One of our friends wants to get her husband an air rifle for Christmas. Mainly to shoot squirrels with.
Budget is £ 200 – £300.

Assuming that he’s not going to be shooting more than about 25 metres, I’d say go for a spring powered (break barrel) in .22 with a decent 4×40 on the top.

My dad had one for this purpose and, whilst the Weihrauch HW97k he had may be a bit out of the price range, it was a bloody good rifle for the money.

This place may give you some ideas: http://www.airrifleshop.co.uk

You need to know if its a pcp or springer thats wanted.

Pcp will require an air tank which will take half the budget.

I have an AirArms S200 which is mind numbingly accurate, plus you can (easily) adjust the pressure if you feel the urge to make it very illegal. other models are available.

Can the pcp jobbies be charged with a compressor or do you need a bottle?

AA S200 is a cracker of a rifle. Get it set to 11ftlb with AA field pellets and it’ll put pellet on pellet at 55 yards easily. Super quiet with AA’s own moderator and you can get a 10 shot rotary magazine to fit, too.

Well worth the money – along with a 4-14×50 scope and a 300bar tank.

I started on a BSA Lightning (spring break barrel) and as soon as I had a go of a PCP that was it. AA S200 was easily better than the BSA Hornet I had after. Only got rid as the hammer spring in the S200 was giving way and shot placement was all over the place. Should have just got a new spring, but the lure of shiney took hold.

DON’T fiddle with hammer springs or valves without a chrono – over 12ftlb is a firearm and 5 year sentence – and the police can test with whatever pellet they want, not just the ones you use.

You can use high pressure stirrup pumps to charge PCP’s, but it’s like trying to pump a 700c road tyre to 90psi with a shock pump.

Get it set to 11ftlb with AA field pellets and it’ll put pellet on pellet at 55 yards easily. Super quiet with AA’s own moderator and you can get a 10 shot rotary magazine to fit, too.

You’re not wrong there. When I was setting up the sights (with a rest for the gun) I could hit the little pushpins that were holding the target up at 40m.
10 shot mag is a great addition.

i always wanted one of the Air Arms Springers
http://www.air-arms.co.uk/?magento_products=spring-guns

Look the business and none of this fiddling about with aircharging etc

no idea what they are actually like though 🙂

Can the pcp jobbies be charged with a compressor or do you need a bottle?

Not with a domestic compressor which is usually 150psi max. Dive bottle is something like 2000psi.

Can’t go wrong with a Weihrauch springer, second hand £200 ish.

DON’T fiddle with hammer springs or valves without a chrono

Very true (I do have one).

i always wanted one of the Air Arms Springers

I used to have a Pro-Sport before I went rimfire. Very well made, very heavy, not as accurate as a PCP but very satisfying to use. Springers teach good technique (bit like learning to ride on a rigid before going to a full sus)

Pcp will require an air tank which will take half the budget.

Never had an issue using a hand pump instead of a tank, doesn’t even take that long to get them up to 200 bar.

Got this tx200 for sale

I never understand why not use a £13 live squirrel trap then shoot the poor thing point blank in the head with any old air gun? Less expensive, not cruel, more effective and still arguably fun for those that enjoy killing? Admittedly there is less to no chance of missing the shot/injuring the squirrel, but why would you want to miss the shot?

I rate the HW80 for target fun. Scoped or not.

At that price you couldnt really get better than a secondhand HW95k. Break barrel but with a fantastic trigger and accuracy potential.

i always wanted one of the Air Arms Springers, no idea what they are actually like though

Had 2. TX200 which was great but the best was the Pro-Elite. Superb rifle and was my go-to even with a Rapid 7 in the cupboard.

If it’s going to be used infrequently I’d go for a springer. You can just pick it up, cock, load and shoot 🙂

why shoot the squirrels in the first place? Surely you have better things to spend your money on?

One of our friends wants to get her husband an air rifle for Christmas. Mainly to shoot squirrels with.
Budget is £ 200 – £300.

ideal christmas present – a weapon for killing animals. says something about the person i think

glad im not the only one who actually likes squirels…

btw….there are other penis enlarging products availble

If you don’t like it and do not understand the point of countryside management, maybe abstain from the conversation?

😆

As above, they’re vermin and control them the same as rats.

Though as we’ve got terriers we tend not to need the air rifle.

cdoc – Member
If you don’t like it…maybe abstain from the conversation?

That’s how Trolls rolls, though.

why shoot the squirrels in the first place?

why shoot the squirrels in the first place? Surely you have better things to spend your money on?

If everyone shot a grey squirrel, we’d probably have more red ones?

For occasional use, a spring, or possibly the BSA lightning with the gas ram would be spot on. Very accurate, and powerful enough. I’d hunt with one without hesitation.
I’d love a Rapid 7, or BSA R10, however I’m not sure I’d get the use out of it.
Maybe I’ll keep watch for a 2nd hand S200 with a rotary mag!

If you don’t like it and do not understand the point of countryside management, maybe abstain from the conversation?

brought up on farm and lived on a farm and its not countryside mangement nor am I a troll. We just have a diferent view point. BTW I have shot for my county – at paper targets 😉

+ 1 for Air Arms s200, had mine for years and still stays accurate. Last time I mentionned what I shot for the pot I got criticised so best not say….

