."

.

I agree and think when it comes to "hunting" stuff, airguns are always going to take a back seat unless things like noise or collateral damage are the determining factor. There are some pretty impressive airguns out there, and I'm eyeing some of them myself just for fun. But none of them are ever going to be as generally practical, harder hitting, and accurate over extended distances as a CZ 450 series bolt rifle with Eley subsonic target ammo. I can shoot at a small pest animal at a distance of 200 yards with such a setup, and have a 50% chance of killing it on the first shot. And total investment is cheaper.

Same deal with the devices that use compressed air or concrete caps to drive crossbow bolts. Reuseable ammo has an undeniable cool factor, but for killing stuff, it's all going to come down to whether or not the fish and game laws allow those devices to have an extended season or not. If they get regulated the same as a firearm, and have to be used in gun season, they're going to be relegated to curio status because there's just so many better options.

 

[cg21]

A single shot 12 gauge shotgun can do it for $125 and a box of slugs.

People who hunt large game with airguns are usually dedicated airgunners. I wouldn’t jump into big bores right off the bat.

A spear can do it with a piece of flint and a stick for $0.

 

[mhs]

Load testing. Sighting in. Becoming familiar with the rifle. It seems like noticeable down time and effort to get refilled for ten more shots?

I hand pump my Mrod. Sounds like that is all but out on the bigger calibers?


If you're not in a hurry, and in reasonable shape, a manual pump is fine. If you're in a very humid environment it might cause long term issues if you're not careful.

 

[Twangbanger]

I suspect the "Great Dream from Heaven" of the airgun industry is that fish & game departments eventually start having extended deer seasons for people using the .357/50 cal airguns. That would blow the industry open more than anything.

Personally I think that's taking the industry away from where its focus should remain, which is backyard plinkers. When I shoot an airgun, I want to shoot the living hell out of it all afternoon long. 30 shots per fill is a no-go for me, and will probably be the reason I won't follow through on getting a PCP. It's just utterly unsatisfying that a $1,000 compressor and $500 tank are necessary to get around that, without huffing my ass off with a 3-stage bike pump.

But it does seem the focus on "high power hunting" applications is driving all "new" airgun development in the direction of 3,000 psi Air. I think Pre-Charged 1,000 psi CO2 was a great idea that got abandoned. Benjamin toyed with this idea when they first brought out the 2,000 psi Discovery rifle that could run off dual gas sources, Air _and_ CO2, but they didn't really commit to marketing it. Probably because the Europeans were already paying megabucks for PCP Air, and manufacturers would rather just replicate that here, than educate consumers on a technology they're unfamiliar with.

CO2 guns don't generate hunting-level power, especially in hot weather, but for a person who just wants to shoot, they are awesome. CO2 liquefies just above 1,000 psi at ambient temperature, so when you fill a PC CO2 gun, you're putting both liquid and gas into the cylinder in equilibrium with each other. The "Regulators" everybody wants on their PCP Air rifles is already built into the CO2 molecule. Every time you fire a shot, a little more liquid turns to gas to maintain constant pressure until all the liquid is used up, and that's why they can deliver so many shots at constant pressure. With a 3,000 psi Air gun, which contains no liquid, that "gas spring" begins decompressing as soon as you fire a shot out of it, and by the time you've fired 15 shots, your shooting session is half over unless you have a 4,500 psi tank handy (or want to huff your azz off).

I have a 1990s-era FWB CO2 match pistol (the type you fill off a nurse tank) that will fire 120 shots with 10-ring accuracy, off one cylinder full, and I can simply screw on another cylinder and have another 120 shots if I wanted it. I can fill a cylinder in 5 minutes off my CO2 nurse tank. When I have the industrial gas place fill my CO2 tank, they will put in about 10 lbs. of CO2 for about 20 bucks, and I can shoot off that for over a year. The metal tank itself only costs about $100, because it's only holding a quarter the pressure that a 4,500 psi Air tank is holding. So you're talking $100 upfront cost and 20 dollars a year, for a gun you can shoot all day and never have to pump or compress anything. The target-shooting consumer could have a gun that operates at 1/4 the pressure of a PCP Air gun, yet will shoot 4x as long on a fill - via the magic of a gas that can liquefy at ambient temperature.

I just think that by focusing on 3,000 psi Air, the industry is missing out on a tremendous opportunity here, because a) we're following the European aversion to "greenhouse gases," and b) we're trying to sell airguns as hunting rather than sport guns, to people who'd be much better off killing animals with a bolt .22LR and CB Longs

If I need to kill something with an airgun, my Beeman R9 springer will fling an 11.5 grain pellet at 800 fps all day long without losing velocity. But for just shooting without pumping, if someone would make a PC CO2 rifle, I would buy that in a heartbeat.

 

[tbhausen]

There are exceptions. The Avenger in .22 is a 4350 psi air gun that’s good for 100 shots at over 850 fps. No, not whitetail, but you can do lots of hunting with one of those. I wouldn’t want to fill it by hand, though!

 

[randyb]

Indiana now has an airgun availablity season for deer hunting.

 

[bwframe]

My 22 cal MRod theoretically goes 60-80 shots per fill. I couldn't really say for sure, because I keep it topped off.

20-40-60 pumps at a time, depending on need. 20 pumps, then walk around or do something else to rest a bit. I try keep it pressurized to 2700-3000. It's not regulated.

I cant speak to some of the details about the MRod. I haven't really tweaked anything much or even chrono'd it. I get a little more serious about back porch precision shooting on occasion, but the MRod mainly just stays on back door duty, waiting for crows, starlings, chipmunks, coons and opossums.

 

[HHollow]

Legal in Montana. Slingshots, howitzers, and maching guns all legal for white tail. However, there is fine and penalty for causing the (game) animal to suffer, or intentionally ruining meat.