Malvern Rider – Member
I never understand why not use a £13 live squirrel trap then shoot the poor thing point blank in the head with any old air gun? Less expensive, not cruel,

Just out of interest what would you consider to be cruel ?

If you don’t like it and do not understand the point of countryside management, maybe abstain from the conversation?

…or find a football thread so you can post about how much you don’t like “wendyball”

I’ve got a Umarex/Hammerli Airmagnum if you’re in Acentral/East Scotland? Uses co2 carts, 2 off in holder, 2*10 pellet magazines, around 40 shots before the pressure drop is noticable, scope, bag and a couple of dozen carts if that’s of any interest to you. c£250.

Pawsy_Bear – Member
If you don’t like it and do not understand the point of countryside management, maybe abstain from the conversation?
brought up on farm and lived on a farm and its not countryside mangement nor am I a troll. We just have a diferent view point. BTW I have shot for my county – at paper targets

Greys are vermin, tree rats, they do a huge amount of damage to trees, as well as decimating nesting birds by raiding the nests for eggs.
I guess, though, that your farm didn’t have a squirrel problem, they don’t kill calves or chickens, or destroy arable crops.
I’ll bet you’d be more than happy to see a hoard of brown rats killed if you had an infestation on your farm.

This thread has just given me an idea to add to my Christmas wishlist. Thanks!

Classic STW thread, £200-300 to spend and your recommending £500 guns lol
Get the best Weihrauch you can afford, 99s and a decent scope would be a good solid choice.

Asked the same question on here a couple of years ago when replacing a very old Original 35.

Tried loads – decided I still liked the simplicity of springers.
For quality, Weirauch, Air Arms & Walther were head and shoulders above everything else.

I like the option of open sights, so narrowed it down to a Weirauch 77 (heavy!) a Weirauch 99s (great value, smaller & lighter) or a Walther LGV.

After shooting them all I preferred the Walther.
But it was 400 quid, so I had the Original 35 rebuilt. 🙂
For a 65 year old rifle, it’s still pretty bloody good.

The Weirauch 99s would be perfect for what you want.

Looked at Hatsan, Webley, BSA and SMK too.
The BSA’s were nice enough, but not as good as the UK built BSA models from 30 years ago.

It was 2002 when i got mine. They’ve about doubled in price since!

Theres a mint TX200 with scope and pellets on airgun bbs for £300

And there are some Sub £300 Theobens

I have a TX200 and its a great rifle, but if I was looking for something just for vermin control I’d look at a pcp, a springer takes a bit more practice to shoot well, and live targets are not the best to learn on. All things being equal a pcp will give him cleaner kills..

BSA Lightning Tactical. Springer, but bang on 12ft/lb, single hole groups at 25 metres using Superdomes. (the short barrel is a bit pellet fussy) but my lad was scoring consistent headshots on bunnies out to 35-40 yards with his (mine) when he was 10 or 11.

For squirrel bashing I’d advocate a .177 and headshots only. They are desperately tough little bugggers, and won’t be stopped cleanly with a body shot.

Just out of interest what would you consider to be cruel ?

Unnecessary pain and suffering. I’m not getting into the moral argument of ‘sport’ here, just plain and simple re squirrels on your land – why not use live traps and shoot point blank to be sure that the thing you wish to kill has virtually no chance of unnecessary pain and suffering compared to the variable-laden situation of trying for a clean head shot from a distance? No need for expensive guns or scopes, no chance of overshoot or a blinded/injured neighbours kid or pet. Way I see it is a win/win. Unless of course you want the ‘sporting’ chance of missing the shot, in which case I really have nothing to say – it speaks for itself.

Unnecessary pain and suffering. I’m not getting into the moral argument of ‘sport’ here, just plain and simple re squirrels on your land – why not use live traps and shoot point blank to be sure that the thing you wish to kill has virtually no chance of unnecessary pain and suffering compared to the variable-laden situation of trying for a clean head shot from a distance? No need for expensive guns or scopes, no chance of overshoot or a blinded/injured neighbours kid or pet. Way I see it is a win/win. Unless of course you want the ‘sporting’ chance of missing the shot, in which case I really have nothing to say – it speaks for itself.

Yeah, same goes for red deer, dunno why they don’t use traps for them as well!

Trapping certainly has its place, however it is slow, tedious and not always as effective as you might first think.

Most trapped animals are not happy about their situation. They may be forced into a prolonged period of unnecessary stress as they may well be in the trap for some time.
While they are in there they make a lot of noise, alerting other animals who will develop a mistrust of the traps in the future, making capture far more difficult.

And then there is the issue of efficiency. A couple of guns can clear a good amount of land over a weekend, whereas to get the same results would require an awful lot of traps.

It is also worth remembering that any competent hunter should never take a shot that might be deemed as risky, in that they cannot guarantee a clean kill.

Tbh, I rather like the little sods. Shame they cause so many problems for woodlands and nesting birds.
The gold fiches or woodpeckers don’t even bother nesting around here any more, unfortunately.